Bo, Exodus 10:1?13:16
Shabbat, January 28, 2012 / 4 Sh’vat, 5772 The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. 448?471; Revised Edition, pp. 405–426;
The Torah: A Women's Commentary, pp. 355–378
Haftarah, Jeremiah 46:13?28 The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. 700?702; Revised Edition, pp. 427?429
D'VAR TORAH From Save Me to Serve Me Lucy H. F. Dinner
This year, I have the pleasure of
studying the Book of Exodus together with the lay-led Hebrew Bible
study group at Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I serve
as senior rabbi. This d’var Torah draws on comments and
realizations from members of the study group including Cindy, Ed,
Maxine C., Maxine S., Rachel, and Rob.
For mainstream Christians the term “saved”
implies redemption of the soul in the afterlife. The act of being saved
purges the Christian’s sins. On the other hand, the Jewish focus on
being saved refers to the historical redemption of our ancestors from
slavery in the land of Egypt. Instead of redemption in the next world,
Jews focus on serving God in this world. In so doing, Jews achieve
inner redemption and work toward tikkun olam, “healing of the world.”
Parashat Bo brings to light the
philosophical connection in Judaism between redemption and service. The
modern mystics Rabbis Lawrence Kushner and Kerry Olitzky unlock the
connection in their commentary on the verse: “So Moses and Aaron went
to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘Thus says the Eternal, the God of the
Hebrews, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My
people go so they may serve Me” ’ ” (Exodus 10:3). They offer an
explanation from the S’fat Emet (Sefes Emes) on what it means to be
humble before God: “The Sefes Emes has said that by uttering the phrase
from Psalms ‘Please God’ one is able to accomplish anything. His
congregation thought he was referring to Psalm 118:25, ‘Please, God,
save us now.’ . . . Rabbi Abraham Mordechai felt he meant the verse
from Psalm 116:16, ‘Please, God, for I am Your servant . . . ,’ since
through humility [which Pharaoh did not have] one is able to accomplish
anything.”1 The teaching thickens the dimensions of
redemption. It calls for humility in two forms: recognizing God’s grace
through appeals to the Divine and in serving God through direct acts.
In Parashat Bo, the Israelites
demonstrate their evolving readiness for redemption through actions and
rituals serving God. Emboldened by the signs of the plagues, and
strengthened as they escape these final plagues’ paths, the Israelites
add to their pleas for relief with actions to please God. One example
is highlighted in the midrashic explanation of the plague of darkness
where it teaches that one of the purposes of the darkness was for the
Israelites to later be able to acquire the Egyptians valuables. The
Israelites gained favor before the Egyptians because they did not
plunder the Egyptians valuables during the darkness. For this reason
the Egyptians later lend the Israelites gold and silver believing the
Israelites would return it (Sh’mot Rabbah 15:3).2
The Israelites packed these valuables before leaving Egypt in order to
use them in the building of God’s Tabernacle in the wilderness.
Another example of the Israelites readiness
to serve God comes with the instructions for the Passover ritual that
interrupt the narrative of the plagues. These instructions include both
the rituals that immediately precede their redemption and directions of
how Passover will be observed for generations to come (Exodus
12:1?28). The Israelites begin serving God and commit to continued
service even before their redemption, thus serving and saving work hand
in hand.
The juxtaposition of the downfall of the
Egyptians next to the bold worship of the Israelites further reiterates
this lesson. Now, Pharaoh is the one asking to be saved and the
Egyptians are paralyzed by the plague of darkness. Pharaoh’s own
advisors implore him to serve God by letting the Israelites go, and
Pharaoh himself asks Moses to plead for him before God.
Darkness may seem fairly innocuous,
especially in comparison to boils, lice, and hail; but, this is no
ordinary darkness. This is a thick darkness, “ ‘a darkness that can be
touched.’ . . . People could not see one another, and for three days no
one could move about; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their
dwellings” (Exodus 10:21?23). What is this darkness so dark that one
could not move? Rashi explains: “This was a redoubled darkness, so
thick that one who was sitting could not stand and one who was standing
could not sit.”3 While it is possible to imagine a darkness
that can be felt, perhaps a thick fog or a dust storm brought up from
the peril of locusts decimating the land, this description of darkness
that precludes movement is still puzzling. Ibn Ezra offers a more
practical explanation: “That is no one could leave his house and go to
work.”4
These explanations focus on the physical
effects of the darkness, but do not account for the demoralization that
weighed upon the Egyptians through the progression of the plagues.
