Parsha #13 : “Sh’mot/Names”
(Sh’mot / Exodus *1:1 to 6:1*)
Edition: 15a10
“The Winds of Change”
Greetings Sojourners, Friends, Guests and Other Readers! Welcome!
First – In case you are a fan of the British Television Show “Downton Abbey”, broadcast in North America on the PBS network… this is a mild “Spoiler Alert”. I won’t give away any climaxes, just some information about story-lines, but if you like the surprise and adventure of not knowing what’s coming, you might want to skip to Paragraph 2 below, which begins “This week’s Parsha…”.
Season 5 of “Downton Abbey” has just recently begun their broadcasts in North America. We have been fortunate enough to be able to see the Season 5 episodes in advance of the regular airing, and so I can tell you that they pick up the story in 1924, as Britain is recovering from the effects of World War One. The reason they are carrying on from this point in time seems to be that the first Labour Party government has taken office, and from this there stem many ramifications, but basically Britain is shown as going through tremendous changes in the social structures. One of the accompanying story lines involves the Russian Jewish immigrants who have escaped the pogroms which have erupted following the revolution and war in Russia and the rise of the socialist government there. What rises out of this influx of the Russian Jewish refugees is what we often call “Anti-Semitism” amongst the various social strata of Britain. [Editor’s Note: I place “Anti-Semitism”, a label first coined by Wilhelm Marr in 1879, in quotes here because I want to point out that while this is the term most commonly heard in the general public, it clearly indicates a prejudice against the children of “Shem”, the third son of Noah. This then, would include the ‘sons’ of Yishma’el / Ishmael, (son of Avraham / Abraham) [i.e.: The Arabs] and the ‘sons’ of Esav / Esau (son of Yitz’chak / Isaac) [i.e.: the Persians (Iraqis, Iranians) as well as the Turks, the Syrians and possibly the Jordanians) namely, together, those considered part of the Arabic peoples. Generally speaking, these groups are NOT included in our thinking when we use the term – hence, my preference for the purer accuracy of “Anti-Jewish”, for this is really what is meant.] As in just about every other country in the world, the shades of Anti-Jewish prejudice in 1924 Britain runs the gamut from mild to blatant. In many cases, comments arise of such obvious hatred toward the Jewish people that it is like a smack in the face, and yet it is quickly followed by the disclaimer that “I am not prejudiced against ‘those people’”. Certainly, Anti-Jewish sentiment is a world wide phenomenon still today, and it effects both the secular world, the political and economic circles and, of most concern to me, even the “Church”. All this is by way of introducing our next study / reflection.
[Editor's Note: For more background on Anti-Jewish Sentiment, see our Achived material (Recent Teachings) on "Anti-Semitism and its Roots". Click Here.]
This week’s Parsha is “Sh’mot” or “Shemot”, meaning “Names” derived from the opening sentence of what we commonly call the Book of Exodus: “And these are the NAMES of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt; with Ya’acov, each man and his household came.” The first chapter of this second book of the Torah tells all about the rise of the first (recorded) occurrence of Anti-Jewish behaviour, certainly on a large scale, at least. I suggest, if you haven’t already read the passage, stop reading here, turn to Sh'mot / Exodus 1:1, and take the time to read just the first chapter, quickly, then come back here to continue……
This may not be the case in your version of Scripture, perhaps because, as I was always taught in elementary school: “You never start a sentence with ‘and’!” and thus the translators may be avoiding it’s use here…. However, in my Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash (SEASC), the first sentence of the first verse of the first chapter of Sh’mot begins with the word “And”. This is brought over directly from the Hebrew. Throughout the Torah, there are several Parshiot which begin with the letter “vav” which is normally translated as “and”. Look for instance at V’Yeira or V’Yeitzei or V’Yishlach, and there are many more just in Breisheet alone, including last week’s study: V’Yechi, literally meaning “And he lived” but generally translated simply as “Ya’acov lived”, the name coming more from context then the actual text. However, even though there are lots of opportunities to use “And” as the opening word of these passages, it does not happen…. Except here! So this begs that age-old question: “Why?”
