B"H
This week's portion, Va'eira (וארא), or "And I appeared," recounts the famous demands of Moses to let the Hebrew people free from the bondage of slavery under Pharaoh's rule. G-D tries to give Moses a pep talk to convince him to be a leader, but Moses' announcement of sweet liberation was met upon deaf ears. Moses just can't catch a break with his fellow Hebrews, as Moses' kin were too overworked and heavy of breath to listen to him. Disheartened, Moses asks G-D how, if his own people won't listen, how can he convince Pharaoh to release his people from bondage as G-D has requested.
G-D's reply? Just do it, Moses.
Next, the Torah sidetracks a bit and decides now is the perfect opportunity to do another genealogy project. We learn the names of the heads of the Levi households, a bit about Moses and Aaron's family...and then the story reconvenes exactly where it left off.
G-D reassures Moses and Aaron on their journey to Pharaoh and tells to demand Pharaoh let the children of Israel free from Egypt...oh, but by the way, G-D lets slip that he is going to harden Pharaoh's heart so he's not going to listen. Instead, G-D describes everything will be taken care of by G-D's actions.
Sure enough, G-D hardened Pharaoh's heart when Moses and Aaron make their initial demands. And so begin the famous Plagues. The first seven are revealed in this section: blood, frogs, lice, wild beast, pestilence, boils, and hail (that somehow contained fire within it). The rest of the story finds itself in next week's parshah.
This week, my focus was drawn to two slightly different, but very interconnected elements which only recently reconciled themselves. Firstly, I have to address G-D for a second. G-D, you wanted to make a man who most likely has a speed impediment, is clearly afraid of public speaking, is extremely hesitant to do Your bidding in the first place, and can't even convince his own people of their salvation to talk to Pharaoh...and it's all for show because You are going to harden Pharaoh's heart, and You are just going to take care of it all anyway. What is the purpose then of subjecting Moses to such a task? This thought consumed me throughout my reading this week.
That is, until I noticed something odd.
Until this pass through the section, I never noticed that the Torah repeats itself. Exodus 6:10-12 states basically the same thing stated in Exodus 6:29-30. Translations of the original text are varied, but here's my stab at a literal translation from the original text (with some liberties taken to make the sentence understandable in English identified by brackets):
Exodus 6:10 - And G-D spoke to Moses saying,
Exodus 6:11 - "Come! Speak to Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, and he will send the Children of Israel from his land."
Exodus 6:12- And Moses spoke before G-D saying, "Behold! The Children of Israel did not listen to me, and how then will Pharaoh listen to me[, a man of] uncircumcised lips?"
Exodus 6:29 - And G-D spoke to Moses saying, I am G-D. Speak to Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, everything that I speak unto you."
Exodus 6:30 - And Moses said before G-D, "Behold! I [possess] uncircumcised lips; and how will Pharaoh listen to me?"
The repetition of these lines must signal something important. But I didn't quite get it until I thought more about the (rather vivid) imagery suggested by the phrase "uncircumcised lips," a new phrase to me in my study of Torah. I have always been told (perhaps in efforts to soften the words for children's ears) that Moses had "closed" lips, but the text clearly uses the word "uncircumcised" (ערל), not "closed" (סגור). What's more, the word "lips" (שפתים) is a plural word, and thus should, by grammatical convention, carry a plural adjective (i.e.: the addition of ות or ים to the word depending on the noun's ascribed gender). But the words of the Torah (twice!) do not decline this phrase properly!
My reconciliation of this error implores the use of symbolism. While "lips" are the literal word of choice in this phrase, its coupling with such a distinct word "uncircumcised," evokes ties to the act of ritual circumcision of Jewish males. For my readers unaware of this custom, ritual penile circumcision in Judaism is called a brit milah (ברית מילה) [also pronounced "bris," which, in my personal experience, is a more common pronunciation that derives from Yiddish]. The ritual of brit milah is widespread in the Jewish community, regardless of one's religious observance or denomination within Judaism. Symbolically, this circumcision secures the continuity of the covenant Jews carry with G-D.
Interestingly, there is no clear mention of the circumcision of Moses in the Torah. Cursory research reveals that some find Moses' circumcision buried in the very grammatically difficult section of Torah in which Tziporah, Moses' wife, circumcises a mysterious "him" (either Moses' son or Moses himself contextually...the pronoun reference is vague at best). Others scholars have asserted that perhaps Moses was born already circumcised, and thus didn't need one. However, religious teachings emphasize the importance of the ritual regardless of the presence of foreskin, so I have a difficult time believing such thought.
I read the text to say that Moses is in an "uncircumcised" state when he addresses G-D. A covenant, despite whether or not Moses underwent/needed a circumcision, had not been established between him and G-D. Moses was blessed with direct communications with G-D, and his medium, his words (symbolically through his lips) showed that Moses not in a place to accept the word of G-D. He wasn't (or didn't feel) ready to carry on with such task. Continuing this metaphor reveals that once Moses did as G-D instructed (i.e.: to tell Pharaoh to let his people go), it is interesting that Moses' "heavy tongue" or other imagery perhaps indicative of a potential speech impediment seem to disappear. By accepting the word of G-D, Moses finds strength to address his fellow people and Pharaoh.
And so why does G-D torture Moses by forcing him, of all people with all of his worries and concerns, to bring an end to the enslavement of the Hebrew people? Because G-D knew that Moses had within him the ability to become a voice for his people, even if Moses wasn't particularly accepted among his own people. In his acceptance of G-D and fulfillment of G-D's commandment, spiritually I recognize a symbolic circumcision of Moses' lips, for he opens them for the world to hear with faith in G-D in his heart. In such way, the covenant between G-D and Moses is now definitely secured if ever there were questions.
Moses' overcoming of his crippling fear is personally inspiring, for I, too, find myself posing hypothetical after hypothetical in avoidance of doing something important which might scare me. It's almost a rationalization game I play with myself in hopes that one question will be so profound I simply cannot fulfill the task at hand. What will others think? Will I anger someone or make a fool of myself? As we approach the secular new year, I hope that I can learn from Moses to "just do it" and perhaps gain amazing insights, and a bit of confidence, along the way.
Happy New Year 2014! May you be blessed with good health, happiness, love, success, and many new experiences.
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