Henry's D'var Torah: Moses' Death

Deuteronomy Chapter 34:4​

“… I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

Henry feels that this punishment is heartbreaking to Moses and that G-d is being too harsh, because G-d knows that Moses has wanted to go to the Promised Land. He walked and led the Israelites for 40 years in the desert and he doesn’t get to cross into Israel. Not only is he prohibited from going into Israel but G-d is showing him the land. It’s kind of like putting a bar of chocolate in front of a kid’s face.

 

The first thing that we noticed about this Parashah is that it’s the last chapter of the Torah. This Parashah is about Moses’ death. The Parashah gives us detailed information about Moses’ last events, his death, and his burial.

 

At the beginning of the Parashah Moses went up the mountain of Nebo. From the top of the mountain he could see the whole land of Israel; the final destination of the Israelites. Then G-d tells Moses that this was the land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and told him that he will not cross the border to Israel.

The Parashah then tells us that Moses died on top of mountain Nebo and was buried in the valley. His burial location will never be known.  

At the end of the Parashah it is very clear that Joshua will become the next leader of the people of Israel and therefore at the end of the Torah is the end of one leadership and sets up the beginning of a new leadership for the next part of the Tanakh. It is kind of a cliffhanger.

 

Question for Reflection:

-Would you agree that God's showing Moses the promised land but denying him entrance is unfair? Why or why not?

     

 

 

Final Torah Hangout - May 3 - Moses' Farewell

In the second to last parashah of the Torah, Haazinu, Moses speaks to the people one last time. His speech is a beautiful call to the people to follow God's teachings so they may finally live as a free and righteous people in peace. The people are on the verge of entering the land -- they can even see it now!

However, Moses himself, the man who has humbly and loyally led the people all this way, is not allowed to enter the land. After his final speech to the people, God tells Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nevo, to look at the promised land, and to die there. God says Moses may not enter the land, "Because you betrayed Me among the people Israel at the water of Merivat Kadesh in the Zin desert and because you did not sanctify Me among the people Israel." What does it mean that Moses did not sanctify God?

You see, back when the people were complaining of thirst in the desert of Zin, God had instructed Moses to speak to a rock to make water gush from it and quench the Israelites' thirst. But instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hit the rock with his stick. Water still came out of the rock and the people drank it, but because Moses did not follow God's instructions exactly, God does not allow him to enter the land God promised the people Israel.

Before Moses dies, he sings a poem to the people Israel, blessing each of the 12 tribes. Finally, Moses dies, the Torah says, "by the mouth of God." What does this mean? The Talmud says that Moses died as God kissed him. And God Godself buries Moses.

What do YOU think?
Do you think God's punishment of Moses is fair? Why or why not? Defend your answer with evidence from the story.

From the Rabbis
It is believed that it was Moses who wrote down the whole Torah, recording God's words as God spoke them. But how could Moses have written the whole Torah if he died before the ending?

There are a few explanations for this. One answer is that Moses wrote up to the moment before his death and then his student and successor, Joshua, wrote on from there, finishing the rest of the Torah. (It is Joshua, after all, who takes over for Moses and leads the people into the Land.) Another opinion states that Joshua could not have finished it because Moses already had a complete Torah scroll. How could this be? Rather, says Rabbi Meir, we must say that God dictated the event of Moses' death, saying, "And Moses...died there" and Moses wrote it in tears and then died.

~Why do you think the rabbis imagine Moses writing these last words in tears?

~Why do you think the Torah ends with Moses' death? Why doesn't it end with the people going into the promised land? 

#20 April 26 - Korah Rebels

In Parashat Korah, an Israelite named Korah, who is a Levite, gangs up with Dathan and Aviram, Reubenites, and 250 other Israelites, and rebels against Moses and Aaron. Together they come to Moses and Aaron and say, "You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, all of them, and God is among them. Why then do you make yourself higher than God's people?" When Moses hears this, he does not answer them but turns to God for an answer.

Then Moses says to Korah and his band, "Tomorrow morning, God will say who is His leader and who is holy, who gets to be close to God. This is your homework, Korah: You and your whole band of rebels take metal bowls and tomorrow burn incense in them in front of God's tent. Aaron and his sons, the priests, will also burn incense. Then God will tell us which man God chooses -- that man will be the holy one. You have gone too far, you Levites!"