The idea of using ‘And’ seems to be to make sure that we, the readers, understand that this first section of Sh’mot, indeed the whole of this second book of Torah, is related back to Breisheet / Genesis. This is the continuation of the story of God’s people and we ‘simply took a short break to get our breath’. In Breisheet, we have just gone through a very detailed description of how the “B’nei Yisra’el” [Sons of Ya’acov] came to Egypt.. This first section of the Parsha, then, seeks to review a little bit to make sure we all start on the same page, as it were, and then it goes on to relate the story from this point forward. (A careful reading of this first sentence of Sh’mot will reveal a second connection back to Breisheet as well. Read it again, then look back to Chapter 46 in Breisheet, verse 8, which reads: “Now these are the names of the children of Israel who were coming to Egypt – Ya’acov and his children….” The wording is almost identical, and so between these two phenomena, we are ‘transitioned’ from one part of the story to the next, just as the author intends.
This may not be the case in your version of Scripture, perhaps because, as I was always taught in elementary school: “You never start a sentence with ‘and’!” and thus the translators may be avoiding it’s use here…. However, in my Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash (SEASC), the first sentence of the first verse of the first chapter of Sh’mot begins with the word “And”. This is brought over directly from the Hebrew. Throughout the Torah, there are several Parshiot which begin with the letter “vav” which is normally translated as “and”. Look for instance at V’Yeira or V’Yeitzei or V’Yishlach, and there are many more just in Breisheet alone, including last week’s study: V’Yechi, literally meaning “And he lived” but generally translated simply as “Ya’acov lived”, the name coming more from context then the actual text. However, even though there are lots of opportunities to use “And” as the opening word of these passages, it does not happen…. Except here! So this begs that age-old question: “Why?”
The idea of using ‘And’ seems to be to make sure that we, the readers, understand that this first section of Sh’mot, indeed the whole of this second book of Torah, is related back to Breisheet / Genesis. This is the continuation of the story of God’s people and we ‘simply took a short break to get our breath’. In Breisheet, we have just gone through a very detailed description of how the “B’nei Yisra’el” [Sons of Ya’acov] came to Egypt.. This first section of the Parsha, then, seeks to review a little bit to make sure we all start on the same page, as it were, and then it goes on to relate the story from this point forward. (A careful reading of this first sentence of Sh’mot will reveal a second connection back to Breisheet as well. Read it again, then look back to Chapter 46 in Breisheet, verse 8, which reads: “Now these are the names of the children of Israel who were coming to Egypt – Ya’acov and his children….” The wording is almost identical, and so between these two phenomena, we are ‘transitioned’ from one part of the story to the next, just as the author intends.
We are, in our hearts and minds, drawn back to Breisheet chapters 13 and 15 and the Prophecy and Covenant spoken by Elohim on the mountain-top over-looking the Promised Land. “Look all around you from where you are, to the north, the south, the east and the west. All the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever”…. “Adonai [also] said to Avram, ‘Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions… in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here…’” [Ed’s Note: For the sake of integrity, may I point out here without too much explanation, that many feel the Israelites were in Egypt for four hundred years based on this passage. This is not accurate. Rather, the initiation of this prophecy begins at this point while Avram, and later his descendants were still in Kena’an, living indeed as foreigners / aliens. In reality, it will be 430 years from this juncture, that the Exodus will begin and the people return to Kena’an.]
Chapter One of Sh’mot covers almost 100 years in it’s telling. Script writers for Cecil B. DeMille’s blockbuster Movie ”The Ten Commandments” managed to source at least a third to almost half the movie out of this one chapter, through some rather creative reading and imagining. What can we find, today, in these few words?
Chapter One of Sh’mot covers almost 100 years in it’s telling. Script writers for Cecil B. DeMille’s blockbuster Movie ”The Ten Commandments” managed to source at least a third to almost half the movie out of this one chapter, through some rather creative reading and imagining. What can we find, today, in these few words?
- Yosef was already in Egypt, sent ahead by Elohim through the actions of his older brothers. He has lived here, and thrived under Elohim’s grace, rising to a powerful position in the court of Pharaoh, getting married and raising 2 sons.
- After a series of events, his father Ya’acov comes ‘down’ to Egypt with his eleven remaining sons and their families, in all: 70 souls; and they take up residence in ‘Goshen’, a region in the Nile Delta where they tend their herds and flocks, and those of Pharaoh. They do well and build up both fortune and fame, as well as increasing their numbers.
