MMY Torah Library .... Parsha Sefer Shemot .... Bo Hardening Paroah's Heart, Rabbi Eli Ozarowski    וַאֲנִי אַקְשֶׁה אֶת לֵב פַּרְעֹה וְהִרְבֵּיתִי אֶת אֹתֹתַי וְאֶת מוֹפְתַי בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם: "And I will harden Paroh's heart & increase my signs & wonders in the land of Egypt."  (Shemot 7:3)    וַיֹּאמֶר יְקֹוָק אֶל מֹשֶׁה כָּבֵד לֵב פַּרְעֹה מֵאֵן לְשַׁלַּח הָעָם: “Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Paroh’s heart has hardened, he refuses to let the (Jewish) people go. (Shemot 7:14)  וַיֹּאמֶר יְקֹוָק אֶל מֹשֶׁה בֹּא אֶל פַּרְעֹה כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ וְאֶת לֵב עֲבָדָיו לְמַעַן שִׁתִי אֹתֹתַי אֵלֶּה בְּקִרְבוֹ: And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying go to Paroh because I have hardened his heart & the heart of his servants, in order to place these signs of Mine in his midst. (Shemot 10:1) The Torah continuously describes in the above pesukim (as well as many more) Paroh's stubbornness to free the Jews as “Paroh’s heart is hard.”  The Torah also describes Hashem as "hardening" Paroh's heart.  What is the meaning of these expressions?  Also, in some places it says that Paroh hardened his own heart, while in others it says Hashem did it to him- which one was it?  If the latter, then how can Paroh be held responsible for his misdeeds? The Alshich HaKadosh (7:14, 8:11) suggests the following idea: it might be somewhat surprising that Paroh would ignore the special signs shown to him by Moshe (such as his snake devouring all of the others as well as the other Makot).  Nevertheless, Chazal (Bereshit Rabbah 34:11) point out that the difference between the tzadikim & reshaim is that the righteous are in control their hearts, while the wicked are controlled by their hearts. Paroh, one of the premier examples of a rasha in the Torah, has an overwhelming feeling of hatred towards the Jews & continues to enslave them.  This feeling in his heart completely controls his actions.  Thus, the most prominent display of Hashem’s rulership over the world through all of the plagues of frogs, wild animals and hail does not impact on Paroh’s decision making process.  His heart controls his actions, nothing else matters.  This is why, says the Alshich, the Torah stresses that Paroh’s heart is hard so many times: to remind us that although most normal individuals would be convinced to free the Jews, don’t be shocked that Paroh continues to react stubbornly and refuse to do so, since the wicked are not in control over their emotions.    How then did Hashem harden his heart?  The Alshich (10:) explains (as do other mefarshim such as Sefer HaIkarim, Seforno and possibly Ramban to 7:1) that Paroh really did not want to let them go.  However, the plagues were having their impact and due to the pressure on Paroh, he would have been willing to let them go.  So Hashem made sure to harden his heart so he could choose what he really wanted to do deep down inside, without regard for the physical external pressures affecting him. This, in turn, allowed Paroh to decide not to let them go each time, which is what his "heart" truly wanted to do all along.  We see from the story of the Makot how low the wicked can sink in following their desires.  They can only change their minds when forced to by outside pressures but in reality are still controlled by their inner emotions.  Tzadikim, on the other hand, can develop the power to control their feelings and emotions & manipulate them to help service Hashem.  There is a well known story about Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (see http://www.aish.com/tp/b/sw/48954261.html) where he was picked up by a student to take him to an appointment. The driver helped Rabbi Feinstein into the car, and then closed the door. Upon arriving at his destination, Rabbi Feinstein was greeted by another student who noticed that his hand was crushed and bleeding. "What happened?" he asked. Rabbi Feinstein explained: "The driver closed the door on my hand, but I didn't say anything so not to embarrass him."  This story, with its incredible demonstration of a tzadik’s commitment not to embarrass someone, reminds us that we are not hostages to our own psychology, we too can work to develop our control over our actions and emotions.  We should all merit to be included with the tzadikim who can control their emotions and not with the wicked who let their emotions control them.