Moses continued, "Listen up, Levites. Isn't it enough that God already made you special by letting you work for God in God's tent? (While Aaron and his sons are priests who make sacrifices to God, the Levite tribe is assigned to take care of God's tent, the Mishkan. They make sure everything is clean and tidy. They make sure all the tools and furniture are in the right place.) God has already made you and all the Levites special and now you want to be priests too?! By doing this, you are not rebelling against me but against God."

Take a look at the diagram above. This was how the 12 tribes camped and traveled together. At the center is God's tent (called the "tabernacle" in English or mishkan in Hebrew). Closest to the tent is the Tribe of Levi, which includes Moses, the leader, Aaron and his sons, the priests, and three other groups of Levites, led by Korah, Gershon and Merar. Surrounding the Levites are the rest of the 12 tribes, three tribes for each direction (North, South, East and West). So when Moses says to Korah, "Isn't it enough...?" he is talking about the fact that Korah is already very special - he gets to take care of God's own tent! So why is he complaining?!

So Korah and his crew show up the next morning at the tent with their metal bowls and and burn incense on them. God becomes so angry that He says to Moses and Aaron, "Stand back! I'm going to kill them all right this instant!!!" But Moses and Aaron bow to God and say, "No, God. Calm down. If only one man sins, is it right to kill everyone?" So God says to Moses, "Okay, tell the whole community to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Aviram." 

So the people move away from those men and their tents. As Dathan and Aviram stand by their tents, Moses says, "Now you will know that it was God that sent me to lead the people -- I did not choose to be your leader, God did." Right as he finished speaking, the ground opened up like a mouth beneath Korah, Dathan, Aviram and their families and swallowed them up!! Then the earth closed up and they vanished!  And God sent a fire that killed the rest of the 250 rebels. 

Questions for Refection

1. What does Korah accuse Moses of doing? What does Korah want?

2. Korah was actually right when he said that the whole Israelite community is holy. God said earlier, "You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Korah is also right when he says that "God is among them" because God lives with and guides all the Israelites as they wander in the wilderness. So what is wrong with what Korah says and does? 

3. Korah accuses Moses, saying "Why then do you make yourself higher than God's people?" Moses says, "I did not choose to be your leader, God did." What is the difference between how Korah and Moses understand leadership?

Let's Ask a Rabbi

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks says that Korah and Moses understand leadership in opposite ways. Korah understands it like a pyramid whereas Moses understands it like a Menorah. First, he tells us to imagine the pyramids: 

These were more than just buildings. They were statements in stone of a hierarchical social order. They were wide at the base and narrow at the top. At the top was the king or pharaoh – at the point, so it was believed, where heaven and earth met. Beneath was a series of elites, and beneath them the laboring masses. This was believed to be not just one way of organizing a society but the only way. The very universe was organized on this principle, as was the rest of life. The sun ruled the heavens. The lion ruled the animal kingdom. The king ruled the nation. That is how it was in nature. That is how it must be. Some are born to rule, others to be ruled.

Judaism is a protest against this kind of hierarchy. Every human being, not just the king, is in the image and likeness of G‑d. Therefore no one is entitled to rule over any other without their assent. There is still a need for leadership, because without a conductor an orchestra would lapse into discord. Without a captain a team might have brilliant players and yet not be a team. In a social order in which everyone has equal dignity in the eyes of heaven, a leader does not stand above the people. He serves the people, and he serves G‑d. The great symbol of biblical Israel, the menorah, is an inverted pyramid, broad at the top, narrow at the base. The greatest leader is therefore the most humble."

According to Rabbi Lord Sacks, Moses is like the stem of a menorah - as the leader, he supports the people. Can you think of other ways that the menorah is a symbol for the Jewish people?

Can you think of people today, in your own life, who lead like Moses? Share your answer below in the Comments box.

#19 April 19 - The 12 Spies

Numbers, Chapter 13

Read the Story

God said to Moses, "Send for yourself men who will scout out the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chief among their tribe. 