- Ya’acov dies and his sons take his body back to Hebron, then return to Egypt. The generation which is of the 12 sons of Ya’acov also dies off, along with their wives, all those original 70 members of the family. Just their offspring are left.
- A new Pharaoh rises to power who is either ignorant of Yosef’s contribution or chooses to ignore it as ‘old news’, and he makes plans to deal with the increasing numbers of “B’nei Yisra’el”.
- It is clear that the economic strength of Egypt was dependent on the involvement of the children and now the grand-children of Ya’acov. Yet it is also clear that the increasing numbers of the Hebrew people were alarming to the Pharaoh. It became necessary therefore to enslave them and attempt to ‘work them to death’. (“in order to afflict it with their burdens” 1:11)
- The Israelite people continued to thrive. God not only protected them from defeat and death, but actually increased their numbers. This led to more severity in the treatment of those who were now enslaved “with crushing harshness” (1:13&14) The tone of the wording, and the comments “afflict with burdens”, and “crushing harshness” clearly indicate that Pharaoh wasn’t looking simply for cheap labour, his intent was to slowly annihilate the entire people.
- Pharaoh steps up his actions through the mid-wives, contracting with them against their own people. It is related by the sages that two of the mid-wives were Jochebed and Miriam, the wife and daughter of Amram, a grand-son of Levi. They are forced to kill any new born Israelite males during the birthing process. Israelite women did not (apparently) hold any threat toward the Egyptian ‘king’, for he supposed that they would be wed to an Egyptian and assimilated into the nation. (He was obviously ignorant of Hebrew women!)
- When the infanticide plans fail, Pharaoh sends in the troops with orders to kill any new-born male Israelite babies. It is worth noting that the means of death was drowning in the Nile River. The Nile was considered a god of Egypt.
[Ed’s Note: Pharaoh had learned through his astrologers, of the foretold birth of a saviour for Israel, including information about the actual day/date of his birth. He was also informed that this saviour’s downfall would be water. The decision to drown the babies was made so as to successfully thwart this prophecy. Also worth noting here, is that – rather than being his downfall, the saviour is actually saved via the waters of the Nile. The astrologers information was accurate, however; for in the end the saviour will be ‘done in’ by an action involving water… but that’s a story for a future reflection.]
Two observable facts come out of this story with respect to the Anti-Jewish nature of the new Pharaoh and his courtiers as well as the people of Egypt in general. The first observable fact is the role of time passing and the relationship one has – individually or corporately – with God. Look for example at how the fall of the Hebrew people in Egypt took place; it comes in two steps. As I noted in last week’s reflection, it is significant that we read of, and think about the movement of the 12 sons, the “B’nei Yisra’el” as a downward motion, ‘descending into Egypt’......
But there are really two separate descents.
The first descent is a physical one. It began with the actual move of the family – the core family in God’s plan for the nation which would one day arise – as it left its homeland, a homeland not yet realized and ‘owned’ as it were, yet belonging to the children of Israel all the same, even if only by promise. This was the first descent, the first fall as it were, though clearly not a “fall from grace”, as Elohim not only accompanied the people, but actually orchestrated the shift from Kena’an to Mitzraim (Egypt). Even so, it was a descent from which the recovery was fraught with difficulty and hardship, and the passing of a great amount of time. We will see, as we read the rest of this week’s Parsha, the crying out of the people as they look for a redeemer, a saviour, who will rescue them from this final foreign land to which they have become accustomed.
The second descent is different, and far more difficult to deal with. It is, more or less, interior in nature, dealing with the mind and the heart and the essence of our being. Note in our story this week, that as long as the spiritual head of the family, that is Ya’acov, remains alive, the family is knit together. In many ways in fact, they are closer in Egypt than they were back home – because old broken relationships have been mended and old anxieties have been put to rest. A spiritual peace exists which was not there before. But we read of Ya’acov’s death in the final verses of Breisheet, and we realize that something is missing in the lives of the twelve sons in particular and the seventy souls which “emerged from Ya’acov’s loins” in general. Somehow, the people are diminished, even as they prosper and increase physically.
