It has been over 100 days since Oct 7 and the abduction of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Wise has created this beautiful prayer and song to express our solidarity with the hostages and their families and our fervent desire for a safe return.
On Moses
“Torah does not provide all the answers, but it inspires us to ask very important questions.”
That’s my favored framing for how we can understand Torah as modern Jews. I recently read an essay by Prof. Rabbi Jonathan Magonet of Leo Baeck College in London that emphasized aspects of Moses’ character that revealed qualities I’d never noticed before. As a text with multiple authors writing over centuries, the Torah is a rich composite of perspectives that can either be segmented into its many components or interpreted in its entirety. Think of the ways that we view a mosaic: stand close and we see the qualities of each tile, step back and the tiles combine to create complete images. Both perspectives reveal beauty.
Rabbi Magonet begins at Moses’ encounter with the Egyptian beating the Hebrew. In his analysis he points out that, raised as an Egyptian, Moses’ initial intention when he went out to check on his “brethren” was to observe the Egyptians. However, when he witnesses the Egyptian’s actions, his sensibilities are shaken. The injustice sparks his compassion and unmoors him from his Egyptian identity. He defends the persecuted slave and kills the taskmaster. For a moment he is neither Hebrew nor Egyptian – he’s human; when he sees another human suffering, he responds. Later, to his surprise, when he rebukes two brawling Hebrews, one of them turns to Moses and says: “Are you going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?!” Moses is taken aback to discover that the Hebrews don’t value his sense of universal justice.
Magonet elaborates on several more scenarios to assert that Moses’ evolving identity remains complex. He stands before Pharaoh as a Hebrew but also embraces a sophisticated sense of universal justice. In the pursuit of justice, one cannot favor one person over another. Later, when he flees Egypt to Midian, he defends a woman that would become his future wife along with her sisters from bullying shepherds. Much later, Korach, Datan, and Abiram rebel against his leadership. “Who are you,” they say, “to lord your authority over us?!” Moses responds, not with violence or anger, but with an assertion of his integrity and an appeal to God to adjudicate the disagreement. (Of course, God is on Moses’ side and the rebels don’t fare well.)
This portrayal of Moses’ character reveals a storyline in the Torah that elevates the profound sense of justice and fairness that runs part and parcel with Moses’ identity as a Hebrew. Moses is neither retributive nor vengeful. He is acutely aware of the humanity of the Egyptians even as he witnesses their defeat. He does not lead the Israelites to a vicious battle against their former masters – instead he leads them to freedom and is ultimately the one who brings them their laws.
The Torah notably ends by asserting that there has never been (and never will be) a character like Moses – indeed, that may be true, at the same time he provides a standard towards which we can all aspire.
In history, there are remarkable people who embody virtues that transcend a particular identity. As we recognize Martin Luther King’s birthday today, it is notable that by many accounts he was such a figure. Though human, and not without flaws, King pursued justice founded on principles of non-violence. While this often put him at odds with others in pursuit of civil rights, his commitment to justice and peace establishes him as one of the true greats of history. May his legacy continue to inspire others.
— Rabbi Ron Stern