Beautiful Mitzvot

B'shalach

Exodus 13:17-17:16

Précis: And when Pharaoh “had let them go” (b’shalach), the story of the Exodus from Egypt is almost concluded. Carrying with them the bones of Joseph and the “spoils of Egypt,” Moses leads the Israelites by way of the Red (or Reed) Sea. They cross the sea ahead of Pharaoh’s pursuing army, which subsequently drowns. Moses sings his triumphant Song of the Sea, and Miriam’s song of joy follows. The Israelites begin to murmur against Moses and Aaron because of a lack of food and water. God provides heavenly “manna” to eat and provides water as well. The Shabbat is introduced as a day of rest, even before it appears in the Ten Commandments. In their first battle, with Amalek, the Israelites are successful as long as Moses’ hands remain in the air, and with the help of Aaron and Joshua (who support Moses’ arms), they prevail.

Ex.15:2 "This is my God, and I will glorify Him."

               Erica Brown has written (Leading with Meaning 2/14/13) that this verse is a proof text for the Sages for the mitzvah of beautification of our Jewish lives (“hidur mitzvah”), noting that the Talmud tells us “Make before Him a beautiful sukkah, a beautiful lulav, a beautiful shofar, beautiful ritual fringes, beautiful parchment for a Torah scroll, and write in it His name in beautiful ink, with a beautiful quill by an expert scribe, and wrap the scroll in beautiful silk fabric (BT Shabbat 133b).’”

               This beauty comes with a significant price tag, as we all know. The Talmudic statements are insisting that there is a command to invest in our ritual objects, to beautify them, adding to the feeling we experience when they are used. There is an additional consideration related to beautifully made ritual objects: they are handed down from generation to generation. From my father, z’l, I treasure his silver kiddush cup, reserving its use for only the most special occasions. My daughter adores her candlesticks, an inheritance from my mother, z’l. When an overactive candle damaged one of the candle sticks, I brought it to a local craftsman who suggested that I simply replace it with a duplicate, since the model was still easily obtained. In fact, he said, it would be less expensive to buy a new one than to repair the damaged one. I of course had it repaired.

               Someday, we will leave behind our own treasures to future generations who will inherit a kiddush cup or candle sticks or the family seder plate or chanukiot we ourselves have used. They may think of us as these objects are used, creating a physical link between the generations.

Names, names, and more names

Va’era

Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Précis: God reiterates His intention to free the Israelites from bondage and to create a covenant with them. Moses goes back to Pharaoh to seek release of the Israelites. Pharaoh refuses and we see the first seven of the fabled plagues: blood, frogs, fleas, beetles, cattle disease, boils, and hail. Pharaoh relents after each plague begins, deciding to let the people go, but then God “hardens Pharaoh’s heart” and he refuses to allow them to leave.

Ex. 6:2-3 “God also said to Moses, ‘I am The Eternal.  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name YHVH I did not make Myself known to them...’”

               I recently had an extended discussion with a congregant couple about baby names. They wanted to know if it was “permitted” to have a different Hebrew name than the English name they planned for their child. I explained that customs vary significantly, and that while many try to use the same name as an ancestor for the Hebrew name, there seems to be a much more relaxed custom when it comes to English names, with many parents selecting names with little or no relation to the Hebrew name. The congregants with whom I spoke were not satisfied with my answer, wanting  something more definitive. When it comes to names, many of us want to get it “right.” [For a fascinating recent article on the origin of Jewish last names, see http://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names-12849.]

               This week’s Torah reading again brings the matter of “names” to the fore. In this verse, God tells Moses that He is to be known by a name previously not known to the Patriarchs. But the statement that they “did not know” the name YHVH is contradicted by the text itself. Abraham knew it (Gen. 15:7) when his covenant with God was made. Jacob knew it as well (Gen. 28:13) as we see in the story of his ladder dream. Nahama Leibowitz explains: “From this it emerges that the text is a pointer not to God’s name but to God’s essence” (Studies in Shemot p.133). This seems to mean that while the name may have been “known” to the Patriarchs, its “meaning” was being newly revealed to Moses.

          These first chapters of Exodus spend a great deal of time on God’s name. Only last week, we had the revelation of God’s name as “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh” [I will be what I will be (Ex. 3:13–14)]. Laura Geller has suggested (Reform Voices of Torah 1/11/10) that if “ehyeh” is the future tense of the verb “to be” than YHVH may be the present tense of the same verb: “is.” Someone famously once said that it’s important to know what the definition of “is” is. So it would seem here, since that definition defines the Creator.

               The Hebrew title of this Book in Hebrew is Shemot (Names). In the first parasha, we learned the names of Jacob’s descendants who “went down” into Egypt, and we learned the future tense name of God. In this second parasha, we learn the Name which “is.” Names are always important!