From here, there is a series of small steps, twelve in all, in the progressive descent or fall of the people. we are told that all the Sons of Israel, eventually died. This, then, is followed by the deaths of the remaining family members who made up the seventy souls who came to Egypt with Ya’acov.
What we are witnessing at the primary level, (though it is almost missed in the short run of events of the chapter’s beginning), is the decrease of a family’s soul and spirit. The sages speak of three levels of “Jewish Greatness”. While I can empathize with this description, I would re-phrase it to speak of three levels of Spiritual relationship – relationship with each other, true, but also relationship with God. In this case the levels can be labelled as The Patriarchs, the Twelve Sons and the Seventy Souls. As each level has expired, a closeness to God has been torn somewhat. Elohim has oft-times been described as “God of Avraham, God of Yitz’chak and God of Ya’acov”. These were the Patriarchs; these were the men who met with Elohim, who spoke with him personally or who experienced visions and dreams which showed them the way they were to go. and with the passing of Ya’acov the last of these figureheads is gone, and so is the intimacy of the tribe’s relationship with God.
At the second level, we encounter, (with the exception of Yosef) family leaders who, more or less, rode the coat-tails of the patriarchs . They did not have the closeness with God of even their own father. As noted above, this distance, this ‘disconnect’ from God increased even further after Ya’acov’s death. Yosef alone, was ‘in tune’ with God, a relationship which, in the end, the siblings realized and acknowledged, but it was too late for them at this point. We don’t know the order of the deaths of the twelve sons, but Yosef’s death is recorded first here in this chapter. His physical ties with Pharaoh were gone… That was bad enough. Gone too, now, was the relationship he had with his heavenly Father, a relationship which the brothers could only envy, it seems. With Yosef’s death, and the subsequent deaths of his siblings, a further broadening of the gap is placed between the seventy souls and Elohim.
Finally, at the third level, the relationship with God held by the seventy (actually 58 now) was distant indeed. God was less familiar, less personal than ever before. Eventually even this remote relationship would be lost, and one is left to feel nothing but sadness for the remaining members of the Children of Israel. In reflecting on this loss of closeness, this lost connection, one realizes that the slavery of the people is able to be brought about far more easily, for as we lose our connection with the One who is our God, we will end up serving “others” every time.
Isn’t this descriptive of our own Spiritual setting, today? Of course, I know there are exceptions to every model, but doesn’t this sound somewhat like the modern Community of Faith? Our forebears in the faith – whether actually our parents or simply their peers, most likely had a strong faith and a meaningful relationship with God. They knew God in ways we didn’t, and still don’t. Our generation has moved away from God in steps similar to the above process. Personally, I am part of the Baby-Boomer generation and most of my peers, though they ‘grew up’ in the Community of Faith, have little or nothing to do with it today. Now let us look to our children. Schools have turned out Religious Education, prayer is a thing of the past, we don’t take an active role or concerted effort in developing our children’s faith knowledge or relationship with God; the next generation can’t find their way around the Scriptures, let alone know the passages so familiar to us or to our parents. In three generations, generally speaking, we have descended every bit as far away from God as did the Hebrew people in Egypt. Is it that God has moved? I don’t think so, it is our sophistication, our pride, our arrogance that has gotten in the way. Surely, Surely, as we think on these things, we can identify with those of the next generation left to slavery in Egypt. One sees some hope in the knowledge that God can re-ignite our relationship, re-vitalize our connections, but will it be in time? Isn’t this the fear that the population of Hebrew slaves experienced as they awaited the saviour?
But there are really two separate descents.
The first descent is a physical one. It began with the actual move of the family – the core family in God’s plan for the nation which would one day arise – as it left its homeland, a homeland not yet realized and ‘owned’ as it were, yet belonging to the children of Israel all the same, even if only by promise. This was the first descent, the first fall as it were, though clearly not a “fall from grace”, as Elohim not only accompanied the people, but actually orchestrated the shift from Kena’an to Mitzraim (Egypt). Even so, it was a descent from which the recovery was fraught with difficulty and hardship, and the passing of a great amount of time. We will see, as we read the rest of this week’s Parsha, the crying out of the people as they look for a redeemer, a saviour, who will rescue them from this final foreign land to which they have become accustomed.
