(Shout out to Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons ) Ex. 10:9 We will all go, young and old: we will go with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds; for we must observe the Lord’s festival. As we begin our parashah , the Egyptians have experienced the first 7 plagues. Pharaoh’s courtiers understand that they have encountered the most powerful deity ever. Pharaoh still clings to the illusion of his power; he has no idea that he has gone beyond the point of redemption and still thinks he holds some cosmic bargaining chip. And God’s agent, Moses, who once might have been willing to bargain, is now no longer willing to discuss terms. When Pharaoh asks who Moses will take out of Egypt to worship the Israelite god, Moses says this: Ex. 10:9 We will all go, young and old: we will go with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds; for we must observe the Lord’s festival. And of course Pharaoh retorts that he wants the old people to go while the young people
Because cantors talk, too.