Closing Message - Rav Steven
View video version here.
What happens in our transition from family to nation at the beginning of Parashat – and Sefer – Shemot?
The Torah characterizes our development into a nation by focusing exclusively on our population growth:
וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ אֹתָֽם׃
But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them. (Ex. 1:7)
In fact, Pharaoh, the first to identify Bnei Yisrael as a nation, seems to see the very same:
הִנֵּ֗ה עַ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רַ֥ב וְעָצ֖וּם מִמֶּֽנּוּ
Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. (Ex. 1:9)
Is that what it means to be a nation?
By contrast, a much later adversary, Haman, describes the Jewish people by our practice, saying, “v’dateihem shonot mikol am” – their religion is different than any other nation.
Why doesn’t that aspect of our emerging nation - our religion, our dat - stand out to Pharaoh?
Granted, we had not yet received the Torah at this time, but where is all the covenantal language of every generation of family in Bereishit? Where is a sense of destiny? Where is God?
There are different threads of rabbinic midrash on the Jewish nation’s development in Egypt, and in many of them, as we grow, we quickly lose our way – our sense of purpose, our mission, and our connection to God.
There is power in numbers, and great potential blessing in the growth of families, communities, enterprises, and nations – indeed, the population growth of Bnei Yisrael is the fulfillment of a covenantal promise.
But absent a mission, a purpose, and a sense of the place of the individual, what are we?
May we – our families, endeavors, communities, and nation – be blessed with the blessing we read in the end of Bereishit: "v’yidgu larov b’kerev ha’aretz" – may we multiply (as fish!) in the land.
And as we do, may we never lose sight of who we are, what we are, and why we are – in each of those groups.
Reminder to all to take good care of ourselves and each other. Try to do something specific today that strengthens you, and something else that strengthens someone else.
