BO 10:1-13:16

 BO 10:1-13:16

In this week’s Parsha, among other things:

• The last three of the Ten Plagues are visited on Egypt: locusts, darkness and the slaying of the first born.

• ·  We are given the commandment to establish a calendar.

• · We are instructed to bring and slaughter a lamb or kid as Passover offering, and its blood is to be sprinkled on the doorposts of our houses.

• · The roasted meat of the offering is to be eaten with matzah and bitter herbs.

• ·  The B'nai Yisrael hastily leave Egypt.

• ·  The commandment of the Passover holiday.

• ·  The special status of the first born.

• ·  The commandment to wear tefillin.
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Nostalgia

This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Bo.

In 2011 the Nahariya Anglo community learned about Parshat Bo from Rabbi Butman, z” l.

On the 9th of January,2011, Nahariya Anglo’s attended the first of what was to become and what is today our longest continuing Weekly Torah Shiur in English.  Here is how at that time the event was described:

On Sunday evening at 7 PM we kicked off a men’s Torah shiur on the weekly parshah.  Rabbi Butman presented the shiur, and hands-down he was great.  The man knows his stuff; he was well prepared, articulate.

He engaged the attendees, some of whom were beginners and some of whom were more advanced.  And there was one thoughtful soul who brought a six-pack of Goldstar, humming “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down”.

The shiur centered around that portion of Parshaht Bo where the Israelites leave Egypt with gold and silver given to them by their Egyptian neighbors.  Rabbi Butman began with a story about a man who was blessed with the choice of either being the richest man in town or the smartest man in town. 

After some deliberation the man announced to the assembled townspeople that he chose to be the smartest man in town.  Everyone applauded.  The man then announced that now being the smartest man in town, he realized that he had made a mistake in his choice.

Rabbi Butman brought out that the declaration that the Jews would leave with great wealth occurs three times in the Torah:  way back, when G-d speaks to Abraham, again when G-d speaks to Moses at the burning bush, and a third time when G-d pleads with Moses to have the Jews ask their neighbors for gold and silver.  I was taken aback regarding G-d having to beseech Moses, but there it was in 11:2 -

דַּבֶּר-נָא, בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם; וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת רֵעֵהוּ, וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ, כְּלֵי-כֶסֶף, וּכְלֵי זָהָב.

“Please, speak into the ears of the people, and let them borrow, each man from his friend and each woman from her friend, silver vessels and golden vessels."

 I won’t attempt to summarize the shiur, but it came down to not how much money you have, but what you do with it.  I am looking forward to next Sunday when we will discuss Parshat Beshallach.

Mick

I do miss him.

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At 11:2  associated with the plague of darkness:

דַּבֶּר-נָא, בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם; וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת  , וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת 

רְעוּתָהּ, כְּלֵי-כֶסֶף, וּכְלֵי זָהָב

“Please, speak into the ears of the people, and let them borrow, each man from his friend and each woman from her friend, silver vessels and golden vessels."

There is a lot going on here:

1. For one thing, Hashem is pleading with Moshe.  How often does something like that happen?  It must be really important. The consensus is that in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-14) that Abraham's enslaved descendants will leave with great wealth He will need the cooperation of the Israelites.

2. Hashem says to Moshe to make sure that the people, men and women, hear exactly what they are commanded to do.

3. The word רֵעֵהוּ or רְעוּתָהּ translated as "his or her friend" implies that we got along with our Egyptian neighbors who presumably would not begrudge the giving up to the Jew his or her wealthy possessions.

4. The verb לִשְׁאוֹל can equally be translated as to ask or to borrow.  To borrow is obviously troublesome. Borrowing is a process by which goods are received subject to a condition for repayment, either on demand or at some ascertainable future time. By not returning the borrowed goods we may be looked at by the world at large as devious or disingenuous people. 

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At 12:2, we are commanded to keep a calendar:

הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים:  רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם

לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה 

"This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year"

In the Tanach, not in the Chumash, we call this first month "Nisan". However this is a Babylonian name, an “inheritance” from our exile courtesy of Nebuchanezzar.  It means “beginning” or possibly in Sumerian “first fruits”. 

