Bo בוא

בא

As we catch up with B'nai Yisrael this week, we find ourselves embroiled in a life and death struggle with our arch nemesis, Pharaoh.

It is tempting to cast Pharaoh as just one more evil villain bent on destruction of the Jewish people. Our history is chocked full of these types - Nebuchannezzar, Titus, Haman, Antiochus, Hitler, - the list goes on and on, even to the present day.

We are so accustomed to violent anti-semitic leaders that to add one more to the category comes very easily. However, I want to take a closer look at the central villain in the Passover story, Pharaoh, and see if he truly fits the bill.

The story of Passover is the central narrative of our people. Thus, it is fitting that that we can access the story on many different layers, which provide us deeper and deeper understanding, or at least more and more confusion, every year.

In the study of Torah, we have four layers of understanding - Pshat, Remez, Drash and Sod. During the Passover seder, we read of four sons. Today, I will present to your four ways of understanding Pharaoh. There are many more, and of course I would love to hear how you understand him.

The first aspect of Pharaoh is the simple "Prince of Egypt" understanding that we tell our kids - Pharaoh was a bad and stubborn man who enslaved the Jews and ignored their suffering. Even when he finally let the people go, he changed his mind and sent his army to bring them back. God punished Pharaoh by destroying his army in the Sea of Reeds.

Simple, cut and dry, easy to digest. However, to anyone who has actually read the text, this representation of Pharaoh misses the most crucial aspect of the story - God is the one who makes Pharaoh so stubborn.

This is clear from the very beginning, when God first speaks to Moses at the burning bush, but is spelled out most clearly in our current parsha's first verse, when God says to Moses "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order that I may place these signs of Mine in his midst.
(Exodus, Chapter 10, Verse 1).

From this perspective it is clear that the whole point of Moses going to Pharaoh is not to convince Pharaoh to let B'nai Yisrael go, rather Pharoah's refusal is the pretext for God bringing down God's miracles in order to wow the Israelites, and convince them to enter into covenant with God. From this second perspective, Pharaoh is merely a tool that God uses to prove his point, and not so inherently evil.

This brings us to our third perspective: What?!?! (a.k.a the Great Mystery at the Heart of Everything)

How could the same God who teaches that the sanctity of human life is the ultimate ideal, sacrifice innocent people, even the sons of imprisoned Egyptians, just to prove a point?

Were we not given free will? Is this not what makes us different from the animals? What happened to Pharoah's free will?

These kind of questions can keep one up all night - I'm not sure there are good, solid answers, although I have heard some great explanations.

Because I don't want to keep you folks here until dinner time, I won't even attempt to discuss all these theological dilemmas. However, there is a clue in the text that may help us to come to grips with our confusion, based on the midsrashic technique of looking at similar situations and comparing:

From our parsha, Pharaoh has had enough of Moses' antics.

. וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ פַרְעֹה לֵךְ מֵעָלָי הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ אַל תֹּסֶף רְאוֹת פָּנַי כִּי בְּיוֹם רְאֹתְךָ פָנַי תָּמוּת:

Pharaoh says "Go away from me! Beware! You shall no longer see my face, for on the day that you see my face, you shall die!"
Exodus Chapter 10, verse 28:

Sound familiar?!?!

When Moses is on top of Mt. Sinai, he asks to see God's face. God responds in Exodus Chapter 33, verse 18:

וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת פָּנָי כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי:

"You will not be able to see My face, for man shall not see Me and live."

When we try to understand what God did to Pharoah's free choice, why so many innocent had to die, or bigger questions like why bad things happen to good people, we come to a point where out human understanding simply is not enough. We are standing literally face to face with God - or if you prefer the mystery of the universe - and have no means whatsoever to understand it.

Perhaps this is what is truly meant by יראת שמיים, fearing Heaven. Not in the sense of the angry father punishing us, but our primal fear of the mystery of the heart of things, that we can never hope to understand.

Finally, we come to the fourth perspective. Pharaoh as teacher.

Even if the mechanisms of Pharoah's decision making is beyond our grasp, we can learn a very important lesson from this stubborn (and probably grouchy) old man.

