Pharaoh presented himself as a god. His authority was based on this. When it was proven that he was not a god he lost his authority.
Category: Passover
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Pharaoh’s True Punishment
The true punishment of Pharaoh was the taking away his free will. Free will is one of the things that separates humans from animals. By removing this Pharaoh was being made into an animal.
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The Importance of Ritual
פרשת מצורע / ה’ בניסן תשפ”ב
The real question of the wicked son is why to we need all this ritual to celebrate Passover. Can’t we just do a simple ceremony and get it over with? The answer of course is that we need the ritual since without we will forget why we were brought out and made into a people.
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Don’t Ignore the Obvious
פרשת מצורע / ד’ בניסן תשפ”ב
When the wise son asks his question at the Seder we give him a seemingly meaningless answer. He asks for the details of the laws and customs of Passover. We seem to give him a glib response, just don’t eat anything after the Afikoman. Is this glib or is this a deeper response?
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It Takes a Community
פרשת מצורע / ג’ בניסן תשפ”ב
The main event in the celebration of Passover is the eating of the Pascal Sacrifice. This is a lamb and it is impossible to completely eat it unless you are with a group. The problem is that there can be nothing leftover. Thus the Torah is forcing us to form communities in order to carry out this celebration.