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Rosh Kollel Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
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Sotah 011: Insights to Sotah 11 and Parashat Shemos
Jeff Ram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
Dear Rabbi Kornfeld
I was reviewing your Insights to Sotah 11 this week where you bring the
Vilna Gaon's explanation of why Pharaoh first ordered only the killing of
the male fetus, the kollel wrote;
>>"The laws of the land required that in order to kill someone..., the due
>>process of law and judgment had to be rendered." In short, Pharaoh
>>couldn't order execution by executive order. <<
However, it seems that Pharaoh's next order, to throw all male children
into the river, contradicts that idea totally. How does the Gaon explain
Pharaoh gaining the power to kill the children by what appears to be an
executive order?
Jeff Ram
Jerusalem
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The Kollel replies:
Excellent question, Jeff.
Actually, the source for the words of the Ga'on on this matter is the
Ramban (Shemos 1:10), who deals with your question as well. The Ramban
writes that at first, Pharaoh attempted to hide the killing of the babies
as much as possible so as to avoid a mass rebellion. When he saw that his
plan with the midwives did not work, he found himself forced to reveal to
his fellow Egyptians the plan to kill the Jews, making them accomplices in
his crime. He asked them to throw any unattended Jewish babies they could
find, into the sea. When the Jewish parents came crying to the court, the
court played dumb, asking the parents to prove who killed their baby (which
they could not.)
According to Chazal (Sotah here), the Gezeirah to throw into the sea was
only for a day and was based on astrological predictions. It was within the
realm of the king to pass such a Gezeirah, since it could be justified by
astrological predictions.
It is interesting to note that although the Pasuk originally refers to
Pharaoh as "king of Egypt," nevertheless after his plan of using the
midwives is foiled and he passes the Gezeirah to throw the Jews into the
sea, he becomes simply "Pharaoh." (See Alshich.) According to the Ramban
and the Ga'on the reason is clear. When he enacted the second decree his
actions more befitted an anarchist than a king, and so he was denied the
royal appellation.
M. Kornfeld
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