Vaera 5775

On January 14th, 1963, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was invited to Chicago to deliver a speech at a conference on Religion and Race sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He opened his speech by offering a masterful re-telling of this season’s series of Torah portions injecting a powerful comparison to the struggles with racism from his day:

“At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses. Moses’ words were: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let My people go, that they may celebrate a feast to me.’ While Pharaoh retorted: ‘Who is the Lord that I should heed this voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.’ 

“The outcome of that summit meeting has not come to an end Pharaoh is not ready to capitulate. The exodus began, but is far from having been completed. In fact, it was easier for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea than for [an African-American man] to cross certain university campuses. Let us dodge no issues. Let us yield no inch to bigotry, let us make no compromise with callousness…” (The Insecurity of Freedom, pg. 85)

Fifty-one years ago, Rabbi Heschel acknowledged with striking language that, in his time, there was a battle akin to that of the Exodus story, a struggle for freedom from oppression. One perhaps even more challenging then the crossing of the Red Sea!

Rabbi Heschel was even more condemning in a telegram that he on the eve of a meeting with President Kennedy in 1963: “I look forward to privilege of being present at meeting tomorrow four pm. Likelihood exists that [African-American] problem will be like the weather. Everybody talks about it but nobody does anything about it.”

This coming Shabbat, we at Anshe Emet are planning on doing something about it, as we commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 16 at Anshe Emet Live, Hazzan Mizrahi will lead a Friday night service when we will sing about freedom, and discuss how we can create a world with more freedom for all. And on Sunday, January 18, we are honored to host various churches, organizations, ONE Northside, and more as we talk about our respective faiths, the legacy of Dr. King, and systematic injustices in our community related to racism and gender inequality. We will also learn about how we can begin battling against these inequities. We’ll conclude with some food, breaking bread together as we reflect on how to make change as a community.

So this weekend, help us commemorate the legacy of Rabbi Heschel and Dr. King by doing something about it.

Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi David Russo

Vaera 5774

Vaera 5774

The Passover custom of drinking four cups of wine is based on the four expressions of redemption that are found at the beginning of Parshat Vaera (Shemot/Exodus 6:6-8):

(6) Say therefore to the children of Israel: I am the Lord. And I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I will save you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgements. (7) And I will take you to me as a people (this refers to the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai) and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.
(8) And I will bring you to the land, concerning which I swore with an uplifted hand to give to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov…

The late Biblical scholar Nechama  Leibowitz noted that a gradual change takes place from the first expression to the second, then to the third, and to the fourth reflecting the changing relationship between our ancestors and both the Egyptians and God, as follows:

1) “And I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt” – Bnai Yisrael are at this point in total subjugation to the Egyptians.
2) “And I will save you from their bondage” – Here the Egyptian bondage is still a factor, but the Egyptians are not mentioned by name. This reflects a lessening of the subjugation.
3) “And I will redeem you” – Here the Egyptians and the bondage are not referred to at all, reflecting a liberation from Egyptian subjugation.
4) “And I will take you to me as a people” – After being completely liberated from the Egyptians, Bnai Yisrael can forge a new relationship with God.

Her interpretation is intended to show the wisdom underlying God’s not attempting to bond by immediately and decisively liberating our ancestors, but rather by slowly building God’s relationship with them until the moment was ripe for them to connect in a meaningful way.  Although God could have granted our ancestors their freedom one fell swoop they probably could not have handled it – for they had been slaves far too long and viewed the world through the prism of slaves.  Freedom was granted slowly – in stages – as they became accustomed to their new status and privileges.  Only when they became response-able did they became responsible.

Had they attempted to forge that new relationship with God while still under Egyptian subjugation they would surely have failed.  They same may be said for all of us. Building a relationship with God is a process.  It takes time and energy.  Only after we have prepared the ground, planted the seeds and continue to care for them can we hope to see a relationship blossom and grow.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matt Futterman

Senior Educator

Vaera 5773

Torah Study: A Struggle and an Adventure

I often struggle with sections of Torah, of our sacred tradition. And every year when I approach this week’s parsha, I have one specific struggle: why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?

If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he repeatedly refused to let the Israelites go, why were he and all of Egypt punished so terribly? How could Pharaoh be held responsible if his free will had been removed?

I find comfort in the fact that I am not alone, that rabbis for thousands of years have struggled with these same questions. One response of our rabbis picks up on the nuance of the language used in the Torah. The first five plagues are accompanied by the passive formulation: “Then Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.” After each plague, when Pharaoh refused to let the people go, he hardened his own heart. It was only after Pharaoh hardened his own heart during the first five plagues, that God finally begins hardening Pharaoh’s heart for the final plagues. (Tanhuma Vaera 3). This follows the rabbinic concept that when a person has committed a sin once and a second time, it appears to that person as if it is permitted.(Yoma 86b)

I like this interpretation in that it explains that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart only because Pharaoh becomes so set in his punishment of the Israelites. The fact that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart is, in some ways, only a further reflection of Pharaoh’s own stubbornness.

But I would still like to believe that people can change, and that God and society could help us change, without hardening our hearts. One rabbi responds to this challenges, and mentions that if Pharaoh would have truly wished to submit to God and return to God in full repentance, there would have been no Divine deterrent at all (Sforno).

I still struggle with this Torah reading. And I want to invite you to join me in this struggle, and similar struggles with Torah study. Torah learning is not only about discovering answers, but adventuring through great questions.

We at Anshe Emet are kicking off our exciting and action-packed series of adult education classes this coming week. We offer a wide array of classes: studying about the environment, prayer, teachings of our sages, and much more, at many times and in different locations. We want to study Torah together, to struggle with deep questions together, and to learn from each other. So come and join us, as we explore Torah study together. Click here for a listing of courses that will be offered in the Winter/Spring 2013 semester!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo