Bar Mitzvah Drasha

Good Shabbos, everyone. How’s it going?

I’m Ephraim Helfgot, and today I’m going to talk to you about Parashat Shemot.

The narrative of Shemot is pretty simple. First, we set up the background of our story, the slavery in Egypt; then, we are told the tale of Moshe’s birth and his early years; next, we eavesdrop on his conversation his conversation with Hashem; and finally, we look on as Moshe returns to Egypt and begins speaking to Paro.

However, in the third part of the parasha- Moshe’s conversation with G-d, which spans all of two and a half aliyot- there seems to be a problem. If you're unsure of your mission, it’s fine to ask Hashem for a sign or two, seeing as He doesn’t normally talk with us puny earthlings, but why does Moshe argue for so long, and so vociferously? And why use such excuses as “I’m a bad talker?”

Moshe already knew that Hashem was all powerful!

Perhaps, Moshe was trying to convey a different fear- that of being the lone voice for G-d. We see this from his rebuffing of Mission: Exodus because he believes that no one will listen to him, and why the last reasoning Hashem gives in the argument is that Aharon will help Moshe out.

The fact that Moshe would only stand up to Egypt if he wasn’t alone lends insight to the fact that a community is immensely more powerful in the realm of Tikkun Olam, or trying to fix the world, than a single person. There is a children’s song that I have heard many times in my house, in which it is said, “Kol Echad hu or Katan, v’kulanu or eitan- Every person is a small light, and together we are a strong light.”

Today, I am not joining the community. That happened six days ago, when I actually turned thirteen in the Hebrew calendar. But regardless, I have affirmed the covenant of my forefathers, and that means not only taking on responsibility to help the Kehillah, but also doing my best to represent all of Klal Yisrael. We, as a nation, are supposed to be an Or Goyim, a light unto the peoples, and to lead the way toward peace and justice. As we have seen from the Gaza rocket war this summer and the mounting pressure on Israel, this goal will not be easily achieved, but we are strongest when we stand united, when we are all supporting each other in improving the world.

I have encountered this theme of communal strength elsewhere in my study. As a Bar Mitzvah project, I learned with my father the Talmud Masechet Ta’anit, which, as you may have figured out from the title, is all about fasts. The first three chapters deal with fasts that are enacted due to lack of rain.

Perek Bet, which explains the timetable of fasts due to drought, starts off with a fast of individual leaders. Sometimes, the lone voices are enough to help a situation- but the Talmud, realizing that a whole group of people is necessary in many situations, details plans for if the individual fasts fail. Communal fasts are enacted, and if they too fail, the Beit Din makes the people more involved in the fast by restricting many pleasurable things. The goal of all this is to make the people repent in unison, and, together, merit a good harvest by virtue of their good deeds.

In Ta’anit 3:3, a verse is quoted from the scathing curses of the book of Amos, chapter 4. The verse states, “And I made it rain on one city, while on another city I did not make it rain.”

Ula Bira, as this teacher was called, explains that the righteous, who, as a group, kept hoping for salvation from G-d, will all gather together in the World to Come and testify to the fact that Hashem repaid them for their faith.

Notice, however, the first word of the verse. For those of you who aren’t hebrew grammarians, the word V’amar is in singular form, not plural, as you might expect from a verb used to refer to a group of people. We can explain this apparent mistake with a famous comment by Rashi on a similar instance of a plural verb replaced with the singular form. Rashi quotes the Mechilta, who writes, “Like one man with one heart,” meaning that the action was done in unity, with everyone acting together harmoniously as if they were an individual.