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December 24, 2021 (20 Tevet 5782) With a Little Help: בס"ד
Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you doing well and in good health. We hope you will be able to join us for our hybrid services this Shabbat morning at 10:30am, which will be held in our sanctuary and over our regular Zoom prayer link. As a special bonus, and in honor of Jewish Music Month, Cantor Zim will offer us some insights into the contributions of Jewish-American composers. In this week’s Torah portion, we begin the second book of the Bible, Sefer Shemot. This well-known portion traces the descent of Jacob and seventy souls to Egypt, the beginning saga of slavery, as well as the story of the birth of Moshe and God’s calling to him years later at the Burning Bush. As depicted in the text, Moshe is the personification of a reluctant prophet. Faced with a Divine Calling, Moshe offers three excuses as to why he is “not the right man for the job.” First, perhaps in a form of self-doubt, Moshe questions,
מִ֣י אָנֹ֔כִי כִּ֥י אֵלֵ֖ךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְכִ֥י אוֹצִ֛יא אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם.
Some commentators suggest that the question is somewhat ironic given that Moshe was raised in the palace and was familiar with the royal family, really making him the right man for the job. Nonetheless, in a form of self-deprecation, Moshe doesn’t think he is significant enough to take on such an important role. Backed by the support of God, however, Moshe will develop into the single greatest religious leader in Jewish history, over the next forty-one years. Moshe then expresses yet another reason for wanting to evade his holy task. He says, ְהֵן֙ לֹֽא־יַאֲמִ֣ינוּ לִ֔י.
At this point, Moshe is doubting the people and questioning their faith in God. Over the course of the next few chapters of the text, God will indeed show wonders and miracles to both the Egyptians and the Hebrews. These acts will establish His Oneness for generations to come and make the monotheism of Judaism the world’s most ancient and still flourishing faith. In Moshe’s third and final opt-out strategy, he laments, לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי .
A famous Midrash relates Moshe’s speech impediment to an incident in his infancy. In this story, Pharaoh’s magicians had heard a prophecy that a Redeemer would lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Believing that Moshe could be the Redeemer, they placed a crown, which represented leadership, and a tray of hot coals in front of the baby to divine Moshe’s future destiny. Moshe reaches for the crown, but at the last minute, an angel directs his hand to the burning coals. Moshe touches the coals and burns his finger, which causes him to reflexively touch and burn his own mouth, rendering him slow of speech in the future. Despite Moshe’s initial concern about his speaking skills, with Divine support, he will become so eloquent that the entire fifth book of the Torah (Sefer Devarim) will be filled with five of his speeches, which according to tradition, took place over thirty-eight consecutive days! Taken together, these three vignettes demonstrate that, with a little help from Hashem, anything is possible. In our tradition, this acknowledgement of heavenly assistance is referred to in Aramaic as Besiyata Dishmaya ( בְּסִיַּעְתָּא דִשְׁמַיָּא). The acronym BS"D (בס״ד) has long been a popular term and is often reproduced at the top of every written document (correspondences, letters, notes, etc.), simply as a reminder that all comes from God. This Shabbat, I pray that as we prepare for the secular New Year, we will all recognize and feel God’s guiding hand and protective presence and that it gives us the strength and confidence to continue to be a light unto the nations and the holiest versions of ourselves. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD.
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