Nisan appears in the Book of Esther at 3:7 –

בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן

“In the first month, which is the month Nisan,…”

 But get this:  At 13:4, Hashem speaks about leaving Egypt, in the month of "Aviv".

הַיּ֖וֹם אַתֶּ֣ם יֹֽצְאִ֑ים בְּחֹ֖דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִֽיב

"Today you are going out, in the month of Aviv".

Rashi dismisses the problem by translating חֹ֖דֶשׁ month as the season of Aviv or springtime.  I have some doubts.  I think Aviv is a Canaanite word.  Three other Canaanite months are cited in 1 Kings, 6:37, 6:38 and 8:2. These are Ziv, Ethanim and Bul.  In between the early Canaanite names and the later Babylonian names, Hebrew months are called by their number:  the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, etc.

This is an inscription from a  Phoenician or paleo-Hebrew calendar, taken from a tablet, maybe 10^th century BCE, the Gezer Calendar.

The text has been translated as:

Two months gathering (October, November — in the Hebrew calendar Tishrei, Cheshvan)

Two months planting (December, January — Kislev, Tevet)

Two months late sowing (February, March — Shvat, Adar)

One month cutting flax (April — Nisan)

One month reaping barley (May — Iyar)

One month reaping and measuring grain (June — Sivan)

Two months pruning (July, August — Tammuz, Av)

One month summer fruit (September — Elul)

Abij

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 We have entered the new month of Shevat.

Because women did participate at the sin of the Golden Calf they have been given by God special benefits when it comes to Rosh Chodesh, the new month, one of which is not to any work.

From theTur, Orach Chaim 417:

Women were unwilling to give their earrings to their husbands; but they said to them: "Ye desire to make a graven image of a molten image without any power in it to deliver." The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the women their reward in this world and the world to come. What reward did He give them in this world? That they should observe the new moons more stringently than the men, and what reward will He give them in the world to come? They are destined to be renewed like the new moons, as it is said: "Who satisfieth thy years with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle."

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At 12: 5-6, HaShem speaks to Moshe:

שֶׂה תָמִים זָכָר בֶּן-שָׁנָה, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם; מִן-הַכְּבָשִׂים וּמִן-הָעִזִּים, תִּקָּחוּ.

וְהָיָה לָכֶם לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת, עַד אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה; וְשָׁחֲטוּ אֹתוֹ, כֹּל קְהַל עֲדַת-יִשְׂרָאֵל--בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם.

"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats;

and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at dusk".

Then the people must cook the lamb in a precise way, and fully consume it by the morning. In addition, the people are given instructions for how to eat the feast, as it says "And this is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord.

This is a very detailed mitzvah that does not seem like it is for "beginners" as clearly the Jewish people were. It could be that Hashem specifically assigned this mitzvah because of its difficulty. I think Hashem was trying to send a message to the people that this religion that they are a part of is not going to necessarily be easy, but it will be worth it. I think this can be seen in the Torah. Right after Hashem assigns the mitzvah, and the people perform it, Hashem takes the Jewish nation out of Egypt. The people can clearly see the correlation of doing what Hashem wants, and He in turn helping out the nation. 

 Is this a case as stated by Nechama Leibowitz,  that "action shapes character"?

It is not difficult to see how slaughtering a lamb would send a poignant message to Egyptians and to assimilated and non-assimilated Jews that it is Hashem who is in charge.

Are there other messages?

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The constellation Aries is overhead in March and April, the time of Passover.  In ancient Egyptian astronomy, Aries was associated with the god Amon-Ra, a chief god who was depicted as a man with a ram's head.  He represented fertility and creation. Amon-Ra was also the god of the poor and oppressed.

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At 13:3, Moshe exclaims:

וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-הָעָם, זָכוֹר אֶת-הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר יְצָאתֶם מִמִּצְרַיִם מִבֵּית

עֲבָדִים, כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד, הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם מִזֶּה; וְלֹא יֵאָכֵל, חָמֵץ.

“Moses said to the people, Remember this day, when you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for with a mighty hand, the Lord took you out of here, and no leaven shall be eaten”.

