(ל) ויקם פרעה. ממטתו:
(30) Pharaoh rose. From his bed....
Rashi is adding to the image we already have of Pharaoh - an image of complete indifference to the fate of his people and even his own child. I want to add a few more from the "past" - paranoia that leads to enslavement and what, in our terms, we would call ethnic cleansing.
(ג) הקבצו ושמעו בני יעקב - ... אלעזר בן אחוי אמר: מכאן זכו ישראל לקריאת שמע. בשעה שהיה יעקב אבינו נפטר מן העולם, קרא לשנים עשר בניו. אמר להם: שמעו אל ישראל, שבשמים אביכם, שמא יש בלבבכם מחלוקת על הקב"ה! אמר לו: (דברים ו) שמע ישראל אבינו, כשם שאין בלבך מחלוקת על הקדוש ברוך הוא, כך אין בלבנו מחלוקת, אלא ה' אלהינו ה' אחד. אף הוא פירש בשפתיו ואמר: ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד. רבי ברכיה ורבי חלבו בשם רבי שמואל, הדא הוא, שישראל משכימים ומעריבים בכל יום, ואומרים: שמע ישראל אבינו, ממערת המכפלה, אותו דבר שצויתנו, עדיין הוא נוהג בנו, ה' אלהינו, ה' אחד:
Gather around and listen, children of Yaakov - ... Eleazar ben Achui said: From this [moment, the children of] Israel merited to say the Shema. In the hour that our father Yaakov was departing from this world, he called his 12 children. He said t them: 'Listen to the God of Israel, that in Heaven is your Father, lest there is in your hearts a dispute/doubt regarding the Holy One of Blessing! They said to him: (Deut. 6:2) 'Listen, Israel,' our father, just as there is no dispute/doubt in your heart regarding the Holy One of Blessing, there is no dispute/doubt in our hearts, rather, 'Hashem is our God, Hashem is One.' And even he said softly: 'Blessed be the Name of the Glory of His kingdom forever.' Rabbi Berachia and Rabi Chelbo in the name of Rabi Shmuel - this is why [all of] Israel gets up and goes to sleep every day, saying: 'Listen Israel' - our father, in the Cave of Machpela, that what you commanded us it is still done by us - 'Hashem is our God, Hashem Alone.'
This is way before the enslavement. What do you think is Yaakov's anxieties regarding his children? What would be the breaking point for Yaakov? [Possibilities I want to entertain: acceptance of the status quo, that money and power are gods to be worshiped, that those gods demand acceptance of enslaving/oppressing others.]
(ג) זה שאמר הכתוב (שם כא): עושה צדקה ומשפט נבחר לה' מזבח, כזבח אין כתיב כאן, אלא מזבח. כיצד? הקורבנות לא היו קריבין נוהגות אלא בפני הבית. אבל הצדקה והדינים נוהגות בפני הבית ושלא בפני הבית. דבר אחר: הקורבנות אין מכפרין אלא לשוגג. והצדקה והדינין מכפרים בין לשוגג בין למזיד. דבר אחר: הקורבנות אין נוהגים אלא בתחתונים. והצדקה והדינין נוהגין בין בעליונים ובין בתחתונים. דבר אחר: הקורבנות אין נוהגין אלא בעולם הזה. והצדקה והדינין נוהגין בין בעוה"ז בין בעוה"ב. אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני: בשעה שאמר לו הקב"ה לנתן (ד"ה א יז): לך ואמרת אל דוד עבדי כה אמר ה' לא אתה תבנה לי הבית לשבת כי לא ישבתי בבית מן היום אשר העליתי את ישראל עד היום הזה ואהיה (מתהלך) מאהל אל אהל וממשכן. כל מי שהיה מבקש לקלל את דוד, מה היה עושה? היה אומר לו: טוב שיבנה הבית. תדע לך, מה דוד אומר? (תהלים קכב): שמחתי באומרים לי בית ה' נלך. מבקשים לי דברים לומר שאין אתה בונה. אמר לו הקב"ה: חייך! שעה אחת מחייך, אין אני מחסר. מנין? שנא' (שמואל ב ז) כי ימלאו ימיך ושכבת עם אבותיך והקימותי את זרעך אחריך אשר יצא ממעיך והכינותי את ממלכתו. אמר לו הקב"ה: הצדקה והדינין שאתה עושה חביבין עלי מבהמ"ק. מנין? שנא' (ש"ב ח) ויהי דוד עושה משפט וצדקה. מהו משפט וצדקה לכל עמו? ר' יהודה ורב נחמן, חד אמר: היה דן את הדין מזכה את הזכאי ומחייב את החייב, אם לא היה לחייב ליתן, היה דוד נותן משלו, הוי משפט וצדקה. אמר לו רב נחמן: אם כן נמצאת מביא את ישראל לידי רמיות! ומהו משפט וצדקה? הי' דן את הדין מזכה את הזכאי ומחייב את החייב. הוי, משפט וצדקה, שהיה מוציא את הגזל מידו. אמר הקב"ה לישראל: בני, הואיל וכך הדינין חביבים לפני, הוו זהירין בהם:
This is what Scripture says. "To do what is right and just is more desired by the Lord than sacrifice." (Prov. 21:3) Scripture does not say, "as much as sacrifice", but "more than sacrifice." How so?
