Pareshat Bo

Kaved Lev Paro- The heart of Pharaoh turned into liver (Medrash)

This Medrash plays on the word Kaved, which literally means hardened, and reads it to mean liver. I would like to suggest that perhaps in some ways the heart of the King of Egypt actually turned into a liver.

The notion of free will is a basic premise and a fundamental component of Jewish philosophy. If, as the Torah teaches, we are Beings who have moral responsibility, we must have the ability to make choices and thus have free will. The doctrine of reward and punishment can only exist if a human can make a choice. Consequently when reading the narrative of the exodus and the way the Al-mighty manipulated and hardened Pharaoh’s heart over and over again, we ask the very basic question; what happened to Pharaoh’s free will and the ability given to humankind to repent?

Among Jewish thinkers several approaches exist. Maimonides notes that free will can be removed from those whose sins are grave enough. He writes in his Laws of Teshuvah that: "a person may commit a great sin or many sins causing the judgment rendered before the True Judge to be that the retribution [administered to] this transgressor for these sins which he willfully and consciously committed is that his Teshuvah will be held back. He will not be allowed the chance to repent from his wickedness so that he will die and be wiped out because of the sin he committed. For these reasons, it is written in the Torah [Exodus 14:4], ‘I will harden Pharaoh's heart.’ Since he began to sin on his own initiative and caused hardships to the Israelites who dwelled in his land - as [Exodus 1:10] states: ‘Come, let us deal wisely with them,’ - judgment obligated that he be prevented from repenting so that he would suffer retribution. Therefore, The Holy One, blessed be He, hardened his heart."

Others, like Rav Ovadia Seforno, the great Italian commentator of the 16th century, take a different approach. Seforno explains that Hashem is actually preserving Pharaoh's free will by hardening his heart. The impact of the plagues was so devastating that if Hashem had not hardened Pharaoh's heart, Pharaoh would have been compelled to let the Jewish people go in order to stop their suffering. Pharaoh's relenting then, would not have been a sign of true submission, but rather only would have been a move to save him from the situation. Consequently, his repentance would not have been genuine, but rather would have been a pragmatic move. Therefore, Hashem gave him the ability to withstand the pain that was being inflicted upon the Egyptians. However, if indeed Pharaoh truly had desired to do complete Teshuvah by recognizing his mistakes, nothing would have prevented him from doing so. In other words, Seforno views the hardening as a partial reduction of Pharaoh's free will and not as a complete cessation.

In general, people have the ability to make choices and do Teshuvah even if the reason behind their choice is to prevent them from future suffering. Humans can choose that which is right even if it is without contrition. Pharaoh’s choice- making ability was reduced to the point where he could only choose to actually repent. The ability to let the people go, just for the sake of saving himself, was removed from him.

With the Seforno explanation we can return to the ‘heart of Pharaoh which turned into liver’. The human heart is a muscular organ at the center of the circulatory system that pumps blood to the body. A pump does not hold back elements but rather allows all to flow through it. The liver, on the hand, operates as a filter which detoxifies the body by filtering the blood. Not all that enters the liver, as part of the flow, comes out. Thus, free will can be viewed as the heart, since humans have the ability to make choices without limitation. A person can decide to stop being evil even if it is only to avoid reprisal. All decisions can pass through the system the way everything passes through the pumping heart. Limited free will, where all decision choices are not available, can metaphorically be seen as a liver. Some things pass through, others do not. As a result, we can say that Pharaoh’s heart turned into liver.

The Jewish State

Passover

The number of choices one must make when shopping in the modern day supermarket can be, at times, quite overwhelming. When purchasing a simple item like a bottle of shampoo I must decide if I want a strawberry or a kiwi fragrance, an organic or a GMO, one tested on animals or on me.

When it comes to the commandments of the Torah we made our choice at Har Sinai to make them an integral part of our life with the declaration of Naaseh V’Nishma. Yet when it comes to Shiurim - the correct measurements to fulfill the Mitzvos of the first night of Pesach - the range of opinions among the Poskim forces us to make some decisions.