Here the Hebrew word for “remember” is  זָכוֹר. It is in the infinitive form and makes a statement. If “remember” was a command, it would be in the imperative form and written זכר

.

According to Rav Kook, the infinitive form indicates that the Torah is not merely commanding us to remember and commemorate the anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt. זָכוֹר implies a state of being. It describes us as a people who always remember this historic date.

For Rav Kook the people were not commanded to remember the 15th of Nisan. That was unnecessary. Moses was informing us that this date would be forever etched in our collective consciousness. On this day, the Jewish people were forever changed. On this day our souls gained eternal freedom.

Do you agree with Rav Kook that our Jewish “DNA”, our collective souls were forever changed by the Passover event?

I do.

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We are commanded at 13:3-10,14 to observe the anniversary of the Exodus by removing all leaven from our possession for seven days, eating matzah, and telling the story of redemption to our children.

שַׁלַּח אֶת-עַמִּי   “Let my people go”.

In the first of the Ten Pronouncements that we heard at Sinai, Hashem states: “I am the Lord your God, Who took you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery.”

On Shabbat and on Yom Tovim we specifically commemorate the Exodus; and twice-daily we have an obligation to recall the Exodus in the Shema, likewise in the Birkat HaMazon, the Grace After Eating blessing.

In the Talmud, Baba Metzia 61b, there is a discussion as to why the Torah links usury prohibitions, the commandment to wear tzitzit, and the obligation of accurate weights and measures to the Exodus from Egypt.

Honesty in our monetary dealings is the reason Hashem took us out of Egypt.  From Rashi: honesty in our monetary dealings is the reason G-d took us out of Egypt.  Quoting the Sage Rava: “Rava said: ‘Why did the Merciful One mention the Exodus from Egypt in connection with the prohibition of interest, tzizit and honest weights?’ 

The Holy One, blessed be He, declared, 'It is I who distinguished in Egypt between the first-born and one who was not a first-born; I am the one who will exact vengeance from him who ascribes his money to a gentile and lends it to an Israelite on interest or who steeps his weights in salt, or who [attaches to his garment threads dyed with] vegetable blue and maintains that it is, techelet, real blue'”

Paul Robeson says it best:

https://youtu.be/w3OjHIhLCDs

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We are commanded to wear tefillin because HaShem took us out of Egypt with a possessory  hand (בְּיָד חֲזָקָה) and with a mighty hand  (בְּחֹזֶק יָד).

At 13:9 -

 וְהָיָה לְךָ לְאוֹת עַל-יָדְךָ, וּלְזִכָּרוֹן בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ, לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת יְהוָה, בְּפִיךָ:  כִּי בְּיָד חֲזָקָה, הוֹצִאֲךָ יְהוָה מִמִּצְרָיִם.

" And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in thy mouth; for with a possessory (strong?) hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt"

At 1316 -

 וְהָיָה לְאוֹת עַל-יָדְכָה, וּלְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ:  כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד, הוֹצִיאָנוּ יְהוָה מִמִּצְרָיִם. 

"And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes; for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.' "

For me there is a sense of property right in verse 13:9.

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The Haftarah reading for Parshat Bo is from Jeremiah 46:13-28. The Babylonians led by their new king, Nebuchadnezzar, are on a tear. They have overwhelmed the Egyptian army of Pharaoh Necho II and have virtually destroyed the Assyrian army in a place called Carchemish which is located on the Euphrates River on the border of Turkey and Syria. The date is 605 BCE. The Babylonians are now headed South…Philistines beware.

The obvious connection of the Haftarah to the Torah portion is the destruction of Egypt:

“The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon coming is to bludgeon the land of Egypt.” (46:13)

הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה, אֶל-יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא--לָבוֹא, נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל, לְהַכּוֹת, אֶת-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

In 605 BCE, despite Prophet Jeremiah’s warnings regarding Egypt, and because of our weak leadership we had an alliance with Egypt.  This alliance came to naught.  It was a disaster.  The Prophet Ezekiel had similar misgivings. 

Are there geo-political implications for us today?