So Moses sent them from the desert of Paran by the word of God. All of them were important men: they were heads of the children of Israel. They were: 

1. Shammua son of Zikkur for the tribe of Reuven

2. Shaphat son of Hori for the tribe of Shimon

3. Caleb son of Jepphunneh for the tribe of Judah.

4. Yigal son of Joseph for the tribe of Issachar.

5. Hoshea son of Nun for the tribe of Ephraim.

6. Palti son of Raphu for the tribe of Benjamin.

7. Gaddiel son of Sodi for the tribe of Zevulun.

8. Gaddi son of Susi for the tribe of Joseph.

9. Ammiel son of Gemali for the tribe of Dan.

10. Setur son of Michael for the tribe of Asher.

11. Nahbi son of Vophsi for the tribe of Naphtali.

12. Geuel son of Mahi for the tribe of Gad.

These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land. And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, "Joshua".

Moses sent them to scout the Land of Canaan and he said to them, "Go up this way in the south and climb up the mountain. See what kind of land it is and the people who live there: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? And what kind of land is it? Is it good or bad? And what are the cities like? Are they camps or castles? What is the soil like? Is it fatty or lean? Are there any trees in it or not? Be courageous and take from the fruit of the land." It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen.

So they went up and explored the land. They came to the Valley of Eshkol and they cut a branch with a cluster of grapes. They carried it on a pole between two people and they took some pomegranates and figs.

They returned from scouting the Land at the end of forty days. They went and came to Moses and Aaron and the whole group of the children of Israel in the desert of Paran to Kadesh. They brought them back a report, as well as to the entire community and they showed them the fruit of the land.

They told him and said, "We came to the land to which you sent us and it is flowing with milk and honey and this is its fruit.... However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty and the cities are extremely huge and secured and there we saw even the children of the giant! The Amalekites live in the south land while the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites live in the mountains. The Canaanites live on the coast and alongside the River Jordan."

Caleb silenced the people and he said, "We can surely go up and take possession of it for we can indeed overcome it." But the men who went up with him said, "We are unable to go up against the people for they are stronger than us." They spread an evil report about the Land which they had scouted telling the children of Israel, "The Land we passed through to explore is a land that eats up its inhabitants and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. There we saw giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes we seemed like tiny grasshoppers in comparison to them - and so we were in their eyes.

The entire community raised their voices and shouted and the people cried all night. All the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron and the whole community said, "If only we had died in Egypt or if only we had died in this desert. Why does God bring us to this land only to be killed? Wouldn't it be better if we went back to Egypt?"

Watch this video from G-dcast

Did you get all that?
1. What kind of men were the spies that Moses sent to check out Canaan?
2. What was the spies' mission?
3. Which spies came back afraid to go into the land? Which spies believed they could do it?

Let's go a little deeper

1. Describe the differences between the spies' actual journey to Canaan and their report of what they saw. 

2. It says that all the spies, except Caleb and Joshua, spread an "evil report" about the land. What makes their report "evil"?

3. According to Rashi, the spies say several things to scare the people: that giants live in the land; that the Amalekites, who attacked them once before, live nearby; that the land lies alongside the Jordan River, which will be difficult to cross. Why do you think they want to scare the people?

4. According to a Midrash, when God says to Moses, send for yourself, this means that God is not commanding Moses to do this. God is saying, "If you want, you can send spies to scout out the land." Moses chose to send spies because the people kept asking him "Can we send men ahead of us to check out the land?" even though God had already said that the Land is very good. God lets them send spies in order that they would make a mistake by believing the spies' report and not be allowed to enter the Land. (As you saw in the video, this generation of Israelites will not be allowed to enter the land because they do not believe they are capable of conquering the land.) Why do you think God would let them make this mistake?

5. Why do you think the Israelites, upon hearing the report, wish they could have died in Egypt?

6. The only two spies who believe they can conquer the land are Caleb and Joshua. The other spies say they felt like tiny grasshoppers compared to the people they saw in Canaan. According to rabbis in the Talmud, when Caleb says we can surely go up, it means "we could even go up to heaven! If God tells us, 'make ladders and go up there,' we will succeed in whatever God says!" Describe the difference between Caleb's attitude and the other spies' attitude.

