Hello friends and welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Grateful you've come by again to learn. A reminder that we'll be holding out January services at the shul on Friday the 14th at 7:00PM and our Midrash (Torah Study) on Shabbat the 15th at 10:00AM. Once again, our services are socially distanced and we require you to be fully vaccinated to attend. Thank you for respecting the wishes of the Board. Now, let's go!
The Portion Is...
This week's Torah portion is Bo (Exodus 10:1 - 13:16). "Bo" is Hebrew for "go" as we read in the first line of the parsha: "Hashem said to Moses, come (go) to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs of Mine in his midst..." I'm reminded, each year, that this parsha was a favorite of my Father z'tl. I fondly remember that when we got to this portion of the Torah he really engaged in the conversation both at the shul and at home. It's a good memory.
Often I get the question as to why G-d would make the heart of Pharaoh "stubborn" and in some places "harden". The answer is in that first line. If Pharaoh had simply complied and let the people go G-d would not have that opportunity to show how He truly controlled everything. And so, to carry on the mission the heart of Pharaoh and his servants were hardened.
Which Is It?
Studying for this week I came on an interesting question posed by Rabbi Yitzchak Zweig that has its basis in this week's reading. The question is, "Are you a Jewish American or an American Jew"? At first blush you might think they are the same thing...but are they?
This week we read "at midnight the Almighty struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon” (Ex. 12:29) What does this mean?
The great commentator Rashi wondered why the firstborn sons of the captives were also killed. After all, they weren’t even citizens of Egypt and had nothing to do with the enslavement of the Jewish people.
He then offers two approaches, one of which is that the captives rejoiced that the Jews were being enslaved and abused and they would have happily participated had they been given an opportunity. This is akin to the Nazi soldiers who claimed to only be “following orders,” but in many pictures they can be seen laughing and jeering while terrorizing and abusing the German and Polish Jewish population.
Now, follow this logic: The fact that Rashi has to explain why the first born children of the captives were included in the plague indicates that otherwise the first born children of the captives would not have died.
The Sign
Remember, Moses instructed the Jewish people to put the blood of the Paschal lamb on the door posts of their homes so that they would be protected and not fall victim to the tenth plague. Moses is therefore informing them that the first born sons of the Jewish nation would also die unless there was blood on the door posts.
How is it possible that first born Jews would die and not the first born of the captives in jail?
There seems to be only one possible explanation: there was no decree of death from the plague on foreigners – the tenth plague was only a decree on the Egyptians. That is why the children of the captives would have been excluded. But still, why were the children of the Jewish nation susceptible to this last plague?
Entitled
We have often talked about this in shul. There were Jews in Egypt that did not believe and they failed to mark their doors. Why did they not believe? Because they had become...entitled.
Many Jews began to feel like privileged Egyptian citizens and they were faced with the question of self-definition – are we Jews living in Egypt or rather Egyptians of Jewish descent?
You see, the tenth plague came at the end of a year when many Jews in Egypt were doing just fine...thank you very much. The rabbis tell us they had been relieved of their slavery shortly after the plagues began. And then they started to prosper. They sold water during the plague of blood, their livestock were not affected by the pestilence, their crops were not destroyed by the hail, etc. They were no longer perceived as the downtrodden class. Their circumstances changed dramatically for the better. So, why...leave?
In a very short time, the Jewish people began to feel that they had finally “made it” and were now members of the upper class of Egyptian society. Many preferred to self-identify as Egyptians, of Jewish descent.
The Answer
Moses gave the people the sign of how to define themselves: If you’re an Egyptian Jew put the blood of the Paschal lamb on the doorpost and proudly declare “I am a Jew.” Those who were merely Jewish Egyptians met the same fate as the Egyptians. It is no coincidence that we place mezuzahs on the same place (as the blood of the Paschal lamb) to declare that the home is inhabited by Jews who are proud to be members of the Jewish nation.
It is indeed unfortunate that so many of us identify as American Jews rather than Jewish Americans. If history has taught the Jewish people anything at all it should have taught us that, try as we might to blend into a host nation, they will always consider us Jews first and citizens of the state second. From ancient civilizations all the way to 20th century Europe – they have made their opinion of us very clear. We must internalize this message and understand who we really are and where our allegiances must ultimately lie. That is not to say we can not be proud Americans but we must also be proud Jews.
Shul News
Once again we'll be holding services on Friday the 14th at 7:00PM and then our Midrash on Shabbat the 15th at 10:00AM. We're looking forward to seeing you.
Shabbat Shalom!
Shalom -
It was brought to my attention (and I was delighted to see) that I was quoted in the above article - the essence of which is so important for us Jews to consider. I would like to make one comment, though. Perhaps I wasn’t clear in my initial article (I have to go back and re-read to see if I made the error there as well) so I want to set the record straight.
We need to think of ourselves as Jews first (as mentioned above) - in other words we are American Jews not Jewish Americans. The question is which is the noun and which is the modifying adjective. Jewish Americans mean we are in essence Americans but of Jewish descent. American Jews means we are first and foremost Jews and we just happen to be Americans now. It’s a subtle difference in language but a huge difference in perspective. Another way to think about it is; Why are we called Jew-ish???? Moslems and Christians are direct nouns but Jew-ish seems like a description - kinda like a Jew. Something to consider. - YZ
Posted by: Yitzchak Zweig | 11/27/2022 at 07:42 AM