It is one of the most intriguing components of the Exodus story. As we pointed out in a previous essay, the first leader of the Jewish people, who would set them free and mold them into a nation, grew up not among his own people, but in the palace of the man who wished to destroy them.
Why did Providence have it that Moses was raised not in a Jewish home, but among non-Jews, in the Egyptian palace?
The English translations of the Torah rarely capture the multi-dimensional underpinnings behind many words. One example in this week's portion (Vaera): "Therefore," G-d speaks to Moses, "Say to the Children of Israel: I am G-d, and I shall take you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I shall rescue you from their slavery; I shall redeem you."
The Hebrew word for "burdens," sivlos, can also be translated as "tolerance" (as in “lisbol,” to bear, or “savlanut,” which means patience). Tolerance is a form of burden carrying, of accepting a challenge. If this is correct, then G-d is communicating a potent message: "Say to the Children of Israel: I am G-d, and I shall take you out from tolerating Egypt." I will liberate you from your patience, from tolerating the Egyptian horrors.
The Genesis of Redemption
This is a critical moment because it is the genesis of redemption—physical, emotional, or spiritual.
Many of us, after being subjected to dysfunctional conditions, learn to acclimate ourselves to the bleak reality. This can be worse than the condition itself since it keeps me stuck in my prison.
The beginning of the Exodus could only occur when the Hebrew slaves refused to tolerate the horrors they were enduring. If I am not fed up with being weak and bullied, with being a victim of addiction or fear, my journey of redemption cannot commence.
It is not easy. Learned helplessness runs deep. Denying or repressing the depth of the dysfunction is a way of numbing myself to the suffering. I must be able to feel the pain of my alienation from self to be able to begin the voyage toward liberation.
The Outsider
Free people, G-d is telling Moses, are people who know how to stop tolerating lies, dysfunction, cover-ups, and abuse. A free nation is one that has the courage to face its skeletons and cast a light on them.
This is why the redeemer of Israel needed to grow up in the Egyptian palace, not among his own people. To quote Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th-century Spanish philosopher, poet, and biblical commentator):
Perhaps G-d caused Moses to grow up in the home of royalty so that his soul would be accustomed to a higher sense of learning and behavior, and he would not feel lowly and accustomed to a house of slavery. You see that he killed an Egyptian who did a criminal act [beating an innocent Hebrew to death], and he saved the Midianite girls from the criminal shepherds who were irrigating their own flock from the water the girls had drawn.
Had Moses grown up among the Hebrew slaves, he too might have suffered from a slave-mentality lacking the courage to fight injustice and devoid of the ability to mold an enslaved tribe into a great people with a vision of transforming the world into a place worthy of the divine presence. He would not find within himself the strength to dream of liberty and confront the greatest tyrant of the time. Only because he grew up in a royal ambiance, did Moses have a clear sense of the horrific injustice and feel the power to fight it.
Rabbi YY Jacobson
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UFARATZTA
