Parshas B'Shalach - Squeaky Wheels

One of the continuing regrets I have in my work as the K-1 teacher in a Sunday morning Hebrew school is that I feel compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time on the children that act out, shout out, and/or just can’t seem to sit in their seats. The wholly ‘good’ kids – the ones who are eager to learn, sit in their seats, and play by the rules – consistently get less attention than I’d like to give them.

As I see in this week’s Torah reading, Moshe faced a similar challenge as the leader of the Jewish people. In at least one situation, he managed to apportion his attention fairly and ‘reward’ the faithful.

The Jews have escaped Egypt, traveled for a few days, and are now encamped by the Red Sea. Then they see that the Egyptian army has pursued them and fast approaches. “The Children of Israel raised their eyes and behold - Egypt was traveling after them and they (the Jews) were very frightened; the Children of Israel cried out to God. And they said to Moshe: Were there no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What did you do to us, to take us out of Egypt? Didn’t we tell you in Egypt: Let us be and we will serve Egypt, for it is better that we should serve Egypt than we should die in the wilderness.” (14: 10-12).

Ramban and other commentators read these verses and discern that the reactions to the approaching threat reflect two different groups within the nation of Israel. One group, the faithful (the “Children of Israel”), saw the threat and “cried out to God” – as Rashi interprets this phrase, they prayed. The other group (referred to more dismissively as “they”) saw the threat and complained cynically to Moshe.

But look at Moshe’s response. “Moshe said to the people: Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of God that He will perform for you today; for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall not see them ever again. God will make war for you. And you (emphasis added), shall remain silent.” (14:13-14)

We can interpret Moshe’s reply as addressing both groups’ distinctly. The prayerful group gets ample assurance. The grumbling group is told, basically, to shut up (although they had, of course, just heard the reassuring message too). In his attention and speech, Moshe is able to ‘reward’ the faithful and not so subtly both reassure & chide the cynics.

   

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Parshas Bo - Moshe's Anger

After Moshe warns Pharoah that in the tenth plague, the first born in each family in Egypt will die, the verse tells us: “And he left Pharoah’s presence in a burning anger” (Exodus 11:8).

Why was Moshe so incensed? It seems unlikely that Moshe was upset that Pharoah’s continued obstinacy blocked Jewish liberation, because God has promised him moments earlier that after this last plague, the Jews would be imminently released (11:1). So why is Moshe filled with anger?

Rashi suggests that Moshe is upset because shortly before he warned Pharoah about the last plague, Pharoah said “Don’t come see me again!” (10:28). Given that we’re told later that Moshe “was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the earth” (Numbers 12:3), we can probably rule out a personal slight as the motivation for Moshe’s fury. So what then? I suggest that Rashi is pointing to a critical, though perhaps often overlooked, aspect of Moshe’s character – his universal outlook.

We will recall that Moshe’s adoptive mother was an Egyptian princess and he was raised in the palace. Though his current mandate as God’s messenger led him to focus exclusively on the liberation of the Jewish people, Moshe may have retained some attachment to and concern for the Egyptian people. We know as well that when he fled Egypt, after executing the Egyptian taskmaster who was needlessly torturing a Jew, Moshe arrived in Midian and saved Yisro’s daughters – all non-Jews – from being harassed by the local shepherds (2: 17). It appears that Moshe actively cared about all people, not just his Jewish co-religionists. It is possible, then, that Moshe’s anger stemmed from his concern for the Egyptians and his frustration that Pharoah – in his great arrogance - had just needlessly squandered an opportunity to save them from incredible suffering.

As Jews, we believe that we follow a particular destiny. This Torah verse should prompt us to consider that our unique destiny does not preclude us, and indeed should prompt us, to exercise compassion for the broader world around us. 

