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EXODUS [SEFER SHMOS]Below. Or back to:
Note: MR = Moses [Moshe Rabbenu]
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Instant Universe, Big Bang, Evolution: Physics, Judaism, Kabballah
Best, Easiest way to learn the Hebrew Alphabet, the Alephbet, via their shapes. Introduction for beginners
PARSHAT SHMOS
God tells MR [3:21]
that the Jews would leave with the Egyptians regarding them favorably
(‘chayn’). This was important because of the extraordinarily negative attitude
of the Egyptians to the Jews (a somewhat familiar attitude even today?) - they
were disgusted by the Jews [1:12],
couldn’t eat bread with them [Gen 43:32], and despised them in their role as
shepherds [Gen 46:34].
Self-Hatred and Galut
MR tries to separate two fighting Jews [2:14]: From the response of the violent man,
we can see that he did not approve of MR’s killing of the Egyptian who had
beaten the Jew the previous day.
We are told that before killing the Egyptian [2:12] “MR saw there was no-one
around.” So who could have spread the rumor of the act if no-one was around
during the slaying?
Obviously the Egyptian’s victim was there. So perhaps even
the victim who was saved by MR may have presented MR’s actions in a negative
light. Perhaps the one hitting the other Jew was the previous day’s victim!
This would certainly have disheartened MR and later on led
him to believe that the people would not accept his leadership.
PC Names
MR names his son “Gershom” [2:22]. Besides the reason given for the name (see below),
there are two hints at other possible reasons for the choice.
- MR
met his wife and her sisters at the well: he saved them when the shepherds
had chased them away; ‘and they chased’ = “vayigorshoom’ [2:17]. MR’s action certainly
deserved to be commemorated, and it would not have been surprising if MR’s
son was named for this act. However naming his son this way might have
served as a constant reminder of the event and so could have antagonized
the neighbors and even have been dangerous to his son in that area, and so
it was not mentioned openly.
- Also,
the very last passage of this week’s portion again contains the very same
word: [6:1] God tells MR that Pharaoh would be mightily struck and would
as a result eventually “chase the Jews out” of Egypt [“Yigorshem”]. Again it
may be that the name was not given this meaning openly since it was an act
that would occur only in the future, and had a connotation which could
also perhaps serve as a source of antagonism.
- The
meaning given for the name is that MR was “a stranger (“Ger”) in a strange
land”. The other two sources seem much closer to the actual name: simply
from the sound of the word, the source of “Gershom” seems more likely to
be “vayigorshoom’ and/or “Yigorshem” than simply “Ger” . This lends
support to the possibilities mentioned above.
- Perhaps
the reason MR and his son were too vulnerable to openly mention the two
reasons above as the source of the name might have been the fact that MR
was a stranger in that land: this then would be the double entendre of the
name, and of the alleged reason for it (being a stranger, “Ger”). (This is
similar to the double meanings hidden in the naming of Be’er Sheva/Shova.)
Keeping a Low Profile
Yitro’s daughters tell him [2:19] “An Egyptian man saved us”. Although MR is
criticized by the sages for allowing them to represent him this way, since he
was a fugitive from the royal court it was probably wise not to immediately
reveal his actual identity.
Testing MR’s Observance
MR sees the burning bush, and says [3:3-4]: “Let me see this
wondrous sight”.
The Torah then says “And God saw that he turned to see”.
The implications are:
- It
was not a foregone conclusion that he would turn to analyze it
- The
fact that he did turn was important to God;
- Perhaps
most people would not even notice the phenomenon, or not realize its
wondrous aspect, or simply be ‘too busy’. God knew that MR was a very
unique combination: on the one hand he was very humble, yet on the other
hand he was an activist, willing to place his life on the line to save a
fellow Jew, and was also willing to kill to save Jews. Now God wanted to
test other aspects of his nature.
MR passed this initial test.
May God’s Spirit rest on Bush
Moses says “Let me please turn aside and see this wondrous
sight, why the bush doesn’t get consumed”. Who is he talking to? Why does he
need ‘permission’?
Perhaps he was studying Torah, or equivalently, in
communication with God.
- Abraham
left conversation with God to welcome guests: he knew that this is what
constitutes the true welcoming of the spirit of God.
- The
Sages teach that one who is studying Torah may not interrupt to remark
about a beautiful aspect of nature . The example given there is: a peson
who interrupts his learning Torah to say “Oh, what a beautiful tree!” (‘ma
na’eh ilan zeh’) . There are many commentaries on this: some say that what
is forbidden is to consider this an ‘interruption” of Torah learning,
since it implies that the Torah and the tree are not from the same
‘author’, God.
- MR
does the equivalent of what Abraham did: rather than interrupting a
contact with God to look at the wondrous phenomenon, he perhaps suspects that God’s spirit was
present in the bush, and so turned to it in the understanding that
something which exemplified divine contact demanded his attention.
Hints:
- “asurah’
= forbidden:
- asurah
na = “naeh asur”.
Moses’ Horns
(Michaelangelo’s statue)
- After
looking at the burning bush, MR hid his face in fear of looking at God
[3:6].
- After
his later encounters with God MR’s face shone and people hid their faces
from fear.
Cause and Effect
In the context of the Torah’s accounts, a dream
interpretation affects its realization; similarly the response to a divine
mission affects its outcome.
- The
implication of God’s initial command to MR [3:8-10] is that Pharaoh will
listen to his request to free the Jews.
- It’s
possible, however, that MR’s negative replies altered this intended
future.
- MR’s
first response to this command, “Who am I to do this?” could have derived
from his humility, and God replies in kind, however analysis of
the text (of God’s responses to MR) indicates that with each successive
remark by MR in this cosmic dialogue, the fated negativity associated with
the mission increases.
Although MR was the most worthy of his generation, and all
subsequent generations, nevertheless as a human being he did have faults. Had
MR immediately acquiesced in his mission and gone to confront Pharaoh, perhaps
the entire mission would have gone successfully from the onset. As a result of
his inadequate replies he was punished: the three signs served as
punishments/warnings and also as portents of future calamities which would
befall him if he did not change:
- The
first sign is the staff turning into a snake, and then back again. This
symbolized the counsel of the snake of Eden to disregard God’s commandment: MR
disregarding God’s command to go and so the first sign was a warning to
him.
- It
served also as an augury of the future, in the matter of his son’s brit
(see my article).
- The
next sign involved MR’s hand turning white like a ‘metzora’; tzara’at was
punishment for slander, MR slandered the elders and the people saying
‘they won’t believe me’.
- This
sign too was also an augury of a future calamity which he might perhaps
have acted to prevent: his actions led to Miriam slandering him, and she
was punished with this same disease.
- The
third sign was that of the Nile waters
turning to blood. By causing the convincing of the Jews to be due to a
display of miracles rather than due to their faith, MR caused a ‘chilul
hashem’, for which the punishment is death, and hence the first sign was
the turning to blood of the waters (MR had been saved