On hardened hearts: Mental Health and Sedra Bo
At the beginning of our parashah this week God says to Moses,
בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י אֹתֹתַ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃
(Exodus 10:1)
Go to Moses for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may demonstrate these signs in his midst.
A great deal has been written about this phrase and the difficulty of reconciling our sense of fairness with the fact that a man, here, is being set up to fail. It does not matter that he is indeed a wicked man, he is being punished not because of his own actions, but because of those that God has made him do.
The 13th century commentator Hizkiyahu ben Manoa otherwise known as the Chizkuni suggests that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart only after Pharaoh has acknowledged he has done wrong. ‘I have Sinned this time,’ he says, חָטָ֣אתִי הַפָּ֑עַם ‘The Eternal is right.’ יְהוָה֙ הַצַּדִּ֔יק. (Ex 9:27)
Yet despite this acknowledgement, Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites and it is this refusal, in the face of his recognition of the Eternal God that results in God’s actions. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, in other words, not the ‘signs’ that follow it, is the punishment. God has taken over Pharaoh’s heart, God has control over his reactions and there is nothing Pharaoh can do.
Those who have suffered from anxiety or depression, understand something of this. When feelings and emotions seem to have their own volition, and refuse to match the appropriate response. The nicest things can exert a feeling of panic, and the kindest word reduce you to tears. You can ‘know’ what you should be feeling, but you cannot make yourself feel that way. There is nothing you can do. Just God controlled Pharaoh’s emotions, something ‘other’ is controlling yours.
This Shabbat is Mental Health Awareness Shabbat. After nine months of virtual lock down, and the realisation that this is not going to end soon, the mental health of so many of us has become fragile. We must do all we can to help each other, help ourselves.
My colleague Rabbi Alexandra Wright wrote the following prayer many years ago – and while it is perhaps too much to ask of individuals in the depth of depressive illness to address God directly in this way, we can all say such prayers with them and for them and hope, through it that they realise the healing they deserve.
Source of Mercy, help me in this time of need. My soul is full of anguish and my spirit full of disquiet and terror. I see the world as though through a darkened glass. I cannot connect with anyone – not even those I am close to. Even the tender reaching out of friendship or love fills me with loss and sadness. Why does everything appear to distant from me? What is the path that lies ahead? Why am I so afraid of what will become of me? Why will my soul not rest in quietness and peace? Show me your tenderness forgiving God. Help me open myself up to Your presence, pour Your spirit into my soul that I may gain the patience to wait for this journey to continue. May I put my trust in You and may I understand soon that I too am Your creation, formed in Your image and worthy to receive Your love and goodness.
(from Taking up the Timbrel page 39.)