With all the fuss about the “Ten Plagues,” one can miss an equally impressive subtext: Moshe actually prays for the Egyptians four times. The plagues come as no surprise. We expect there to be an abundance of punishment against the wicked Egyptians who afflicted us for centuries. But would you think that Moshe would be praying his heart out to save the Egyptians? Yet, this is precisely what we find. No less than four times, Moshe prays for a plague to stop: frogs, wild animals, hail and locust. Moshe is described as praying in three ways: Vaye’etar, he prayed very hard or extensively; Vayitzak, he called out, cried out, shouted out to G-d; and Vayifros kapav el Hashem, he stretched out his hands in prayer to G-d. All this was done to help the oppressor, the slave masters!
Can you picture the prayer? “G-d, please remove this plague from the Egyptians, because…?” What is Moshe to say to convince G-d to help the hard-hearted Pharaoh? Yet we find that Moshe not only prayed, but he called out and prayed exceedingly. What was he praying so hard about? Abarbanel, the Spanish financier and commentator, says that Moshe had to pray very hard because while the Ten Plagues were part of the original plan, the four prayers were not part of the script. G-d never said that he would remove the plagues. In fact, after Moshe’s prayers, it says twice, “And G-d did according to the word of Moshe.” The removal of the plagues, the whole idea of beseeching G-d to help Egypt, was completely Moshe’s idea. Like Eliyahu HaNavi on Mount Carmel, Moshe acted first and then prayed really hard later that G-d would listen to his request, and He did.
As remarkable as the Ten Plagues are, the four prayers are equally astounding. As the Netziv, Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, pointed out in his 19th century commentary, it is surprising that even as Pharaoh continued to rebel, Moshe’s prayers on his behalf were accepted. Or, as the Mechilta says in the context of Moshe calling out on behalf of Klal Yisrael later on, “This is to Moshe’s credit that he did not say, since they quarrel with me, I will not ask mercy for them.” Moshe prays for the very people he is fighting against. Is this not remarkable?
Why is it important that we take note of what we can now call the Four Prayers? Because the goal of the Exodus was not for the world to see G-d only as a vengeful G-d of war, but also as a healer. As Moshe says in his final song, “I put to death and I bring to life, I strike down and I will heal.” G-d is not only a plague-bringer; G-d is also a healer, a plague-remover. A friend of mine once said that many of us have an “image of G-d” problem. We picture G-d as the booming voice of the original Ten Commandments movie, and perhaps much less so as the soft voice of this more recent iteration of Exodus on film.
The idea that G-d can afflict and heal was already established by Avraham when he brought about King Avimelech’s plague and then prayed for him to be healed. G-d and His Torah are not here only to demand and to rebuke, but also to heal and to benefit humanity.
The Baal Shem Tov once wrote that when the Torah says that the goal of the Exodus was for Egypt to “know that I am G-d,” He didn’t just mean that the Egyptians needed to learn that G-d is Hashem, the Merciful One, but for those Jews who had become like Egyptians to learn this as well. We can all, at times, fall into the trap of seeing G-d as the Egyptians did, a vengeful, demanding, unforgiving G-d. Moshe’s audience for his prayers was not only Pharaoh, but also each one of us, to remember that G-d is a healing, loving G-d, even to the greatest sinner.