ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 14:6

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: It seems this should read: "Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: The most upright among idolaters..." The Tosafot Yom Tov comments that the practical implication is not to trust them. The mention of "during war" may mean that one must be especially cautious then, as the idolater can easily justify their actions by claiming they intended to harm an enemy. However, in Rashi’s commentary on the verse "And he harnessed his chariot" (Exodus 14:6) and the Mekhilta, Rabbi Shimon's statement does not mention "during war." After writing this, I found in the commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya on the Torah that he explains as I did.

Further, one needs to believe that the Egyptians didn’t think about what would happen when they entered the sea and that the Egyptians did so without thought. For the Egyptians were extremely wise, Pharaoh most of all. But since the astrologists knew that Israel would leave under the star whose name was Ra’a, as Scripture states,¹⁶⁹I have loosely translated the expression Sh’ne’emar and Hayyinu D’Kativ, both of which introduce a Biblical verse loosely throughout with this and related expressions. “For evil (Ra’a) is before your face,” ¹⁷⁰This is a literal translation. New JPS translation: “But he said to them, “HaShem be with you; the same as I mean to let your children go with you! Clearly, you are bent on mischief.” (Ex. 10:10) then certainly Pharaoh would have also foreseen his and his people’s fate. When Pharaoh was told that the Israelites had fled, he gathered his people and chastised them in this matter, concluding that the Israeliteswere not worthy to leave Egypt. Even though God had performed signs and wonders that they had all seen, they trusted the pronouncement of Moses when he said, “I will bring but one more plague … upon Egypt…” (Ex. 11:1) They said, “Since he said, “One”, there are no more plagues with which to smite us. God has already finished showing us the extent of His power, much as evil Haman said, “God has already grown old!”¹⁷¹See Esther Rabbah 7:13 “Haman immediately said to them: ‘The God who drowned Pharaoh in the sea and performed miracles on behalf of Israel, and the mighty acts of which you heard, He is already old and is unable to do anything. Nebuchadnezzar has come and destroyed His Temple and burned His Sanctuary, has exiled Israel and dispersed them among the nations. Where is His power and His might now that He has grown old?” As proof, (he said), “behold they are fleeing. If they were not afraid, they would have traveled more slowly, in the daytime and not at night, in a straight path and not in a crooked path.” Despite this, Pharaoh managed to be king of all the monarchs on the earth. He gathered 600 chariots from all the nations, besides the chariots of the Egyptians. His intention was to make sure all the heavenly princes were helping him, since each one would try to save his own nation. This number is stated in the Zohar as equal to the 600,000 Israelites who left Egypt. He then looked to see what would happen if he entered the sea. First he looked at the power of the One who was helping Israel. He saw the merit of Abraham, their elder, who was a man of great kindness toward them. Because they were his people, they were not smitten by any of the plagues which struck Egypt. This was not a matter of justice, but of kindness. It was possible that Abraham might help Israel and harm those who opposed them. Yet Pharaoh was certain that God would never bring another flood (because of the promise to Noah); based on this logic he had drowned the Israelite boys. Therefore, he said, “When the sea splits before them, my nation and I will pass through on foot...” Then Pharaoh contemplated the names of hesed which are equal to (three times) the numerical value of Hesed.¹⁷²According to the Kabbalah. The 72 Names of God consist of 72 (= Hesed, חסד) three-letter combinations each, and contains a total of 216 (= Gevurah, גבורה) letters. The name in its entirety is first mentioned in Sefer HaYashar, attributed to Rabbi Akiva (Midrash Lekah Tov on BeShalach). The 72 Names of God | Live Kabbalah These letters equal 216. Pharaoh said, “Behold, the Israelites only stayed in Egypt 210 years and they were certain they could now flee because the Gematria of 210 equals barah, flee (counting the letters). But God would not be their help for 216 years. That is why Pharaoh took 600 chariots from all the nations as we have said. The chosen among them was wicked Satan, the central force who unites all those who oppose Israel. And with all this, Pharaoh also additionally brought the chariots of Egypt; that is, the magic and witchcraft which was associated with the decrees and supernal judgments, as we have said, Why are they called kesafim (witchcraft)? Because they contradict the heavenly entourage.¹⁷³See BT Sanhedrin 67b - Why is sorcery called keshafim? Because it is an acronym for: Contradicts the heavenly entourage [shemakhḥishin pamalia shel mala]. Sorcery appears to contradict the laws of nature established by God. Also see Rabbeinu Bachya 22:17 All of this was meant to protect Pharaoh and Egypt from the things that occur on dry land and on sea. Thus it is written, “He prepared his chariot and took his men with him.” (Ex. 14:6) This is not referring to an actual chariot, for it is not dignified for a king to prepare his own chariot. And if it was to make known the great hatred which upset the normal order of things as the commentators wrote, then we have already learned this from the story of Balaam, when he harnesses his own donkey. Rather, we learn that he made ready and connected all things to the powers of impurity. This explains the addition of the words et richbo, his chariot, “And he made ready his chariots.” (Ex. 14:6) The word רִכְבּ֑ Rikhb , his chariot, which has the same gematria as the word mazikin, demons… The letter Vav of the word רִכְבּ֑וֹ is a pronoun as in His chariot, so it means “the demons that were in his domain.” Then it says, “And his people he took with him, in other words, he took them by using words to convince them to come. He told them not to be afraid to come with him because all the heavenly princes would help them,as has been mentioned, besides all the “chariots/demons'' of Egypt…”with officers in them,” as the Zohar states, “And teams of three, upon them all'' (Ex. 14:7) All in wisdom, corresponding to the supernal rungs, two and one.”¹⁷⁴Zohar, Vol 2, 46a This is the Matt translation. He writes, “The technical terms Shalish apparently derives from Shalosh and its plain meaning may be third man in the chariot….Rabbi Yosi focuses on the numerical sense indicating that Pharaoh arranged his chariots triadically so they would correspond to the triadic structure of the Sephirot….

