beshallach
sholem aleichem,
The b’nei Yisrael cross the sea, and the Egyptians perish. And:
וַיַּ֨רְא יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַיָּ֣ד הַגְּדֹלָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ הָעָ֖ם אֶת־יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיַּֽאֲמִ֙ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהֹוָ֔ה וּבְמֹשֶׁ֖ה עַבְדּֽוֹ
Yisrael saw the great hand that haShem had used with Mitzrayim, and the people feared haShem. They trusted in haShem and in Moshe his servant.
We’re used, or at least I’m used, to experiencing this story through the perspective of the b’nei Yisrael. But what about Par’oh? The Ba’al haTurim comments that he also learned to trust haShem:
ויאמינו ב' ויאמינו בה' ויאמינו אנשי נינוה באלהים כדאיתא במדרש שלא נשאר בהם עד אחד שלא נשאר אלא אחד והוא פרעה והלך לנינוה ומלך שם וזהו ויאמינו אנשי נינוה באלהים נזכר למה שראה במצרים ועל הים
The people trusted in haShem - [this corresponds to the verse] "the men of Nineveh trusted in haShem" [Yonah 3:5]. As is stated in the midrash [Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer 43]: "not one of them remained" [Exodus 14:28] - none remained except one, and that was Par'oh, and he walked to Nineveh and ruled there. And this is "the men of Nineveh trusted in haShem": he was reminded of what he had seen in Mitzrayim and at the sea.
Par’oh watches all his chariots and horses and officers perish in the sea, but he himself survives. According to Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakkana in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, he is specifically rescued from death by haShem:
וְהִצִּילוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בֵּין הַמֵּתִים…וְהָלַךְ וּמָלַךְ בְּנִינְוֵה
And the Holy One of Blessings delivered him from among the dead…and he walked and ruled in Nineveh
After being rescued, he does not return to Mitzrayim. Like the b’nei Yisrael, he sets out into the wilderness. Then he walks to Nineveh, and becomes king there. Once there, he averts that city’s destruction:
רַבִּי נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנָה אוֹמֵר: תֵּדַע לְךָ כֹּחַ הַתְּשׁוּבָה. בֹּא וּרְאֵה מִפַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם שֶׁמָּרַד בְּצוּר עֶלְיוֹן הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מִי ה' אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמַע בְּקוֹלוֹ״. וּבַלָּשׁוֹן שֶׁחָטָא בּוֹ בַּלָּשׁוֹן עָשָׂה תְשׁוּבָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מִי כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם ה', מִי כָּמֹכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ״
וּכְשֶׁשָּׁלַח הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיוֹנָה לְהִנָּבֵא עָלֶיהָ לְהַחֲרִיבָהּ, שָׁמַע פַּרְעֹה וְעָמַד מִכִּסְאוֹ וְקָרַע בְּגָדָיו וְלָבַשׁ שַׂק וָאֵפֶר, וְהִכְרִיז בְּכָל עַמּוֹ שֶׁיָּצוּמוּ כָּל הָעָם שְׁנֵי יָמִים
Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakkana said: you will know for yourself the strength of teshuvah! Come and see from [the example of] Par’oh, King of Mitzrayim, who rebelled very greatly against the Rock Most High, as it is written, “Who is haShem, that I should listen to his voice?” And in the language that he had sinned, in that same language he made teshuvah, as it is written “Who is like you among the mighty, haShem, who is like you glorious in holiness.”
…
And when the Holy One of Blessings sent for Yonah, to bring prophecy upon [Nineveh], Par’oh listened, and stood from his throne, and ripped his clothing, and put on sackcloth and ashes, and called together all his people that they will fast two days.
I wonder if this is an example not only of Par’oh doing teshuvah, but also haShem.
After all, Par’oh does not merely survive the destruction at the sea, he is davkah rescued by haShem. Why?
Perhaps haShem rescues him in order to recreate the events of Mitzrayim again, but act differently.
In Nineveh, Par’oh is king again. Again, haShem sends a prophet to warn of destruction.
But in Nineveh, haShem behaves differently. Unlike Mitzrayim, he does not harden Par’oh’s heart. This is mamash teshuvah.
And from this teshuvah, Par’oh can do teshuvah himself. He saves Nineveh by acting immediately, by listening and by humbling himself, as he refused to do in Mitzrayim.
Maybe this is the “power of teshuvah” that we should know for ourselves: just as one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah, one act of teshuvah lays the groundwork for another.
The more we repair, the more we repair. And it is never too late to start.
good shabbos,
ada
p.s. thanks to fellow shel maalanik Miriam for reminding me of the Rambam’s formulation of teshuvah, that teshuvah is complete when we are in the same situation where we originally sinned but now we choose a different action.