Beshalach: Confusion

This parsha is confusing. Consider what we are saying with the word confuse: co[n]: together and fuse: merge. When ideas are (inappropriately) unified there is a lack of understanding. Events are intrinsically confusing: things happen  and the simultaneity is taken for necessity, the sequence is taken as cause.

 

The first sentence sows confusion.

וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒

When Pharaoh sent away the people

After ten plagues that convince Pharoah and the Egyptians that allowing the Hebrews to go, as Moses and Aaron had asked, the Torah attributes the exodus to an edict of Pharoah; Gd is not credited.

Presumably, the sentence states a fact. Ultimately Pharaoh expelled the Hebrews.  He did so to stop the plague. We know that from the preceding text. The significance of Pharoah’s actions is left  unclear. It is possible that the Hebrews would not have left Egypt were they not expelled. There is always ambiguity in the details.

 

וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱ

Gd did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer;

We are told that it was Gd leading the people. In the context of the Bible, this is easier to accept. Gd was the agent of the Exodus. This confirms the a priori  assumption; confirmation bias. It fits with the presumed purpose of the Torah: to encourage faith in Gd.

But these words also generate disquiet. They are a peek into the heavenly thought process. The most direct route might not be taken because of the psychological consequences. But we know that Israel is about to destroy the most powerful army in the world. Somehow, confronting the Philistines at this time would be different.   There is an equation involving heavenly power, human emotions, the involved parties, the long-term consequences, etc. The factors are too numerous for the human mind to fathom. A glimpse into some of the variables can be instructive, despite the wonder that it generates.

 

הֹלֵךְ֩ לִפְנֵיהֶ֨ם יוֹמָ֜ם בְּעַמּ֤וּד עָנָן֙ לַנְחֹתָ֣ם הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וְלַ֛יְלָה בְּעַמּ֥וּד אֵ֖שׁ לְהָאִ֣יר לָהֶ֑ם לָלֶ֖כֶת יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה׃

The Lrd went before them by day in the pillar of cloud to lead them along the path and by night in the pillar of fire to provide light for them; so that they vould travel day and night.

 

A physical symbol of Gd was present at all times. It was a strange reassurance. The Almighty guided the people on a forced march that did not leave the night for rest. Divine power could have been demonstrated with much less human effort and discomfort. In addition, these strong symbolic representations were not reassuring enough to convince the Israelites that their needs for water and food would be met.

The climactic splitting of the sea, allowing the Hebrews to escape the Egyptian mechanized cavalry, and leading to the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, is the most  confusing story. The miracle requires Moses ( a renowned, powerful, Divine messenger), the staff ( which Moses happened to carrying when he had the revelation of the burning bush and, [after ingesting all the magic of Egypt  when it swallowed the competing snakes  in its first performance] somehow aided in the initiation of all the plagues), (perhaps) prayer, and an act of courage ( that exceeded reason).

 

מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְיִסָּֽעוּ׃

And the Lord said to Moshe, Why dost thou cry to me? speak to the children of Yisra᾽el, that they go forward:

וְאַתָּ֞ה הָרֵ֣ם אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֗ וּנְטֵ֧ה אֶת־יָדְךָ֛ עַל־הַיָּ֖ם וּבְקָעֵ֑הוּ וְיָבֹ֧אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל בְּת֥וֹךְ הַיָּ֖ם בַּיַּבָּשָֽׁה׃

but lift up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Yisra᾽el shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

וַאֲנִ֗י הִנְנִ֤י מְחַזֵּק֙ אֶת־לֵ֣ב מִצְרַ֔יִם וְיָבֹ֖אוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם וְאִכָּבְדָ֤ה בְּפַרְעֹה֙ וּבְכׇל־חֵיל֔וֹ בְּרִכְבּ֖וֹ וּבְפָרָשָֽׁיו׃

And I, behold I will harden the heart of Miżrayim, and they shall follow them: and I will gain honour by Par῾o, and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.

 

Who is doing what? This is not what I would have expected. Assume the miracle! Go forth and the sea will split!. But first some hocus pocus with the staff. Presumably Gd is doing the hard part; that turns out to be encouraging Pharaoh to accept the miracle; to believe his eyes; to think that the aberration of nature done for the Israelites will continue for him and his army.

When I read this as a boy, it did not make sense. Now I see how tricky it can be to convince people to trust what they see.  Now I see that may not always be a good idea.

Why does the staff have a role?  The simplest reading of the story attributes power to the stick: an idea that is abhorrent to the modern Jewish mind. The last story, the battle with Amalek emphasizes the staff.

