Our abnormal national identity

Bo

Ex.10:1-13:16

Précis: God sends additional plagues (locusts and darkness) and alerts Moses that the 10^th and final plague will follow. God instructs Moses on the institution of the Passover. Then, the final plague, the death of first born, is wrecked upon Egypt. The Israelites, accompanied by the “mixed multitudes,” leave Egypt, carrying with them the “spoils of Egypt” given to them by the Egyptians. The parasha ends with a repetition of the laws regarding Passover.

Ex. 12:24-28 “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to God; throughout your generations … and it shall come to pass, when ye come to the land which God will give you … when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say: It is the sacrifice of God’s Passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt.”

Natan and Rachel Sharansky remind us of the relationship between the final plagues leading to the Exodus from Egypt, and a subsequent Exodus from the Soviet Union more than 3,000 years later. (Tablet, 1/13/16).  In this week’s reading, the plagues end with the death of the first born, and the Israelites, for the first time, must play a part in their redemption, by sacrificing lambs and smearing blood on their doorposts. Lambs were worshipped by the Egyptians, and the Israelites could declare their independence by publicly advertising their acts against the state

            Soviet Jews, they remind us, had to make the same choice. Every Jew who wished to make aliyah had to go through an individual ordeal of defiance by requesting permission to leave. They suffered interviews by the secret police (KGB) who questioned the veracity of “invitations” from “family” in Israel to depart. They needed to secure documents from employers and residences declaring their wish to leave, and they often lost dwellings and jobs during the long wait, all the time being subjected to public humiliation. How could Soviet Jews be so defiant, in full knowledge of the consequences? The answer may lie in this week’s parasha as well, in the verses cited above.

            The Sharanskys suggest that God was offering something more than comfort. He was offering them the promise of a national future, complete with land, children, and a memory of the Exodus. By asking permission to leave, Soviet Jews had to defy a regime to win freedom for themselves and their future.

            Jews today do not have to face Pharaoh or the Soviet Union. But we need to face the growing threats to our national existence posed by anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers, and enemies of Israel. Like the Jews of the Exodus and of the Soviet Union, it is not enough to be quiet and wait for deliverance. It is incumbent upon each of us to act. As the Sharanskys state, “we have to infuse our normal lives with our abnormal national identity. Our ancestors transcended individuality by leaping into a grand, tangible Exodus. We are left with the challenge of bringing this grand national identity into our normal daily lives.” We may not have a 10^th plague to experience,  but we must remain connected to each other if we are to remain free.