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VA’EIRA. 6:2-9:35

  VA’EIRA. 6:2-9:35

In this week’s Parshah, Pharaoh refuses to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. The first seven plagues strike Egypt: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Pestilence, Boils, and Fiery Hail.

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In Parshat Va’eira at 6:3, Hashem speaks to Moshe:
אֲנִי יְהוָה
וָאֵרָא, אֶל-אַבְרָהָם אֶל-יִצְחָק וְאֶל-יַעֲקֹב--בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי; וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה, לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם

“…I am Hashem. And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shadai, and I did not make my name Hashem known to them”.

As we learned last week from Rav Kook through Reb Yitz that a name reveals a being’s potential. When El Shadai speaks to our Patriarchs or when a Patriarch uses the name “El Shadai” it is to speak of a future promise or of a latent quality that may be developed. For example when at 24:3 Isaac blesses Jacob, he says: “And may El Shadai bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become an community of peoples”.

Moshe’s task was to fashion a nation out of an enslaved people, and bring them to the Land of Israel. In this instance our Creator, Hashem, has to fulfill the promise of El Shadai made hundreds of years in the past.

For all of us who have made Aliyah, Hashem's promise has come true.

In the Land of Israel we Jews are a community of peoples.

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More from Rav Kook:

With the formation of Israel as a nation the special providence of the Land of Israel became the Jewish people’s permanent inheritance. The generation of Moses was granted a higher revelation of God’s providence, as reflected in the name Y-H-V-H. This Divine name comes from the word lehavot, “to cause to exist.” Their world and ours was no longer a universe ruled by the forces of nature. We have merited a constant, direct connection to the One Who continually creates and sustains all existence.

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KHNUM

In the Parsha at 7:17 we learn about the first plague, turning the water of the Nile into blood.  Khnum was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt and clay, and its water brought life to its surroundings, he was thought to be the creator of the bodies of human children, which he made at a potter's wheel, from clay, and placed in their mothers' uteruses.

Do you think there may be a speculative connection between Khnum and the first plague? Also is there a Khnum connection to Hebrew babies being drowned in the Nile?  Any chance of the charoset that we ritually eat on Passover and which represents the sand and mortar we were forced to make, has a Khnum connection?

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Hitler, may his name be blotted out, said something like this:

If the Jew is victorious over the other peoples of the world, his crown will be a funeral wreath for all humanity…

This is fear mongering and demagoguery.  And we all know that it continues today.  Antisemitism is a Jewish reality.

 However lest you be demoralized, there is a greater reality, a much greater reality.  One in which the stage has been set by Hashem, but enacted by us Olim.  This greater reality is found in this week’s Parshah.   It is first found in Chapter 6, Verse 6 where Hashem speaks to Moses and promises him וְגָאַלְתִּי- I will redeem you.  It is this promise of redemption that trumps Antisemitism.

 Admittedly for me the word redemption or redeem is somewhat problematic.  I know how the term “redeem” is used in the ordinary sense of the word.  For example:

·        A corporation may redeem some of its shares of stock.  You turn in the stock certificate to your broker, and in exchange you get money.

·        You need some cash.  You take an item of personal property.  You bring it to a pawnbroker.  He lends you some money; gives you a pawn ticket, and he retains the item of your personal property.  Later, when you have some money to repay the loan plus some interest, you give the pawnbroker the money and the pawn ticket and you get your property back…you have redeemed your property.

 Visually for me these examples do not relate well to the redemption as presented in the Parshah.  I have difficulty imagining Hashem in the context of a pawnshop redemption.  The image just doesn’t cut it.  However, seeing Olim, in the context of a pawnshop redemption is a different matter.

 By definition, to redeem something is to gain or regain possession of something that belongs to you, however for a price.  In the first chapter of the Book of Joshua, verse 13, when Joshua and the people of Israel are setting out to reclaim our Land, Hashem says to Joshua: "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you”.

 That self same promise was also given to Moses.  And the reality is that Hashem has indeed given us this Land.  We possess this special Land because the soles of our feet have tread upon it.   And yes that requires paying a price.  All of us here have done that.  We have all given up some physical and emotional comfort in order to make Aliyah.  And so have many of our brothers and sisters given of their lives in order to reclaim this Land.