Parshas Va'eira - Extreme Humility

Moshe initially approached Pharoah and asked that the Jewish people be released from bondage for a three-day religious festival in the desert. Pharoah denied the request and, instead, harshly increased the work demands on the Jews. The Jewish overseers, crushed by the new rules, yell at Moshe. Moshe complains to God: “Why have you made things worse for your people?” (Exodus, 5: 1-23) God says: “Go back, tell the Jewish people that I will save them and tell Pharorah to release them or I’ll afflict his nation with plagues.” Moshe tries to talk with the Jewish people but they are exasperated and won’t listen. Moshe says to God: “Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to me; so how will Pharoah listen to me? And (besides), I have a speech impediment!” (6:12).

The last clause of Moshe’s argument is very puzzling, because he had already raised this objection to God earlier (4:10) and God explicitly addressed this concern, telling Moshe that since He created the gift of speech, He can grant Moshe relief from his disability (4:11-12). So why did Moshe raise the same concern again?

In his book Redeeming Relevance In the Book of Exodus: Explorations in Text and Meaning, Rabbi Francis Nataf suggests that Moshe’s reiterated objection reflects his extreme humility. Despite God’s reassurances, he just could not believe that he was capable of serving as God’s agent in freeing the Jews from bondage. As Rabbi Nataf puts it: “On some level, he felt that he was a speech impedient.” Moshe may have feared that no human messenger would be well suited to accurately and movingly convey God’s will in the world. But he was certain that he was not up to the task and even God couldn't convince him that he was fit for the assignment.

As Rabbi Nataf points out, it was precisely that level of sincere, deep humility that made Moshe the ideal candidate for the job.  Because Moshe was so very humble, God's messages could be related clearly without any possible distortion from the ego of the messenger.

Shemos - Gender Benders?

The first chapter of the book of Shemos (Exodus) describes the beginnings of the enslavement of the Jewish people by the Egyptians, as directed and energetically abetted by their monarch Pharoah. One verse sums up the result, with seeming redundancy: “And they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and bricks, and in all manner of services in the field; all of their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor” (1:14).

The Midrash Tanhuma picks up on the excess language of the verse and offers a few explanations. One of them states: “What does the second half of this verse (“all of their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor”) mean? That the Egyptians imposed men’s work upon women and women’s work upon men. Thus, a man would be told: “Get up and bake,” and a woman would be told: “Fill this cask, split this log. Go to the field and harvest some vegetables.”

As a husband who does much of the family cooking and laundry, who is happily married to a woman who was formerly a professor of biology (for many years, the hard sciences were mostly a male profession), and lives in society that features female policewomen & soldiers and male nurses & librarians, I find this midrash quite amusing. Yet the message of the midrash is well worth noting. I believe it is pointing out the incredible power of societal expectations and the acute distress someone would feel if they were forced to violate the norms of their era.

Perhaps I should keep this midrash in mind when I’m tempted to shrug off my teenage daughter’s commentary on what’s cool and what’s dreadfully embarrassing in her high school milieu.

VaYechi - All in the context

Sometime a single phrase can increase bitterness in one setting and lead to reconciliation in another.

Jacob’s wife Rachel, frustrated that she is seemingly unable to become pregnant, complains to Jacob that he should do something about it. Jacob replies: “Am I in God’s place?” (HaTachat Elokim Anochi?) Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (30:2).  We can presume that Jacob’s response, though it was accurate, probably did not assuage Rachel’s anxiety and pain.

Decades later, after Jacob has died and his sons return after his burial to their new homestead in Egypt, the ten sons (of Leah and the handmaids) fear that now – with Jacob gone – Joseph may take revenge on them for selling him into slavery. They send a message requesting his forgiveness and then appear before him, where they kneel down and state: “Behold, we are your slaves.” Joseph replies: “Fear not, for am I in God’s place? (HaTachat Elokim Ani?)” (50:18). He proceeds to reassure his brothers that he is not carrying a grudge and intends to act towards them only with kindness.

Nehama Leibowitz, in her essay “What If Joseph Hates Us?” notes that the Midrash Tanhuma picks up on this striking similarity in phrases and sees a connection. Perhaps Joseph’s magnanimous act of forgiveness was the ideal counterbalance for a moment of great insensitivity his father had shown to Joseph’s mother. In the best circumstances, we see our children learn and grow from our mistakes. And that is one of the greatest blessings.