1 - "But I did not make Myself known to them by My name Adonai..." Technically true, although many examples exist in which genesis' key players know/respond to God by this name. So what can be gleaned by this technicality? Maybe that this is the first time God makes this introduction, signaling the uniqueness, the importance, even the love behind appearing (va-eria) to Moses. (Mind blown not as much as heart moved.)
2 - I know this has been debated throughout the centuries by many a wiser mind than mine, but the only way I can comprehend God needing to remember (and the corollary, that God can be forgetful) is if I exchanged it with the word "acknowledge" (although the corollary here, that God can be ambivalent, is still disturbing.)
3 - So interesting how the word "redeem" is used here (6:6) - to free - as opposed to the Christian Bible, where it often (always?) means to forgive.
4 - "And I will take you to be My people and I will be your God" (6:7). Is it just me or does this line just crackle with passion? (Fanning self.)
5. - That the Israelites did not initially listen to Moses, (6:9) "their spirits crushed by cruel bondage", really speaks to their oppression. Good to remember as this informs their later actions (Golden Calf, constant complaints, fears and terrors).
6. - The Women's Commentary notes how the genealogy of Va-eira (used to reaffirm Aaron and moses' lineage?) is unique as it mentions women, which other Torah censuses do not. Toda raba, Women's Commentary!
7. - I personally love that God chooses a representative with a thick tongue and refuses to allow that be an impediment for Moses.
8. - Ugh, the whole I-will-harden-Pharaoh's-heart and the free-will-versus-destiny debate. The only way the Exodus works as the tension-ridden exercise in which God can wield power and work those "wonders" is if Pharaoh is stubborn. If Pharaoh submits early on, then there is no excuse to bring about plagues, there is no Angel of Death, indeed there is even no Pesach - indeed, could it have even been called an Exodus? Would the Israelites have ever become a people/nation?
What bothers me is twofold: 1) if God is constantly hardening Pharaoh's heart, how can we blame Pharaoh at all in what follows? Yes, I know, that God *can* control the actions of a nation's leader speaks to God's awesome power - but if God can control emotions and thoughts, why not just force Pharaoh to say, okey-dokey, y'all can go, don't let the door hit you on the way out? In fact, who is more to blame for the plagues - Pharaoh or God? Perhaps this was a bit of an overreach of The Torah's authors? 2) Why have God harden Pharaoh's heart at all? The beginning of Exodus sets up the ruler as a petty and paranoid tyrant who isn't above overt oppressions to keep a people down. That he would have refused Moses' requests and even challenged God's authority to the point of the last plague would actuallu seem justified by what we already know of his character.
(Question: when God says God will harden Pharaoh's heart, does that mean directly or indirectly through the contest of control which has been initiated through Moses/Aaron?)
9. - "And the Egyptians shall know that I am Adonai..." (7:5) Because the "wonders" are not just for the Israelites but the Eyptians, too. Because no one multi-tasks like God multi-tasks.
10.: Rods turning into snakes which swallow each other - was this the first phallic measuring contest?
11. I guess it speaks to Pharaoh's absolute tyranny that even when Moses/Adonai brings such suffering upon the Egyptians that they cannot force their ruler to acquiesce to Moses?
12. regarding water turning into blood: There is a lot of academic/Anthropological research/literature on how blood is seen and used - and feared - by ancient people. One theory - which I agree with - is that blood is only seen as purifying/contract binding when it is controlled by a man/men/Man. When we see it under the control of Moses/Aaron or Adonai (such as in 7:19-24) there is no accompanying horror of impurity. yet when blood is not controlled by Man - in other words, when it pertains to Women - it is always seen as impure.
Discuss.
13. Critical to remember, as Rabbi Sharon Sobel of Temple Isaiah of Stony Brook has reminded us, the Torah sees God as connected to the land; within the land there is God (8:18). Whether you believe that or not, or how much you believe that or not, how much this informs everything else is kinda stunning to appreciate.
14: I personally love how, even this early on, the idea of distinction-making is occurring (8:21-23).
(And for the record, I would have linked clips to "The Ten Commandments" or "Gods and Kings" here for kitschy-cool visuals but am still waiting for a telling of a Middle Eastern people that isn't so blindingly white[washed].)
I love reading your thoughts! Inspirational and insightful.