Pharaoh clearly values his magicians. They are his priests, his connection to the divine. When Moses and Aaron enter into his chambers and perform their initial miracles, including turning water into blood and summoning frogs, the magicians respond in kind.

It is only when God brings the lice down, do the magicians feel like they are out of their league. As the signs go on, and the magicians themselves are struck with boils, they try to tell Pharaoh "enough - let these people go already, look what you are doing to your kingdom!"

Assuming that Pharoah's actions are his own, it is at this is the point that he really makes his mistake. His closest advisors are telling him to give up, and all empirical evidence point to a situation well beyond his control. He even admits that he believes in the power of the Hebrew god, asking Moses to secure a blessing for him, but still Pharaoh won't back down.

We have all been in this position before. We have taken a stand on something, and things are going badly. All common-sense points to the fact that we are wrong, but we simply don't want to admit it, it's too embarrassing.

It's like we have been climbing up a very high pole, but now we are stuck, and worst of all, all our classmates are below, laughing at us, and peeking at out underwear through our torn shorts.

This is not a case of standing up for what we believe in against all odds. That can be heroic. In this situation, we know we are wrong, but our ego doesn't want to suffer the pain of acknowledging it.

In a case like this, let us not become Pharaohs! We can apologize, ask for forgiveness, and do better the next time. There is always a way down from the pole, we just have to allow ourselves to see it.

We are all humans, and we all make mistakes. However, to admit these mistakes, rise above them, and begin the healing process - now that's the kind of miracle we can bring down from the heavens every day.

Va'ee'ra וארא

וָאֵרָא

The different names for the 5 Books of Moses in Hebrew and English can even be quite confusing, as they are not simply translations like we are used to.

In English - Genesis; in Hebrew - ברשית.

B'seder, a similar concept is shared by both words: beginnings. As long as the English version is not referring to the British prog-rock band of the 70's, we are on solid ground.

What about ויקרא ? - meaning "he called" in Hebrew, and in English - Leviticus. The word Leviticus means something like "referring to the Levi's." If we are being imaginative, we can say that God CALLED to the Levites and commanded them to become priests, but we may be pushing our luck.

How about the book of Numbers, or במדבר , Hebrew for "in the desert"? I'll convince Rabbi Adam to give a piece of candy to whomever has the best explanation for this one.

As the Hebrew names for the books are derived from the first significant word in the initial portion, we have to use our creative reasoning to connect the Hebrew name to the theme of the book.

What about our current book, Shmot (in Hebrew - "Names", in English - Exodus)? This is very curious indeed. The biblical book that contains the most dramatic story in the history of the Jewish people begins with a seemingly dull list of names. Our current parsha, the second portion of Exodus, also contains a list of names - this time intermingled in the middle of God telling Moses and Aaron what they will need to do and say doing their first meeting with Pharaoh - not exactly an insignificant moment!

In Va'ee'ra, we read 13 verses of instructions, 14 verses of names, and then another 8 verses of instructions. This interlude of names is so disruptive to the flow of the story that Rashi feels the need to point out that "Scripture repeats here because it had interrupted the topic, and this is customary, similar to a person who says, “Let us return to the earlier [topic].”

Interesting. Obviously, there is something very significant about this list of names that the Torah wants us to pay attention to.

Just who makes up this list? In short, we read the genealogical progression from Levi, son of Jacob, all the way down to the current generation of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. On the way, we hear for the first time the name Yochebed, the mother of Moses and his siblings.

Ok, we have the who, which brings us to the why. The simplest explanation of why we read this list is to remind us of Moses' direct connection to his famous ancestors. To think of Moses as a legitimate prophet, and as the next standard-bearer of the covenant, we need to witness his direct connection to Abraham, Issac and Jacob, our distinguished forefathers who also communed with the Almighty.

It's kind of like when we are thinking of making a shidduch - "but does he come from a good family? His father is a lawyer and his mother is doctor - "Break out the chuppah!'"

The covenant was historically passed down from father to son. Here we seemingly have a break in the direct connection, but it's not like this Moses was a wandering klezmer- God forbid.