The second descent is different, and far more difficult to deal with. It is, more or less, interior in nature, dealing with the mind and the heart and the essence of our being. Note in our story this week, that as long as the spiritual head of the family, that is Ya’acov, remains alive, the family is knit together. In many ways in fact, they are closer in Egypt than they were back home – because old broken relationships have been mended and old anxieties have been put to rest. A spiritual peace exists which was not there before. But we read of Ya’acov’s death in the final verses of Breisheet, and we realize that something is missing in the lives of the twelve sons in particular and the seventy souls which “emerged from Ya’acov’s loins” in general. Somehow, the people are diminished, even as they prosper and increase physically.
From here, there is a series of small steps, twelve in all, in the progressive descent or fall of the people. we are told that all the Sons of Israel, eventually died. This, then, is followed by the deaths of the remaining family members who made up the seventy souls who came to Egypt with Ya’acov.
What we are witnessing at the primary level, (though it is almost missed in the short run of events of the chapter’s beginning), is the decrease of a family’s soul and spirit. The sages speak of three levels of “Jewish Greatness”. While I can empathize with this description, I would re-phrase it to speak of three levels of Spiritual relationship – relationship with each other, true, but also relationship with God. In this case the levels can be labelled as The Patriarchs, the Twelve Sons and the Seventy Souls. As each level has expired, a closeness to God has been torn somewhat. Elohim has oft-times been described as “God of Avraham, God of Yitz’chak and God of Ya’acov”. These were the Patriarchs; these were the men who met with Elohim, who spoke with him personally or who experienced visions and dreams which showed them the way they were to go. and with the passing of Ya’acov the last of these figureheads is gone, and so is the intimacy of the tribe’s relationship with God.
At the second level, we encounter, (with the exception of Yosef) family leaders who, more or less, rode the coat-tails of the patriarchs . They did not have the closeness with God of even their own father. As noted above, this distance, this ‘disconnect’ from God increased even further after Ya’acov’s death. Yosef alone, was ‘in tune’ with God, a relationship which, in the end, the siblings realized and acknowledged, but it was too late for them at this point. We don’t know the order of the deaths of the twelve sons, but Yosef’s death is recorded first here in this chapter. His physical ties with Pharaoh were gone… That was bad enough. Gone too, now, was the relationship he had with his heavenly Father, a relationship which the brothers could only envy, it seems. With Yosef’s death, and the subsequent deaths of his siblings, a further broadening of the gap is placed between the seventy souls and Elohim.
Finally, at the third level, the relationship with God held by the seventy (actually 58 now) was distant indeed. God was less familiar, less personal than ever before. Eventually even this remote relationship would be lost, and one is left to feel nothing but sadness for the remaining members of the Children of Israel. In reflecting on this loss of closeness, this lost connection, one realizes that the slavery of the people is able to be brought about far more easily, for as we lose our connection with the One who is our God, we will end up serving “others” every time.
Isn’t this descriptive of our own Spiritual setting, today? Of course, I know there are exceptions to every model, but doesn’t this sound somewhat like the modern Community of Faith? Our forebears in the faith – whether actually our parents or simply their peers, most likely had a strong faith and a meaningful relationship with God. They knew God in ways we didn’t, and still don’t. Our generation has moved away from God in steps similar to the above process. Personally, I am part of the Baby-Boomer generation and most of my peers, though they ‘grew up’ in the Community of Faith, have little or nothing to do with it today. Now let us look to our children. Schools have turned out Religious Education, prayer is a thing of the past, we don’t take an active role or concerted effort in developing our children’s faith knowledge or relationship with God; the next generation can’t find their way around the Scriptures, let alone know the passages so familiar to us or to our parents. In three generations, generally speaking, we have descended every bit as far away from God as did the Hebrew people in Egypt. Is it that God has moved? I don’t think so, it is our sophistication, our pride, our arrogance that has gotten in the way. Surely, Surely, as we think on these things, we can identify with those of the next generation left to slavery in Egypt. One sees some hope in the knowledge that God can re-ignite our relationship, re-vitalize our connections, but will it be in time? Isn’t this the fear that the population of Hebrew slaves experienced as they awaited the saviour?
The second of these observable facts deals with how the Anti-Jewish sentiment develops slowly yet steadily and each level is accompanied by slowly escalating acts to rid the country of the Israelite people. These ‘steps’ can be seen in every case of large scale Anti-Jewish plotting down through the centuries, even to our own modern times.
