Vaera (3b): Who Can Listen?

The following is the second installment in a three-part series based on the Shem Mishmuel of Socatchov in this weeks Parsha. The first piece can be found here.

הן ישראל לא שמעו אלי ואיך ישמעני פרעה

The Jews didn't listen to me, how will Paroh listen?

In rabbinics this is called a Kal VaChomer. It is a logical premise that dictates that if a principle is true under strenuous circumstances it will certainly remain true under less challenging conditions. Moshe claimed that if the Jews - lowly slaves -didn't find him convincing, a man with royalty and prestige such as Paroh surely won't take him seriously.

However this claim has a flaw. The Passuk clearly states the reason that Am Yisrael didn't listen to Moshe Rabbeinu. They were overworked and overtired. Moshe came to them presenting lofty images of redemption and unity with Hashem and they were preoccupied dragging boulders. If this is the reason that Moshe was disregarded then what does he have to fear of Paroh? This excuse certainly doesn't apply to the king!

Another issue is that Hashem doesn't answer the Kal VaChomer and thus seemingly accepts it. All He says to Moshe is that from this point forward Moshe is officially the top of the leadership hierarchy, ויצום אל בני ישראל. (See the Sforno.)  Moshe just finished explaining that the people didn't accept him, and suddenly he's the boss? How does that help at all? We have a lot of clarifying to do.

The Shem MiShmuel of Socatchov explains the Kal VaChomer in a fundamentally different way:

As we explained in the first section of this series, Paroh was a power-plant of stubbornness. He personified the inability to connect and internalize. In technical terms, he was the antithesis of the attribute called Da'as. With tremendous spiritual influence he stripped the Jews of their ability to listen. He created a Galus HaDa'as.

This was the essence of Moshe's Kal VaChomer to Hashem. The Jewish people are merely subject to the impure influence of Paroh's attack on Da'as. They are "under his spell" and cannot hear me out. If that's the case, then certainly Paroh himself who is the source of this spiritual corruption won't be able to internalize my redemptive plea! If the infected can't accept me, certainly the essential cause won't accept me either.

To be continued...