Closing Message - Rabbanit Bracha
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Many of us are still reeling from the events that unfolded yesterday in Washington DC. We are feeling a betrayal of values that we hold dear: democracy, civility, and dignity. We are shocked and disturbed at the disrespect shown for our electoral process. We continue to be horrified by the loss of life and could not have imagined such blatant disregard for lawful authority.
And we aren’t the only ones who are worried. Some of the top word lookups on the Merriam-Webster dictionary website in the past few hours have been insurrection, sedition, contempt, and coup d’etat.
When we are feeling powerless and unsettled, we often look to our holy texts to guide us. There is a curious word in this week’s Parasha - Shemot. Moshe’s mother Yocheved was hiding him from the Egyptian authorities who were sworn to kill all of the male Israelite babies. [Ex 2:3]
ג וְלֹא-יָכְלָה עוֹד, הַצְּפִינוֹ, וַתִּקַּח-לוֹ תֵּבַת גֹּמֶא, וַתַּחְמְרָה בַחֵמָר וּבַזָּפֶת; וַתָּשֶׂם בָּהּ אֶת-הַיֶּלֶד, וַתָּשֶׂם בַּסּוּף עַל-שְׂפַת הַיְאֹר.
"And when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus teivah for him, plastered it with clay and pitch, placed the child in it and put it among the reeds by the banks of the Nile river."
What is a teivah?
It seems to be a type of raft or basket that floats in the water. Yet this word teivah appears in one other place in the Bible, and there it is describing something radically different. Before bringing a flood on the earth, God commands Noah to build a teivah that will save his family and many animals. [Gen 6:14]
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי-גֹפֶר, קִנִּים תַּעֲשֶׂה אֶת-הַתֵּבָה; וְכָפַרְתָּ אֹתָהּ מִבַּיִת וּמִחוּץ, בַּכֹּפֶר.
"Make for yourself a teivah of gopher wood; make the teivah with rooms and seal it with pitch on the inside and on the outside."
These two seaworthy vessels could hardly be more dissimilar. One, a basket barely large enough for an infant, the other a floating warehouse, an ark with three levels and many compartments.
R’ Avraham ibn Ezra, a 12th century Spanish commentator explains that they are one and the same. A teivah is not a common boat or ship as it has no oars and no sails. In fact, it lacks any type of guidance system.
A teivah is guided and propelled by God alone.
Noah was commanded to build and populate the teivah and followed God’s instructions to the letter. Yocheved devised her own plan to save baby Moshe’s life.
In both cases, they put their faith in God for protection and safekeeping.
Unlike Noah, we do not need to sit quietly and wait for the storm to pass. We can follow Yocheved’s model of forethought and faith, through prayer, community gatherings, letter-writing, and signing appropriate petitions and statements.
May God guide the hearts of our elected officials to act appropriately.
May God protect us and keep our nation and its democracy safe.
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.
