Religious Pluralism \ Parashat Hashavua-- The Weekly Torah Portion by Rabbi Amy LevinGod's View and Moshe's View of Moshe's MissionParashat Sh'mot: Sh'mot (Exodus) 1:1 - 6:116-17 January, 1998 -- 19 Tevet 5758
In the very few verses from Sh'mot 4:21 to 5:4 (excluding
4:24-26), we confront three parallel exchanges between protagonists
in our parasha. The common setting for all three exchanges is
a future or a first meeting between Moshe [Moses](and Aharon
[Aaron]) on one side and either the elders of Israel, the entire
people Israel, or Pharoah on the other. Comparing and contrasting
these three exchanges will yield us some interesting insights into the worldviews of the protagonists: Moshe and God.
The first exchange appears in Chapter 4: "And
the Lord said to Moshe, "When you return to Egypt, see that
you perform before Pharoah all the marvels that I have put within
your power. I, however, will stiffen his heart so that he will
not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharoah, 'Thus
says the Lord: Israel is My first-born son. I have said to
you, "Let My son go, that he may worship Me," yet you
refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your first-born son.'
" (21-23) and lays out the future exchange between
Moshe and Pharoah as God decrees it will be.
In the second exchange, Moshe and Aharon appear before
their people as leaders who have been appointed neither by the
people themselves, or by the elders of the community: "Then Moshe and Aharon went and assembled all
the elders of the Israelites. Aharon repeated all the words
that the Lord had spoken to Moshe, and he performed the signs
in the sight of the people, and the people were convinced . .
. they bowed low in homage. (4:29-31)
And in the final exchange, Moshe and Aharon finally
confront Pharoah himself: Afterward, Moshe and Aharon
went and said to Pharoah: "Thus says the Lord, the God
of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival
for Me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh said, "Who is the
Lord that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know
the Lord, nor will I let Israel go." They answered, "The
God of the Hebrews has manifested Himself to us. Let us go,
we pray, a distance of three days into the wilderness to sacrifice
to the Lord our God, lest He strike us with pestilence or sword." But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moshe and Aharon,
why do you distract the people from their tasks? Get to your labors!" (5:1-4 Each one of these passages contains both a declaration of the divine source of the brothers' mission and a response -- either anticipated or received:
Many of the details of these exchanges are actually repetitions
of a much fuller account in chapter 3. That being the case,
why would the biblical account now include a largely repetitive
series of three encounters in close proximity to each other? I'd suggest that the reader is being presented with a convincing
association of cause and effect -- the unquestionable association
between God's expression of His will and the human execution
of that will.
An examination of the differences between the three exchanges
also hold a few keys to the inner dynamic of the text: In the
first exchange God describes the signs and wonders (o'tot u'moftim)
that Moshe and Aharon will use to dazzle Pharoah. In actuality,
however, Aharon uses the signs to establish the brothers' authority
before the people -- and even after this convincing display of
the signs' efficacy, the brothers do not use the signs before
Pharoah! The brothers' use of soft words of petition "Let us
go, we pray" in the face of Pharoah's clear disdain of God, is even harder to fathom when we know they had the arsenal
of signs and wonders at their command. Perhaps it was the power
of the signs that caused Moshe and Aharon to hold themselves
back. From God's words, they understood that Pharoah's pride
would not be broken immediately. Perhaps Moshe and Aharon understood
that the time had not come to use their "ultimate weapon"
-- that they had to leave time for God to harden Pharoah's heart. Beyond their partnership with God, their identification with His priorities, Moshe and Aharon develop an initiative of their own -- their relationship with their own people. In the first exchange, God described the future encounter between the brothers and Pharoah. In the second exchange we see Moshe and Aharon taking the time to establish their leadership of the people -- using means God had directed to be used against Pharoah -- for their own needs, not God's. In the first exchange we read "Then you shall say to Pharoah, 'Thus says the Lord:", in the third exchange, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:" both of these are directed to Pharoah. But when the brothers speak to their people, there is no direct message for the people from God -- only a recounting: "Aharon repeated all the words that the Lord had spoken. . . " Conquering of Pharoah's pride is God's clear priority. Reuniting in peace with his own people is Moshe's priority. It is a testimony to Moshe's qualities as a man of faith and as a leader that, throughout his life, he never lost sight of the human element of his saga. He cared endlessly for his people (with the occasional moment of exasperation) as he faithfully met his God's challenges. Shabbat Shalom
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Amy Levin has served as rabbi of the Masorti (Conservative) Family Congregation of Beit Ha-Kerem, Jerusalem, since September 1995. She is one of the first women to study in the rabbinical school of the Masorti/Conservative Seminary of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem. In addition to her congregational work, Amy teaches Talmud at Hebrew Union College's new Liberal Yeshiva -- a program designed to introduce English speakers to the basic texts and concepts of the Jewish tradition. Amy made aliyah in 1981 and is the mother of two wonderful teenagers.
Write directly to Rabbi Levin c/o siddur@shani.net | Visit the Masorti Movement Web Site at http://www.masorti.org
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