We will now explicate the fifty primary plagues at the sea that struck Egypt: 1. It is written, “HaShem hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites.” (Ex. 14:8) Rashi explains, “Pharaoh was in doubt whether to pursue or not, so God hardened his heart to pursue.” ¹⁷⁵Rashi on Ex 14:8, Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:8:1 Therefore, God hardened his heart so he would pursue them. One wonders, what reason did Pharaoh have, after inciting his people, saying, “What is this we have done, releasing Israel from our service?” “Come with me and I will not behave with you as other kings. It is the way of other kings that their subjects go in front of them into the battle, but I will go in front of you…It is the way of other kings to have first pick of the booty, but I will be equal to you in the division of the booty.” ¹⁷⁶Rashi on Ex. 14:6 Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:6:2 “And he made his chariots ready…” (Ex 14:6) “He himself.”¹⁷⁷Rashi on Ex. 14:6 Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 14:6:1 After all of this trouble he would have reconsidered if the Holy One had not hardened his heart so he would pursue the Israelites. Rather, it teaches that the saying, “Cursed are you when you go out,” (Deut. 28:19) was established about him. In order to speed up the pursuit, the sages said, they tethered mares in front of male horses so that the male horses would want to overtake the mares and the mares would try to escape. In this way they would all run with all their might. They did not get far from the city when chariots began to break down because of the speed. Some of the chariots broke or were broken by neighboring chariots. Their weapons began to fall off; this was taken as an evil omen that they were masters of witchcraft. As a result their thoughts were divided. It arose in their minds to go back. Therefore, “HaShem hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he pursued the Israelites,” (Ex. 14:8) when he saw, “the children of Israel went out with a raised hand.” (Ex. Ibid) There was for Pharaoh, “ no end of scorn and provocation” (Est. 1:18) When the Egyptians saw their king lead them they too chose to pursue the Israelites. This was the first plague; there can be no doubt that it included more than five parts. There was not one of the Egyptians who did not experience confusion, trembling, or injury from the unnatural speed of the chariots. We do not find any Midrashim that inform us of the events that happened, and I was only able to describe some of the things that make sense. It is not our job to complete the task before God makes sense of it!