“And I (G-d) shall harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Shmot 7:3). This verse raises a difficult and basic question. How could Pharaoh be punished for not releasing Israel, when it was G-d Who prevented him from doing so?

How do we explain the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart? Did G-d suddenly turn Pharaoh into a puppet? Did He take away Pharaoh’s human free will?

Rambam provides an answer. He says that none of the biblical verses of G-d taking away a person’s freedom of will should be read literally. Rather, these verses should be understood as instances in which a person brought about a curtailing of his free will and choice as a result of his own evil actions. (Hilchot Teshuva ch 6).

It is Rambam’s understanding that human beings can create a habitual form of evil behavior which, practiced enough over a long period of time, obliterates the possibility for change. G-d did not take away Pharaoh’s will and power to make his own choices. Pharaoh did, by being in DE-NILE.

Pharoah seems to be one of the stars of the Torah. There is a Pharaoh in Avraham’s time and, there is a Pharaoh in Yosef’s time, and of course the Pharaoh of the Exodus in Moshe’s time. Pharaoh is the classic villain. He is the symbol of how the Evil Inclination can trap and ensnare a person even when he knows he is engaged in self-destructive behavior. A person knows that his self-destructive addiction is ruining him yet he can’t stop because he is in DE-NILE!

Rambam explains that the Torah’s narrative of G-d hardening Pharaoh’s heart is a warning to all human beings BEWARE,DON’T GO THERE! Rambam maintains that it is because G-d created us with rationality that once we begin to seek righteousness and perform Mitzvot, BEFORE we reach the point of no return, we have a natural desire to continue to do good. Those who, of their own initiative, come to “purify themselves”, are aided by G-d. G-d’s “aid”, in this sense, is built into the laws of nature and into the very essence of human nature.

G-d has structured the universe in which people are driven by an innate capacity to act righteously. That is the meaning of Devine Grace. G-d is seen not only in miraculous events, but in the very structure of human reason and human nature.

Thus, according to Rambam, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is NOT an example of G-d intervening or compromising human will and choice. G-d created people in such a way that once we set out on a course in life – righteous or evil – we become “WIRED”, in a sense, to continue on that path that WE chose.

Based on this understanding, G-d did NOT harden Pharaoh’s heart so much as He created a world in which Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to free the Jewish People, gave birth to a self-perpetuating reality. For this reason, Pharaoh represents the antithesis of freedom. Pharaoh is the embodiment of enslavement, of both the self and the other.

Pesach celebrates our deep appreciation of freedom and to show that G-d can change the natural order of the universe. Pesach is a Yom Tov that inculcates the belief that we together with G-d’s help will overcome oppression, tyranny, and terrorism. This is the message of the Festival of Freedom.