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Moses and Aaron gathered the elders and performed signs before them, as they were commanded. They believed Moses, as the Lord told him, and they went together to Pharaoh and said to him: “This says the Lord... let My people go, that they may have a feast for Me in the desert” (Ex. 5:1). Pharaoh, either for the sake of the host of the elders of the people, or having learned about the signs that Moses and Aaron had done before them, without cruelty says to them: “How much, Moses and Aaron, are you turning my people away from their deeds?” ( Ex. 5:4 ). But when they continued to ask to let the Jews go, the king became inflamed with anger and, instead of asking for a sign, asked: “Who is the Lord whose voice I will listen to?” ( Ex. 5:2 ). Because he said: “Who is this Lord?” , not visible to him in any form, it became necessary for the Lord to become visible to him in signs. And it is certain that Pharaoh with this rude question: “Who is the Lord?” – brought subsequent executions upon himself. For the hardness of his heart, he was displeased with saying this, but to his word he also added that he forbade giving chaff (straw) to the Jews, so that they would have more work, so that they would not have peace and would not think about the exodus (straw was given to the Jews for making bricks). “And the people were weary... to gather up the reeds for the chaff” (Ex. 5:12). The Jews had difficulty finding chaff because it was the month of Nissan, the time of flowers, and not Tammuz (Famuz) or Av (Ov), the time of chaff. Therefore, the scribes and the Jewish people, without mercy, “beat the pharaohs... and they cried out to Pharaoh...” (Exodus 5:14-15) “and I said to them: the festivals are natural, therefore ask to go and offer you a sacrifice to God" (Exodus 5:17). “But the scribes have seen the sons of Israel... in the wicked" (Exodus 5:19) and in the presence of Moses they complained to the Lord about Moses and those who were with him. And Moses said to the Lord: "Even more words were spoken to Pharaoh... in Your name" (Exodus 5:23), not only did the people's deliverance from disasters not take place, as he had hoped, but the disasters from that time on increased even more. You might be interested in: