The Heavenly Trial of Uzza the Prince of Egypt at the Sea

Another interpretation: "And the LORD saved that day." But were Israel in the hand of Egypt? Rather, at the hour Israel went out from Egypt, Uzza, the heavenly prince of Egypt, opened before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the universe, this nation that You are bringing out of Egypt - I have a legal claim against it. Let Michael, their prince, come and plead before You against me. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Michael: Come and plead with him. Uzza, the prince of Egypt, opened and said before Him: Master of the universe, You decreed upon this nation that they be enslaved under the hand of my nation four hundred years, as it is said, "and they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them" (Genesis 15:13), and they have served among them only eighty-six years from the time Miriam was born, and their time to go out has not yet come. Rather, grant me permission and I will return them under the hand of my nation until four hundred years; as You endure, so does Your oath endure. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, told Michael to give him an answer. Immediately Michael was silent. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, answered and said to Uzza: I can argue the merit of My children. Were they made liable to servitude except on account of one word that Abraham My beloved spoke before Me when he said, "Whereby shall I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8), and I said to him, "Know surely that your seed will be a stranger" (Genesis 15:13)? Did I say "in the land of Egypt"? I said "in a land not theirs." And it is already revealed and known that from the time Isaac was born they became strangers, and the four hundred years are already complete. You have no claim to enslave My children at all. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, saved Israel; therefore it is said, "And the LORD saved that day," and so forth. "And Israel saw the great hand." At the hour the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to drown the Egyptians, Uzza, the prince of Egypt, stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the universe, You are called righteous and upright, and there is before You no injustice, no favoritism, and no taking of bribes - why do You wish to drown Egypt? Did they drown any of Your children, or kill any of them? Because they enslaved them, do You wish to drown them? They have already received their wage - all their silver and all their gold. At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered all the retinue of heaven and said to them: Judge between Me and Uzza, the prince of Egypt. At first I brought famine upon them and set up for them Joseph, who by his wisdom understood, and they all became his slaves. And in the end My children came as strangers and they enslaved them with harsh servitude, until their outcry rose before Me. And I sent them Moses and Aaron My servants, and they said to their king, "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews," and all the kings of east and west were sitting before him, and he began to boast before them and said, "Who is the LORD?" (Exodus 5:2) - one who had brought no tribute all those years, in the manner of every deity - "I do not know the LORD" (Exodus 5:2); rather, wait and I will search in my books whether His name is written with me. He searched and did not find it. Moses and Aaron answered and said to him: He created heaven and earth, and He forms the fetus in its mother's womb, and He makes the winds blow and brings down the rains and makes the dew sprout and grows trees and grasses and kills and gives life; the soul of every living thing is in His hand. He answered My messengers: There is no god in the world that does these deeds; I created myself and my river the Nile, as it is said, "My river is my own, and I made myself" (Ezekiel 29:3). He answered and said to his sages: Have you ever heard of this god? They said to him: We have heard that He is a son of sages, a son of the kings of old, as it is said, "How can you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of sages" (Isaiah 19:11), and so forth. He answered My messengers, "I do not know" (Exodus 5:2). Since he denied Me, I sent upon him ten plagues, and it availed nothing, and still he denied Me, and he added to enslave My children; and after I made known to him My power and My might, he sent them out against his will, and now he has pursued them to bring them back to servitude. One who does such a thing and did not understand - is he not fit that I drown him in the sea, he and all his host? All the retinue of heaven answered Him: The judgment is with You; do as You desire. At that hour Uzza answered and said: Master of the universe, I know within myself that they are guilty, but sit upon them with the attribute of mercy. At that hour Gabriel stood and took a mold of clay and stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: Master of the universe, did Your children not labor in servitude as harsh as this - have mercy upon them? Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, turned and sat upon them with the attribute of judgment, and He turned back and drowned them in the sea; therefore it is said, "And Israel saw the great hand."