שִׁ֗יר לַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֶשָּׂ֣א עֵ֭ינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִ֑ים מֵ֝אַ֗יִן יָבֹ֥א עֶזְרִֽי׃ עֶ֭זְרִי מֵעִ֣ם יְהֹוָ֑ה עֹ֝שֵׂ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃
A song of ascents. I shall lift my eyes to the mountains. Whence shall my help come?
My help is from HaShem, maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121. 1-2)
Our parashat hashavua picks up the developing story of Moshe demanding that Pharaoh “let My people go” and Pharaoh refusing to be ordered about by a raggedy son of slaves, even if he did grow up in the palace. There have already been three plagues visited upon Egpt, and even the plague-deniers are starting to admit to the king that something is happening beyond their ability to dismiss.
At the beginning of our reading, HaShem instructs Moshe to up the ante:
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה הַשְׁכֵּ֤ם בַּבֹּ֙קֶר֙ וְהִתְיַצֵּב֙ לִפְנֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֔ה הִנֵּ֖ה יוֹצֵ֣א הַמָּ֑יְמָה וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר ה’ שַׁלַּ֥ח עַמִּ֖י וְיַֽעַבְדֻֽנִי׃
And ‘ה said to Moses, “Early in the morning present yourself to Pharaoh, as he is coming out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says ‘ה: Let My people go that they may worship Me. (Ex. 8.16)
As we seek insight into our own day and time, bringing an awareness of our current situation within the light of our tradition’s experience can bring up some unexpected opportunities for consideration. First of all, Moshe is now told not to approach Pharaoh in the throne room, but in a more pesonal, vulnerable way: in the ruler’s morning bath, or perhaps worship time, at the Nile. The Nile which has always been the source of Egypt’s life and well being, but recently has also been the place from which plagues of blood and frogs have spread.
It is not easy, nor desireable, to see an old and reliable source of safety as a newly threatening place of danger. For our people, safety in the U.S. has been found in assimilation into the larger culture; go along, don’t be distinctive, blend in.
In these moments, though, the word of the Eternal is the opposite: the rescue of the Jewish people will be found in seeing what is different and distinctive:
וְשַׂמְתִּ֣י פְדֻ֔ת בֵּ֥ין עַמִּ֖י וּבֵ֣ין עַמֶּ֑ךָ לְמָחָ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה הָאֹ֥ת הַזֶּֽה׃
And I will make a distinction between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall come to pass.’” (Ex. 8.19)
Water is a symbol of transition in our tradition: as we celebrate in every tefilah, the Israelites cross through the Sea of Reeds to reach freedom. Perhaps HaShem and Moshe were hoping that Pharaoh’s moment in the Nile would move him past his stubbornness into a new place of discernment – but one has to be willing to entertain the idea, and he was not yet ready.
These things take time. It was ten plagues before Pharaoh could see what was happening; there was much suffering that had to take place. Our people has always understood our own difficult times to be similar to this period, calling it the “birthpangs” of the new order. Something there is that doesn’t love change, and so we have to make our painful way toward the growing that is necessary.
What is distinctive about the Jewish people is this: we have a tradition that we do not see ourselves as alone, without recourse, at any time. Rather, we are a community that knows that during our difficult times we consider what has to be learned and what has to be done together: we study together, we pray together, we huddle together for warmth. We seek guidance from our tradition and from each other as well as from what is beyond us. Thus we learn what has to be learned.
When a Jew feels that they are in over their head and don’t know what to do, the traditional first response is to find words. We very often find our words in the Psalms at times like this, especially Psalm 121:
A Ma’alot poem
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. From where will my help come?
2 My help comes from HaShem, source of heaven and earth.
3 HaShem will not suffer your foot to stumble; the One that keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, shall neither slumber nor sleep, the support of Israel.
5 HaShem is your keeper: HaShem is your shade upon your right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 HaShem shall preserve you from all evil, shall preserve your soul.
8 HaShem shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth,
and for evermore.
In the Hebrew: https://tehilim.co/chapter/121/
First, try words. Let the words of our ancestors help you to find yours. In so doing may we distinguish between our feelings and our reality, and come to terms with what needs to be seen. Then we will perhaps understand what is distinctly ours to do.
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 