TORAH PORTION
Temple Beth El and the
Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute
present
Jewish Rites of Passage: Religious,
Historical and Psychological Perspectives
Three evenings of dialogue on
Circumcision, Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Wedding
Moses Begins A New
Era Of Jewish History
RABBI RICHARD HERTZ
Special to The Jewish News
his week's sedra intro-
duces Moses, the great-
est Jewish leader of all.
Exodus is a continuation of
Genesis, where the lives of
the patriarchs, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and the
Joseph story have been con-
cluded. Exodus now tells of
the beginning of the history
of the nation of Israel, how
the ancient Israelites went
from enslavement to freedom.
Exodus begins the history
of the Jewish people. When
the new Pharaoh saw the
Israelites multiplying and
becoming "too many, and too
mighty for us," he organized
a plan for stirring up the peo-
ple against them.. History's
first pogrom! "Come, let us
deal wisely with them lest
they multiply and become too
numerous! Otherwise in the
event of war they may join
against us. They may join un-
to our enemies and fight
against us. So, let's get them
up out of the land."
With the new Pharaoh
dedicated to building
pyramids and monuments in
accordance with the religion
of Egypt, which was to wor-
ship the dead, he gave orders
to enslave the Israelites and
make them work with bricks
without straw, to build
monuments not to life but to
death.
Some people think it in-
teresting that scripture
should remember a people's
past about slavery and defeat.
Usually, a nation wants to
remember its victories and
triumphs. The perpetuation
of a story so humiliating to
national self-respect is as-
tounding. Yet it was all for a
purpose: to reveal the hand of
God and describe how God
brought forth the people of
Israel out of Egyptian slavery.
The first two chapters of Ex-
odus give the background for
the main story, the liberation
of the Hebrew people from
Egyptian bondage. The first
chapter is the prologue that
tells of the birth of the
Hebrew people, the story of
Moses and how he was
rescued by Pharaoh's
daughter.
With the entrance of Moses
in our story, he always re-
mains human though sur-
rounded by legends. He never
takes on the manner of
superman.
Mr
Rabbi Daniel Polish
Temple Beth El
Melvin Bornstein, M.D.
Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute
Wayne State University
Sundays, January 6, 13 & 20 • 7:00 p.m.
at Temple Beth El, 7400 Telegraph Rd., Birmingham
Guests - $25
Temple or Institute Members - $18
For information, call Temple Beth El, 851 1100
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38
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1991
Richard Hertz is rabbi
emeritus of Temple Beth El.
The Torah treats the
childhood of Moses briefly, ex-
cept to say that he was
brought up in the house of
Pharaoh as an Egyptian
prince. As such, he must have
been exposed to the grandeur
of the Egyptian palace and
the lifestyle of Pharaoh's
court. Somehow, Moses never
forgot where he came from.
He doubtlessly knew of his
humble origins, yet he never
forgot his people Israel. As a
young man, he saw Egyptians
fighting with a Hebrew whom
he felt to be one of his
brothers. Moses struck down
the Egyptian and hid him in
the sand. Pharaoh heard
about the matter and tried to
apprehend Moses to punish
him. His position at court no
longer tenable, Moses fled.
Moses had rushed not only
to the defense of his own
Shemot:
Exodus 1:1-6:1,
Isaiah 27:6-28:13,
29:22-23.
kinsman; he also came to the
rescue of people from other
tribes. Wandering on the
plains of Midian, he heard the
cry of seven daughters of the
priest of Midian who were at- .
tacked by desert poachers. He
did not know the girls nor the
hostile shepherds. He only
saw the rights of weak women
being trampled upon.
Moses rose up and helped
the young girls, driving off
the intruders. Though he
himself was a stranger at that
time, he went out of his way
to take the part of the
persecuted. He had rescued
one Hebrew from the whip of
the Egyptian and the Mi-
dianite women from the
pirates attacking their wells.
By this time, Moses already
has exhibited a character of
fighting for justice and for the
oppressed. He has relinquish-
ed his place at Pharaoh's
court, with all its wealth, to
join his people and their fight
for freedom and justice.
Moses stayed in the desert
of Midian to tend the flocks of
his father-in-law, Jethro,
whose daughter he had mar-
ried. He must have learned
many lessons while tending
his flocks in the desert. The
Midrash tells how a kid had
escaped and reached a shady
place where a pool of water
ran. Moses ran after the kid
and, seeing it drink, said, "I
did not know you ran away
because you were thirsty. You