In your own life
Describe a time in your life when (a) you felt tiny like a grasshopper or (b) when you felt like you were strong like a giant. What impact did this feeling have on your experience?

Gordo-Vargas D'Var Torah: Looking to Aaron for the Answer

Have you ever had a problem and didn't know how to fix it? What if everyone is looking to you for a solution? What do you do?

Before the construction of the gold calf, the people believed they had lost their leader. Moses had been gone for some time, and they turned to Aaron and asked him to build them a god to go before them (Shemot 32:1), to restore their sense of direction and purpose in Moses’ absence. Aaron, instead of taking up Moses’ role as leader, prompted the people to give over their gold and he melded it together to make the golden calf that the people then worshiped.

We were curious to know why Aaron had to bring everyone’s gold together. Why not just make the idol out of found materials? Better yet, why not take that leadership role instead of building the idol at all?

Imrei Shefer, quoted in Or Ha-Hayy says that Aaron himself wasn't forced into idolatrous practices, that the people simply asked him to make them a god. When Aaron obliges them, Shefer argues, that Aaron's sin is that of lif’nei iver, “enabling someone else to commit a sin i.e. placing a stumbling block before the blind.” But this is where we think Aaron might have been more clever than he is credited. He didn't just build the idol for the people and he certainly didn't do it out of malice. He made sure everyone had to sacrifice something precious and valuable thus demonstrating how important it was to have something symbolically in place of their missing leader. They essentially all participated (actively and willingly) in the making of their own stumbling block.

Aaron didn't simply step up and take Moses’ place because God didn't speak to Aaron the same way Moses had. Aaron didn't know what to do without Moses any better than the people did. So instead of pretending and taking charge, possibly leading the people further astray, Aaron facilitated the people in making the idol they wanted and in so doing bought some time for Moses to return from Mt. Sinai. In this way, Aaron essentially admits he doesn't have the answers and figures out a way to appease the people until Moses returns, who will provide the leadership that the people (including Aaron) so desperately needed. The golden calf, this “stumbling block,” is really a stalling device, a distraction, until help from Moses can arrive.

There is an important lesson here that we don’t often discuss with this parsha. Instead of worrying about who is to blame, Aaron or the people, we can look at it as Aaron admitting he doesn't know the answer to the problem the people are facing. He doesn't know which direction is right or what action to take, but he knows that Moses will know and so Aaron waits for that guidance instead of acting in haste.

Discussion Questions:

         -Are there times when you don’t have the answer to a problem? 

         -Can you think of someone who might be able to help you? 

         -Are you brave enough to ask for help when you don’t know what to do?

#18 March 29 - The Golden Calf

Exodus 31:18 - 32:20

When God had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets, written with the finger of God. 

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt -- we do not know what has happened to him."

Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me." All the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and melted them together in a mold and formed it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron announced: "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord!" Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink and then got up to dance.

The Lord spoke to Moses, "Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted wickedly. They have been quick to turn away from the way I told them to follow. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed down low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"

The Lord further said to Moses, "I see that this is a stiff-necked people. Now let Me be, let My anger blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them and make of you a great nation." But Moses begged the Lord his God, saying, "Don't let Your anger blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. Don't let the Egyptians say, 'God delivered them out of Egypt for an evil purpose, only to kill them off in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth.' Turn from Your blazing anger and give up Your plan to punish Your people. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your children as numerous as the stars of heaven and I will give to your children this whole land of which I spoke, to own forever." And the Lord took back His punishment He had planned to bring upon His people.

At that point, Moses turned and went down from the mountain carrying the two tablets of the Pact, tablets written on both surfaces: they were written on the one side and on the other. The tablets were God's work and the writing was God's writing, carved upon the tablets. When Joshua heard the sound of the people in its merriment, he said to Moses, "They are getting ready for war." But he answered, "It is not the tune of victory, Or the sound of the tune of defeat; It is the sound of song that I hear!" As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and poured it out over the water and made the Israelites drink it.

~

Did you get all that? 

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

1. Why did Aaron build a golden calf? How did he make it?
2. Which of the ten commandments are Aaron and the people violating when they make and worship a golden calf? 
3. Which character in the Torah does Moses remind you of when he asks God not to destroy the people?
4. Why is God so angry? What does God wish to do?
5. How does Moses convince God to refrain from destroying the people?

