One of the most frightening phrases in the Torah appears again and again in Parashat Va’era:

וַיֶּחֱזַק לֵב פַּרְעֹה וְלֹא שָׁמַע
“Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen.”
(Exodus 7:13)

It is frightening not because Pharaoh is evil—we expect that—but because the Torah insists on repeating it. Over and over, the text pauses the drama of plagues and power to return us to Pharaoh’s interior life. His heart. His inner posture. His refusal.

The Torah wants us to understand that history does not collapse because truth is unavailable, but because hearts become rigid. Power does not fall because it lacks information, but because it lacks humility.

After October 7, this verse no longer reads as ancient theology. It reads as a mirror.

Pharaoh is not blind. He sees blood in the Nile. He sees darkness swallowing his land. He sees a slave people standing up to him with nothing but words and stubborn faith. And still:

וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֲלֵהֶם
“He did not listen.”

Listening, in the Torah, is never passive. Shema means to take in, to allow oneself to be changed. Pharaoh cannot listen because listening would require yielding, and yielding would fracture his identity as absolute ruler.

Rashi notices something subtle and devastating. On the verse “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened,” Rashi explains that after repeated refusals, God strengthens Pharaoh’s heart so that he can withstand the plagues without collapsing into fear. In other words, God does not rob Pharaoh of free will;........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)