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January 8, 2007/ 18 Tevet  5767
Parashat Shemot
Rabbi David Bauman
 
Ben Zoma asks, "Who is wise?" (Pirkei Avot 4:1) When providing the answer, Ben Zoma reworks a verse in Psalms that teaches, "From all my teachers I have gained understanding." (Psalm 119:99) Originally this verse refers to God’s divine revelation as the source of all knowledge. However, in a time of interaction with the non-Jewish world, Ben Zoma explains that knowledge and understanding of God can be learned from different teachers. Parashat Shemot underscores this lesson from the mishnah and raises the ultimate challenge of the 21st century Jew, ironically; through the questions of two gentiles.

The household of Jacob (Israel), having come to Egypt to seek refuge from the famine, find themselves in slavery to a new Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8) setting the stage for God’s redemption of the Israelites. In an early approach to Pharaoh seeking the Israelites’ release from bondage, the Torah records the interaction between Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh: "Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.’ But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.’" (Exodus 5:1-2) Pharaoh’s question: "Who is the Lord?" has been the ultimate spiritual quest of the Jewish people since creation. This quest to know and understand God is no less a challenge for the 21st century Jew then it was in the time of Moses and Pharaoh.

Recently, I participated in a chaperon Shabbaton for the upcoming March of the Living. At the beginning of the weekend, one of the leaders posed the following question to the group: "Do you remember when you first realized your Jewish identity?" In other words, when did you become aware that being Jewish was more than a mere label? For those of us in leadership positions in the Jewish community, it is often difficult to remember the beginning of our spiritual journeys. How did we arrive at our current stage in life? How and where did we begin delving into the abyss that we call Judaism? How do we help guide those who are beginning their journeys?

In attempting to answer these questions, Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic translation of the Bible, provides us a clearer understanding of Pharaoh’s question. Onkelos, a convert to Judaism, understands Pharaoh’s question as the Egyptian leader claiming the he did not receive any revelation from God. (Targum Onkelos Exodus 5:2) Pharaoh and Onkelos set out our challenge: "How can we experience God’s divine revelation in our daily lives?" That is to say, how can we continue to learn about God in our day and age? What is the process that the 21st century Jew should use in learning about God?

Commenting on an earlier section of Parashat Shemot, when God first reveals himself to Moses at the burning bush, Rabeinu Bachya (a 13th century exegete, preacher, and kabbalist) teaches us an approach that we can implement into our daily lives. He points out that Moses perceives the revelation of God in three stages at the burning bush. First, he sees the fire, then he sees the angel in the fire, then he hears God’s voice. (Exodus 3:2-5) Rabeinu Bachya explains the reasoning for this process:

“Since this was Moses’ first experience of prophecy, the Almighty wished gradually to initiate him and raise him by stages till his spiritual perceptions were strengthened. To what may this be compared? To a man who had been confined to a dark room for a long time. If he suddenly goes out into the sun he will be blinded. He must therefore get gradually used to the light. The same thing applies to spiritual light… Man must gradually train his intellectual powers to achieve the perception of the Divine, its light increasing as the dawn shines forth…

“Similarly God gradually initiated Israel in the Torah, first at Marah where they were apprised of a few of its rules and subsequently at Sinai when they received the Ten Commandments and finally the rest of the Torah at Moab.”

Rabeinu Bachya’s approach is educationally sound as it implies that by gradually learning, by taking a step by step process, we are able to focus and integrate into our hearts, souls, and minds Judaism’s agenda of spirituality: God’s divine lessons. When we use this approach, we provide ourselves with an everlasting knowledge and understanding of God.

The challenge of implementing knowledge about God into our daily lives still remains. Using Rebannu Bachya’s approach, we need to search for a way of gradually learning about God. Based on Targum Onkelos, the Talmud offers an exercise that not only introduces man to God, but also teaches the fundamental skills that will serve a Jew throughout his or her life. The Talmud proscribes that one must read the weekly Torah portion twice, in private, along with Onkelos’ translation that was read in the synagogue every week with the public reading of the Torah portion in Babylon and is still done today in the Yemenite community. (Babaloyian Talmud Tractate Berakot 8a).

Ben Zoma asks, "Who is wise?” Pharaoh and Onkelos answer this question by stating that it is the one who knows God through God’s revelation. By enacting this program of learning by reviewing the Torah portion with Onkelos, a practice still done today by many Jews around the world, the Rabbis created a process for one to gain knowledge about God while developing the language skills of understanding Hebrew and Aramaic (the two most common languages used in biblical and Rabbinic literature) which will enable one to continue in the quest of knowing God.
Rabbi David Bauman, a member of UJC Rabbinic Cabinet, is assistant rabbi at Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue in Toronto, Ontario.

UJC Rabbinic Cabinet Chair: Rabbi Ronald Schwarzberg
Vice Chairs: Rabbi Jonathan Schnitzer,  Rabbi Steven Foster,  Rabbi Amy Small
President: Rabbi Bennett F. Miller, D.Min.
Honorary Chair: Rabbi Matthew Simon
Vice President, Jewish Renaissance and Renewal: Dr. Eric Levine
Mekor Chaim Editor & Coordinator: Saul Epstein
Senior Consultant, Rabbinic Cabinet: Rabbi Gerald Weider