Let's go a little deeper...

Read the following commentaries / questions and choose one to respond to (below in the comments box):

1. ... God gave Moses the two tablets ...

Rashi says that this moment, when God gives Moses the tablets and the people, meanwhile, are worshiping a golden calf, happened long before God commands Moses and the people to build the Mishkan (portable dwelling place for God). According to the order of events in the Torah, this is not the case. God has already commanded the Israelites to build God a Mishkan. Why do you think Rashi insists that the golden calf incident happens before God commands them to build the Mishkan?

2. A Midrash says: Aaron tried to busy the people with tasks. He said to them: "Remove the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives"-- a most difficult thing, for the women, who saw all the miracles that G-d performed in Egypt, at the Sea and at Sinai, would surely not participate... When the women did not do as the men demanded, the men removed their own jewelry, as it says, "And all the people unloaded the golden earrings which were in their ears."

They wanted to build the altar together with Aaron, but he would not allow them, saying: "Allow me to build it by myself, for it is not befitting the respect due to the altar that another should build it." Aaron's intention in this was to delay matters, saying to himself: "By the time I build it all by myself Moses will come down." But when he had built it Moses had not yet descended.

What did Aaron do? He said: I shall postpone the festival until tomorrow, as it is written: "And [Aaron] proclaimed: Tomorrow is a feast to G-d!" His intention was to the true G-d, being certain that by the next day Moses would come and they will serve G-d. But they "Arose early in the morning..."

What is the purpose of this Midrash? What is it trying to say about Aaron's role in the golden calf incident?

3. ... stiff-necked ... This word, according to Rashi, means that the people are stubborn. They turn the hardness of the backs of their necks toward those who scolded them and they refused to listen.

How does Rashi's definition of "stiff-necked" help you understand how God characterizes the Israelites?

4. Why do you think Moses breaks the tablets?

#17 March 22 - What Happened on Mount Sinai?

Exodus 19:1-20:18

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. And the people camped in front of the mountain.

Moses went up to God, who called to him from Mount Sinai and said to him, "Tell the Children of Israel, 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you close to Me. If you obey Me faithfully and keep my covenant, you will be My special treasure among all the peoples of the earth, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Say these words to the Children of Israel."

Moses called the elders and told them all that God had commanded.

And all the people answered together: "All that God has said we will do!"

Then Moses brought the people's words back to God. God said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will trust you forever. Now go to the people and warn them to stay pure and to wash their clothes, and to be ready for the third day, for on the third day I will come down, in the sight of all the people, to Mount Sinai. Tell the people, 'Beware of going up on the mountain or touching its borders. For whoever touches the mountain will die. Whether animal or human, they shall not live.' When the shofar sounds a long blast, then they may go up on the mountain."

Moses came down from the mountain and told the people all that God had commanded.

On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning, and a dense cloud, and a very loud blast of the shofar, and all the people in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered in smoke, for God had come down upon it in fire. The smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain shook violently. The blare of the shofar grew louder and louder. When Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder, God came down to the top of Mount Sinai, and Moses went up.

Then God spoke all these words:

• I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery, You shall have no other gods besides Me.
• You shall not make for yourselves a sculptured image or anything resembling what is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to these idols or serve them.
• You shall not swear falsely by God's name, for I will not pardon anyone who swears falsely by My name.
• Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall do all your work but the seventh day is My Sabbath. You shall not do any work -- you, your son or your daughter, your male of female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days God made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them and God rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
• Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long on the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
• You shall not murder.
• You shall not commit adultery.
• You shall not steal.
• You shall on testify falsely against your neighbor.
• You shall not covet your neighbor's house, or his wife, or his male or female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

All the people saw the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. when the people saw all this, they backed away and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, "You speak to us and we will obey but do not let God speak to us or we will die." Moses said to them, "Do not be afraid for God has come only to test you and be sure that you will always revere God so that you do not go down the wrong path." 

Then Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Moses remained on the mountain covered in cloud for 40 days and 40 nights. 

~

Did you get all that? 

