Shemot 5784-Jan. 6, 2024

This Shabbat we begin the reading of the Book of Shemot. The parasha is filled with many of the narratives related to the slavery by the Pharaoh and the exodus from the last of Egypt. As we read through the pages of text, we find ourselves witness to Moses’ first meeting with Hashem, at the Burning Bush and Moses’ first meeting with the Pharaoh, as he makes, as God’s messenger, the request to allow the Israelites the opportunity to worship their own God in the desert, away from their Egyptian taskmasters. If we were to pause for a moment as we read the narratives, we hopefully find for ourselves the grandeur, awe, and amazement that Burning Bush that was not consumed and the awe-inspiring dialogue between God and Moses that followed. At the same time, as Moses commands his first audience with the Pharaoh, I wonder whether our emotions should be filled with that same amazement of the grandeur of Pharaoh’s palace, frustration with the Pharaoh’s initial refusal to allow the Israelites to be free, or whether we sense that the completion of the story and the understanding of a long-drawn-out negotiation with consequences to Pharaoh and the Egyptians until the Israelites are finally allowed to leave Egypt as free people. (Once again the Torah reading reflects that tragic reality of the hostages held in Gaza today.)

It is quite interesting to note that while the second book of the Torah is entitled Shemot, in the Hebrew, the Book in English is titled Exodus. The Hebrew is based on the first word that is distinguishable, which  is the word shemot, or names. In the English the title is based on the content.

While the opening words reflect a list of names of those who came down to Egypt, so as to provide a true lineage and link to Jacob, within the reading, we will be introduced to names of significant individuals. For example, Miriam, Moses’ sister. Her name comes from the two words, mar  and yam, the water or the sea is bitter. Miriam was the one who was able to “tame” the waters, both by placing her brother Moses into the water of the Nile in a basket, and watching out for his safety.  It is because of that heroism, that Miriam becomes the prophetess whose merits are honored by Hashem  providing sweet and drinkable water for the Children of Israel throughout the journeys in the wilderness. 

Moses, has a more difficult etymology. The traditional reading has him being called Moshe, in that Pharaoh’s daughter picked him up out of the water and saved him from her father’s decree. In the Hebrew Pharaoh names him Moshe saying  meshitihu, “I drew him out of the water.” But if one looks carefully, that might also mean that I am pronouncing him as the one who will be the moshia, the savior of these people. According to the Etz Hayim Chumash, she often went down to the river to bathe, so as to identify with the plight of the Israelites, as a means of protest against her father’s policies.

God states to Moses that when the Children of Israel ask who is it that sent you to free us from this slavery,  tell them “Eheye Asher Eheye,” which may be translated as “I am that I am” or “I am what I shall be.” Such a name is a verb, not a noun. It implies wait and see what I will be to you and to the world and all will recognize it, but for the moment I am what I am, the God that I want you to understand and have faith in. I am an expression of the present and what holds for the future.  My name is significant and I am YHVH,  the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that is my name forever. God’s name is so powerful and holy of an expression that only the High Priest knew how to pronounce it, and used it only in the Holy of Holies in a most sanctified way.

Each one of us has a name given to us by our parents. Perhaps we are named after a loved oner of blessed memory, as is the practice in the Ashkenazic world.  In the Sephardic tradition, one is named after a living relative, in each instance, to perpetuate their life, lessons and legacy.  I wonder how many of our friends know the etymology of our names, either in the Hebrew or the English.

The Israeli poet Zelda, provides us with another expression of what it means to live with our shem,  our name.  As your read through her words, translated into English, think about how you have made your name important and significant to yourself and to those who lives are a part of yours.

EACH OF US HAS A NAME

Zelda

Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parents

Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear

Each of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our walls

Each of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors

Each of us has a name
given by our sins
and given by our longing

Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love

Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work

Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness

Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi K