Parsha_Push Parshat Beshalach

Great pain has accompanied our lives in recent times. And alongside the pain, there is immense frustration about – how our leadership is coping, how we return to our old arguments, and how the media inflames disputes, promotes agendas, and doesn’t take responsibility.
It seems that in our Torah portion, we can identify the dynamics between different groups and their responsibility for Egypt’s downfall.
Throughout the negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh, there is some ambiguity. Moses’s first request was to travel a distance (not time!) of three days to sacrifice. Though not explicitly stated, one could infer that they would return. Later, there was talk of ‘serving’ and ‘in the desert’ in more general terms, until finally, the demand became a fixed phrase: ‘let my people go that they may serve Me.’
In our portion, when Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart and said, “What is this we have done, that we have sent Israel away from serving us”, it was clear they well understood that if the Israelites go to serve God, they stop serving Egypt. It’s that simple.
So what changed the minds of Pharaoh and his servants?
Two things.
First, a crack formed in the “divine facade.” For a moment, Pharaoh and his people thought the great God wasn’t so great, and He wasn’t really leading His people forward into the desert. If the Israelites were ‘confused in the land,’ perhaps their God was confused too. For a moment, Pharaoh and his servants thought the power was still in their hands.
But there’s an additional point. Before Pharaoh and his servants’ hearts turned, we discover that: “It was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled.” But the rumor-mongers, conspiracists, and newspaper columnists of the time presented an alternative narrative. They claimed the people fled, meaning that Israel’s exodus was limited from the start. The fact that the people hadn’t yet gone ‘three days’ journey,’ and that the Israelites’ route seemingly led back to Egypt, didn’t matter. One could simultaneously say that the Israelites were returning while also claiming they were fleeing. All this while forgetting that just moments before, everyone had risen in the middle of the night to drive out the Israelites.
These publicists, “public opinion makers,” who may or may not have known about the negotiation terms, who saw Egypt heading toward destruction, are the ones who would push Egypt into the abyss itself. The criticism of the fleeing people, which hints at criticism of the government that allowed it, this ‘telling,’ is perhaps what pushes Pharaoh over the edge.
There’s no doubt that Pharaoh is responsible for his actions, and his servants who join him will also be punished, but the dynamics themselves have the power to harden Pharaoh’s heart and push him to do things that reason opposes.
In our days, we’re all somewhat publicists, trying to navigate the ship from our keyboards. There’s much good in this when we seek to make our values part of public discourse. In a democracy, it’s important that leadership is accountable to the people. Still, great caution is needed, especially on the part of those who have a microphone (or printing press) and not just a keyboard. They must recognize the limitations of their knowledge, develop historical consciousness, speak based on clear information, and take responsibility for the places they push towards.