Speech
A Message for Parashat Shemot 2018
Click here to view as PDF
The story of yessiat Misrayim is
structured around Moshe’s constant conversations with Pharaoh. Time and again
he approached Pharaoh with the fruitless demand of freedom for Am Yisrael.
Why did he do so? Whereas the Torah made clear that the purpose of the plagues
was to punish the Egyptians and show God’s might, the importance of Moshe’s
repeated encounters with Pharaoh was never explained. What role did his many
discussions with Pharaoh play in the grand scheme of yessiat Misrayim?
Let us first take note of a surprising
reality that is reflected in the Torah’s description of Am Yisrael at
the beginning of Parashat Shemot:
…And Bnei Yisrael groaned from the bondage and cried
out, and their plea from the bondage went up to God. And God heard their
moaning. (Shemot 2:23-4)
Am Yisrael employed a strange means
of expression at that time. Instead of talking, they groaned, cried
out, and moaned. The hard work of slavery had seemingly paralyzed
their human ability to speak.
Indeed, the kabbalists describe the nation’s spiritual
status at that time as one of galut ha-dibur – “exiled speech.” R.
Joseph B. Soloveitchik z”l explained this reality as a direct effect of Am
Yisrael’s servitude. He wrote:
The
slave lives in silence…He has no message to deliver. In contrast with a slave,
the free man bears a message, has a good deal to tell, and is eager to convey
his life story to anyone who cares to listen.
R. Soloveitchik furthermore explained that
the Torah’s repeated obligation to tell the story of yessiat Misrayim to
our children comes in direct contrast to our slavery. It is the proof of our
freedom.[1]
Moshe’s many conversations with Pharaoh,
then, were stark representations of Am Yisrael’s freedom. His
ability to bring forth a voice, to speak about a future and to vocalize his
wishes were the fundamental signs of Am Yisrael’s liberation. Moshe was
able to accomplish a task that had until then been impossible for the nation of
slaves: speak.
Although it has been several thousand years
since our slavery in Egypt, many of us still live in the sad state of spiritual
slavery. We do not speak. Driven by fear or self-doubt, we never express
our true hopes, beliefs or ambitions. By structuring the story of our national redemption
around Moshe’s countless speeches to Pharaoh, the Torah urges each of us to
find our voice – and sound it.
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Avi Harari
[1] R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik,
“Redemption, Prayer, Talmud Torah,” in Confrontation and Other Essays
(New Milford, CT, 2015), pg. 65.