At some point in the history of a given non-Jewish nation, the Israelite population (in this case) or the Jewish community (in latter cases) come together with those non-Jewish residents. In Egypt this was made possible by the famine which brought Ya’acov’s family to the strange land. In other cases it may be the result of high promises – economic advancement or better opportunity, or it could be simply population shift. As noted above, in Britain’s case, the Jews were escaping political and economic oppression which threatened their lives in their home country. Due to some demand that falls upon the nation, or in other cases because the nation is highly successful, the Israelite / Jewish people are given specific tasks and responsibilities, and they soon gain recognition for their abilities, whether as planners, shepherds, economic advisors, educators or other similar qualities. When this happens, in short order, the Jewish population is successful in those tasks and they rise to prominence. Within the community, the people are blessed with increase, but outside the community the non-Jewish population become jealous or at least wary of what is happening and this will ultimately turn to fear. This is the sharp edge of Anti-Jewish behaviour.
It is next decided that the Jewish population must be dealt with – usually involving culling. Of course, at this early stage, this can’t involve the overt killing off of the Jewish people – that would never ‘fly’ – so it is kept subtle. Positions of responsibility and privilege are done away with. The people are dispossessed of Land, homes, and possessions; Jobs are retracted, memberships withdrawn, privileges retracted. The people are grouped into ghettoes or refugee encampments, or prison barracks and they are forced into demeaning labour (building cities, labour camps, etc) which, it is presumed, will ensure their being crushed. Meanwhile a programme of propaganda is launched so that the general population will come to see the Jewish people first as less than human and second as a threat both individually, and subsequently at a communal level. When the programme is then escalated once again, the general populace does not object. From this point, more drastic measures can easily be introduced.
The Anti-Jewish frame of mind and its related atmosphere, is far more prevalent than we might like, nor even consider. Over the centuries it has cost the deaths of myriads of human beings, whether we think of Egypt’s slave cities, Spain’s inquisition (along with those of other nations under Catholic ‘rule’), Germany’s holocaust, or the present-day threat of obliteration at the hands of the offspring of Esav / Edom. It is, in the eyes of a great many, unthinkable that such prejudice can exist. It is certainly not within the purview of God, and I hold that, some day soon, the world will have to come to terms with where we stand in relation to our Jewish brothers and sisters and that our decision will have tremendous influence in how our lives are led – here and now, as well as then and beyond.
What we are about to witness in our reading of the Book of Sh’mot / Exodus, is a plan which is being initiated by God – then (in Egypt), later (in other times of oppression and threat), and today (as the world witnesses terror and disruption first-hand). It is a plan which has been His since the Creation, but which is certainly different from one which we ourselves, in our limited understanding and ability might try to bring about. Out of affliction, Adonai will bring new strength, new increase, new moral fibre, and new integrity. These are the inklings of the character thread which will, in time, make Israel, the people and the nation, what it is today.
Shavua Tov!! - Have a Great Week!!
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At some point in the history of a given non-Jewish nation, the Israelite population (in this case) or the Jewish community (in latter cases) come together with those non-Jewish residents. In Egypt this was made possible by the famine which brought Ya’acov’s family to the strange land. In other cases it may be the result of high promises – economic advancement or better opportunity, or it could be simply population shift. As noted above, in Britain’s case, the Jews were escaping political and economic oppression which threatened their lives in their home country. Due to some demand that falls upon the nation, or in other cases because the nation is highly successful, the Israelite / Jewish people are given specific tasks and responsibilities, and they soon gain recognition for their abilities, whether as planners, shepherds, economic advisors, educators or other similar qualities. When this happens, in short order, the Jewish population is successful in those tasks and they rise to prominence. Within the community, the people are blessed with increase, but outside the community the non-Jewish population become jealous or at least wary of what is happening and this will ultimately turn to fear. This is the sharp edge of Anti-Jewish behaviour.
