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Why does Hashem (ה׳) tell Moshe to take a staff (mateh) to hit Pharaoh, treating him like a dog? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction: a mateh guides and directs, while a makel punishes. When Pharaoh demands "give me a sign" instead of asking "why should I listen?", he shifts the conversation from reason to power—and becomes like a dog who responds only to force, not to intellect.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes a Midrash on Parshas Vaeira that describes Hashem (ה׳)'s instruction to Moshe to take his staff (mateh) to confront Pharaoh. The Midrash states that Hashem rules over the wicked with a stick because they are like dogs, and when Pharaoh says "give me a sign," Moshe should hit him with the staff. The key question: why specifically here, and what does it mean that the Egyptians are "like dogs"? The shiur establishes a fundamental distinction between two Hebrew terms that both relate to striking: mateh (staff) and makel (stick). A mateh is an instrument of direction and guidance—what a shepherd uses to direct sheep. A makel, by contrast, is an instrument of punishment used to hit. The Torah (תורה)'s language carefully shifts between these terms, suggesting that when discipline is needed, one takes the instrument of direction (mateh) and transforms it into an instrument of consequence (makel). This is not revenge or anger-based punishment, but rather a way of reinforcing direction when guidance alone fails.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
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Parshas Vaeira
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