I Am That I Am - The Personal G-d

 

 

“Shemot” (names) is the first parashah of the second book (Exodus) of the Chumash (the five books of Moshe). It bears the Hebrew title of the book.

The parashah opens with this verse, “These are the names of the children of Yisrael who came to Egypt with Jacob. Hence, both the weekly parashah and the Book are called “Shemot.” The parashah marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Am Yisrael. Ya’akov, Yoseph and his brothers have passed away and the new Pharaoh decides to enslave their descendants who have grown and multiplied.

Names have power. They are the mark our identity. As we have seen, thus far, in the Torah, meanings of names, on many occasions, identify the essence and even predict the destiny of their bearer.

One of the names we are introduced to in this parashah is of the greatest leader Am Yisrael has ever had, Moshe. His name is given to him by Pharoah’s daughter when she finds him floating in a basket on the Nile. Since it is very unlikely that the Princess of Egypt spoke Hebrew, we can presume that she gave him an Egyptian name, Moses, as in Ramses, which, in ancient Egyptian, means “child.” Rabbi Sacks, ZT”L, suggests that “the etymology given in the Torah, that Moses means ‘I drew him out of water,’ tells us what the word suggested to Hebrew speakers.” I beg to differ with the esteemed Rabbi Sacks. Unlike him, I believe that the name was deliberately “Hebrewised” as the thought that the most prominent figure in Jewish history would bear a pagan name was intolerable.

The most enlightening revelation in the parashah, however, is the way G-d introduces Himself, by His Hebrew name, to Moshe. It happens when Moshe encounters the “burning bush” from within which G-d instructs him “to bring forth” His “People, the children of Yisrael out of Egypt” (3:10).

Though his modesty and humility push Moshe to challenge and object to G-d’s directive, he questions Him: “When I come to the Yisraelites and say to them, ‘The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say?”

Ramba”n (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman), the medieval Jewish philosopher, observes that Moshe knows who is talking to him at the burning bush. Ramba”n also suggests that Moshe probably understands that G-d has many names and attributes through which He interacts with humanity. What Moshe is merely asking, according to Ramba”n, is which of G-d’s spiritual attributes,  or which manifestation of G-d is sending him to fulfill that mission.

G-d’s response to this question is “Eheye Asher Eheye” (3:14). Though literally it says, “I will be what I will be,” it is usually translated as “I am that I am.”

G-d’s answer suggests that He will appear to the Yisraelites as he will appear to them. It is not just a name. It is an attribute that, in its essence, is multi-faceted, multi-layered, boundless, and abundant with energy, one that transcends a universe of time and space, one that is ever present.

Furthermore, what is revealed to us here is a G-d that is personal and accessible, not just a remote one who created the universe. It tells us that there are many ways to reach Him and that each of us can connect to Him and find in Him what we seek.

To crystallize this concept, G-d continues with the original directive he gives to Moshe, in verse 10. In this one, though, He adds another four-letter name to His host of names. That name, or what has come to be known as the “Tetragrammaton” (Greek: tetra- ‘four’ + gramma, grammat- ‘letter’) is referred to in Rabbinic literature as Hashem. These four letters, which are regarded by many Jews as too sacred to pronounce, form the root meaning of the verb “to be” and their original meaning is understood to be “He Who is,” or “He who brings being into being.” That four-letter sacred name has already appeared to Biblical heroes in the book of Bresheet (Genesis) which is further affirmation of G-d’s attributes and qualities rather than just the introduction of another name.

In his book “Sharei Orah,” Rabbi Yosef Gikatilia addresses over 300 names for G-d. He provides a systematic and comprehensive explanation of these names that indicate the various qualities and aspects through which G-d communicates with humans and reveals Himself in the universe.

Therefore, for the sake of clarity and to ensure that the Children of Yisrael fully grasp and internalize the newly introduced and verbalized concept which G-d has just expressed to Moshe, G-d repeats the directive, this time adding the Tetragammaton, “Hashem:”

Say to the Yisraelites, 'Hashem, the G-d of your fathers - the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov - has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation" (3:15).

G-d’s message is clear. This is the same G-d, the G-d of our fathers, the unified One G-d that we daily affirm in the following words of the “Shema”:

                                    " שמע ישראל, יהוה אלוהינו, יהוה אחד"

 "Shema Yisrael, Hashem, Eloheinu, Hashem Echad!” )Hear O, Yisrael The Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One).

