Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with the Children of Israel prospering and increasing in Egypt, while a new king now sits on the throne. Threatened by their growing numbers, this new Pharaoh enslaves them and orders the Hebrew midwives, Shifrah and Puah, to kill all male babies at birth. When they do not comply, he commands his people to cast the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile. A child is born to Yokheved, and she puts him in a basket on the river, while the baby’s sister, Miriam, stands watch from afar. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the boy, raises him as her son, and names him Mosheh, Moses.
As a young man, Moses leaves the palace and sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and kills the Egyptian. The next day he sees two Hebrews fighting; when he rebukes them, they reveal they know of his murder of the previous day, and Moses is forced to flee to Midian. There he rescues Jethro’s daughters, marries Tzipporah, and becomes a shepherd of his father-in-law’s flocks. Hashem appears to Moses as a burning bush, and instructs him to go to Pharaoh and demand: “Let My people go.”
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים מִ֣י אָנֹ֔כִי כִּ֥י אֵלֵ֖ךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְכִ֥י אוֹצִ֛יא אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ כִּֽי־אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה עִמָּ֔ךְ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring out the Children of Israel from Egypt?” The response: “For I will be with you…” - Shemot (Exodus) 3:11-12, Parshat Sh’mot
A hasid came to Rabbi Yitzhak with the question: “I cannot understand the story the Talmud tells about Rabbi Zera,” he said. “The story goes that when his disciples asked him how he has lived so long, he answered that he had never rejoiced over another’s misfortune. How can this be a special merit? No sage would ever rejoice in someone’s misfortune!” The rabbi said: “This is what it means: that he could not rejoice in his own good fortune when he heard of another’s misfortune.”
This is a difficult story. Does it mean to teach that we should not be happy about the blessings in our own lives while others are suffering? Wouldn’t this attitude condemn all of us to perpetual misery? And furthermore, doesn’t this violate the mitzvah to be happy? וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵי֮ יְהֹ-וָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God… - Deuteronomy (Devarim) 12:12 There is a hint in our parshah: מִ֣י אָנֹ֔כִי... כִּֽי־אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה עִמָּ֔ךְ – “Who am I?”…“I will be with you…” On the surface, God is reassuring Moses not to worry, that God will help him in his mission. But look at what the words are actually saying: Moses asks the deepest question: Mi anokhi? Who am I? The Divine answer is, Ehyeh imakh – I will be with you… In other words, Ehyeh imakh is who Moses really is! When Moses inquires into his own deepest identity, he discovers that he is “I will be with you.” This is, in fact, who we all are at the very root of our being – Presence – meaning, awareness – awake to whatever arises in its field. Presence has many qualities, but this particular middah is what we might “Presence With,” and is one of the many fruits of meditation. It is represented by the letter ח het, which is shaped like the “hovering eagle” over its young: כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנֹּ֔ו עַל־גֹּוזָלָ֖יו …like an eagle rousing its nest, hovering over its eaglets.” - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 32:11 This “hovering” quality has a dual nature: on one hand, “hovering” means to neither flee nor approach; if the eagle were to abandon its young, they would die. But if the eagle were to land on top of them, it would crush them. So “hovering” means to be in a state of simply being-with, not pushing or pulling. On the other hand, there is an activity of the eagle – feeding the young. The hint is that in simply being present with another, neither pulling nor pushing, but simply listening and having empathy, this in itself is itself nourishing; it is a fundamental lifeline. And so here we have an answer to Rabbi Yitzhak’s understanding of the story of Rabbi Zera. It’s not saying that one should not be happy, but rather that one should not chase happiness by pushing away the suffering of others. We must feel along with those whom we encounter, not run away from their experience, not only for their sake, but for our own: when we refuse to be Present-With, we cut ourselves off from the nourishment of Presence that we need so deeply. How do we access this nourishment? אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה עִמָּ֔ךְ – “I will be with you…” We can use this verse to remind ourselves when we encounter the suffering of others. Instead of becoming annoyed and pushing them away, remember: Ehyeh imakh. Open yourself to fully be with the one before you. Presence nourishes; Presence heals…
Read past teachings on Shemot HERE
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