רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
Parashat
Shemot
Exodus 1:1-6:1
Exodus 1:1-6:1
Adam
Ruditsky
A People of Values
The book of Genesis concluded with the narrative of Jacob and his family whereas the Book of Exodus (Shemot) begins a new narrative about a nation with a particular set of values. We know that this nation was made up of people who descended from the children of Jacob, and in the language of Torah, this nation would be called God’s “firstborn.” But Israel was not the first nation as Egypt clearly preexisted them. In this case, it is not what makes them first, but how they are first.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his commentary on this parsha writes that in effect God is saying to Pharaoh, “these people may be your slaves but they are my children,” because as a people they are different than the ways of Egypt. But do not hear that wrong, that does not mean that the Egyptians were all reprobate or unredeemable. R’Sacks makes this point with Pharaohs’ daughter who went against the decree of her farther and rescued a little Hebrew baby, sanctifying life over law. R’Sacks asks us to consider Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob who had their names changed by God, not to mention Joseph who was renamed by Pharaoh, in contrast to Moses who received his only name from Pharaohs daughter. Our teacher Moses received his name from an Egyptian woman, celebrating her faithfulness to the preciousness of life.
In the bigger picture, we are talking about the intrinsic values of right and wrong, or good and evil. In the Talmud from Berachot 7b we find the comment from Proverbs 28:4, “Those who abandon the Torah will praise wickedness, and the keepers of the Torah will fight them,” yet seemingly in contrast we also find, “Do not compete with evil-doers, and do not envy the unjust” quoted from Psalms 37:1. As the Rabbi’s discussed this tension they concluded that the juxtaposition of these two verses teaches “do not compete with evil-doers, to be like evil-doers, and do not envy the unjust to be like the unjust.” The value of Torah gave voice to how to stand up to wickedness, so Pharaohs daughter chose to “fight” against the evil decree of her father and stand up for a better way, a direction that suggests an ethic of life rooted in an internal moral Torah. This seems to have been shared by the midwives, Shifra and Puah, two women who also went against the decree of Pharaoh to kill all Hebrew baby boys under 2 years of age. Interestingly according to the Talmud, Shifra and Puah are thought to have been Yocheved and Miriam, reflecting a tradition where the midwives may or may have not been Jewish (cf. TB, Sotah 11B). Regardless, this idea of an internal moral Torah was not just inherent to the Hebrews alone.
While others in Egypt surely had this idea of an internal Torah, it really is about how Israel was the firstborn as opposed to what makes them the firstborn. What makes Israel the firstborn in the Hebrew Bible really begins with God’s first servants in this this world, Adam and Eve. God chose Adam and Eve as the first people who were asked to participate in the tikkun of the world. Likewise, Israel is the first nation asked collectively to do the same. How is another although similar matter. How is rooted in a people of Torah who we meet beginning in the book of Exodus. But how is also rooted in a connection with God. We read in this parsha the story of Moses and the bush that appeared to be burning. Moses had an encounter with God who speaks from the midst of this bush to affirm Moses’ role in the promises for the Jewish people that was made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob before him. What is curious about Moses’ response is that it is terse, thus the text says, “and Moshe said before the Lord, who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring forth the sons of Israel from Egypt” (cf. Targum Yonathan). There was no fear on Moses’ part, but a reaction to an interaction with God that was almost normal, or even expected. Moses responded by not saying anything about the encounter itself, but simply, “who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh …” The Ohr HaChaim writes that Moses responded the way he did because “he was afraid that if Israel would suffer some setback on the road to freedom he might be held responsible since he was not qualified to be that leader.” The idea of Moses’ fear is picked up on by R’Sacks who gives a reason why Moses could not look at God’s face. In this case Moses did not want to Look at God’s face, because if he did he would see the world as God sees the world, and if he saw the world as God saw the world he would have to see the cause of human suffering. Instead, Moses chose to be embrace. his humanness, knowing that fixing the brokenness of his people under the oppression of Egypt was his duty as he also embraced a higher value of life.
