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Shemot

by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon

This week we begin reading the greatest section of the Torah, the start of the book of Exodus with parshat Shemot.  It begins with the Israelites living well in Egypt—and then a new king arises who “knew not Joseph”, the people are enslaved, Moses is born, and the fabulous tale of slavery, redemption, and freedom begins to play itself out. 

Nearly from his birth, Moses is, simply, the most interesting and important person in the Torah, and perhaps in all of world religion.  He is courageous, forthright, humble, hot-tempered, persistent, chutzpadik, and in every way a very human hero.  At the start of the most important section of this week’s Torah portion, Moses is herding sheep in the wilderness when he comes upon a famous bush…

This pivotal episode begins with a sneh bo’eir ba’eish, v’hasneh einenu ukal—a bust burning with a furious flame, but unconsumed.  God appears to Moses out of that flame, and instructs him to stand up for his people, to go back to the Egypt he fled as a fugitive, and to try to liberate the enslaved Israelites. 

But, to put it mildly, Moses is reluctant.  He argues he isn’t worthy, he says no one will believe him, he tells God he stutters, comes up with a wide variety of reasons that he shouldn’t go back. When God answers each of his objections with a solution, Moses eventually concludes by more or less refusing to go.

But God has a certain power to persuade.  And of course—this being the Torah, our primary religious text—God is right.  By the end of the portion Moses finds himself back in Egypt, his first efforts to liberate the people rebuffed, he himself already discredited in his quest to free his people from domination. 

The growth of Moses into a protean figure who redeems the Israelites will take two more weekly portions.  But the lesson here in Shemot seems to be that if God chooses a course for you, no matter what your personal feelings, you should probably go along for the ride.  For one way or another your direction in life has been selected.  The rest is just commentary… 

Or perhaps the lesson is even greater.  Many times our reluctance to accept a sacred task, to do what we are urged to do, is simply a combination of obstinacy and fear.  We know we should choose to take a new course in life, to embrace hope and promise over the familiar and the ordinary.  But our own inertia holds us back. 

Moses required a push from God, a burning bush and a stern command.  But we need something simpler: a bit of faith and trust in the ultimate triumph of love and goodness.  May we each find that in the coming week—and in this new secular year.