Bo Drash

No Negotiations

In this weeks Parsha we read about Moshe’s continued approach to Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites to go worship and serve HaShem in the wilderness. The request is consistent every time. 10:9 “We will go with our young and our elderly, our sons and our daughters. We will go with our flocks and our herds—for we must have Adonai’s feast for Him.” The Pharaoh responds positively at different times to some parts of this request, though always just short of the full release of the Israelites. This was never enough. HaShem would not be negotiated down. HaShem never negotiates.

This is true with us as well. As our God HaShem wants all of us and the fullness of our worship, love, and trust. He does not settle for less. This is why there is a constant good work being done in us to refine us to give all that we have to him. HaShem is freeing us from the bondage of SIN and death, but not in an “as much as he can get” kind of way but, he is freeing the entirety of our selves.

I cannot really blame Pharaoh either. If I am honest I try to negotiate with HaShem as well. How often do I try to not let go of something that is holding me in bondage? How often do I try to “reason” with only being partially obedient? How often do we use an excuse of “the commandment probably really means this, or that was then but in the modern day we must do differently...”? How often do we say “I am not really committing idolatry, I am just doing the same things the idolaters do, but my heart is in the right place...”? The same heart as described in Jeremiah 17:9 9“The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable—who can know it?

If Pharaoh really wanted to negotiate something he might have tried a different tactic. Instead of trying to keep the people from going he might have tried to plead for his inclusion to them. What might have been different if Pharaoh had said “Since Mitsrayim has guarded and protected the people of HaShem for so long, may we accompany them, so that we may worship HaShem!” How different might history have been.

We too could negotiate in such a way with HaShem. Instead of trying to figure out how to avoid doing what we should do or to get away with doing what we should not do, what if we asked to be included even more in to his will or even in his people. It might sound like we would be asking for their to be less of ourselves and more of him.

In the end when I think about the negotiation between our creator and myself, it can really be summed up as , HaShem wants all of us and he is offering as much of himself as we can accept. What else is there for us to do but say I accept all of you?