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

1. What do the Israelites have to do before the third day?
2. What do God, Moses and the Israelites do on the third day? (Try to list the events in order.)
3. At what point are the Israelites allowed to go up the mountain?
4. If you were a weather forecaster, how would you describe this day in the Sinai wilderness?
5. After God comes down and declares the 10 Commandments, what do the Israelites do?

Let's go a little deeper...

Read the following commentaries / questions and choose one to respond to (below in the comments box):

... I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you close to Me.

What does it mean when God says God carried the Israelites out of Egypt on eagles' wings?Rashi says: Like the eagle who carries its young upon its wings. For all other birds put their young between their feet because they are afraid of another bird that can fly above them, but the eagle is only afraid of man, for a man could shoot an arrrow into him because not bird flies above him. Therefore the eagle puts the baby birds upon his wings. He says, "Better that the arrow should enter me than my child." 

Based on Rashi's description of the eagle and its young, why do you think God describes Godself as an eagle? If an eagle is the symbol for God, what is the symbol for Israel?

***

... you will be My special treasure among all the peoples of the earth, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

God says that the Israelites will be special and holy to God if they follow God's commandments. God says they will be a "kingdom of priests." Later on in the Torah, God will assign certain Israelites (Aaron and his sons) to be priests. They will get to work in the Mishkan (the portable Temple that the Israelites will build for God). They will get to wear special clothing. They will not have to cook their own food. They will be in charge of all the sacrifices that Israelites will bring to God. In short, they will be very important. Why, then, do you think God says ALL of the Israelites will be priests? What do you think God means by this?

Marin-Rosenzweig D'Var Torah: Pharaoh's Stiff Heart

Let’s just say, when it comes to the Exodus story, God’s catchphrase (right after “Let My People Go”) could be: “Go Big, or Go Home.”

As we were reading our Parasha about the period after “Pharoah let the people go,” it was striking to us that the story, right after its huge dramatic climax – plagues, death of the First Born, and freedom from slavery –  does not wind down into denouement and final credits, but oddly ramps up again.  Instead of allowing the Israelites to swiftly escape and start life anew, God intentionally has Moses take them into the wilderness, and tarry long enough to give Pharoah time to have a change of heart and pursue them. Isn’t this kind of an unnecessary complication?

Why, we wondered, did God once again “Stiffen Pharoah’s heart?”

And maybe God, the original and ultimate cinematic director, knew that in order for His story to really have an impact,  to be worthy of telling year after year, there had to be a Chase Scene.  And one with a Big Finish. 

Commentary explains his motivation, addressing Moses:

“Of course Pharaoh will not be easily swayed, but not on account of your

inadequacy. Rather, it is because I use his stubbornness to demonstrate My active Presence.” (From Etz Hayim, JPS)

God did not want the Israelites to come to The Promised Land before they had developed a deep visceral understanding of His Greatness.  And to do that, he had to set the stage for a heartstopping, showstopping Major Display of Awesomeness that would be etched permanently into the Israelites’ consciousness.   

In Exodus, it is written:  “And I will stiffen the hearts of the Egyptians so they go in after them, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh, and all his warriors, his chariots and his horseman.” He had to stiffen Pharaoh’s heart so the Israelites would be trapped, facing certain death, No Way Out suspense, just so he could bust the Big Superhero Move – splitting the seas --  he needed to Prove to the Israelites that he was not just a God, but The God.  He had to Go Big.  

Okay, so once we get that He had to make Pharaoh a jerk in order to create the drama he needed to teach the Israelites there is Only One God, and He is Awesome, we  still ask ourselves, why this expression, “stiffen the heart?” It’s mentioned 20 times in the Shemot. It must have significance.

We wonder if God, in addition to teaching Israelites to exalt Him, also needed a succinct way to express the essence of holiness and religion: the ability to feel compassion.  Not that the Exodus story includes a great hero lionized for his compassion, Moses isn’t there demonstrating wonders to help the suffering -- that is more a New Testament image.   In Exodus, God, with his brilliant instinct for dramaturgy, is not so On The Nose.  Instead, Exodus teaches us the value of compassion by creating a Super Villain – Pharaoh -- who proves himself utterly lacking it -- over and over again, incapable of feeling for someone else’s suffering.  And is punished for it.  

