Shemoth: Definition

Shemoth: Definition

This is the first parsha of the second book of the Torah: Shemoth.  Shemoth are names.  Names convey identification, a fundamental understanding of the named entity.  The book of shemoth describes Gd. In our parsha, Gd is a champion of justice for the persecuted  nation, the source of miracles.  Gd is the master of history: it can only unfold as predicted. Later in the book, Gd is the source of law, the judge of the people and the object of worship in the sanctuary. 

The story begins with the unification of the people through persecution.  This is a theme that I can identify with. The new Pharaoh wants to restructure society.  He has to deal with the terrible  immigration  policy of the former ruler, a policy that allowed a foreign people to settle in the land and grow, through an unrestricted baby boom, into a potential threat to the current order.  The new Pharaoh wants to Egyptify the nation. They will eliminate all Hebrew males! But the obstetrical staff will not participate in this effort because they fear the E. The midwives answer to a power that is above the Pharaoh. They will not follow orders.  This is a model for all generations and all peoples. 

Thus, even before Gd is revealed to Moshe, the (scattered) belief in a greater entity ( or principle) can mold behavior , even in the face of danger.  The midwives probably expected to be killed for disobeying, but they were not. ( How often was this the case in later persecutions?)  The Pharoah was so crazy, he extended the edict of male infanticide to all of Egypt.  This was a  Dr Strangelove act.  Reproduction was to be  limited to the elite males ( and a large pool of females). 

At the end of the parsha, Gd instructs Moshe to go to Pharaoh and ask for a holiday for the Hebrews.  This request results in extraordinary demands on the enslaved Hebrews, embittering  their lives.  They protest against Moshe and the harm he has brought upon them.  Moshe complains to Gd that since starting on the mission he has only increased the suffering of the people.  But now the people are more unified by their common persecution.  This is the Yuval Harari  moment, when the common cause of liberation becomes apparent - and it will be done in the name of ...