פירוש על שמות 5:8

ואת מתכנת הלבנים means the total number of bricks which each made per day when straw was being supplied to them — that total you shall impose upon them now also, in order that the service may be hard upon them.

מתכנת, the quota.כי נרפים הם, they are therefore able to make more of these bricks daily.

כי נרפים הם, "for they are lazy!" Who had ever suggested that the idea to sacrifice to their G'd originated in the relatively light burden of work that Pharaoh had imposed on the Israelites up until then? Perhaps what Pharaoh meant was that the Israelites felt that now that Moses had arrived their lot would become easier and that therefore they wanted to thank their G'd for that by offering up thanksgiving sacrifices so that He would cancel out the servitude altogether. Pharaoh countered this euphoria by making the workload heavier so that they would not even entertain any idea of their servitude being near an end, i.e. those lies that Moses had fed them.

V. 8. מתכנת, nicht: מספר, wieder ein boshafter Pfiff. מתחנת ist nicht die Summe im ganzen, sondern das quantitative Verhältnis, so wie תקן das qualitative bedeutet, und daher תַקֵן: in das rechte Verhältnis, in die rechte Beschaffenheit bringen heißt. תכן ist das numerische Verhältnis der einzelnen Teile einer Masse oder Summe unter einander. So bei שמן המשחה und קטרת. So Jecheskel 18, 25 ואמרתם לא יתכן דרך ד׳: nach eurer Meinung ist ein schreiendes Missverhältnis in der Gotteswaltung, wenn ein Moment von Schlechtigkeit eine ganze brave Vergangenheit und umgekehrt vernichtet. לו נתכנו עלילות (Sam. I. 2, 3): nur von Gott werden die einzelnen menschlichen Handlungen in ihrem Verhältnis zu einander, oder zu ihren Beziehungen geprüft. Die meisten menschlichen Handlungen und Lebensäußerungen sind nur relativ schlecht, d. h. in ihrem Missverhältnis, weil sie an unrechtem Orte, zu uns rechter Zeit, bei unrechter Gelegenheit usw. geschehen. Jede dem Menschen verliehene Anlage und Fähigkeit ist an sich weder gut noch schlecht. Es hängt nur davon ab, wo und wie sie angewendet wird. So תכן auch hier. Pharao sagt nicht: die Juden haben bis jetzt zusammen so und so viel Millionen Ziegel monatlich, oder sei es auch täglich, abgeliefert, das soll auch ferner geschehen. Dann hätten sie sich durch Teilung der Arbeit — die einen suchen Stroh, die andern brennen Ziegel, oder auch heute suchen sie Stroh und morgen brennen sie Ziegel — die Arbeit ermöglichen und erleichtern können. Nein, מתכנת der Ziegel, das bisherige tägliche Quantum und von jedem das tägliche muss auch ferner geliefert werden, das war die unmenschliche Härte, denn er forderte geradezu das Unmögliche.

כי נרפים signifies because they have loosened themselves from the work; therefore (this word in Rashi corresponds to על כן in the Hebrew text) their mind turns to idleness and they cry out, saying, נלכה וגו׳ LET US GO [AND SACRIFICE etc.].

Pharaoh also reacted to the Israelites having said: נלכה נזבחה, "let us go slaughter, etc." He understood this as an implied promise that the Israelites planned to make up the time lost by working extra hard after their return. He reasoned that if they could really do this it was proof they had not been working hard enough thus far. This is why he withdrew the supply of straw which had been provided up until then and referred to them as lazy. Eventually, their holiday would backfire and the would cry out, i.e. צועקים that they had to work too hard. Pharaoh wanted to head off all these complications by ordering now that the straw would be withdrawn so that the people would stop dreaming about all kinds of improvements in their lives.

מתכנת — This word, and ותכן (v. 18), and the words of the same root in (I Samuel 2:3) “And by Him actions are counted (נתכנו)” and in (2 Kings 12:12) “the money that was counted (המתכן)”, all have the meaning of counting.

The expression ואל ישעו reflects weakness. Pharaoh interpreted the people's weakness as stemming from the "illusions" (in his view) which Moses had come to feed them. As a result they had expressed fear of punishment by their G'd if they did not offer the sacrifices their G'd demanded. When people live in fear they are weak and it undermines their ability to perform good work. Pharaoh wanted to stop this process at the source, hence his decree to suspend the deliveries of straw.

נרפים — The work is loose (רפויה) in their hand and neglected by them so that they are loosened (הם נרפים) from it. In old French retrait.