 When viewed in this context, the thirty five hundred years of Antisemitism pales if not diminished; it hides in a corner and loses its impact. When you make Aliyah you are uplifted, not only are you living a miracle, but you are part of that miracle.  I find that to be heady stuff.  Being an Oleh in Israel today is heady stuff, and I am thankful and humbled to be part of this miracle of redemption.  Shabbat shalom.

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In the Parshat Va’eira at 6:9  Hashem tells Moshe to speak to us, that Hashem will take us out of Egypt, remove us from slavery and deliver us to the Land promised to the Patriarchs.

 But we do not listen to Moshe, the reason given in 6:9 “מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ, וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה” – lack of spirit and the hard work.  Was this the only reason for us not listening?

In the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 20 we gain additional insight.  It is a sad commentary:

5. …and [I] made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand to them, saying: I am the Lord your God.

7. And I said to them: Every man cast away the despicable idols from before his eyes, and pollute not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

8. But they rebelled against Me and would not consent to hearken to Me; they did not cast away, every man, the despicable idols from before their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt; and I said to pour out My wrath over them, to give My anger full rein over them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.

9. But I wrought for the sake of My Name so that it should not be desecrated before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were, before whose eyes I made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

Bottom Line:  In spite of ourselves, Hashem brought us out of Egypt.

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In Chapter 7 of the Parshah there are three references to Pharaoh’s heart:  It has been hardened, strengthened and made weighty:

7:3 – וַאֲנִי אַקְשֶׁה, אֶת-לֵב פַּרְעֹה

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.

7:13 – וַיֶּחֱזַק לֵב פַּרְעֹה, וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֲלֵהֶם

And Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened and he did not listen to them.

7:14 – כָּבֵד לֵב פַּרְעֹה; מֵאֵן, לְשַׁלַּח הָעָם

Pharaoh’s heart is weighty; he refuses to let the people go.

The heart when referred to in the Chumash is the organ in the body that is synonymous with our brain. It is what we learn with, and in our case, Pharaoh has been made more smart, more rationale, more reasoning.  He has concluded that at whatever the cost the Jews are valuable and should not be let go.

It would be good if the government of Israel reached the same conclusion, and provided the wherewithal, spiritual and material, for us Israelis to remain in the Land.

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In Va’eira, the weekly Torah portion, there is some confusion at verse 7:9.

 Aaron is told to throw his staff down, which he does, and it turns into a תַנִין.

"קַח אֶת-מַטְּךָ וְהַשְׁלֵךְ לִפְנֵי-פַרְעֹה--יְהִי לְתַנִּין..."

"...Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a תַנִין  .'

תַנִין  in this verse is often translated as a serpent or a snake.

I do not think it was a serpent or a snake. A serpent or a snake in Hebrew is a נָחָש.

In the Book of Genesis at 1:21 Hashem creates large תַנִין which are translated as sea monsters.

 וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים

“And God created the great sea-monsters…”

A few years ago, I saw this baby sea monster in a hotel wall in Acco.  Notice the spinal column, dorsal fin or maybe a paddle, a jaw and eye sockets.  It is a plesiosaur and it swam in Israel perhaps 70 million years ago.

One of the first paleontologists to describe plesiosaurs was Mary Anning.  She was born in England in 1799.  Being a woman in 19^th century England, Mary Anning was not permitted to join the Geological Society of London.  

Shame on them.

Sea monster aside, I would use "crocodile" for this particular encounter. In ancient Egypt the crocodile symbolized ferocity; was associated with a god of the Nile called Sobek and symbolized the power of the Pharaoh

 

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As part of a detailed genealogy of the House of Levi and the family of Amram, Moses’ father, at 6:23 we get some detail about Aaron’s family:

וַיִּקַּח אַהֲרֹן אֶת-אֱלִישֶׁבַע בַּת-עַמִּינָדָב, אֲחוֹת נַחְשׁוֹן--לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה; וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ, אֶת-נָדָב וְאֶת-אֲבִיהוּא, אֶת-אֶלְעָזָר, וְאֶת-אִיתָמָר

“And Aaron took Elisheva, the daughter of Amminadav, the sister of Nachshon, for a wife to him; and she bore to him Nadav and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.”