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ בְּחַר־לָ֣נוּ אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְצֵ֖א הִלָּחֵ֣ם בַּעֲמָלֵ֑ק מָחָ֗ר אָנֹכִ֤י נִצָּב֙ עַל־רֹ֣אשׁ הַגִּבְעָ֔ה וּמַטֵּ֥ה הָ בְּיָדִֽי׃

And Moshe said to Yehoshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with ῾Amaleq: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

 

וְהָיָ֗ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָרִ֥ים מֹשֶׁ֛ה יָד֖וֹ וְגָבַ֣ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְכַאֲשֶׁ֥ר יָנִ֛יחַ יָד֖וֹ וְגָבַ֥ר עֲמָלֵֽק׃

And it came to pass, when Moshe held up his hand, that Yisra᾽el prevailed: and when he let down his hand, ῾Amaleq prevailed.

What is this war with Amalek? I thought Gd worried about the psychological effects of war on the Israelites. Now we are introduced to the eternal enemy! Confusing!

Also note the fateful story of bringing water from the rock.

 

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה עֲבֹר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הָעָ֔ם וְקַ֥ח אִתְּךָ֖ מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּמַטְּךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִכִּ֤יתָ בּוֹ֙ אֶת־הַיְאֹ֔ר קַ֥ח בְּיָדְךָ֖ וְהָלָֽכְתָּ׃

And the Lord said to Moshe, Pass before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Yisra᾽el; and thy rod, with which thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go.

הִנְנִ֣י עֹמֵד֩ לְפָנֶ֨יךָ שָּׁ֥ם ׀ עַֽל־הַצּוּר֮ בְּחֹרֵב֒ וְהִכִּ֣יתָ בַצּ֗וּר וְיָצְא֥וּ מִמֶּ֛נּוּ מַ֖יִם וְשָׁתָ֣ה הָעָ֑ם וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֵּן֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה לְעֵינֵ֖י זִקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Ḥorev; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moshe did so in the sight of the elders of Yisra᾽el.

 

In this first, alternative story of water from the rock, Moses is instructed to hit the rack. Thirty eight years later, the same act costs Moshe his position as leader of the people.

Is the staff included to confuse? Is confusion the only understanding we can achieve?

 

Bo: Matzoh

Matzoh is a food with a message. Its meanings are fused into the symbol of Passover. Passover is the spring holiday that celebrates the liberation from the Egyptian servitude. That emancipation came through plagues that destroyed Egypt through a war that was fought by Gd through nature. Matzoh represents the haste in leaving Egypt. It is the product of rushing, following Gd’s last instruction in the Exodus.

Pharaoh had acceded to the request, presented by Moses and Aaron – in the name of Gd- to leave and worship, after the second of the 10 plagues. The relatively benign proliferation of invasive frogs was enough to elicit agreement to their proposal.  The problem was the delay. There was no timetable for fulfillment.  That led to negotiations about who and what would  leave. That led to the completion of the 10 plague program, which culminated in the death of the firstborn. The ritual that exempted the Hebrews from the pestilence involved signifying readiness to leave: girded loins, shoes tied, food as available. There would be no time to leaven the dough. The unfinished bread of rushing was part of the ritual and became the actual dietary staple because of the rush to leave. Pharoah had delayed. The Israelites would not. The matzoh was their act of participation in the process that brought them to freedom.

Matzoh is a rejection of Egyptian technology. The use of yeast to generate carbon dioxide and alcohol is the beginning of industrial biochemistry. The Egyptians were the ancient masters of the microbial world. They made beer and bread by nurturing the microbes.  They preserved the dead by killing the microbes.

Celebrating with matzoh was a rejection of the Egyptian way. It was an act of Luddism, it is anti-technological. Leavened bread tastes good, but it takes time, and it is filled with emptiness. The exodus required quicker decision and less hot air.  Ultimately, fermentation technology was adopted by the Hebrews, but its rejection celebrated. The weeklong abstinence from the leavened is like not using a phone on Shabbath.

Matzoh is the rejection of delay. When the mission is critical, delay allows for renegotiation, dilution and  a lower probability of success. Delay is a tool used by a patient enemy, it is one of the ways the wealthy and powerful manipulate the legal system.

But haste makes waste. In ninth grade Latin class (one of my greatest acculturation experiences), I memorized Festina lente, make haste slowly. I still don’t know what it means beyond a platitude that criticizes the pace of any action that goes wrong. Is that the Roman legacy?

The admonition to leave the land of the oppressor promptly brings to mind Jews who stayed in Germany, Austria, France, etc. as the Nazis rose to power. It is a reminder of the errors that devolved from excessive assimilation: overvaluing the culture and the comfort of the adopted country. Jews like my parents, rural Polish Jews, did not have the option of coming to America, Australia, Paraguay. The “offer” of resettlement in Palestine was like a dream and barred by the capricious British mandate. Maybe they could have gone to the Soviet Union…some did.  It did not end well for all. The only thing those people could do was run from place to place… and celebrate Passover, usually without matzoh.

