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 The Egyptians and the Israelites[i]
The best way to capture the Bible’s account of the relationship between the people of Israel and the Egyptians is: “It’s complicated.” Though the predominant and memorable image is one of cruel enslavement as portrayed in the Exodus account, elsewhere in the Bible, Egypt is a place of refuge. Abraham — as well as Jacob and his extended family — find safety in Egypt. Would-be Israelite kings flee to Egypt to escape their vengeful kinsfolk and often ally with Egypt against their enemies. Most importantly, we know of a significant ancient Jewish presence on the island of Elephantine in the upper Nile as early as the 6th century BCE — there was even a massive temple.
Perhaps that explains why the ancient rabbis were ambivalent in their own judgment of Egypt. There is a famous midrash (a rabbinic story inspired by Torah) that imagines the heavenly angels breaking out in song as the Sea of Reeds closes on the Egyptians. God turns to them and says: “How can you sing for joy when my creatures (i.e. the Egyptians) are drowning!?” (Talmud Sanhedrin 39b) Interestingly, the Israelites are allowed to sing. Perhaps to acknowledge that there are times when, redeemed from danger or harm, we are appropriately filled with elation. At the same time, Rashi interprets the very song that the Israelites sing (which includes the Mi Chamocha prayer found in our regular worship) to both extoll God for the victory and assert that God also extends mercy and compassion to all life and “feeds the entire world.”
The power of these interpretations is particularly compelling today. The atrocities committed by Hamas against Israel led to a legitimate defensive war to restore peace and security. Even as our first priority is the wellbeing of Israel, we cannot turn our eyes from the painful suffering of those residents of Gaza who had no part in the vicious and truly evil attack on October 7. We find ourselves caught in a disturbing dichotomy where we support the destruction of Hamas by the IDF and, at the same time, lament the tragic human suffering in Gaza. The unattributed author of the article upon which this kavanah is based wrote the following:
We have to live with this dichotomy. If we are not happy that evil has been punished, then we do not care enough, but if we are not sad at the loss of life, then our humanity is weakened, “As I live, says God, I do not wish for the death of the wicked, but for the wicked to repent of their way, so that they may live” (Ezekiel 33:11).
This dialogue, that spans centuries, evoked by the Torah’s story of the Exodus and subsequent interpretations remind us of what it means to live by the loftiest of Jewish values and virtues.
— Rabbi Ron Stern
[i]Inspired by this article