Noticeably absent in the genealogy is any mention of Moses’ family and that of Miriam…any suggestions why?

It would be super to be connected to Moses or to Miriam, but it is not really necessary: Greatness is not reserved for the privileged few with “good yichus”, but rather is available to anyone willing to make the effort necessary to attain it. (Rabbi Shlomo Riskin)

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The Haftorah portion for Parshas Va’eira is taken from the Prophet Ezekiel,  28:25 - 29:21.  Sometimes payback to our enemies is a long time in the coming, but rest assured if it has not yet come, it is surely on its way.

Living today in Israel I know this to be true.  However for Ezekiel who was exiled in 598 BCE, before the destruction of Jerusalem it may have been only wishful thinking:

At 29:19-21:

“Therefore says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its abundance, and pillage its spoils, and plunder its booty; and that shall be the wages for his army.

I have given him the land of Egypt as his hire for which he served, because of what they [Egypt] did to Me, says the Lord GOD.

On that day will I cause the horn of the House of Israel to blossom out, and I will give you free speech in their midst, and they shall know that I am the Lord."

A major unanswered question for me, and most assuredly for Ezekiel, is that while Nebuchadnezzar did destroy Jerusalem, he was not able to conquer the city of Tyre. He tried very hard for 13 years, but did not succeed.

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SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

  SHEMOT 1:1-6:1, THE BOOK OF NAMES, EXODUS

We start a new Book this week, Sefer Shemot, the "Book of Names".   The opening Parshah begins with a retelling of the names of Jacob's sons that came with him to Egypt.  They are all gone now; it's a different generation, but one that may have problems:

In this retelling of the names, the sons of Leah and Rachel are enumerated first, and then come the sons of their hand maidens (1:1-4).  From the way they are presented, one can draw an inference that the sons of the Matriarchs consider themselves higher than the sons of the handmaidens.  This differentiation may be a indicative of disunity and discord between the brothers.

Then we are told that: "The children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed (creeped?) and increased and became very very strong, and the land became filled with them". The use of the word "swarmed", וַיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ in Hebrew is not complimentary.  Swarmed is interpreted as being lowly creatures.  You remember in the Book of Genesis when God says:  "Let the waters swarm a swarming of living creatures..."  In modern Hebrew a שרץ is a creepy crawly or a reptile or an insect.  No wonder the new Pharaoh is concerned.  

The question then is just what Pharaoh is going to do about it

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I'm listening to a tape of Rabbi Soloveichik on the opening sentence of the Book of Exodus where it says "And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt...".

The Rabbi asks: Why is the present tense "were coming" used for an event that took place 210 years in the past?

The Rabbi answers that even after 210 years the Jews were not accepted: While it is true that they were present, it is as if they were outside the land because the locals did not give them a positive response. Indeed, they were made to be slaves, their male children slaughtered..

It is only in Israel that Jews can hold their head high. It is here that we are all brothers and sisters. Outside of Israel, Jews are only fooling themselves. The best they can do is try to assimilate. But even so, you will always be a stranger in a strange land.

Come on home to beautiful Israel, better yet to beautiful Nahariya.

https://youtu.be/WBugBEWVnpA

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NAMES

This week we begin a new Book, Sefer Shemot also called Exodus 
This is Rav Kook’s take on the 1st Parshah in Shemot:
The Parshah begins with “These are the names of the B’nai Yisrael…”.
The names of the brothers are enumerated

Names are very important in Judaism. A person’s name reveals a person’s potential. And in this case the potential of the B’nai Yisrael, the nation of Israel.

What exactly is our potential?  With due respect to the Levites, the לוויים, We are no longer the Twelve Tribes.  As best as I can tell the Twelve Tribes have been replaced by Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Secular, Humanist, Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Chassidim. Misnagedim, Atheist, Haredi and Zionist Jews.  Obviously there has been some intermingling between the groups, but we are All JEWS nonetheless.  

Let us realize our God-given potential: Compassion and Social Justice.

