On this day, Ezekiel prophesied that Egypt would be destroyed, as punishment for failing to keep their repeated promises to assist the Israelites.

So says the L‑rd G‑d: Behold I am upon you, O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great serpent that crouches in the midst of its rivers, who said, “My river is mine, and I made myself.” I will put hooks in your jaws and will cause the fish of your rivers to cleave to your scales; and I will drag you out from your rivers….I will scatter you in the desert, you and all the fish of your rivers…to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the heaven I have given you to be devoured. (Ezekiel 29:3–5)

Links: Haftorah Reading for Va’eira; Va’eira Haftorah in a Nutshell; Action Is the Main Thing

They asked the Baal Shem Tov, “The Talmud tells us that for everything G‑d forbade, He provided us something permissible of the same sort. If so, what did He permit that corresponds to the sin of heresy?”

The Baal Shem Tov replied, “Acts of kindness.”

Because when you see a person suffering, you don’t say, “G‑d runs the universe. G‑d will take care. G‑d knows what is best.” You do everything in your power to relieve that suffering as though there is no G‑d.

You become a heretic in G‑d’s name.