One of the striking things about the first chapter of Exodus is just how quickly the situation devolves from peace to instability. History, as the verse above indicates, is forgotten and fear takes over, leading to the subjugation of our people and the eventual destruction of Egypt. Verse by verse, the Torah shows us how Pharaoh, speaking in the voice of his people, enlists others to do his bidding, steadily creating a police state, one willing not only to imprison its citizens, but to kill its babies. As Pastor Martin Niemoller would remind us a generation ago when another even more destructive pharaoh had arisen to afflict our people: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
The events in our Capital this past week echo the events in Exodus and serve as reminders of just how quickly a situation can devolve. Pharaoh is never one specific person, but the dangers presented when mobs are incited and people’s better judgement brushed to the side. I am reminded of a vision of humanity I had when I was in my first year of rabbinical school and was struggling with larger theological questions. I saw a darkened sky with raindrops collecting on the branches of trees. As they fell, the tiny droplets sought out one another, some finding large pools of water in the muddy earth below and others finding their way all the way to the sea.
While we think of rain as being calm and serene, it can also be violent and destructive. I came to the realization that during a storm, the droplets could not distinguish between deluge and oasis. Similarly, when people seek out connection they sometimes can be misguided by tyrants, finding a sense of oneness in one another and not in the divine. Our world depends on all of these discordant drops finding their way back toward the larger sea. This week’s Torah portion reminds us not to forget these corrosive times, but to imprint them in our collective memories, doing everything and anything in our power to prevent them from coming again.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex