Episode Details

Some people simply never learn. For nearly a year, Pharaoh was relentlessly struck by one devastating plague after another, yet he stubbornly refused to let the Jewish people leave Egypt. Time and again, during each plague, he begged Moshe to intervene and put an end to the calamities afflicting his land. Though he made repeated promises to release the Jews, he never truly admitted fault or took responsibility. Each time disaster struck, Pharaoh implored Moshe to stop the suffering—but his stubbornness remained unshaken.

וַיִּקְרָ֨א פַרְעֹ֜ה לְמֹשֶׁ֣ה וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַעְתִּ֣ירוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיָסֵר֙ הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֔ים מִמֶּ֖נִּי וּמֵֽעַמִּ֑י וַאֲשַׁלְּחָה֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וְיִזְבְּח֖וּ לַיהֹוָֽה׃

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with יהוה to remove the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to Hashem .”

Sometimes he would offer unrestricted freedom, only to renege when the plagues ceased. Never, except on one occasion, did Pharaoh admit that G-d was correct and he was corrupt.

That exception was the plague of hail. In fact, the plague of hail was so powerful that evenHashem Himself categorized it in a unique way. Moshe quoted Hashem to Pharaoh

כִּ֣י ׀ בַּפַּ֣עַם הַזֹּ֗את אֲנִ֨י שֹׁלֵ֜חַ אֶת־כׇּל־מַגֵּפֹתַי֙ אֶֽל־לִבְּךָ֔ וּבַעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ וּבְעַמֶּ֑ךָ בַּעֲב֣וּר תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין כָּמֹ֖נִי בְּכׇל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

For this time I will send all My plagues upon your person, and your courtiers, and your people, in order that you may know that there is none like Me in all the world.

https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.9.14

Why did Hashem consider the hail a more powerful act than His turning water into blood, or delivering pestilence, or wild animals or frogs? 

True, the hail did miraculously contain a fire ensconced in the ice, but all the plagues had miraculous attributes to them. Turning the Nile into blood is not an everyday occurrence either! What characteristic did the hail have to label it “all my plagues?”

Even more troubling is Pharaoh’s response. After the plague strikes Egypt 

וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח פַּרְעֹ֗ה וַיִּקְרָא֙ לְמֹשֶׁ֣ה וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֔ן וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֖ם חָטָ֣אתִי הַפָּ֑עַם יְהֹוָה֙ הַצַּדִּ֔יק וַאֲנִ֥י וְעַמִּ֖י הָרְשָׁעִֽים׃

Thereupon Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I stand guilty this time. Hashem is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.

https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.9.27

What caused Pharaoh to utter those submissive words at this particular time? Didn’t he already see blood, frogs, pestilence, boils, wild animals, and a host of different miraculous misfortunes that befell his people? What was so special about the fire and ice that fell from the heavens that charred even this man’s cruel temper?

Being that I furnish hotels, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky reminded me of an interesting story. 

one of America’s wealthiest and most prominent families during the Gilded Age, was infamous for its internal feuds. William had a contentious relationship with his aunt, Caroline. 

Caroline was the reigning queen of New York high society and fiercely protective of her social standing. She maintained the famous “Four Hundred”—a list of New York’s elite families, which she deemed the only ones worth associating with. William’s father, John, was snubbed by Caroline and excluded from her inner circle, which deeply offended William. This feud sowed the seeds of bitterness between William and Caroline.

In 1890, William inherited over 100 million dollars, his father’s vast fortune, becoming one of the wealthiest men in America. However, his disdain for Caroline and his general frustration with American society led him to relocate to England, where he became a British citizen and later a peer, earning the title Viscount.<