Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"Hashem said unto Moshe, 'Say to Aharon Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt; over their rivers, over their canals, over their reservoirs, and over all their gatherings of water, and they shall become blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the wooden and stone vessels" (Exodus 7:19)

The plague of blood is the first of the plagues that will go on to decimate Egypt. When we read about the plagues and hear about the miracles that occurred in Egypt, we may wonder what was so great about them in the first place? G-d is the one in charge of nature and controls it, so can't He change things if He so desires for whatever reason? Certainly He can and did but what is the deeper message here?

When we hear about the miracles we are astounded as to their tenacity and utter destruction of this nation where the Jews were seemingly unaffected by it! At the same time it was to show G-d's power in the world and instill in the Jewish people the idea that not only does G-d run the world but He interferes in history. This is the concept of Hashgacha Pratis (Divine Providence) which is a major tenet of Judaism.

It is so important that the mitzvah to believe in G-d is so strong that we are obligated to believe in Him through knowledge of His existence because He took us out of Egypt. This means that not only does G-d care for us and what happens to us but He control nature and can change it at His will! Another important lesson we learn from here is that when Moshe told Pharaoh that this or that plague was going to occur it did!

This is nothing short of miraculous because isn't it true that we may sometimes promise to do things but somehow we get sidetracked or bogged down with other things and don't end up doing it? Even with the greatest of intentions we may fail in this. The Torah here teaches an important lesson.

When Moshe told Pharaoh that G-d was going to do something it happened. Not only that it happened each time! How could it be after the first few plagues that Pharaoh could still deny G-d's existence. When Moshe said something would happen it did. How could Pharaoh deny this?

The answer is that this is why G-d hardened his heart and did not allow him to do teshuvah. He took away his freewill because after witnessing G-d's miracles he still rebelled against Him. G-d gave him an opportunity and Pharaoh basically spit in G-d's face. G-d then decided well if that is the case then He is going to make an example out of Pharaoh and his people by showing His might against him.

If this is true, then all the more so we have to be careful if G-d does something for us and we witness or hear about a miracle and it doesn't change us. The reason is because now we have a higher awareness of Him which now should change us to do teshuvah and become better people. If we don't do this and acknowledge what is happening then the repercussions can be that much worse.

If we say that with everything going in the world we see tremendous Divine Providence and miracles all around us, how can it not change us and if it doesn't change us, how much worse it will be for us! We have to wake up and see what is happening and realize all the chesed G-d does for us and continues to do for us!

Shabbat Shalom