This is illuminating to our family, when thinking about the part of the seder where we stick our finger in the wine and remove a drop for each plague.  Always an odd moment, a) weirdly messy and b) a bit hard to swallow the logic that we should not celebrate the punishment of our enemy. Compassion, it seems, is a key element in this saga.  Maybe we remove wine from our cups to distinguish us as different from Pharoah, whose own self-interest  and ego clog the arteries and harden his “Heart.”  In contrast, we lessen our portion as a symbol of feeling the pain of another – regardless of whether their suffering is in our self interest.

The fact that in the parasha it says that, “The Lord stiffened Pharoah’s heart” makes it complicated.  If it was not Pharoah’s free will, but the Lord using him as a pawn to exemplify values to teach the Israelites, that is hardly compassionate.  Maybe even unfair, or abusive.   To be kind, we’ll leave it at ironic.

So maybe God had to Stiffen Pharoah’s Heart so he could create a Big Story, one that would help the Israelites Get It (God) and be worthy of revisiting every year and not get bored (His “The Godfather”).  And maybe we tell the story every year of How We were Slaves, and how Pharoah’s heart was hardened, not just to remember our own history of suffering and persecution in the context of faith and redemption; but as an annual call to connect with our own empathy and compassion – the cornerstones of what is holy humanity.

#16 March 15: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart

Exodus 5-7

Moses and Aaron came to speak to the Israelites in Egypt. They told the people all that God had said to Moses. They performed miracles before the people and the people were convinced.

Then Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and said to him, "The God of the Hebrews has appeared to us. Please let us go a distance of three days into the wilderness to worship our God."

But Pharaoh answered, "You are distracting the people from their work!" Pharaoh ordered the taskmasters, "You will no longer provide the slaves with straw to make their bricks. From now on they will have to gather straw for themselves. But do not reduce the daily amount required. They are lazy. That is why they want to stop working and go sacrifice to their God. Let them work harder so they will not have time to listen to such false promises."

So the people had to work even harder. And when they did not make the required amount of bricks, the taskmasters beat them. Then the Israelite guards came to Moses and Aaron and said to them, "May God punish you! You have put a sword in the hands of the Egyptians to kill us."

Moses turned to God and said, "Why have You brought harm to Your people? And why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has dealt even worse with them. And still You have not freed Your people."

God said to Moses, "You will soon see what I will do to pharaoh. He will let the people go because of a power greater than his. In fact, he will drive them from his land. Go to Pharaoh and act as God before him, and your brother, Aaron, will serve as your prophet. Tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will refuse, and then I will show Egypt that I am God. I will stretch out my hand and bring the Israelites out of their midst."

~

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, respond to the following questions:

1. Moses and Aaron are sent by God to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of slavery. But first they must convince the Israelite people that God actually sent them to do so. How do Moses and Aaron convince the people? Why is this necessary?

2. When Moses and Aaron first ask that the Israelites be released from their work to leave Egypt and serve God in the wilderness, what does Pharaoh do to the people? 

3. Why do the Israelite guards curse Moses and Aaron, saying, "May God punish you! You have put a sword in the hands of the Egyptians to kill us"? 

Instead of just freeing the Israelites, God decides to draw out the process by hardening Pharaoh's heart. Even after nine plagues sent to strike pharaoh and the Egyptians, Pharaoh's heart is hardened and refuses to let the Israelites go. It is not until the tenth and final plague (when God kills the first born sons of every Egyptian household) that Pharaoh finally let's the people go. 

What do you think it means to harden someone's heart?

But I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will refuse, and then I will show Egypt that I am God.  -- According to Rashi, God chooses to harden Pharaoh's heart because God will then have the opportunity to show how powerful God is -- by sending ten terrible plagues. God wants to show the Israelites what will happen if they behave like the Egyptians. This, Rashi says, is God's way: God punishes sinful nations so that God's people, the Israelites, will see this punishment, become fearful, and choose to behave differently. 

Why do you think God chooses to harden Pharaoh's heart? Is this fair of God to do? Why or why not?Do you agree with Rashi's interpretation? Why or why not? (Post your response below in the comment section.)

