This past Shabbat at Musaf, I taught a class about Moses Maimonidies’ principles of faith. The Rambam, living in the 12th century, created the ideal of a religious Jew; one who believes in God, the Torah, reward and punishment, the coming of the messiah, with what he called, perfect faith. The students in the class, along with their teacher, had significant problems with the concept of perfect faith: we all have doubts --we live in a modern world where religious belief is often seen as irrational: as an emotional crutch, in some cases, just plain silly.
There is science, today, that threatens the truth claims of religion. There is even the science of religion.
Biblical archeologists, for example, have searched for clues to the historicity of the Bible. After decades of exploration, most of them contend that the characters in the Bible from King |Solomon on, that is, from about 930 BCE forward, definitely existed as historical figures. But before King Solomon, there is little archeological proof of the Bible’s stories: and that leaves the existence of our main character today, for example, Moses, in doubt. Apparently, there is no real proof of the Israelite’s enslavement in Egypt, no proof of the plagues, no proof of the crossing of the sea of reeds, or of a people wandering in the desert for 40 years, or of the existence of a person named Moses.
For the faithful, the claims of the archeologists can be very distressing. For fundamentalists who believe that every word of the Bible is literally and historically true, it can be devastating.
How do we deal with the Biblical archeologists? Here is my approach: I believe with a perfect faith, that all the stories in the Bible are true, but some are true both spiritually and historically; and some are true, only spiritually, which I believe, is more than good enough.
So we come to the miracles of the ten plagues that begin in our Torah portion this morning. Blood, frogs, lice, boils and so on. Did they happen just this way in Egypt? Were there Jews suffering from the yoke of a evil Egyptian king who made them build pyramids? To me, that really isn’t important; what is important is the moral lesson we learn from the story, and here, I think, is that e lesson.
God told Moses to go the people and tell them about God and tell them about freedom. But the people didn’t get it.
We read in the text, “v’lo sham’u el moshe mikotzer ruach v’avodah kasha” the people of Israel did not listen to Moses because of impatience of spirit caused by hard servitude. (Exodus 6:9).
The people didn’t listen to Moses and they could not hear God because their lives were filled with spiritual darkness. They had been enslaved: they were victims of tyranny, they were victims of fear. The evil ways of Egypt had enslaved them both physically and spiritually: God had become too remote: their false god had become the Pharaoh: who was also the false god to all the Egyptians. The one true God heard the cry of His people, but the people could not hear God crying for them.
So God decided to intercede in human history and create dramatic and miraculous displays of physical power to get the Israelites’ attention. Most people think that the plagues were to impress Pharoah and the Egyptians. Not so. God could have leveled the Egyptians with the blink of an eye. God was not concerned with the spiritual state of the pagan Egyptians because they would eventually come to disappear from history leaving nothing to western civilization but a few pyramids and some hieroglyphics. God didn’t create the plagues for the Egyptians, He created them for the Israelites because God was desperate to connect with his suffering people. For God had a plan for the Jewish People. According to God’s plan, the Jews would make an everlasting contribution to the world; they would be God’s partners in bringing light, and goodness and justice and righteousness to the people of the world.
So we have the plagues. The plagues themselves are very interesting: they were created to educate. As any good parent knows, a parent displays parental power and discipline not to overwhelm their children which just leads their children to one day rebel. Rather, parents discipline with power to educate and teach their children the proper path of behavior.
So it was with God. The slave people could not help but be impressed with Egyptian power, so God would bring the plagues upon Egypt to show the Israelites that Egyptian power was all facade. For the Egyptians, the river Nile was the source of life: it flooded each year leaving silt on the earth which fertilized the ground from which the Egyptians grew their crops. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile: it’s power, beauty and grandeur. The Nile no doubt impressed the Israelites too. So God turned the water to blood. In a single stroke, He killed the Nile. Human beings are not to worship rivers. Water and crops and sustenance come from the grace of God, not from the grace of pagan river gods. So God killed the river to teach this lesson.
Similarly, the second plague of frogs. The Egyptians saw their pagan rites, their temples, their dwellings, as clean and pure. Despite the tyranny, the slavery, the lack of concern for human life, the Egyptians saw themselves as righteous and clean. So God showed the Israelites the truth about the Egyptians. They were not clean and pure; their culture was morally corrupt, rancid, and spiritually filthy despite the wondrous dwellings they lived in. So God brought the frogs with mud and muck on their feet to fill the dwellings of the Egyptians with filth. The frogs covered everything. The houses, the people, the beds. Through this plague, God showed in external form, the internal truth about the moral decay of Egyptian society.