Remaining in the zone of comfort is not an option. The rulers change, the rules change, the worldview changes and I get older. I was never a boy scout, but I respect their old motto: “be prepared.” The words are appropriated by Scar, the villain in the Lion King. The self-denial  that is matzoh is part of the defense.

Matzoh lasts for a long time on the shelf. It is usually there if you need it.

 

Va’erah: war

In this week’s parsha, aspects of Gd are revealed. Gd had a relationship to the glorious ancestors  of the degraded Israelites and Gd has heard their cry. Gd has had a plan for their salvation. That plan includes a demonstration of unique and overwhelming powers – the plagues that take up most of this parsha.

Before describing the spectacle of force versus will, the battles with Pharaoh, we have a small section of the dramatis personae, a list of the characters in the upcoming drama. Most of the characters listed do not appear in this chapter, or even in this book of the Torah. The list ends with Pinchas, Aaron’s grandson.  Pinchas is a major character in a story that is set 40 years later and appears at the end of Numbers; one of the last stories told in the Torah.

The events of the next few chapters are clearly not the end of the narrative. The process extends to Pinchas and the rebellions in the desert prior to the settlement of the Promised Land. This is the story of Gd’s power and its relationship to human persuasion and action. Pharaoh and the Egyptians must be convinced to let the Israelites go; the Hebrews need to be persuaded that their liberation is desirable; Gd’s mastery must be accepted, and the limits of liberty established.

The plagues are acts of war against Pharaoh. They are destructive measures intended to convince the enemy to accede to the will of the victor. They are destructive, cruel operations that degrade the resources and the will of the foe.  Gd’s aim is to achieve the goal of Israelite liberation and, simultaneously the generation of a reputation of insurmountable power. It says as much in the text:

וַאֲנִ֥י אַקְשֶׁ֖ה אֶת־לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֧י אֶת־אֹתֹתַ֛י וְאֶת־מוֹפְתַ֖י בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

And I will harden Par῾o’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Miżrayim.

וְלֹֽא־יִשְׁמַ֤ע אֲלֵכֶם֙ פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְנָתַתִּ֥י אֶת־יָדִ֖י בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְהוֹצֵאתִ֨י אֶת־צִבְאֹתַ֜י אֶת־עַמִּ֤י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בִּשְׁפָטִ֖ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃

But Par῾o shall not hearken to you, that I may lay my hand upon Miżrayim, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Yisra᾽el, out of the land of Miżrayim by great judgments.

 

Overwhelming the current enemy is insufficient. The license to harm must be revoked. Otherwise, a new perpetrator will arise and the struggle will continue in a new place and at a new time.

I believe that evil forces can be crushed by overwhelming force. I think that happened to the German Nazis. That took massive destruction, as well as the plague of the Russian winter.

Asymmetric force evokes sympathy for the subdued. Innocents are harmed along with actual and potential adversaries. The situation is unfair. Why should all of Egypt need to seek clear water? Should the plague have been limited to those who drowned the Hebrew baby boys? Should those who tolerated it, both Egyptians and Israelites, have been reminded of those days? What about the young who could not have participated in any way, active or passive? Should the heinous act be recalled to them in this way? Maybe.  I can be sympathetic to the plight, even the predicament of the perpetrator who is suffering, and I can simultaneously receive the message.

It is only after the plague of hail, the plague for which sheltering instructions are offered, a plague of weather that was obviously beyond the human capability of the time, ( John von Neuman  considered the possibility of a weather war with the Soviet Union. [Maniac, B Labatut].) that Pharoah admits his villainy.

וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח פַּרְעֹ֗ה וַיִּקְרָא֙ לְמֹשֶׁ֣ה וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֔ן וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֖ם חָטָ֣אתִי הַפָּ֑עַם

And Par῾o sent, and called for Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Was it the failure to follow the Divine instructions to shelter that evoked this contrition? Was it the realization that the opposing force was insurmountable?  I am not sure. Pharaoh knew his transgression all along, some element now came to his consciousness. Importantly, Pharoah did not act on his remorse.

 

וַֽיֶּחֱזַק֙ לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְלֹ֥א שִׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְ בְּיַד־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ {פ}’ 

And the heart of Par῾o was hard, neither would he let the children of Yisra᾽el go;

as the Lord had spoken by Moshe.