Psychologist and Rabbi Levi Meier delves into the emotional
implications of darkness and light: “the story of creation begins with
God’s saying, ‘Let there be light.’ This means that a Divine energy, a
radiance, is reflected in our own zest for life. When that life force
is absent, we plunge into the darkness of despair and despondency. . . .
we are completely engrossed in our own boundaries and needs.”5
The Egyptians’ paralysis reflects their growing depression and
demoralization. Not only are they no longer able to serve Pharaoh, they
are too paralyzed to even ask for help.
Depression often leaves people in such a
state, immobilized from internal turmoil. Reaching out to serve, on the
other hand, is prescribed to break depression’s vicious grip. The parashah uncovers both: the Egyptians lost in the darkness and the Israelites emerging in the light with a willingness to serve God.
In our own lives, too, we see this reality.
The recently widowed reaching out to comfort another mourner; the
chronically ill organizing a fundraiser for a cure; the unemployed
planning an employment fair for the community: these are the ways that
the downtrodden perform service to God, and in so doing save
themselves. The Israelites’ “light in their dwellings” was that light
within that comes from serving God. Through serving God may that light
illumine our own lives.
1. Lawrence S. Kushner and Kerry Olitzky, Sparks Beneath the Surface (New Jersey: Jason Aaronson, Inc., 1995), entry # (43)
2. S. M. Lehrman, trans., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus (New York: The Soncino Press, 1983), p.158
3. Michael Carasik, ed., The Commentators’ Bible: Exodus (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2005), pp. 70?71
4. Ibid.
5. Rabbi Levi Meier, Moses: The Prince, the Prophet (Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998), pp. 73?74
Rabbi Lucy H. F. Dinner is the senior
rabbi at Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, North Carolina. Rabbi Dinner is
studying the Book of Exodus with her congregation’s lay-led, Hebrew
Bible Study Group, which has been studying together for over twenty
years.
DAVAR ACHER A Darkness So Thick... Craig Lewis
The most difficult decision to make is often
the right one. Even when it seems obvious, when a preponderance of
evidence is right before our eyes, when all the best advice and
conventional wisdom guides us in one direction, we sometimes struggle to
make correct choices. Our emotions can impede us, causing us to give
equal weight to other possibilities. We can give undue credence to a
choice because of the perceived importance or ability of the person who
offers it. We also may be too willing to consider every option and
think each one through to its imagined outcome, so we become overloaded
with data—real and hypothetical—and render ourselves unable to
differentiate or to choose. This phenomenon is called “analysis
paralysis,” and it describes Pharaoh’s state in the midst of the ninth
plague.
He has seen the signs and wonders of God. He
has seen the suffering of his people. He has heard Moses’s plea time
and again. The choice seems obvious: take action. If he lets the people
go, the darkness will disappear and the suffering in Egypt will end.
But Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He thinks about his pride as the ruler
of an empire. He thinks about his cheap labor. He thinks about his
legacy. He thinks about everything but the right thing. As the d’var above describes, he is too overcome by darkness, the mounting feelings of depression and anxiety, to do anything.
This is sadly reminiscent of current events.
Let us take, for example, the recent scandal at Penn State. People in
authority with the power to end the suffering of others allowed
themselves to consider the reputations of their friends, their mentors,
and ultimately of their football program. The choice to make was
simple, but they gave equal weight to considerations that really
deserved no consideration. Like Pharaoh, their minds were clouded in a
darkness so thick that they could not move. Like Pharaoh, they had a
decision to make—whom to protect and whom to free. Paralyzed in a
plague of darkness, they made the wrong choice.
Rabbi Craig Lewis is the rabbi at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, The South Street Temple in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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