And each plague showed something similar. The gnats, the beetles, the boils, the hail: every aspect of so called Egyptian greatness was attacked and revealed to the Israelites for the facade that it was. The Egyptians were nothing without God. Their grandeur rested on a foundation of straw. With the mildest of divine winds blowing upon it, the whole wondrous Egyptian structure began to teeter on the brink of total destruction. And hence, the Israelites were impressed with how truly unimpressive the Egyptians really were.
Then we come to the ninth plague, the plague of darkness. Here was the penultimate lesson for the Israelites. We read in the morning prayers, psalm 30: “histarta panecha, hayiti nivhal,” when you hide your face from me, oh God, I am terrified.” The ninth plague of absolute darkness revealed the whole truth about the spiritual state of the Egyptians. There was no divine light in their society. God’s presence did not penetrate the evil and corruption of a culture that would enslave and debase human life. And the darkness was terrifying. Life without God’s light is a living hell of randomness, evil, meaninglessness, and emptiness. When the Egyptians saw the truth in the ninth plague, even they were terrified. God’s light does not shine into the lives of people who are unwilling to receive it. Evil keeps God away: goodness and justice bring God in. The Israelite dwellings had light during the ninth plague. And the light that they had allowed them to prepare to leave: to leave the evil, to leave the spiritual slavery, to find their way to freedom. Even in the midst of great evil, God’s light can penetrate to those whose eyes are open to see. And that light can redeem them. That light can guide them to freedom.
It took a great deal of effort, but God finally impressed the Israelites. He reached them, finally, and they ultimately saw the greatness of God.
So what can we say to the biblical archeologists who cannot find the historical proof for the exodus from Egypt? From my perspective, I say to them, so what? The historicity of Moses and the exodus is of little importance to the Jewish people and to the people of the world. What is important to us is what the Torah is telling us from the story; what the Torah is telling us about the nature of the world, and our place in it; what the torah is telling us about good and evil, about tyranny and freedom. The truth of the story is in its powerful moral lesson. And once we grasp the lesson, despite what the archeologists say, the story can transform our lives and indeed, change the world. And from my perspective, that is whole point; it’s what we are doing here; it’s why we are a people of faith.
Shabbat shalom.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Shmot 2010; Moses and Leadership
Shmot; Birth of Moses and Leadership
Our Torah reading this morning deals with the towering character of Moses. It is an unusual story, akin perhaps to the stories of Joseph. As a narrative, it stretches the bounds of plausibility: for Joseph, a slave in Potiphar’s household becomes a viceroy of Egypt. And in the case of Moses, a slave baby becomes a prince of Egypt. Clearly, both texts are implying that the hand of God is involved. It is God that makes sure that the people have just the leaders they need at just the right time.
Moses in particular. For the Torah, Moses is the quintessential leader; the most important, the most central: the savior and the law giver, from military leader to wilderness guide. Moses takes on the Pharoah, deals with a cranky stiff- necked people, stands down a dangerous rebellion, brings God’s rebuke to the people and delivers their salvation. In the case of Moses, God is directing history, as He does in all the other stories of the Bible.
But Moses is unique. There is something more to Moses; something different from all the other characters in the Bible. For Moses has a distinct personality: we can learn from his central place in the history of our nation, but we can also learn from his well defined and compelling character. Moses, as a man, can teach us how to be leader. And ultimately, Moses, as a man, can teach us how to be a complete human being. Let’s take a look.
We learn the most about the young Moses in his first interaction with God. God says to this one time prince and now simple shepherd: “I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt…and now go, I will dispatch you to Pharaoh and you shall take My People, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt.” And Moses’ famous reply, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and that I should take the Children of Israel out of Egypt.” Rashi paraphrases Moses, “ma ani chashuv ledaber im melachim,” Moses asks God, “ am I important enough to speak with Kings?”
Moses, of course, grew up as the son of a King --why wouldn’t he think himself important enough? The text tells us why in the Book of Numbers: “v’ha ish Moshe anav meod mikol ha adam asher al p’nai ha adamah.” The man Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth.