Moses Leaves Egypt

A Stranger in a Foreign Land

Exodus 2:11-22

Some time later, when Moses was grown up, he went out among his people and saw how hard they worked. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. He looked around, and seeing that no one was close by, he struck the Egyptian dead and buried his body in the sand.

The next day when Moses went out among the Hebrew slaves, he came upon two of them fighting.

Moses said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating your fellow Hebrew?”

The man answered, “Who made you lord and master over us? Do you plan to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?”

Then Moses was afraid. He thought, “Surely everyone must know!”

When Pharaoh learned what Moses has done, he tried to have Moses killed. So Moses ran away to the land of Midian. He came to a well and rested there.

No Yitro, the priest of Midian, had seven daughters. They came to the well and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock of sheep. But other shepherds came and drove them away. Mose came to their defense, and he watered their flock.

When the seven sisters returned home, their father asked them, “Why are you home so early?”

They answered, “An Egyptian saved us from the other shepherds, and even watered our flock.”

“Where is this man?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him there? Bring him home so her can share bread with us.”

Moses agreed to stay with Yitro and his family. Yitro gave Moses his daughter Tzipporah as his wife. She gave birth to a son, whom Moses named Gershom, saying, “I have been a stranger - ger - in a foreign land.”

~

On a sheet of paper or with a partner, respond to the following questions:

1. Based on the story, is Moses an Egyptian or a Hebrew?
2. Moses kills a man in this story. You be the judge - did Moses do right or wrong? Explain your answer.
3. Why does Moses run away from Egypt?
4. Based on all of Moses’ actions in this story, what kind of man is he? How would you describe his personality?

Respond to the following question on our blog:

Why do you think Moses calls himself a “stranger in a foreign land?” Which land is he talking about? How is he a stranger?

#14 March 1 - Baby Moses

The Birth of Moses

Exodus 2:1-10

Amram, an Israelite from the House of Levi, married Yocheved, also from the House of Levi. And Yocheved gave birth to a son. When she saw how good (tov) he was, she hid the baby for three months. When she could no longer hide him, she took a small basket made of reeds and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat among the reeds along the banks of the Nile. Miriam, the baby's sister, watched from a distance to see what would happen to the child.

Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the Nile. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to bring it to her. When she opened it, she found a baby boy, crying. She took pity on him and said, "This must be one of the Hebrew babies."

Then Miriam said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and fetch you a Hebrew woman to nurse the child?"

"Yes, go, " Pharaoh's daughter answered.

Miriam brought Yocheved, the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child, nurse him, and I will pay you."

So Yocheved took her own child and nursed him. And when he was old enough, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son.

Pharaoh's daughter named him Moses, Moshe, because, she said, "I took him out - mee-shee-tee-hu - of the water."

~

With a partner or on a sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

• Just before this part of the story, the Pharaoh made all Hebrews work as his slaves and then made a law that all Hebrew baby boys born must be thrown into the Nile river. He did this because he was afraid that the Hebrew population would get so big that they would become more powerful than the Egyptians. Does Yocheved, a Hebrew woman, follow the Pharaoh's law? Explain your answer

• This is the moment in the Torah when we first meet Miriam, Moses’ older sister. Based on what she does in this story, how would describe Miriam?

• How is Moses saved?

• Why is the boy named Moses (Moshe)?

• In the future, when Moses is a man, God will call on him to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt so they can be free. The final moment of their escape from Egypt and Pharaoh is when the Hebrews enter the Reed Sea and God causes the waters to split so they can walk through on dry land to safety. Can you see a connection between how Moses is saved as a baby and how the Hebrews are saved? Explain your answer in the comment box below on the blog.

Read the following commentary and answer the related questions:

"When she saw how good (tov) he was" - What does it mean, he was good? When Moses was born the entire house became filled with light. 

This comment comes from Rashi. He thinks it is obvious that all mothers see their newborn babies as good - so what he wants to know is what makes Moses so special? What does "good" mean here? Rashi notices that the same phrase "that he was good" is used to describe the light God creates on the first day of creation. "And God saw that the light was tov - good." So when this story says that Yocheved saw that Moses was good, Rashi thinks it means that he filled her home with light.

• How does this comment explain why Yocheved hid her baby?
• How does this comment explain why Moses is special?