Beshalach: Owning Up to Your Mistakes — The Psychology of Denial

Rabbi Zweig delivers a deeply psychological analysis of Parshas Beshalach, focusing on the paradox of Pharaoh's decision to chase the Jewish people after the Ten Plagues. The Torah (תורה) records that after three days, when Pharaoh realized the Jews were not returning, he and his servants said, "Ma zos asinu — what have we done that we sent Israel away from serving us?" Rashi (רש"י) explains that Pharaoh's change of heart was motivated by the fact that the Egyptians had lent the Jews silver and gold, which the Jews were now taking with them. Yet the pasuk itself emphasizes the loss of the workforce, not the loss of wealth. Rabbi Zweig asks: How could Pharaoh motivate the Egyptians to risk their lives chasing the Jews just three days after every household had lost a firstborn child? And why would the loss of silver and gold matter more than the loss of an entire slave labor force — a catastrophic economic blow? The answer, he argues, lies in understanding human psychology and the inability to admit one's own mistakes.