Shavua tov.

Vayechi – the Molding of the Future Am Yisrael

 

This week’s parashah “Vayechi,” the last parashah of Bresheet, opens with a brief look at Ya’akov’s life in Egypt and his approaching death.

At the center of the parashah, however, stands the list of the blessings which Ya’acov bestows upon his sons and their offspring. His words can be perceived as an epilogue which sums up the history of the family. His language suggests, on the one hand, that he is offering a prayer or expressing a wish. On the other hand, some of his words can be interpreted more as a reproof or even a curse. Most likely, though, they can also serve as Ya’akov’s last will and testament, a projection, a portrayal or even a prophecy of what lies ahead and what is to become of his sons and their tribes in the future, in general, “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come” (Chapter 49:1).

Initially, Ya’akov wishes to bless Ephraim and Menasheh, Yoseph’s sons. His blessing to them is the one that Jewish parents grant their children every Friday night. Though Yoseph is also, later, blessed (48:21-22), one may wonder as to why this blessing of all the blessings in the Torah. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, adopts the answer given by his predecessor, Lord Jakobovitz, who said, “all the others {blessings) are from fathers to sons – and between fathers and sons there can be tension.” According to Jakobovitz, “Ephraim and Menasheh is the only instance in the Torah of a grandparent blessing a grandchild. And between grandparents and children, there is no tension, only pure love.”

Judging by the nature of the blessing to Ephraim and Menasheh, one can view it as Ya’akov’s strive to upgrade their status to that of a “tribe.” In Ya’akov’s own words “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Menasheh will be mine, just as Reuven and Shimon are mine” (48:5). In other words, Yoseph’s sons become equal in status to that of Ya’akov’s other sons.

This measure or step taken by Ya’akov makes Ephraim and Menasheh not only, officially, part of the tribes. It also doubles Yoseph’s share of the inheritance and, according to some commentators such as Rashba”m and Ramba”n, establishes his rank and prominence as firstborn. They base their assertion on Devarin (Deuteronomy) 21:17 which states that a father should give his firstborn “a double share of all he has,” because that son “is the first sign of his father’s strength.”

The significance of Ya’akov’s words further increases as the parashah brings to closure the theme of sibling rivalry which runs like a golden thread through the book of Bresheet. Rivalry was the reason for tension between Caine who ends up killing Abel. That was the underlying factor in the conflict between Sarah and Hagar resulting in Yishmael and Hagar being banished. Later, we encountered the tensions between Ya’acov and Esav and most recently between Yoseph and his brothers where both cases almost ended in murder.

 Following the death of Ya’akov, the brothers ask Yoseph to forgive them. Their fear that he might avenge them for the wrong that they had done to him is dispelled when Yoseph tells them “You intended to harm me, but G-d intended it for good” (50:20).

“The Torah,” writes Rabbi Sacks, “is telling us an unexpected message here: the family is prior to all else, to the land, the nation, politics economics, the pursuit of power and the accumulation of wealth.”

This was, I believe Ya’acov’s intended legacy and wish for his future generations, the future Am Yisrael. His yearning to ensure that rivalry among his children and their posterity is removed and replaced’ instead, by sharing, love and compassion was the driving force that pushed him to deliver the detailed, eloquent, and powerful monologue on his deathbed.

“That,” according to Rabbi Sacks, “is what Genesis {Bresheet} is about. Not about the creation of the world, which occupies only one chapter, but about how to handle family conflict. As soon as Avraham’s descendants can create strong families, they can move from Genesis to Exodus {Shemot} and their birth as a nation. Rabbi Sacks believes “that family is the birthplace of freedom. Caring for one another, we learn to care for the common good.”

I could not agree more.

Shabbat Shalom, Fellow Jews and a wonderful weekend to all.

Dreamers and Dreams

 

This week’s Parashah, “Miketz,” just like “Vayeshev,” last week’s Parashah, opens with dreams. Dreams and their significance, as we encountered in Ya’akov’s monumental dream, a few weeks ago, are dispersed throughout the Biblical story.

What makes the dreams in this Parashah more compelling, however, is their interpretation and the imminence of their fulfillment in the context of the time in which they occur.