While there was the internal moral compass of the life affirming value of Torah in Pharaoh’s daughter and the midwives, in Moses we learn that his internal moral Torah was connected to his ethic of life from the Divine. Moses’ own spirituality was tied to his place of “other” and just not programmatic or procedural, it was living and relational, the basis of how he would fight the evil that he encountered while in Egypt. Sure, there are other parts of Shemot we could have addressed but Moses’ encounter with God at the bush underscores how Israel differed from the other nations of the world, which is why they were God’s firstborn. God’s firstborn nation is being asked to create itself upon a connection to "other," a connection that was not only based on the innate value of the higher good, but also in partnership with God who is understood trough the the spiritual nature of Torah in the physical world. In the tradition of Shemot, we do not see God’s face because being human is tough enough, but being human is also encountering a sense of "other" that can further speak to the human values of life and justice. This is the Israel we meet going forward.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his commentary on this parsha writes that in effect God is saying to Pharaoh, “these people may be your slaves but they are my children,” because as a people they are different than the ways of Egypt. But do not hear that wrong, that does not mean that the Egyptians were all reprobate or unredeemable. R’Sacks makes this point with Pharaohs’ daughter who went against the decree of her farther and rescued a little Hebrew baby, sanctifying life over law. R’Sacks asks us to consider Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob who had their names changed by God, not to mention Joseph who was renamed by Pharaoh, in contrast to Moses who received his only name from Pharaohs daughter. Our teacher Moses received his name from an Egyptian woman, celebrating her faithfulness to the preciousness of life.
In the bigger picture, we are talking about the intrinsic values of right and wrong, or good and evil. In the Talmud from Berachot 7b we find the comment from Proverbs 28:4, “Those who abandon the Torah will praise wickedness, and the keepers of the Torah will fight them,” yet seemingly in contrast we also find, “Do not compete with evil-doers, and do not envy the unjust” quoted from Psalms 37:1. As the Rabbi’s discussed this tension they concluded that the juxtaposition of these two verses teaches “do not compete with evil-doers, to be like evil-doers, and do not envy the unjust to be like the unjust.” The value of Torah gave voice to how to stand up to wickedness, so Pharaohs daughter chose to “fight” against the evil decree of her father and stand up for a better way, a direction that suggests an ethic of life rooted in an internal moral Torah. This seems to have been shared by the midwives, Shifra and Puah, two women who also went against the decree of Pharaoh to kill all Hebrew baby boys under 2 years of age. Interestingly according to the Talmud, Shifra and Puah are thought to have been Yocheved and Miriam, reflecting a tradition where the midwives may or may have not been Jewish (cf. TB, Sotah 11B). Regardless, this idea of an internal moral Torah was not just inherent to the Hebrews alone.
While others in Egypt surely had this idea of an internal Torah, it really is about how Israel was the firstborn as opposed to what makes them the firstborn. What makes Israel the firstborn in the Hebrew Bible really begins with God’s first servants in this this world, Adam and Eve. God chose Adam and Eve as the first people who were asked to participate in the tikkun of the world. Likewise, Israel is the first nation asked collectively to do the same. How is another although similar matter. How is rooted in a people of Torah who we meet beginning in the book of Exodus. But how is also rooted in a connection with God. We read in this parsha the story of Moses and the bush that appeared to be burning. Moses had an encounter with God who speaks from the midst of this bush to affirm Moses’ role in the promises for the Jewish people that was made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob before him. What is curious about Moses’ response is that it is terse, thus the text says, “and Moshe said before the Lord, who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring forth the sons of Israel from Egypt” (cf. Targum Yonathan). There was no fear on Moses’ part, but a reaction to an interaction with God that was almost normal, or even expected. Moses responded by not saying anything about the encounter itself, but simply, “who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh …” The Ohr HaChaim writes that Moses responded the way he did because “he was afraid that if Israel would suffer some setback on the road to freedom he might be held responsible since he was not qualified to be that leader.” The idea of Moses’ fear is picked up on by R’Sacks who gives a reason why Moses could not look at God’s face. In this case Moses did not want to Look at God’s face, because if he did he would see the world as God sees the world, and if he saw the world as God saw the world he would have to see the cause of human suffering. Instead, Moses chose to be embrace. his humanness, knowing that fixing the brokenness of his people under the oppression of Egypt was his duty as he also embraced a higher value of life.
While there was the internal moral compass of the life affirming value of Torah in Pharaoh’s daughter and the midwives, in Moses we learn that his internal moral Torah was connected to his ethic of life from the Divine. Moses’ own spirituality was tied to his place of “other” and just not programmatic or procedural, it was living and relational, the basis of how he would fight the evil that he encountered while in Egypt. Sure, there are other parts of Shemot we could have addressed but Moses’ encounter with God at the bush underscores how Israel differed from the other nations of the world, which is why they were God’s firstborn. God’s firstborn nation is being asked to create itself upon a connection to "other," a connection that was not only based on the innate value of the higher good, but also in partnership with God who is understood trough the the spiritual nature of Torah in the physical world. In the tradition of Shemot, we do not see God’s face because being human is tough enough, but being human is also encountering a sense of "other" that can further speak to the human values of life and justice. This is the Israel we meet going forward.
Shabbat Shalom!
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