In all seriousness, we Jews take this business of names very seriously.

In Perkei Avot, chapter 4, Verse 13, we read:

רבי שמעון אומר: שלושה כתרים הם: כתר תורה, וכתר כהונה, וכתר מלכות. וכתר שם טוב עולה על גביהן.

"There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty. However, the crown of a good name is greater than all of them."

These days, a lot of people misinterpret a good name to mean "being famous." Reality TV is a great example of this. The idea is, 'if I can get my name out there, and people know who I am, then my life will have meaning.' The problem with trying anything to "get my name out there" is that that the foundation of my "fame" is built on very shaky ground. As soon as the next guy or gal in line does something more outrageous, I am back to where I started. Secondly, if I act without integrity, I may indeed get my 5 minutes of fame, but instead of serving as an inspiration to those around me, I may become an embarrassment or a laughingstock.

In contrast, the power of a good reputation, a good name, earned through a lifetime of good works and loving relationships, is eternal. Even after one passes away, the memory of a good person can enhance the lives of his/ or her loved ones, and possibly even the world at large.

A good name is not created overnight by sensational acts - it is built up gradually and naturally over time, even over multiple generations. Levi, Moses' very great grandfather, is a perfect example - he was once chastised harshly by his father for his murderous spree against those that raped his sister, but now his kin are about to become the greatest leaders B'nai Yisrael will ever know.

The connection between names and history is also seen in the tradition of naming children after those that came before - I am named Daniel, after my maternal grandfather (though he went by Dudley his entire life and only found out his real name on his deathbed).

Last week, I had the opportunity to listen to legendary Jewish educator Avraham Infeld give a lecture to a Birthright group. He says there are five legs that support the "table" of the Jewish people - and זכרון, - memory, was first on his list. Our peoplehood, perhaps more so than any other groups, is bound together by our difficult history and our unstoppable will to remember it.

Again, a personal example - I never even got to know the name of most of my father's family - they, like so many others disappeared into the Nazi death camps. The fact that I live here in Israel, and plan to spend my life dedicated to the study and propagation of our people and its holy books, is largely inspired by their memory - by their names.

So, next time we are reading Torah and come across a list of names, may we be inspired to read with reverence, learn our history, and be reminded of the vital link our ancestors played in allowing us to reach out this moment. May we all be worthy of OUR good names, and may we earn the right to pass down our good names to those that come after.

Shmot שמות

שמות

Shmot, the first parsha of the book of Exodus, is chock full of inspiring and interesting encounters, but perhaps the overwhelming feature is the introduction of Moses, who will receive top billing, at least among the humans, for the four books to come.

Many have speculated as to why Moses was such a great leader, and I certainly don't have any definitive answers, but I want to point out two concrete things that we can learn Moses that share a central theme - awareness.

About a month ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a special Jewish Meditation / Zen Buddhist Retreat at Kibbutz Hannaton. One of the leaders at the retreat, Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels, shared a great insight on this week's parsha.

When Moses comes upon the burning, yet seemingly fireproof bush, he says

אָסֻרָה נָּא, וְאֶרְאֶה אֶת הַמַּרְאֶה הַגָּדֹל הַזֶּה, מַדּוּעַ לֹא יִבְעַר הַסְּנֶה:

"Let me turn now and see this great spectacle - why does the bush not burn up?"

Moses' observation that the bush is burning, but not being consumed, is the the product of a very still and observant mind. The non-consumption would not be readily apparent, one would have to look very deeply to notice it.

For instance, if I were to see the bush burning, I would probably break out into a semi-panic. 'Oh my gosh! We need to put the fire out!' 'We are in the middle of nowhere, there is no one to help me!' 'How did the blaze start?' Is it likely to spread?' 'Where is my cell phone? Maybe i should take a picture and upload it to Facebook, and then decide what to do…'

This was not Moses' reaction. He took the time to look deeply within the flame, and noticed something extremely unusual, that the average observer would almost certainly miss. To be able to quiet the mind and 'simply see what is,' instead of becoming a hostage to our inner narrative, is one of the goals of zen training. I'm not sure if Moses was a zen-master, but perhaps his power of observation is one of the reasons that God chose him to lead the people.