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At Chapter 2, Verses 11-12 we learn about Moses as a grown man:

וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל-אֶחָיו, וַיַּרְא, בְּסִבְלֹתָם; וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי, מַכֶּה אִישׁ-עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו.

וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה, וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ; וַיַּךְ, אֶת-הַמִּצְרִי, וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ, בַּחוֹל.

“Now it came to pass in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and saw their suffering, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man from his brothers.

He turned this way and that way, and when he saw no man; he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”.

This was not a crime of passion.  Moses was deliberate in his action.  He had intent and what is called in the court system, the requisite mens rea or guilty mind.

The Sages go out of the way to exonerate Moshe:  Moshe never raised his hand against the Egyptian; he either said the ineffable name of Hashem or only stared at the Egyptian, both of which resulted in the Egyptian’s demise.

 In the alternative:

The Egyptian taskmaster had laid eyes on the Hebrew’s wife. So the Egyptian woke the Hebrew at night and took him out of his house, and he returned and entered the house and was intimate with the Hebrew’s wife.

This was a capital crime, and Moses’ slaying of the Egyptian was tantamount to rendering justice to a wrongdoer.

An explanation as to why the Sages were against a Jew standing up for a fellow Jew has to do with the terrible losses that we incurred during the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba Revolt.  The Sages were reluctant to have Moshe  pictured as a hero, and perhaps inspire another costly rebellion.  We took this mindset with us into the Diaspora, and outside of Israel (and sometimes inside) it is still shamefully prevalent today.

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In the Parsha at the burning bush we hear for the first time Moshe being called by his name (3:4) -

וַיִּקְרָא אֵלָיו אֱלֹהִים מִתּוֹךְ הַסְּנֶה, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה מֹשֶׁה--וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי

“…'Moses, Moses.  And he said: 'Here am I.”

We do not know what name Moshe was given at birth.  We do know that Pharaoh’s daughter called him “Moshe” which means “son” in Egyptian. as for example in Egyptian names like Thutmoses ('child of Thoth') and Ramesses ('child of Ra'),

 However, Pharaoh’s daughter may have also reasoned that since he was drawn out from the water, מִן-הַמַּיִם מְשִׁיתִהוּ,“מֹשֶׁה” is a fitting Hebrew name.

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In the Parshah at 3:8 Hashem speaks to Moshe telling him to deliver the following message from Himself to the Elders of Israel:

וָאֵרֵד לְהַצִּילוֹ מִיַּד מִצְרַיִם, וּלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, אֶל-אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה וּרְחָבָה, אֶל-אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ--אֶל-מְקוֹם הַכְּנַעֲנִי, וְהַחִתִּי, וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי, וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי.

“And I said, 'I will come down to bring you out from the hand of Egypt, out to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'””.

Moses is given an almost impossible job of galvanizing the B’nai Yisrael, to actualize their potential. It is a two-step process: firstly to seek their freedom, and secondly to make the Land of Israel their home. Moses and most of the generation do not make it to Israel. It takes 40 years of wandering to get us to the point where we are ready to fulfill Hashem’s promise.

Being in Israel today we are again fulfilling Jewish potential.

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In the Parshah at Chapter 3, Moshe Rabeinu meets Hashem at the burning bush. This is not a chance happening; it is an initial prophetic encounter. Similarly in the Haftarah portion, as read by Sephardim, the Prophet Jeremiah experiences his initial prophetic encounter.

Both men either out of modesty or fear are reluctant to proceed on their Divine mission:

Moses at 3:11-12 says to God:

 "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?"

And God responds:

And He said, For I will be with you, and this is the sign for you that it was I Who sent you. When you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

Likewise, Jeremiah at 1:6-7, “And I said, Alas, O Lord God! Behold, I know not to speak for I am a youth.”

Hashem responds: “… Say not, I am a youth," for wherever I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Fear them not, for I am protecting you, says the Lord.”

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                                  “Long Live King Mashiach”

Last week was the Christmas holiday. It celebrates the birth of Jesus, and whether you like it or not the most famous Jew of  all time.

