At the burning bush encounter, Moshe is assigned leadership of the Israelites, and he tries to duck the offer he cannot refuse. Adonai, annoyed with Moshe’s excuses, tells Moshe that his brother Aharon will be with him as a mouthpiece. Adonai tells Moshe:

וְדִבֶּר־הוּא לְךָ אֶל־הָעָם וְהָיָה הוּא יִהְיֶה־לְּךָ לְפֶה וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה־לּוֹ לֵאלֹהִים׃

“He (Aharon) shall speak for you to the people, with you playing the role of a god to him.”Adonai speaks to Moshe, Moshe relays it to Aharon, Aharon addresses the people. Yet you, Moshe, will perform a couple of miracles before the Israelites to convince them to believe.

Moshe does so, and the Israelites accept that Adonai is on their side.

Moshe and Aharon confront Par’o. It doesn’t go well; Par’o increases the work load on the Israelites.

Later, again instructed to confront Par’o, Moshe, frustrated that the overworked Israelites are not rallying around the idea of freedom, cried to Adonai, “if my own people are not listening to me, how can I expect Par’o to hear me?”

וַיֹּאמֶר יְיְ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה רְאֵה נְתַתִּיךָ אֱלֹהִים לְפַרְעֹה וְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ יִהְיֶה נְבִיאֶךָ

Adonai tells Moshe, “Now I set you as a god to Par’o, with your brother Aharon as your prophet, i.e., spokesman.” I speak to you, you relay it to Aharon, Aharon to Par’o. But this time, I, Adonai, handle the miracles. (Now it’s personal!)

As the plagues unfold, Par’o hardens his heart — then it is hardened for him, perhaps merely by enabling him to give in to his innate predilections — and things get worse and worse…for the Egyptians.

As explained in the JPS Torah Commentary, the plagues are all natural occurrences; it’s the rapid succession of them that is aberrant, and indicative of Adonai’s mighty right hand at work and in control. There’s no denying Adonai’s power and intent.

Today’s increasingly frequent weather and climate anomalies — coral reef decline, drought, floods, ice melt, tornadoes — reflect our hands working at odds with nature in control; we exploit the planet for immediate gain even knowing the cost to our ecosystem.

We are acting as our own god and we are our own prophets, speaking to ourselves, unable or unwilling to break the cycle. Too many of us, including our leaders, have hardened hearts. At some point, no matter our wealth or station in life, it will be personal — each of us will feel it.

Everything we do has consequences; let’s choose to do what’s right. We can believe that Adonai is indeed on our side, but we must do our part. As we are taught in the Talmud, we can’t rely on miracles.

Shabbat shalom ! שבת שלום