Nevertheless, as upset as we may feel at those moments, we would most likely admit that the receiver of our reprimand is certainly not as wicked as the evil Pharaoh, who is synonymous with unprecedented cruelty the likes of which we can hardly imagine.

Yet when it comes to rebuking Pharaoh, the same Ribono Shel Olam Who demonstrated no qualms in raining down the full gamut of His wrath, insisted that Moshe and Aharon speak to him in a respectful manner, even as the content of their message reflected Divine punishment the likes of which had never been witnessed. The same Torah which gives us the mitzvah to admonish wrongdoing also teaches us that doing so politely is no contradiction, and is indeed the proper way to do so.

Rav Chaim Volozhiner goes so far as to suggest that the words of one who is unable to rebuke courteously will surely not be listened to, and in that case, the Torah exempts him from the mitzvah to reprimand wrongdoing. One who proceeds to do so anyway should be aware that in the best case he is wasting his time and energy, as his lecture will fall on deaf ears, while in reality he is also needlessly insulting and hurting another Jew without even performing a mitzvah in the process.

Va’yeit Aharon es yado al meimei Mitzrayim vata’al ha’tzfardei’a (8:2)

Rashi writes that initially, the dreaded plague of frogs only consisted of one frog. However, the Egyptians apparently didn’t like the frog and hit it in an attempt to kill it or make it go away. Unbeknownst to them, this frog had the miraculous quality that every time it was stricken, it actually multiplied into more frogs.

While we can understand the first few people who innocently hit the frogs in their naïveté, after it became clear that each additional strike would actually produce more frogs, why did they continue striking them? Didn’t they realize that every successive hit was counterproductive and only made a bad situation worse?

The Steipler Gaon answers that these questions are fundamentally flawed. Although they certainly make sense on a rational level, the Egyptians were attacking the frogs out of anger, and when a person is angry common sense is unfortunately the farthest thing from his mind. In a fit of rage, the emotional pain one is experiencing acts with a “logic” all its own. In the heat of the moment, the wisest course of action is almost always silence, as every additional comment or action only magnifies the long-term damage which must be repaired after the situation cools down. Now that we understand how irrational the Egyptians were to continue hitting the frogs and fanning the flames, perhaps it’s time we ask ourselves why we so often fail to learn from their foolish mistakes and continue in their footsteps.

Answers to the weekly Points to Ponder are now available!
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Parsha Points to Ponder (and sources which discuss them):

1)     In last week’s parsha, Moshe expressed his reluctance to serve as Hashem’s agent to free the Jewish people due to his speech impediment, to which Hashem replied that his brother Aharon would assist him as his spokesman (4:15-16). Why did Moshe repeat the exact same worry in this week’s parsha (6:12)? (Meged Yosef)

2)     The Torah records (6:23) that Aharon married Elisheva, the sister of Nachshon. Rashi writes that from the fact that the Torah mentions the seemingly extraneous detail about Elisheva’s brother, we may derive that before marrying a woman, one should first examine her brothers, because her sons will grow up to be similar to them. If a woman has two brothers, of whom one is righteous and one is wicked, is it appropriate to marry her? (Shu”t Imrei Dovid 38)

3)     Hashem told Moshe (7:3) that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would refuse to free the Jews. Does this mean that Pharaoh lost his free choice to repent his ways even if he changed his mind and wished to do so? (Yefei Toar Shemos Rabbah 13:3, Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah 6:3, Radak Shmuel 1 2:25, Ruach Chaim 3:7, Chofetz Chaim, Peninim MiShulchan Gevoha)