Whereas sacrifices could only function inside the Temple, to do what is right and just is mandated inside and outside the Temple. Another opinion: whereas sacrifices could only atone for unintentional, accidental sins, acts of righteousness and justice atone even for intentional sins. Another opinion: whereas sacrifices are offered only by humanity, even God is obligated to practice justice and righteousness. Another opinion: whereas sacrifices are significant only in this world, righteousness and justice will remain a cornerstone in the Coming World. Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachmani said: When the Holy One of Blessing said to Natan (I Chronicles 17:3-5): "Go and tell David My servant: Thus saith the LORD: Thou shalt not build Me a house to dwell in for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day; but have [gone] from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle [to another]" If a person wanted to curse David, what would he do? He would say to David: It would be good if you built the House. You should know what David's answer was: (Ps. 122) 'I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the House of Hashem'. Those who look for a fight say to me 'you haven't build!' The Holy One of Blessing said to him: 'By you life! One hour of your life makes Me lack nothing.' From where [can you say this!?] Because it is written (II Sam 7:12): 'When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, that shall come out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom.' The Holy One said to him: 'The justice and righteousness that you do are better to me than the Beit Hamikdash [Temple]!'From where [can you say this!?] Because it is written (II Sam 8:15): [And David reigned over all Israel;] and David did justice and righteousness to all his people.'
This is an amzing midrash - in the sense that we could expect, and indeed, there are those who still today believe so - that we should just focus on the rebuilding of the Temple, that its mere existence should give us meaning. But that is not true. The externality of the sacrificial system did not endure. Sacrifice could only function while the Temple stood in Jerusalem, justice and righteousness are essential - during the biblical period and today. This midrash affirms the centrality of justice as a Jewish calling. We cannot consider ourselves religious Jews without a firm commitment to making the world a more just and righteous place. And because this is MLK's weekend, I want to honor his memory and the memory of AJ Heschel, and first read an excerpt of MLK's letter from a Birmingham jail.
Excerpts of MLK Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail
16 April 1963
My Dear Fellow Clergymen:
… I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. … I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
… Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.
Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants--for example, to remove the stores' humiliating racial signs. … As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. …
You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. … My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."
… How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? … Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I it" relationship for an "I thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. …
Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. …
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
It is a good question to ask - why did it took so long for the Israelites to get Torah? Couldn't the Israelites just get it and go to the promised land right away. One of the answers to this question is given in the arc of the Torah - it is easy to take the Israelite from Egypt, but it is much harder to take the Egypt from the Israelite. The mentality of being oppressed is inside people's heads - the idea that slavery was not so bad after all, let's go back to Egypt now! - as we know, to the point that God will decide that the entire generation that came out of Egypt, with two exceptions, are not going to enter the promised land.
It is hard for us to actually want to change things. And I am not one in favor of revolution for revolution's sake. But against certain words, certain ideas, certain attitudes - we need to protest and do something against it. It is hard for us to admit that Pharaoh and Egypt are inside us. The question of fear, of paranoia, of distrust is the basic question we need to face. The fact is that there are people trying to sell us fear instead of life, injustice instead of justice, paranoia instead encounter with the other, indifference instead of compassion and empathy.
As the midrash says - Justice is the cornerstone on which Judaism maintains itself relevant. In that sense, Pharaoh is still alive. We are still in Egypt. When we hear and accept what we hear without meeting others, without asking how can it be, without looking for friends outside our circles, when we accept hatred for a group as a legitimate discourse - Pharaoh is alive and well, inside ourselves.
(טו) שִׂנְאוּ־רָע֙ וְאֶ֣הֱבוּ ט֔וֹב וְהַצִּ֥יגוּ בַשַּׁ֖עַר מִשְׁפָּ֑ט ... (כא) שָׂנֵ֥אתִי מָאַ֖סְתִּי חַגֵּיכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֥א אָרִ֖יחַ בְּעַצְּרֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ (כב) כִּ֣י אִם־תַּעֲלוּ־לִ֥י עֹל֛וֹת וּמִנְחֹתֵיכֶ֖ם לֹ֣א אֶרְצֶ֑ה וְשֶׁ֥לֶם מְרִיאֵיכֶ֖ם לֹ֥א אַבִּֽיט׃ (כג) הָסֵ֥ר מֵעָלַ֖י הֲמ֣וֹן שִׁרֶ֑יךָ וְזִמְרַ֥ת נְבָלֶ֖יךָ לֹ֥א אֶשְׁמָֽע׃ (כד) וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן׃
(15) Hate evil, and love good, And establish justice in the gate; ... (21) I hate, I despise your feasts, And I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. (22) Even though you offer me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them! Neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts! (23) Take away from Me the noise of your songs! Let Me not hear the melody of your psalteries! (24) But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
How we treat the weakest in our midst (the “widow” and “orphan,” to use the Torah’s language) is still the irreplaceable core of our identity. None of this should imply that the other mitzvot are not important. All mitzvot, both ritual and ethical, reflect the commandments of God as understood by the Jewish people throughout history. All of them play an essential role in lifting us above our own self-centeredness and the despotism of time. All of the mitzvot act to refine character and to mold piety. All of the commandments express our passion for God and for our brit (covenant) with God.
"God is either the father of all men or of no man, and the idea of judging a person in terms of black or brown or white is an eye disease."
(A. J. Heschel, "The Eternal Light" interview excerpts can be found at:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2008/01/18/january-18-2008-abraham-joshua-heschel/1789/)