ReplyDeleteFor the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, I would like to share some things I have read and an original thought:
1. Rashi says that God knew gentiles did not partake in genuine repentance, so because Pharaoh spoke disdainfully of God, the punishment had to happen. Gentiles, Rashi? Le sigh. But if we change "gentiles" to "Pharaoh" I don't find his thought so awful, although surely at least one Egyptian must have repented (back to Sodom we go). Rashi also cites Zephaniah 3:6-7 "I wiped out nations... And I thought that [Jerusalem] would fear Me, would learn a lesson." That God punished other nations to show Israel what would happen to them. I would find this thought offensive, except with 400 years of slavery under their belt, it's not like God was discriminating.
2. Nahmanides quotes Exodus Rabbah in something that makes me laugh in how it handles the hardening of Pharaoh's heart:
R. Johanan said: This gives heretics an opening to say that he had no opportunity to repent.
R. Simeon b. Lakish said: The heretics can just shut up. [Insert my LOL here, but the reasoning is fairly sound.] Proverbs 3:34 "At scoffers, God scoffs." God warns a man once, twice, even thrice, and he does not repent? At that point, God locks the door of repentance on him in order to punish him for his sin. Thus it was with Pharaoh the wicked. The Holy One messaged him five times, and he paid no attention. The Holy One said to him: You have stiffened your neck and hardened your heart; now I will add uncleanness to your own uncleanness.
3. Sforno may have the nicest sounding comment for me, though: Because God ended each plague, Pharaoh did not believe it was actually God's work and therefor went unrepentant: "Had Pharaoh sincerely wanted to repent, nothing would have prevented it." This is a little bit interpretive, but I like it.
4. Sforno and Nahmanides both align Pharaoh and the hardening of King Sihon's heart (Deuteronomy 2:30) as two rulers who earned what was coming to them, and that the hardening of their hearts only served to deliver their punishments. Nahmanides further connects that God gave both leaders a chance.
ReplyDelete5. Ibn Ezra has a beautiful thought that reflects my readings on Process Thought/Theology: Connecting with Deuteronomy 5:26, the original Hebrew suggests that God is hopeful that the Israelites will always be given the correct path. This suggests that God offers up the proposed path that is the best option, but humans still must choose. God hardening Pharaoh's heart would instead be read as, "Pharaoh refused to learn his lesson, so the best course of action is a punishment that he will certainly learn from." This does not mean Pharaoh cannot repent, just that God observes this is not going to happen and therefor the next step must be taken in order to free the Israelites. But God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was not an irreversible act because of free will - and God had already offered up repentance as the best option five times, all of which Pharaoh's free will chose to ignore. See Jeremiah 10:23 and Isaiah 63:17 for Biblical belief in God controlling our fates and pair up with Moses' famous "Choose life" decree (Deuteronomy 30:19) and the Sefer Yetzirah for evidence of belief in our still having the ability to control some aspects of our lives.
All of the above thoughts come from synthesizing various parts of "The Commentators' Bible" by Michael Carasik, a resource that Rabbi Elaine Zecher first brought into my life. It is further mixed with the book "God of Becoming and Relationship" by Rabbi Bradley Shabit Artson.
6. My original thought: Having God harden Pharaoh's heart builds tension. If these stories were originally shared orally, it heightens the drama to suddenly remove Pharaoh's free will. It says, "God is going to have God's way now. The time for repentance is over. The harsh decree has been issued. Wait. Watch. Learn." Any potential theological differences aside, I view Torah as written by man but with the capability of readers realizing the divine through it. Therefor, I do not need to know the actual reason for it being written this way. It is a captivating story, in part because the plot thickens when God (possibly) refuses to allow Pharaoh another chance to repent. But with this dramatic story, we are also allowed to discuss it in depth, to really pick apart the morals and meanings. Since it is our discussion of the events--not the events themselves--that we learn from, I don't see the particulars of the plot as being the meaning itself. The idea of the story had to be planted in our heads and held there so that we would discuss it later - and that discussion is where we learn.
ReplyDelete* Moving on to the rods/snakes: Ibn Ezra and Chabad agree that Aaron's rod turned in to a snake, but turned back to a rod and THEN swallowed the magicians' rods. A snake eating a snake would not have been a miracle. Gersonides maintains that Aaron's rod turned in to a snake and then ate the other snakes as proof that Aaron's rod really had turned in to a snake (unlike the magicians' snakes, which were just illusions).
** How can I learn more about this God/land issue from your point 13? I have been fascinated by it ever since taking a closer look at blood spilled on the land, but I haven't been able to find any suggestions for further reading.
*** Would you please explain point 14 more?
Thank you for sharing and giving me so much to consider. You have driven me to research and study quite a bit this morning, for which I am eternally grateful.