It is next decided that the Jewish population must be dealt with – usually involving culling. Of course, at this early stage, this can’t involve the overt killing off of the Jewish people – that would never ‘fly’ – so it is kept subtle. Positions of responsibility and privilege are done away with. The people are dispossessed of Land, homes, and possessions; Jobs are retracted, memberships withdrawn, privileges retracted. The people are grouped into ghettoes or refugee encampments, or prison barracks and they are forced into demeaning labour (building cities, labour camps, etc) which, it is presumed, will ensure their being crushed. Meanwhile a programme of propaganda is launched so that the general population will come to see the Jewish people first as less than human and second as a threat both individually, and subsequently at a communal level. When the programme is then escalated once again, the general populace does not object. From this point, more drastic measures can easily be introduced.
The Anti-Jewish frame of mind and its related atmosphere, is far more prevalent than we might like, nor even consider. Over the centuries it has cost the deaths of myriads of human beings, whether we think of Egypt’s slave cities, Spain’s inquisition (along with those of other nations under Catholic ‘rule’), Germany’s holocaust, or the present-day threat of obliteration at the hands of the offspring of Esav / Edom. It is, in the eyes of a great many, unthinkable that such prejudice can exist. It is certainly not within the purview of God, and I hold that, some day soon, the world will have to come to terms with where we stand in relation to our Jewish brothers and sisters and that our decision will have tremendous influence in how our lives are led – here and now, as well as then and beyond.
What we are about to witness in our reading of the Book of Sh’mot / Exodus, is a plan which is being initiated by God – then (in Egypt), later (in other times of oppression and threat), and today (as the world witnesses terror and disruption first-hand). It is a plan which has been His since the Creation, but which is certainly different from one which we ourselves, in our limited understanding and ability might try to bring about. Out of affliction, Adonai will bring new strength, new increase, new moral fibre, and new integrity. These are the inklings of the character thread which will, in time, make Israel, the people and the nation, what it is today.
Shavua Tov!! - Have a Great Week!!
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Acknowledgements
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites (redirected from B’nei Yisra’el)
http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-edomite-territory-mt-seir.htm
http://realtruth.org/articles/132-arotaw.html
http://www.jewishanswers.org/ask-the-rabbi-category/jewish-history/post-biblical-history/?p=2483
Scherman, R. Nosson; and Zlotowitz, R. Meir; Editors, Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash, Mesorah Heritage Foundation / Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, New York, 2008
Stern, David, The Complete Jewish Bible, Jewish New Testament Publications Inc, Clarkville, Maryland. 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Exec Editor, The Hebrew Greek Key Word Bible (New American Version Bible) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1977
Barker, Kenneth, General Editor, The New International Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites (redirected from B’nei Yisra’el)
http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-edomite-territory-mt-seir.htm
http://realtruth.org/articles/132-arotaw.html
http://www.jewishanswers.org/ask-the-rabbi-category/jewish-history/post-biblical-history/?p=2483
Scherman, R. Nosson; and Zlotowitz, R. Meir; Editors, Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash, Mesorah Heritage Foundation / Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, New York, 2008
Stern, David, The Complete Jewish Bible, Jewish New Testament Publications Inc, Clarkville, Maryland. 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Exec Editor, The Hebrew Greek Key Word Bible (New American Version Bible) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1977
Barker, Kenneth, General Editor, The New International Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985
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In terms of the greatness of the Patriarchs, and their relationship with God and its import on later generations, attend to this blessing of God used today in Synagogues all around the world in the segment of the service known as the Amidah or ‘Standing Prayers’ Notice in particular the relationship between God, the Patriarchs and the later generations, and how the prayer ‘shows’ the increasing distance from God generation after generation.
From the Jewish Siddur (Prayer Book)
A Blessing entitled: “Ahvot” (Fathers)
Blessed are You. Lord our God, and God of our fathers.
God of Avraham, God of Yitz’chak and God of Ya’acov,
the great, mighty and awesome God,
the most high God, who bestows Grace and creates all,
and remembers the kindnesses of the Fathers,
and brings a redeemer to their children’s children,
for His Name’s sake, with love. Ahmain.
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A Blessing entitled: “Ahvot” (Fathers)
Blessed are You. Lord our God, and God of our fathers.
God of Avraham, God of Yitz’chak and God of Ya’acov,
the great, mighty and awesome God,
the most high God, who bestows Grace and creates all,
and remembers the kindnesses of the Fathers,
and brings a redeemer to their children’s children,
for His Name’s sake, with love. Ahmain.
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