The more observant our minds are, the more we see, and appreciate the greatness of God's creation and the better we connect with people around us - two sure characteristics of a tzaddik.

The idea of greater awareness being a path to spirituality is shared by many teachers in our history. For instance, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heshel championed the concept of "Radical Amazement."

He wrote: "Mankind will not perish for want of information, but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living."

In other words, if we could only be aware of the miracles around us and inside of us, at every moment, we would be exponentially happier people. The incredibly detailed and precise working of our bodies, and the certainty of the sun rising every day to give us light, are two examples of everyday occurrences that we tend to take for granted, but are truly miraculous and wonderful, even beyond out capacity to express them.

Luckily for us, awareness and thankfulness are hardwired into Jewish practice. The tradition of waking up in the morning and saying "Modeh, or Modah, Ani" - I am thankful - is meant to ingrain in us a feeling of thankfulness from our very first conscious breath.

Even the word "Judaism" itself is a manifestation of thankfulness. Judaism comes form the Hebrew word Yehuda, which is the same root as מודה and תודה .

Notwithstanding the very Jewish tradition of kavetching, we are supposed to be very grateful people indeed!

Rabbi Heshel wrote:" Wonder is a natural response to the world which causes me to transcend the mundane, the daily, the insignificant."

Nevermind seeing the glass half full or half empty, Moses and Rabbi Heshel inspire us to realize that the glass is overflowing with delicious and colorful liquids that are constantly being refilled.

This parsha also shows us another aspect of Moses' special talent for awareness.

Chapter 2, Verse 10: The child grew up, and she [Moses' mother'] brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became like her son. She named him Moses, and she said, "For I drew him from the water."

the next verse…

Chapter 2, Verse 11: Now it came to pass in those days, that Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew.

Our sages teach us that every word in the Torah comes to teach us something - nothing is extraneous. So how do we explain the doubling up of "grew up" - ויגדל, in consecutive verses?

It could be that in the first instance, Moses grows up physically - becoming a man and becoming aware of his body. In the second instance, the emotional/societal aspect kicks in. At this point Moses realizes two things:

1) He is an Israelite, a foreigner in the palace, and

2) the very same folks who brought him up in luxury, are busy enslaving and abusing his own people.

This is a heavy realization for anyone, at any age. Not only is he prospering from the back-breaking work of his brethren, he is indirectly responsible for the continuation of the situation.

From this vantage point, it's easier to understand why he struck down the Egyptian taskmaster. This was not an impulsive act -

וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה

"He turned this way and that way" before the act.

According to Rashi, Moses saw what the Egyptian had done to the Hebrew in the house, and what he had done to him in the field." In other words, Moses saw his personal history, and that of his people's, playing out before his eyes. He had grown up. Even as a young man, Moses had a deep awareness of those around him, and just as importantly, the resolve to act on that awareness.

Then and now, being aware is not enough - it's the action that counts in the end. These days, global, national, local, familial and personal events cry out urgently for our attention, virtually every moment of every day. Of course, we can't be expected the take on every burden of every soul in the world, but at the same time we are expected to do our part.

As is written in Pirkei Avot, "It is not upon you to finish the work, but you are not free to ignore it."

Va'ye'chi ויחי

ויחי

Va'ye'chi is the last parsha of Bereshit. It bridges the family drama of the book of Genesis - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their wives, children and wanderings, to Exodus - the story of God's miracles for the Jewish people as a whole.

The parsha's central event is when a dying Jacob calls his 12 sons to his bedside. Jacob, just like Saba Abraham and Abba Isaac, is about to bless his sons and let them know who among them will be carrying on the covenant with God, and with it, the the future of the Jewish people.

To get an idea of what we can expect of Jacob, let's review a little bit:

Abraham had two sons to choose from - Ishmael was sent into the wilderness and Isaac received the birthright.

God does say that he plans to make of Ishmael a great nation, but he is definitely no longer a part of the Jewish people.

Ishmael's "sins"? Being born to the wrong mother and perhaps poking fun at a young Isaac.