In “Miketz,” Yoseph displays his great talent of solving the dreams of others. In the past, his own dreams were a threat to his brothers and the subject of their mockery, “Here comes the dreamer!” (Bresheet, 37:19). His dreams also spawned their hatred of him and evoked in them the desire to kill him “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” (37: 20). Unlike his brothers, who were “jealous of him,” Ya’akov, their father, considers Yoseph’s dreams a matter of substance, a futuristic vision which is destined to transpire in the days to come, “but his father kept the matter in mind.” (37: 11).

So, Yoseph, the man who was thrown into the cistern, sold to the Yishmaelites because of his upsetting dreams, eventually rises to power by virtue of the dreams of others which he interprets. His dreams are the reason for his exile. His talent to decipher them gets him out of jail. Most importantly, his wisdom lends excellent counsel based on his interpretation which ultimately earn him the second highest position in Egypt.

A study of the methods of dreams interpretations, in the ancient world, reveals that it was considered a serious and established science. The way Yoseph illuminates dreams, in this Parashah, reflects a systematic familiarity with such methods. For instance, Oneirocriteria, a Greek treatise about the interpretation of dreams, written by Artemidorus of Ephesius, written in the second century, points at the significance of wine in dreams which implies their positive or negative indication. Drinking wine in a delicate and “wisely” way, according to Artimidorus (Oneirocriteria, book 1, 66) is always considered “a good sign.”

Using the same technique, Yoseph recognizes the difference between the two dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and chief baker with whom he shares a prison cell. In his dream, the cupbearer serves the wine in a noble, royal manner, and thus improves his fate. The baker’s dream, on the other hand, in which he does not serve the bread “wisely” and where “the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head,” faces execution. 

Prior to listening to the dreams of the cupbearer and the chief baker, Yoseph asks them, "Do not interpretations belong to G-d?" (40:8). His question suggests that Yoseph believes that dreams deliver a Divine message which G-d conveys through the interpreter. 

It is this unique ability which earns Yoseph his freedom when he is invited to solve Pharaoh's dreams. 

I doubt that there is anyone here who is not familiar with Pharaoh's famous dream where he sees seven well-fed and fat fleshed cows standing by the river followed by the arrival of seven lean fleshed and hungry cows that stand by the plump cows (41:3) and consume them. Likewise, I trust that most are familiar with Yoseph's prediction that the cows represent good years of economic plentitude which will be followed by bad years of famine and hunger.

It is important to note that when Pharaoh recounts his dream to Yoseph, he omits one detail which appeared in his dream and replaces it with his own perception. In the version that he unfolds, he deletes the part where the lean and fat cows first stand alongside each other. Instead, he adds, "And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favored, as at the beginning" (41:21) - the well-fed cows, in this description, disappear without leaving an impression.

Yoseph, in his wisdom and outstanding talent to solve dreams, erases this detail added by Pharaoh which would mean that the seven good years would leave no positive mark. Instead, he interprets the original dream in which the bad and the good cows are placed side by side. Only by acknowledging the presence of the seven good years can one prepare oneself for the subsequent seven bad years.

Pharaoh’s dreams occur in history itself. The Parashah reveals the materialization of the dream, as Yoseph’s states, “What G-d is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh” (41:29). In other words, the dream is the revelation of G-d’s plan and the key to understanding the course of history.

Pharaoh who is familiar with the original dream, becomes aware of the latent rigor of its interpretation. He recognizes Yoseph’s wisdom and foresight and is convinced. Moreover, Pharaoh himself, grasps the validity of Divine guidance in our earthly matters, “Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.” Later in the Parashah, he goes one step further and refers to Yoseph as a man “in whom the Spirit of G-d” dwells (41:39). He then sets Yoseph “over the land of Egypt” (41:41) to implement G-d’s outlined plan which Yoseph presents to him, a plan which eventually saves Egypt and its surrounding countries.

The term “dreamer,” as we can see, takes on a new meaning in this Parashah. It is no longer a disparaging label, a Walter Mitty, a mild man with fantasy life. Rather, it evokes appreciation and respect. Yoseph, who was the subject of disdain and mockery by his brothers, turns out to be a blend of vision, a moving force, and a strategic planner with great administrative skills.