DAS Blog

This week's Torah portion describes, among other things, God as hardening Pharaoh's heart, which raises the problem: did God sin by alienating Pharaoh from a path in which lives could be saved, etc.? Well, a look at the literal words of Torah answers the question as being irrelevant. God did not actually, according to the Torah, harden Pharaoh's heart, but rather "strengthened" it. God strengthens our hearts, but it is up to us to use that strength for good and not for evil.

It may be tedious, but, as Isaiah points out in the Prophetic reading, it's important to pay attention not just to the big ideas, but each verse, each little word, etc.