Parshas Bo

Liyluy Nishmas Elchonon Tzvi ben R' Yisroel Menachem, R' Baruch Moshe Aryeh ben R' Zev Yehuda, Zev Yehuda ben R' Shmuel Mordechai, Avraham ben R' Yitzchak Zev, R' Dovid Meer ben Harav Shmuel

In perek yud posuk chaf dalid, immediately after makas choshech, it says, "Vayikra Pharaoh el Moshe vayomer lichu ivdu es Hashem rak tzonchem uv'karchem yutzag gam tapchem yeileich imachem."  "Pharaoh called to Moshe and said, Go serve Hashem only your sheep and cattle shall stay here; even your children can go with you."

After the makka of choshech Pharaoh told Moshe to take out all the people but leave the animals in Mitzrayim.  Rav Yaakov Neiman ztl asks, why would Pharaoh tell Moshe to leave the animals in Mitzrayim?  He knew they were going to serve Hashem and bring Korbanos because Moshe told him so.  Not only that, Pharaoh himself during the makka of arov had told Moshe and Aharon "l'chu zivchu LeiLokeichem ba'aretz."  "Go slaughter for your God in the land". So what exactly is Pharaoh thinking excluding the animals, the means to serve Hashem?

Rav Neiman explains, that originally Moshe had told Pharaoh that Klal Yisroel can't bring karbanos in Mitzrayim because there is no way that the Mitzriim would just watch passively as the jews killed their gods.  However, after choshech Pharaoh said to Moshe, "You were able to brings karbanos during choshech without the Mitzriim seeing.  What's your reason for not bringing them then?  It must be that you don't want to bring Karbanos.  In that case you can go serve Hashem but leave your animals.  To this statement Moshe Rabeinu answered "Gam atah titein biyadeinu zvachim v'olos..." "You will also give us zvachim and olos."  In other words, Pharaoh you've got it wrong, really we do want to bring karbanos but we don't know how much we need and maybe our animals won't be enough so we need from you.  However, we can not bring karbanos from stolen animals and therefore we could not take from you without your permission and that is why we could not bring the karbanos during makkas choshech.

I saw from the Rosh Yeshiva ztl that Rabeinu Yonah explains that when Klal Yisroel actually asked the Mitzriim for their possessions although the Torah uses the lashon of "sha'al" borrowing it obviously can not mean that because Klal Yisroel would be lying if they said that.  Even though the jews were owed so much for all their work and the things rightfully belonged to them, nevertheless asking them to borrow it and taking it for keeps would have been wrong.

I don't know if Rav Neiman meant that davka because a karban can't be stolen Klal Yisroel didn't take it and otherwise they would or that it was because stam g'neiva is assur (even rationalized g'neiva such as the case with the Mitzriim's possessions)  but it seems that either way the animals would have been considered stolen regardless of the fact that they too were well deserved.

Sometimes the line between what truly belongs to us and what is not ours can be hard to locate. Sometimes it takes extra sensitivity to help us do the right thing and not chas v'shalom take what doesn't belong to us.
Good Shabbos