Rabbi Howard Morrison

When people talk about great philosophical challenges in the Torah, they often cite some verses toward the end of the ten plagues. For example, after the Egyptians suffer from boils, the Torah says, "And God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not hear them (the suffering Egyptians)."There are challenges to free will here. If God hardened Pharaoh's heart, how could God continue to punish him and the Egyptians?

In actuality, we read five times before the plague of boils that Pharoah hardened his own heart. Thus, in Midrashic literature, Rabbi Simon ben Lakish taught, "Since God sent the opportunity for repentance and doing the right thing five times to Pharaoh and he sent no notice, God then said, 'you have stiffened your neck and hardened your heart on your own. . . . So it was that the heart of Pharaoh did not receive the words of God." In other words, Pharaoh sealed his own fate, for himself and his relationship with God. Pharaoh refused to change. He became recalcitrant and arrogant. Pharaoh was unable to be self-critical and introspective. Thus, he led his army and his nation to disaster.

There have always been, and there will always be, Jew-hating Pharaohs and those who serve them. We are witnessing this phenomenon most recently since October 7. While a small few may be able to self-assess and change, the many do not and cannot change. They have put themselves in a place where their hearts are completely hardened and stiff. 

So, how do we overcome them? We are in the process of doing so by our unity, our caring for each other, our commitment to the ideals and principles that have guided our people for millennia. A modern miracle - the State of Israel - the Jewish people have returned to our homeland, established Jewish sovereignty, and are in the midst of building the third Jewish civilization and commonwealth. 

Sadly, and tragically, we are witnessing the hardened heart right here in the GTA. If any particular group wants to have its own demonstration or rally, there are appropriate ways to do so. The Pro-Israel rallies in Toronto and Ottawa have been done in peaceful ways and which have not disturbed the lives of innocent people. The Pro-Hammas rallies have been the opposite. These hardened and stiff-heartened people have recently held their so-called protests in the heart of the Jewish community. On recent Shabbatot, these have occurred at the Avenue road bridge hovering over the highway 401 and where a good part of the location is residential and largely Jewish.

Even more disturbing is the participation of a small but significant number of police officers distributing coffee to these supporters of Hammas. Rightly so, the Jewish community has responded. These hateful rallies in Jewish neighborhoods, without sufficient police protection, and with inadvertent support by giving coffee, only serve to validate these modern supporters of Pharaoh and which can only exacerbate further attacks on Jewish owned businesses, establishments, and other Jewish institutions. Due to the proper outcry of the Jewish community this past week, local police leadership endorsed some changes to better support the needs of our people. We will watch and see if progress is made.

We are forever grateful for the police support on a daily basis around our shul and the local Jewish community and do not fault the entire police for the acts of a few. However, all need to know the difference between an appropriate versus an inappropriate form of protest.

We have overcome the hardened heart in the past, and we will do so again and again.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison