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D’var Torah Parshat HaShavuah
PARSHAT CHOL HAMOED PESACH:
WHO IS THE HERO OF THE EXODUS STORY?
Rabbi George Stern
When we think of the Exodus story, most of us probably think immediately of Moses: the stories of his upbringing in Pharaoh’s palace, his flight to the wilderness where he “sees” God in the burning bush, his return to Egypt to become Pharaoh’s protagonist, his role in bringing about the plagues to force Pharaoh to “let My people go,” and the many stories about his leadership through the Sinai wilderness.
In fact, however, while modern Haggadot do often refer to Moses, in traditional Haggadot, he is largely ignored—mentioned once in traditional Ashkenazi Haggadot and not at all in Sephardi. Why?
Jewish teachings point to many possible reasons why Moses isn’t part of the Seder story. Some say that Moses’ humility was such that he wouldn’t want to be the focus of so much attention. Some point out that Moses was a reluctant redeemer: because at the burning bush he pushed back when God asked him to redeem the Hebrews, he doesn’t deserve to be the center of the Seder’s attention.
This week’s Torah portion suggests that Moses lacked the self-confidence to lead on his own, begging for proof that God would be in the lead as the Hebrews trudged through the Sinai. Moses says to God, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me…. Consider too that this nation is Your people [i.e., not mine]” (Exodus 33:12-14).
I have often wondered whether the rise of Christianity with its belief that Jesus came to save Jews and all people, caused rabbis involved in creating the Haggadah to shy away from the notion that a human being saved the Hebrews from bondage. Avoiding any inference to Christianity but in its own way echoing the concern over a human redeemer, a Chabad teaching says: “The sages knew that there would be times during the long exile in which, seeing no one of Moses’ stature ready to lead them, people might wonder if their situation would ever improve. We therefore emphasize in the Haggadah that ultimately God alone redeemed us from Egypt, and history can repeat itself at any moment.”
Whatever the reason(s), the Haggadah insists that the Hebrews’ redemption was orchestrated and led by God: “If the Holy Blessed One hadn’t taken our forebears out of Egypt, then we, our children, and our children's children would remain enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt ….” The four cups of wine recall the four ways in which God promised to set the Hebrews free: “I will bring you out,” “I will deliver you,” “I will redeem you,” “I will take you to be My people.” (Exodus 6:6-7.) The Haggadah proclaims, “In every generation, each of us must see ourselves as if we, ourselves, came out of Egypt, as the Torah says: ‘And you shall tell your child on that day, This is what God did for me, when I came out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). God is the ultimate “hero” of Pesach.
I suggest that pitting Moses against God as the hero creates a false binary. Pharaoh also played a role: there would have been no Exodus had he not let the people go. Indeed, the Exodus would not be part of our origin story at all if the Hebrews themselves, accustomed to bondage and probably fearful of leaving familiar surroundings, hadn’t determined to followed Moses. Many “actors” played a role in the Exodus story’s success.
For many Jews, a significant manifestation of God is that we choose to follow mitzvot and do our part to repair the world (tikkun olam). This week’s Torah portion references Pesach and Shavuot, whose agricultural roots suggest that we are obligated not only to God, to one another, and to the planet (Exodus 34:18-26). So perhaps it’s not true that there may come a time when no person comes to our rescue. More than ever, many recognize at this trying time that we are all have a role to play in the tikkun that our society and world need. Collaborating with individuals and groups that share at least some of our values makes change feasible. Ken yehi ratzon—may God make it so.
Rabbi Stern served as a congregational rabbi in Nyack, NY, and as Director of Neighborhood Interfaith Movement in Mt. Airy. He is a member of the Dorshei Derekh Reconstructionist minyan at Germantown Jewish Centre and of Congregation Rodeph Shalom.