Humility, the first and most important character trait in a leader. The great Musar master Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pekuda, 12th century Spain, wrote in his work, “Duties of the Heart,” that “All virtues and duties begin with humility.” Proverbs 18: “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor goes humility.” Moses seemed more than comfortable with his lot as a shepherd: sheep don’t rebel, for the most part, they don’t whine and complain. For Moses, even growing up as a prince of Egypt ---he did not see himself as the savior of God’s chosen people; in fact, he did not see himself special at all.
Humility requires that a person take an accurate assessment of the self. Moses knew himself quite well, Chapter 4, verse 10 “Please my Lord, I am not a man of words….for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.” Moses argues with God about his ability to fulfill this Divine mission; Moses is not engaging in self-abasement, here; he challenges God’s choice in him because of a recognized lack of skills. God is not deterred; God will be with him, Aaron will be with him: God essentially says, “ you don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect leader.” But you do have to be humble.
Humility leads into the next essential quality of leadership. The Pharaohs of Egypt built great monuments to themselves. Go to Cairo and visit the great Pyramids which cost thousands of lives to build in order to entomb one, single Pharaoh after he dies. The Pharaoh’s looked out at the world and saw them. Their concern was their honor, their glory, in fact, what they considered to be their divinity. Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s household but was different. And this is how he was different. The text says, “it happened in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brethren and observed their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brethren. He turned this way and that and saw that there was no man, so he struck down the Egyptian… “
What I find important about this verse is the phrase, “observed their burdens.” After he grew up --matured, became an adult, he went out and observed the burdens of his people. There is a saying: “if you want to truly know me, you have to see and understand what it is that causes me pain.” The Pharaoh looked out over his kingdom and saw no one but himself; his own needs and desires. Moses looked out over the kingdom and saw the injustice: saw human beings with heavy burdens; he saw his brethren in pain. A true leader focuses away from the self and witnesses and responds to the pain of those he presumes to lead.
And finally, a leader must honor incertitude. Moses was unsure how the people of Israel would respond to his mission to lead them out of Egypt. He asked God, “behold when I come to the Children of Israel…..and they say to me, what is [this God’s]Name? What shall I tell them?” “ And God answers Moses, I shall be what I shall be. And[God] said, “so shall you say to the Children of Israel, “I Shall Be has sent you.” Well, one might rightly ask: what kind of name is that? It doesn’t sound like a name; it doesn’t make sense. Moses is launched into his mission with uncertainty. He doesn’t understand how he is going to achieve his goal. He is unsure about the Pharaoh, he doesn’t trust his own people and now, the God who sends him is incomprehensible. Moses begins his prophesy with more questions than answers and must tolerate that uncertainty. Here is the ugly truth about leadership. No leader knows exactly what he is doing. No leader can predict the future and know what will happen as a result of any decision that is made. A true leader must fully understand that and share that with those he leads and yet remain focused on his goal. A leader or anyone else who purports to know the whole truth regarding anything is a deceiver. And if he believes it himself, he is naïve and even worse, dangerous. Leadership is a messy business. Moses understands that, shares that with his people and yet succeeds despite the uncertainty.
When I speak about Moses as a model for leadership, I am really speaking about all of us. We are all leaders in some part of our lives. At work, in the shul, as parents. We all must stand before others at some time or another and express our ideals, our vision, our goals. So the character traits of Moses: humility, a concern for others even at the expense of our own needs and accepting the fact that we don’t know everything --these characteristics are important for us in our everyday lives. They are the necessary characteristics of leadership, but they are also the necessary characteristics for being an adult; for being a mentch.
Shabbat Shalom
Our Torah reading this morning deals with the towering character of Moses. It is an unusual story, akin perhaps to the stories of Joseph. As a narrative, it stretches the bounds of plausibility: for Joseph, a slave in Potiphar’s household becomes a viceroy of Egypt. And in the case of Moses, a slave baby becomes a prince of Egypt. Clearly, both texts are implying that the hand of God is involved. It is God that makes sure that the people have just the leaders they need at just the right time.
Moses in particular. For the Torah, Moses is the quintessential leader; the most important, the most central: the savior and the law giver, from military leader to wilderness guide. Moses takes on the Pharoah, deals with a cranky stiff- necked people, stands down a dangerous rebellion, brings God’s rebuke to the people and delivers their salvation. In the case of Moses, God is directing history, as He does in all the other stories of the Bible.
But Moses is unique. There is something more to Moses; something different from all the other characters in the Bible. For Moses has a distinct personality: we can learn from his central place in the history of our nation, but we can also learn from his well defined and compelling character. Moses, as a man, can teach us how to be leader. And ultimately, Moses, as a man, can teach us how to be a complete human being. Let’s take a look.
