Machshavah Lab

Vaeira: Rambam vs. Sforno on the Hardening of Paroh's Heart

December 31, 2021 Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss Season 6 Episode 32
Machshavah Lab
Vaeira: Rambam vs. Sforno on the Hardening of Paroh's Heart
Show Notes

Length: 1 hour 12 minutes 
Synopsis: This morning (12/31/21), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, we had a SURPRISE shiur on the parashah! (It was a "surprise" in the sense that I didn't prepare a shiur. This began as a Q&A and turned into a shiur.) The question was: "What's the deal with Hashem hardening Paroh's heart?" After showing off AlHaTorah's excellent "topics" feature and reading Neima Novetsky's setup of the questions, we focused on two explanations: Rambam and Sforno. I chose these two because they are near-exact opposites in their approaches. We spent the bulk of the time on the Rambam's approach, then contrasted it with Sforno, after which I explained why I personally prefer Sforno's approach because it's more in line with how Hashem operates (according to my understanding), but am still open to readings of the Rambam which harmonize his view with my understanding of Hashem's ways.

Please feel free to leave your questions, insights, and feedback in the comments!
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This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Albert Hanan and Justin Coskey in honor of Aryel's and Batya's wedding.
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מקורות:
https://alhatorah.org/Hardened_Hearts/1/en
רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות, שמונה פרקים, פרק ח
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תשובה ה:ב; ו:א-ד
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה י:ד
ספורנו - שמות ד:כג; ז:ג-ד
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