Pharaoh’s Hidden Role

The opening of this week’s Torah reading — “When Pharaoh sent out the nation…” — raises a question: why is Pharaoh portrayed as the one who sent the Jews out of Egypt? Until now, he was the primary obstacle to their freedom. Why is he suddenly credited with the Exodus?

This leads to a broader question: why does G-d create Pharaohs at all? Pharaoh’s cruelty was his own choice, but G-d granted him the capacity and opportunity for such evil. If G-d did not want this to happen, why create him that way — or create him at all?

Some answer that this is simply how the world works: there are Pharaohs. But this clashes with a core principle of faith — nothing exists unless G-d wills it. If something exists, it is because He chose for it to exist.

So why Pharaoh?

The answer is: so Pharaoh can ultimately send the Jews out of Egypt.

Pharaoh was not created for evil, but to serve redemption. Some forces reveal their good immediately; others, like Pharaoh, require struggle and transformation before their purpose emerges.

Nothing in G-d’s world is created without good intent. Yet that good is not always visible. In such cases, G-d invites the Jewish people to partner with Him — to confront Pharaoh and draw out the good embedded within him. This role is not easy, and engaging Pharaohs can be painful, but it carries the profound reward of being G-d’s partner in bringing His vision into reality.

In the end, Pharaoh fulfills his purpose and becomes the agent of redemption. He may resist, but he cannot escape what he was created to do. The same is true of a Jew. One may resist the role of being “a light unto the nations,” but fulfillment comes through embracing that very purpose.

Looking to the Horizon

This work is also future-oriented. Maimonides describes the era of Redemption as a time when “all nations will call upon the name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose,” and when the entire world will be devoted to knowing G-d.

Redemption, then, is not only for the Jewish people. G-dliness will be recognized by all humanity. That is why Maimonides speaks of the Seven Noahide Laws before describing the Future Redemption — their awareness and practice refine the world and hasten its arrival.

The Torah, therefore, is not only a guide for Jews, but a signpost for all mankind, pointing toward a more meaningful and purposeful world.

Shabbat Shalom!

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