 

This is the last sentence of the parsha. It is ambiguous. My simple understanding of “ as the Lord had spoken by Moshe.” Is that Moshe communicated the demand to release the Israelites to Pharaoh  in the name of the Lord.  The classic commentators interpret “as the Lrd had spoken by [the hand] of Moshe” as Gd’s declaration that Pharaoh would not release the Israelites until all ten planned plagues had been delivered.

 

On Passover, the 7 (or8) day celebration of liberation from Egypt and bondage, we abbreviate the song of victory, the Hallel, on the last 6(or 7) days of the festival in sympathy for the suffering of the Egyptian oppressors.

 

There can be no final victory over evil. The suffering of the enemy is hard to watch.  That of innocents, yet harder.  Ongoing threat is intolerable to all.

 

 

 Shemoth: otherness

This book of the Torah is a story of liberation. This parsha describes the struggle for identity, finding the self that needs, and eventually gets, liberation.

 

וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַבָּאִ֖ים מִצְרָ֑יְמָה אֵ֣ת יַעֲקֹ֔ב אִ֥ישׁ וּבֵית֖וֹ בָּֽאוּ׃

Now these are the names of the children of Yisra᾽el who came into Miżrayim, with Ya῾aqov; every man came with his household.

The children of Yisrael came to Egypt with both their individual and group identities.  The previous parsha, Vayechi, that last chapter of Genesis acknowledges ( and sometimes celebrates) the distinct identities of the 12  brothers who spawn the tribes.

The Hebrews kept their individuality, at least their collective identity. They are recognized by Pharaoh as a nation…and thus a potential enemy. This is the first mention of the Jewish replacement theory. The need for college quotas and ghettos was born with Jewish identity… and it remains part of that identity to this day. The recognition of a threat from Jewish competition  unified the Hebrews of ancient Egypt, the Jews of Babylonia and Rome and Russia and Poland and Germany.  American Jews, like their Egyptian ancestors, are ambivalent.

 

The Israelites were tasked with maintaining the great plan of Joseph, the grain stores that made Egypt the source of sustenance for the region; the food in the famine that brought the Israelites out of the Promised Land and seduced them into becoming Goshenites, nearly Egyptian. The model of Joseph’s (semi) assimilation must have looked very tempting. I imagine that when my parents looked at their Americanized cousins, in their cars and furs, the old ways of Shabbos and tefillin became less appealing… at least for a while. The emptiness of the commercial and the charm of identity had to  be rediscovered

The Egyptians tried to outsmart the Hebrews. They were levied with community service until the burden became overwhelming. The mention of their fecundity despite the fatigue is evidence that the intention was to slow the birthrate. But it did not work.

וְכַאֲשֶׁר֙ יְעַנּ֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ כֵּ֥ן יִרְבֶּ֖ה וְכֵ֣ן יִפְרֹ֑ץ וַיָּקֻ֕צוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were mortified on account of the children of Yisra᾽el.

 

The confusion of the immigrant stranger and envy of the free Egyptian melted the Hebrew pride. They reached a point of acceptance that allowed for the edict of infanticide. The male Hebrew babies were to be drowned. Women, experienced in subjugation – the Hebrew midwives, the daughter of Pharaoh – would not violate their humanity and accede to this craziness. They may have known that violating the laws of men can have fewer consequences than imagined.

In the middle of the parsha, we are introduced to a new entity: the Gd that directs Moses ( and Aaron). This strange, and at first nameless, being has a mysterious nature, Gd can not be understood. Moshe must demonstrate curiosity and turn to the burning bush as a prerequisite to the revelation. The mission of liberation is not forced on anyone; were it not for Moshe’s sense of wonder, it may not have happened.

Gd remains deeply mysterious, turning the staff into a snake and making the grabbing the snake by the tail a test of obedience; making Moses a leper (an outcast disgusting to himself) and removing the stigma by accepting it, bringing it to his breast; recalling the blood stain on the water from the edict of infanticide.

Just as Moses sets on his assigned mission, Gd’s anger turns to Moshe and tries to kill him. It adds to Gd’s mystery.  The mission may be just, and one might presume that Gd will help bring it to fruition and, at the same time, Gd can kill the messenger. The situation is rescued, once more by the woman. The plot continues.

Moses requests a three day festival for the Hebrews, a break, a vacation. The Pharaoh may have recognized that this could reawaken the separate identity of the Hebrews. Certainly it would interrupt the work, the routine that constituted the actual enslavement. The ask was an opportunity to deepen the servitude by further demeaning the Hebrews, calling them lazy and making the demand close to impossible. Perhaps the Pharaoh went too far; but the immediate consequence of his decision was the rejection of Moses and his message. Egypt won the first battle . Eventually this win planted the seed of otherness into the Israelites and it sprouted as liberation.

And the otherness stuck.