When it's Isaac's turn to give a blessing, he fully intends to honor his oldest and favorite son Esau, but Rebekka and Isaac pull a swift move, and succeed in taking the blessing.

When Esau returns, and asks for his blessing, Isaac cannot really help him, even if he wanted to - he has already given the blessing away!

He tells Esau: "Behold, your dwelling place shall be the fat places of the earth and you will partake of the dew of heaven. You shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother…"

Esau's "sins"? Being more sensual than intellectual, a bit impulsive, and most damaging of all - taking the time to hunt and to cook the favorite dish of his dying father.

Our Rabbis have done a great deal to show that Esau was not worthy to carry on the covenant and would not have been a good leader anyway. This may be true, but I have to ask myself 'Does the punishment fit the crime?

We can see clearly from the Torah that it is God's will that Isaac and Jacob will carry on the lineage, and not Ishmael and Esau. Obviously it worked out pretty well for us:)

But did both of them deserve to be cut off from Am Yisrael entirely? Maybe yes, but maybe no….

Let's get back to our Parsha.

Jacob calls his twelve sons together in order to bless them. Based on historical precedent, we can expect to witness the exiling of at least a few sons. After all, some of Jacob's sons had committed grievious sins.

Reuben, Jacob's first born, had slept with his mother's maid Bilhah, in Jacob's bed no less. This pairing led to two sons, which Cha'zal think of as products of incest.

Worse than this, Simeon and Levi (Jacob's 2nd and 3rd sons) committed murder following the rape of their sister Dinah. They tricked the people of Schem into circumcising themselves and then murdered them when they were weak.

Compared to the "transgressions" of Ishamel and Esau, the acts of Reuben, Simeon and Levi are of a whole other level - one could even say that Jacob's sons violated 10 commndments.

And what does Jacob say?

To Reuben:
"You are my firstborn, the first-fruits of my strength, of excellence in power and in dignity; unstable as water, you will not excel, because you went up to your father's bed and defiled it.

Ok, so Reuben won't excel. But he's definitely not getting banished into the wilderness.

Of Simeon and Levi:
"Simeon and Levi are brothers - instruments of violence are their means of acquiring gain. Let my soul not enter into their council. A curse be upon their anger, for it is too cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."

Despite these harsh words, the descendants of Simeon and Levi were never considered anything less than full Israelites - the Levis even became priests!

The difference in Jacob's approach to that of Abraham and Isaac is very stark.

Somehow, Jacob is able to overlook his son's serious transgressions and welcome them into the family. Perhaps this is another reasons why he deserves the name Israel.

Isra'el comes from the Hebrew ישר - wrestls with God. In addition to wrestling with God, he also wrestled with the sins of his sons, terrible loss, and serious domestic issues.

In modern day Israel, we face extremely difficult and heartbreaking issues in regards to our own brethren. Recent events in Bet Shemesh and here in Jerusalem point to the fact that we are more divided than ever.

For many of us sitting here today, the fact that Jewish parents would dress up their children as concentration camp inmates or that grown men would harass and spit on an eight year old girl is so shocking and grotesque as to be beyond explanation.

I won't attempt to speak for these extremists, but it's safe to say the feeling of disgust is mutual. They view the actions of many other Jews and Israelis to be intolerable, and worse, a disgrace to G-d.

At times like this, when our family is threatening to break apart at the seams, we need to remember the inclusive approach of Jacob - Israel.

He was able to overlook the very serious sins of his sons in order to keep the family together, even if he couldn't condone their actions and had to chastise them harshly.

Even if we disagree with another Jew's actions, to the point of disgust and even questioning their humanity, we must be able to rise above, continue to dialogue, agree to disagree, and remember that we are all in this boat together.

After all, when God brought us out of Egypt, he brought out everyone - men, women and children - the veritable mixed multitude.

Jacob reminds us that the boat of Am Yisrael is sturdy and will not fail. The boat that left Egypt, survived twin destructions of our holy temple, spent 2000 years in exile, survived the holocaust and founded the modern state of Israel - the boat of one of the world's great civilizations - is large enough for everyone to be on board, even if we don't always get along so well.