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.

We all have impeded speech

Va’era

Ex. 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. 6:10-13 “Adonai spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites depart from his land.’ But Moses appealed to Adonai, saying, ‘The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech. So, the Lord spoke to both Moses and Aaron in regard to the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, instructing them to deliver the Israelites from the land of Egypt.’”

            We focus our study this week on the phrase “impeded speech.” Pharaoh has already increased the burdens on the Israelite slaves due to Moses’ previous demands. Moses goes back to God and pleads to be excused, citing in part his “impeded speech.”  The meaning of the Hebrew is a bit uncertain, but can also be translated as “uncircumcised lips.”

            Tradition is not clear whether this means that Moses had an actual speech defect (recalling the midrash of his placing a coal in his mouth in lieu of a jewel as a babe when Pharaoh tested his loyalty). Others suggest that he was self-conscious and inarticulate.

            Nahum Sarna suggests a third option. While he grew up speaking Egyptian, he was away for so long that he lost his fluency in that language. Sarna then concludes that the real meaning is irrelevant, because Moses felt inadequate to speak on behalf of God to Pharaoh.

            But this, Sarna suggests is the “essence of Biblical prophecy.” The messenger is not conveying his own words, but rather those of God.

            None of us can be another Moses, but each of us can take up the challenges we face with humility and determination. We may even take a bit of courage from the story that God sent Moses, a man of impeded speech, to deliver His message. We, too, are limited, but with God’s help we can act.

            On the other hand, we cannot doubt that this means that we lose the ability to demur and to defer. If God could send a man of impeded speech to deliver His message, what possible excuse do we have to avoid our obligations?