>> torah portion

-11

111

A family member's ADDICTION creates
challenges you never expected.

But we can help.

f

i:1 01

Women Imbued Moses
With Great Compassion

Parshat Shemot: Exodus 1:1-6:1; Isaiah
27:6-28:13; 29:22-29:23.

I

believe that Judaism begins when
I cannot imagine that he thought
Moses, then a prince of Egypt,
that he, himself, was a Hebrew. His
looked out and saw the suffering
act of liberating the slaves was not
slaves as his brothers and sisters.
about helping his family or people.
Exodus 2:11 says, "And it came to
He was the first to see all people as
pass in those days, when Moses was
his family, as human beings.
grown up, that he went out to his
The Egyptians were not gods,
brothers and sisters, and saw their
and the slaves were not expendable
suffering."
commodities. Everyone was human.
The entire world of Egypt
Everyone was created in God's
and the future of human-
image.
ity changed in this single
What made him the first
moment. At this point
great leader to see humanity
in the Book of Exodus,
this way? I believe it is because
Moses has no idea that he
he was raised and cared for by
is descended from Hebrew
these three women who taught
slaves.
him great compassion and self-
Moses' mother Yocheved
lessness through their words
went to a great deal of
and deeds.
Rabbi Aaron
trouble to save him from
No other character in the
Bergman
Pharaoh. At great risk to
Torah is raised exclusively by
her own life, she managed
women. Moses, throughout
to send him down the Nile,
his life, lives the way he was
with the help of her daughter Miriam, taught. He is steadfast, courageous
to where he could be found by the
and compassionate.
This is why he is worthy of receiv-
daughter of Pharaoh.
None of these heroic women would ing and teaching the Torah and
have told the child Moses his true
becoming the first Jewish leader.
We are living in a time when it
identity for fear that he would blurt
it out. The penalty would have been
is harder and harder to see all of
humanity as part of one family.
death, even for Pharaoh's daughter.
These three made great sacrifices
There are those who act like they are
in order to save Moses. Without their
gods and look upon others as slaves.
great compassion and courage, Moses' There are those who feel that they are
life would have ended before it began. worthless in the face of those who are
His name is Egyptian, not Hebrew.
greater.
His clothing would have been that
Judaism must be about having
of royalty. He had no life outside the
compassion for those who are truly
palace. It is likely that he had only
suffering and courage to face those
seen the Hebrews from a distance,
who deny that we are all created in
outside of the ones who served in the
God's image. *
palace, and the two Hebrew women
Aaron Bergman is a rabbi at Adat Shalom
who cared for him as a very small
child.
Synagogue in Farmington Hills.

'

We are using 20 years of experience with Care
Management to help families struggling with addiction.

Our team will guide you through the difficult process
toward a healthy recovery, so you don't have to do it alone.

fac

11—

• a 1

Fearerg

consulting, inc.

www.FeinbergConsulting.com

Call today for a
confidential consultation

877.538.5425

ediation is an alternative that can help you retain more time, money,
and privacy during your legal battle. Barbara Smith, J.D., former district
court magistrate and administrative law judge with more than 25 years of
legal experience, lends her unique blend of reason, calmness and tenacity to the
process, helping guide opposing parties to mutually agreeable solutions. She has
successfully mediated hundreds of cases over the past decade.

IVI

The Smith Mediation Center provides an alternative to the contentious atmosphere
that often pervades legal actions. Mediators do not represent either party; rather,
they promote neutral guidance throughout the mediation process and allow parties
to maintain control of their situation, create nontraditional solutions within the
law, and keep specific issues private. Ms. Smith and the team at Smith Mediation
Center will work together to help create an environment where a mediated
resolution can be created as an alternative to traditional litigation.

Bloomfield Hills I 248.646.8000

Smith Mediation Center

www.michigan-divorce-mediation.com

JN

December 31 •2015

29