Bo el Paro ki Ani hikhbad’ti et libo...  Come to Pharaoh because I have made his heart dense… (Exodus 10:1)   Our parasha begins by inviting us to come into lev paro, into Pharaoh’s heart, to holistically enter the psychic drama of the story.  The main locus of the Exodus narrative takes place within Pharaoh’s psyche as his heart-mind is hardened, toughened and made heavy by God, by Pharaoh him self and also by its own autonomy.[1]

Once again I ponder how the Divine chose to intervene in the liberation drama of the Israelites so that the freedom of one people involved the suffering of another.  I invite us to meditate on an alternate scenario in which the lessons could have been learned, and freedom achieved, without the Ten Plagues. 

I ask us to again consider, as we discussed last year, how Pharaoh’s heart can be a metaphor for collective leadership as well as for our own personal motivational dramas.  How easy it is to be beset by influences form the inside and the outside, to act from a place of unconsciousness or willfulness instead of from the knowing of what is True and Right. 

Let us practice softening our minds and opening our hearts to take in the perspective of others who may be affected by our actions.  Let us bring awareness to our intentions so that our hearts not become hard, heavy, callous and autonomous. 

With blessings for the cultivation of wise and discerning hearts,
Rabbi SaraLeya
28 Tevet 5771
January 3, 2011

[1] In Biblical texts, the  word “lev” - “heart” is not the locus of emotion as much as it is what we would today call mind, the locus of intention and will.  Perhaps it is best translated as heart-mind.