We learn the most about the young Moses in his first interaction with God. God says to this one time prince and now simple shepherd: “I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt…and now go, I will dispatch you to Pharaoh and you shall take My People, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt.” And Moses’ famous reply, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh and that I should take the Children of Israel out of Egypt.” Rashi paraphrases Moses, “ma ani chashuv ledaber im melachim,” Moses asks God, “ am I important enough to speak with Kings?”
Moses, of course, grew up as the son of a King --why wouldn’t he think himself important enough? The text tells us why in the Book of Numbers: “v’ha ish Moshe anav meod mikol ha adam asher al p’nai ha adamah.” The man Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth.
Humility, the first and most important character trait in a leader. The great Musar master Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pekuda, 12th century Spain, wrote in his work, “Duties of the Heart,” that “All virtues and duties begin with humility.” Proverbs 18: “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor goes humility.” Moses seemed more than comfortable with his lot as a shepherd: sheep don’t rebel, for the most part, they don’t whine and complain. For Moses, even growing up as a prince of Egypt ---he did not see himself as the savior of God’s chosen people; in fact, he did not see himself special at all.
Humility requires that a person take an accurate assessment of the self. Moses knew himself quite well, Chapter 4, verse 10 “Please my Lord, I am not a man of words….for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of speech.” Moses argues with God about his ability to fulfill this Divine mission; Moses is not engaging in self-abasement, here; he challenges God’s choice in him because of a recognized lack of skills. God is not deterred; God will be with him, Aaron will be with him: God essentially says, “ you don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect leader.” But you do have to be humble.
Humility leads into the next essential quality of leadership. The Pharaohs of Egypt built great monuments to themselves. Go to Cairo and visit the great Pyramids which cost thousands of lives to build in order to entomb one, single Pharaoh after he dies. The Pharaoh’s looked out at the world and saw them. Their concern was their honor, their glory, in fact, what they considered to be their divinity. Moses grew up in the Pharaoh’s household but was different. And this is how he was different. The text says, “it happened in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brethren and observed their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brethren. He turned this way and that and saw that there was no man, so he struck down the Egyptian… “
What I find important about this verse is the phrase, “observed their burdens.” After he grew up --matured, became an adult, he went out and observed the burdens of his people. There is a saying: “if you want to truly know me, you have to see and understand what it is that causes me pain.” The Pharaoh looked out over his kingdom and saw no one but himself; his own needs and desires. Moses looked out over the kingdom and saw the injustice: saw human beings with heavy burdens; he saw his brethren in pain. A true leader focuses away from the self and witnesses and responds to the pain of those he presumes to lead.
And finally, a leader must honor incertitude. Moses was unsure how the people of Israel would respond to his mission to lead them out of Egypt. He asked God, “behold when I come to the Children of Israel…..and they say to me, what is [this God’s]Name? What shall I tell them?” “ And God answers Moses, I shall be what I shall be. And[God] said, “so shall you say to the Children of Israel, “I Shall Be has sent you.” Well, one might rightly ask: what kind of name is that? It doesn’t sound like a name; it doesn’t make sense. Moses is launched into his mission with uncertainty. He doesn’t understand how he is going to achieve his goal. He is unsure about the Pharaoh, he doesn’t trust his own people and now, the God who sends him is incomprehensible. Moses begins his prophesy with more questions than answers and must tolerate that uncertainty. Here is the ugly truth about leadership. No leader knows exactly what he is doing. No leader can predict the future and know what will happen as a result of any decision that is made. A true leader must fully understand that and share that with those he leads and yet remain focused on his goal. A leader or anyone else who purports to know the whole truth regarding anything is a deceiver. And if he believes it himself, he is naïve and even worse, dangerous. Leadership is a messy business. Moses understands that, shares that with his people and yet succeeds despite the uncertainty.
When I speak about Moses as a model for leadership, I am really speaking about all of us. We are all leaders in some part of our lives. At work, in the shul, as parents. We all must stand before others at some time or another and express our ideals, our vision, our goals. So the character traits of Moses: humility, a concern for others even at the expense of our own needs and accepting the fact that we don’t know everything --these characteristics are important for us in our everyday lives. They are the necessary characteristics of leadership, but they are also the necessary characteristics for being an adult; for being a mentch.
Shabbat Shalom
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