The major issue that initiated the debate relates to the size of an egg. In essence the volume of an egg determines all the measurements of the night. We are told that to fulfill the Mitzvah of eating Matzah, or the rabbinic precept of Marror, we must eat an amount that is equivalent to the volume of an olive - a Kezayis. The Halachah notes that the method we use to assess the size of an olive is one in which we compare it to an egg. Some are of the opinion that an olive is half an egg in volume, others say it is a third.[1]

When it comes to the four cups of wine we are told that we must drink from a cup that holds a quarter of a measurement known as the Lug. The Lug is a measurement that contains six eggs. Thus a quarter of the Lug, known as a Revi’s, equals one and a half eggs. With this information in hand all we must do is go to the (overwhelming) supermarket, pick up an average egg, and through water displacement assess its volume. The above exercise was preformed by many and the outcome was that the average egg is about 1.9 ounces. Accordingly, my Kiddush or Pesach Seder cup should hold a bit less than three ounces. However as you already know, it ain't so simple.

The Talmud provides a formula that compares fingerbreadths to the Revi’s measurement.[2] The eighteenth century authority, Rav Yechezkel Landau, compared the two methods and found a discrepancy between the measurements based on eggs vis-à-vis fingers. He came to a conclusion that eggs of today are half the size of historical eggs.[3] As a result of his statement several authorities recommended that we double all measurements that relate to eggs. Accordingly, on the Seder night we must eat the volume of an egg to fulfill the eating of a Kezayis. Other authorities, among them Rav Chaim Volozhin[4], disagreed and continued measuring the Kezayis as half of an ordinary egg. One of Rav Yechezkel Landau’s disciples, Rabbi Elazar Flekels, who succeeded Rav Landau as Chief Rabbi in Prague, claimed that the discrepancy his master found was only because Rav Landau was “Taller than all the tall people.”[5] In other words, he had large fingers. Consequently the eggs never shrunk but rather the large physical dimension of his teacher’s fingers created the problem. Due to the complexity of the issue several authorities recommend that when dealing with a Torah law one should ideally use the measurement that assumes egg shrinkage.[6] Although the four cups of wine are rabbinic and thus a three ounce cup would suffice, when it comes to Friday night Kiddush a larger measurement would be required.[7]

When dealing with volume measurements for our cracker-like-Matzo we confront another problem; how do I measure its volume? Some have attempted to calculate the volume, with quite original techniques, and have translated their findings into weight measurements. Coupled with the shrinking egg problem, the results vary immensely. Some estimate the Kezayis to be thirty grams,[8] while others consider seven grams to suffice.[9] As noted, Poskim recommend that for eating the Kezayis Matzo that is Torah law, one should consider using a larger measurement.

The Shulchan Aruch[10] remarks that when eating our first portion of Matzo we should consume two Kezayis, one from the whole Matzo and one from the broken piece. Not all authorities agree with this statement.[11] Yet even those who want to perform it are not required to eat two egg volumes since this requirement is not Torah law. One egg volume would be sufficient.

To figure out the bottom line as to how much Matzo you should eat, ask your local Halachik authority. Many in Eretz Yisroel follow the opinion of the Steipler Gaon that twenty two grams should be consumed for a Torah law Kezayis, and for rabbinic requirements, like the Korech, eleven grams would do.[12]

May we all merit to debate and argue Halachah L’maase, the proper Shiur Kezayis of the Korben Pesach.

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[1] OR”C 486:1

[2] Pesachim 109a

[3] Tzlach ad loc. RYL is not the first to note the problem see Tashbetz 3:33

[4] Kehillas Yaakov Pesachim 38

[5] Teshuva Meahava 3 page 68

[6] Misnah Berurah 486:1

[7] Mishnah Berurah 271:68 recommends at least 4 oz.

[8] Moadim Vezmanim 7:172

[9] Shiurei Torah p. 184

[10] 475:1

[11] See Biur Halacha , Orchos Rabeinu 2, p. 70

[12] Midos V'shiurei Torah 15:16