There is a custom not to study Torah on Christmas eve. The custom is called Nittel Nacht.

"Nittel" is Yiddish for Christmas.   It is derived from the Latin natalis or maybe the Hebrew nitleh, the hanged one, referring to the crucifixion.  

Considering that Jesus is one of us, the most famous Jew of all time, this custom very popular with Chabad. To me it seems inappropriate.  

And tongue in cheek:  Maybe it is a matter of competition if your choice for the Messiah is a dead Rebbe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nittel_Nacht?wprov=sfla1    

 

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In Parshat Shemot (3:13-14), Moses is told that with Hashem's help he will lead the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. And Moses asks:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֣י בָא֘ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וְאָֽמַרְתִּ֣י לָהֶ֔ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְאָֽמְרוּ־לִ֣י מַה־שְּׁמ֔וֹ מָ֥ה אֹמַ֖ר אֲלֵהֶֽם:

“And Moses said to God, "Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

Hashem replies: "אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה "...I will be who I will be".

Is this a Divine Name of Hashem? What does it mean? What are the ramifications?

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It would appear that Hashem has made public His name to Moses.  Bearing in mind the significance of name revelation, what do we have here; what do we do with this information?

To me this is a watershed or seminal moment in Jewish knowledge regarding the ultimate being, God.  We have just been told what may be the personal name of God. 

Now don’t you say so what, no big deal.  It is a big deal.  We do not articulate the name of God when we read it in a text.  Instead we say Hashem or Adonai.  Many of us write the word God as G-d, leaving out the middle letter. We pronounce the individual Hebrew letters as a whole name, but say it as yud-kay-vav-kay, changing the letter hay to a kay.  In short, we go out of our way not even to get close to what may or may not be God’s name.  It is more than a sign of respect; it is a sign of awe.

And whether or not the name  אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should ever be uttered, I will leave that up to you.  The only time that Hashem’s name was fully and correctly articulated was by the Kohen Gadol at Yom Kippur and only in the Holy of Holies. 

 It is called the "Ineffable Name of God".

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Rav Kook considers the following:

The redemption from slavery in Egypt is not a one-time rescue mission; it is continuous, happening even today:

God’s message to the Jewish people is that the Torah and its mitzvot enables us to attain the highest state of being. The Torah guides us throughout history, in all situations, whether we were a subjugated people in exile or a free people in our own land.

The Torah at that time prepared us to be an eternal nation, to overcome the challenges of future exiles. “'I Will Be’ with them in this exile; and ‘I Will Be’ with them in future exiles.”

 Today, the Torah allows us to overcome the challenges of a free people in the Land of Israel. 

I am not sure if I hold with Kook.  But what I do know is that we are not command to forget about the name אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה, or to cease from contemplating its meaning. Had that been what was intended, then it would not have been written in Sefer Shemot.  It is my belief that the meaning of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה should be understood, and contemplated, and discussed, and remembered now and forever.

Rabbi Riskin takes the letter yad of אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה and substitutes the letter vais to get I will love who I will love. 

 This gives me the shivers…a loving God...Wow.

Christians do a take on this with the expression "Jesus loves you".

This is all good and fine except if you are being locked up in a Mexican prison.

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But for the heroism of women in Parshat Shemot there would be no Moshe Rabeinu:

SHIFRAH and PUAH, the midwives who blatantly disobeyed the Pharaoh, (1:15-21).

JOCHEVED, who put her life at risk in just giving birth to Moshe, and despite knowing if she had a boy, it was probable that he would die because of the Pharaoh’s decree, she still carried him to term. (1:22, 2:1-3).

MIRIAM, watched over her infant brother, bravely spoke up to Pharaoh’s daughter and arranged for her brother’s feeding, (2:4, 2:7-9).

BITYAH, Pharaoh’s daughter who defied her father by rescuing the Hebrew infant, named him Moshe and raised him as his foster mother, 

(1Chronicles 4:18, Shemot 2:5-10).

ZIPPORAH, saved Moshe’s life when he was about to be killed for not circumcising his son. She stepped in and did the circumcision herself, 4:24-26). An unattended consequence is that a women who performs the brit milah is called a Mohelet
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