Torah: Exodus 1.1-6.1
Haftarah: Isaiah 27.6-28.13 & 29.22-23
I’ve never felt completely comfortable being up here on the Bema. To be honest…I still don’t. Weather it’s just being called up by our Rabbi for an Aliyah to the Torah, drinking the wine for Kiddish, or even standing with her or one of our Board Members to open the Ark for Aleinu. I distinctly remember thinking to myself the first time I ever lead services in this sanctuary. “What right do I have to lead & teach my community, how dare I bring one of our Torahs out [back when my eyes were much better anyway] & read from it as part of the Shabbat service?” This July 30th it will be 6 years since my conversion to Judaism. The self doubts & imposter syndrome of my ADHD are not nearly as hindering as before, but they’re around…for now. When someone learns my name, probably one of the last thoughts in their mind would be Jewish.
This book of the Torah known as Exodus in English, is called שְׁמוֹת “Sh’mot” which means “Names.” It’s fitting as it starts off listing the names of Israel & his twelve sons in a method of connecting with the prior book of the Torah we recently completed. A person’s name is far more than a convenient label. In the ancient Scriptures we are often given a brief explanation of a persons name & who they are. More often than not, the stories about these figures correspond with the meaning of their names. In Genesis alone, Abraham & Sarah had their names changed to reflect an important agreement they had with God. Their son Issac means laughter, because Sarah laughed at the absurdity of having child at her advanced age. Their grandson Jacob, after struggling with an angel is renamed Israel. One of his youngest sons was named Joseph which means “he will increase” which happened in more ways than he or any of his family could ever fathom. Now in Exodus we find the origin story of possibly the most quoted Jews in Judaism… משֶׁה “Mosheh” was given his name by his adopted mother because she drew him out of the Nile. Many don’t realize that this is an Egyptian name! Can you imagine the look on her face if she could have been alive to see her son draw all of Israel out of slavery in Egypt & lead them away towards freedom?
In chapters 3 & 4, Moses encounters God in a small humble shrub. This bush was glowing with flames, this probably wasn’t an uncommon sight, but Moses decided to investigate, & examine what he was seeing. It would have taken a while to pause & notice that this bush was not being burned up. When God begins to communicate with Moses about what he was being tasked to do, Moses felt completely unqualified for the job. Who was this humble shepherd man, now very aged, to go to demand that the most powerful man who ruled the greatest empire the world had ever known, to free all the slaves? In chapter 3 Moses asks what Name he was to tell his people for the God who spoke to him. In Egypt there were thousands of deities with their own names. The answer God responds is the only one that Israel would accept. Moses comes up with another scenario: “What if they don’t believe me & will not listen?” Moses goes through a whole list of reasons why someone else should be chosen. In one instance Moses claims that he’s not a good speaker. Many commentators have written that it was a stuttering issue. While possible, my take on it is an idea that no one I know has ever thought about…Moses was no longer fluent in the Egyptian language. After going through each of the reasons why God should choose someone else, God gets the point across so clearly: “Who gives a person speech? Who makes someone mute, or deaf, or sighted, or blind? Is it not Myself?”
In the Talmud Bavli, Rosh HaShanah 11b our sages reference the Haftarah in an interesting way, “just as Israel was redeemed from Egypt in the month of Nisan, so will Israel be redeemed again in the month of Nisan.” Shortly after Passover week on May 14th 1948, Israel became a nation in their ancestral homeland once again…against all odds.
Within this weeks Haftarah we find a promise of national renewal. It’s connected to the Torah reading in at least two ways that I can see. The opening statement refers to both Jacob & Israel & the produce, representing the physical wealth, that they are capable of growing/receiving. This parallels chapter one of Exodus that explains that the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased greatly so that the land was filled with them. [Exodus 1.7]
The Haftarah also seems to imply that a new greater Exodus will occur that will unite all of Israel's people together, all those who have learned to accept the Eternal: “And on that day, the Eternal One will beat out (the peoples) like grain from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt & you shall be picked up one by one, children of Israel.”
Just as Moses asked Pharaoh to let Israel worship God in the wilderness; Isaiah preaches that those who come to understand God's work as it is revealed through the wonders of creation that God formed, will experience an inner awakening & they will worship God, not only on his holy mountain in Jerusalem, where I have finally been recently, but everywhere.
“Effective leadership is not about making great speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by the good results.”~Peter Drucker
In his book Jewish Wisdom, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin recounts a story of the power of the tongue: A famous story tells of a man who went about his town slandering his rabbi. One day, realizing how vicious his comments had been, he went to the rabbi & asked for forgiveness. The rabbi told the man that he would forgive him on one condition: that he went home, cut up a feather pillow, & scattered the feathers to the winds. The man did so, then returned to the rabbi. “Am I now forgiven?” he asked. “One more thing,” the rabbi said, “Now go & gather all the feathers.” “But that’s impossible,” the man said. “Precisely,” the rabbi answered. “And although you sincerely regret the damage you have done to me, it is as impossible to undo it as it is to recover all of the feathers.” (p. 67)
We can never know the full impact of the words we communicate to other people. A well known Yiddish saying explains “though a bird let out of its cage may be caught again…a word that leaves your mouth will never return.” In the Talmud our sages warned about the immense danger of לַשׁוֹן הַרָע “lashon hara.” Not only is it a serious wrong to speak it, its forbidden to even listen to it! Rather than speaking לַשׁוֹן הַרָע, we should strive to speak only what I now call לַשׁוֹן הַטוֹב “lashon hatov.” Because even someone who feels the most unqualified to speak & lead, be it an elderly shepherd man in his 80s in the wilderness of Midian, or a certain congregant in Lubbock frustrated with his ADHD, may be more capable than they think they are…if they will just stop coming up with too many excuses.
Shabbat Shalom everyone!
~Christo Chaney [כָּלֵב דָּנִיֵּאל]
Congregation Sha’areth Israel - Lubbock TX