This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)
God tells Moses the secret of the Divine name. From that moment on, the relationship between God and Moses is based on personal names: an intimate relationship.
We all stand equally vis-a-vis God. Through our faith and our tradition, we all share that relationship.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
Then God spoke to Moses, saying to him, “I am Adonai.” (Exodus 6:1)
When God reveals the Tetragrammaton to Moses, the sacred, four-letter Name of God, God tells him that God was only known to all of the previous generations by a different name, El-Shaddai. The Torah teaches us that God may be known to us in different ways in each generation and at various stages of our lives and we are invited to be open to explore these different experiences of God. May we all have the courage of Moses and Miriam, to be open to the possibility of experiencing God in new ways, each day.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)
God introduces itself to Moses, telling Moses God’s real name the one we are not allowed to pronounce, the name that we avoid by saying Adonai.
Until now, says God to Moses, your ancestors called me God, moving forward you can use my personal name, the real one.
Knowing someone and calling them by their first name is very different than calling them by their title. It is more intimate and more personal.
God has moved closer in the relationship between God and Israel. Through Moses, we know God and relate to God more intimately.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)
Obstructed Lips Free Speech
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵ֤ן בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹֽא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵיךְ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֣נִי פַרְעֹ֔ה וַאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם׃ {פ}
Vay’dabeir Moshe Lif’nei Adonai, leimor hen, ‘B’nei Yis’ra-el lo sham’u ei-lai v’eich yish’ma-eini Pharoah va’ani aral s’fataim.
But Moses appealed to יהוה, saying, “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, me—who gets tongue-tied!”
Rashi translates the phrase “aral s’fataim” as obstructed. Among the many proof texts he offers, he includes the following:
“their ear is עֲרֵלָה (a-ra-lei)— stopped up so that it will not hear-Jeremiah 6:10
“עַרְלִי (a-ra-li)in heart” — their hearts are closed so that they will not understand; -Jeremiah 9:25
עֲרַ֥ל (a-ral) elevates the underlying currents at play in this parsha. The Israelites are not open to hearing Moses, Pharoah’s heart repeatedly opens and then closes again. Moses’s physical impediment also reflects deep emotional and psychological impediments. He is truly blocked- physically he cannot express the words he needs to, and one might imagine, his fear and apprehension are now heightened as he must face his tragic past and uncertain future all in the same moment.
Yet, Moses does what many would not. He surrounds himself with support- in this case, God and his brother Aaron, and steps into the lion’s den.
What obstructions are you facing in this moment? Who do you need to surround yourself with so that you might feel able to take the next step into your lion’s den? Va’eira Adonai- and God appeared. How is God appearing to you in this moment?
This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)
This week’s Torah Portion Va-eira, begins the story of our people’s journey from slavery to freedom. Moses tells the Children of Israel that the God of their ancestors has sent him to liberate them from Egyptian bondage.
“But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, because of hard labor and shortness of breath.” (Exodus 6:9)
The beginning of a journey is always difficult and we can understand how generations of avodah kashah “hard labor” may have dimmed even the hope of freedom in their hearts. But, what could it mean that they could not hear Moses’ promise of liberation because of kotzeir ruach, because of “shortness of breath?” The word ruach which normally means breath or wind, can also mean “spirit.” Taken this way, the Hebrew text would teach us that slavery had crushed their spirit and they could no longer even dream of a time when they might be free.
What an odd turn in our people’s story of liberation: God send’s Moses to tell Pharaoh to “Let My People Go!” And even God’s people cannot hear these words and believe that they might someday come to be.
It is hard to make a change, even a change that can better our lives and bring hope for our future. How do we learn to embrace the promise of freedom? Moses knows the answer, though he might not know that he knows it. We heard these words in last week’s portion when Moses asks God’s name. God responds Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, “I can be who I will be.”
Freedom is not a gift that can be given, nor a right which can be taken, it is a value which must be believed.
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