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IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT

IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT

Life is made up of moments. In the last week, I have witnessed three different moments in the Jewish lifecycle. I was privileged to participate in a Mikvah service of conversion for a child born of a surrogate. I spent time with several local USY members to help them prepare for Torah reading on Shabbat at last weeks Far West Regional USY Kinnus. Finally, I have been helping dear friends with the mourning process and Shiva since their mom passed away. All of these events are extraordinary on their own, to have them going on together in one week has been unreal.

The Torah is also made up of moments. In this week’s parsha, Sh’mot, we open with the realization that Joseph has died, the people of Israel have multiplied in the land, and there is a new pharaoh who enslaves them. The Egyptians make their lives bitter with hard labor and become taskmasters to the Israelites. Determined to reduce the number of Israelites who might pose a threat to him, pharaoh orders that the male children be thrown into the Nile at birth. He comes to speak with the midwives Shiphrah and Puah; speaking to them in Hebrew orders the destruction of the male children. But Puah and Shiphrah fear G-d, and disobey the pharaoh, saying that the Hebrew women give birth so quickly that the babies are already born by the time they arrive to deliver. The midwives were willing to disobey Pharaoh because they sensed that what he was doing was wrong, and there was a higher moral judgment involved. This was Puah and Shiphrah’s moment, noted in the Chumash as the first recorded act of civil disobedience, challenging government in the name of a higher authority. (Commentary, Exodus 1:15-19).

Further in the narrative, Moses encounters G-d at the Burning Bush in the wilderness. (Exodus 3:1-6) Moses turned aside to look at the bush that was full of flame, but did not burn up. G-d called to Moses, who answered Heneini. G-d instructs Moses not to come any closer; to remove his sandals and G-d reveals himself saying, “I am the G-d of your father, the G-d of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob”. Moses hides his face because he is afraid to look at G-d. G-d revels that he has heard the suffering of the Israelites and he will bring them out of Egypt to freedom. G-d decrees that Moses is to go to Egypt and meet with the Pharaoh to obtain freedom for the Israelites.

Moses says, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?” (Exodus 3:9-11) G-d tells Moses to go and speak to the leaders of the Israelites and proclaim that he has been sent by G-d. Moses asks “what if they do not believe me and do not listen to me and say: The Lord did not appear to you.” (Exodus 4:1) Moses, in today’s terms lacked self-confidence and needed more self-esteem! He questioned G-d because he did not feel that he was fit to lead. He did not speak well, it is expressed in the text that Moses says he is slow of speech and slow of tongue (Exodus 4:10) Moses offers G-d objection after objection, and finally G-d says that he will send Aaron with Moses. Aaron will be his spokesman. Moses is to speak to Aaron, G-d will be with them and tell both of them what to do. (Exodus 4:14-17) Aaron will speak to the people, and Moses will take the role of G-d to him. Finally, this is Moses’ moment; he has no more objections, and leaves to meet Aaron and fulfill his destiny.

As I think about the moments I experienced in the past week, each of the three is a special moment to the people I encountered. At the Mikvah conversion, the parents and relatives of the baby experienced the joy of welcoming their daughter into the Jewish faith. In a way, it was celebrating her birth twice in her first year. There was warmth, laughter and tears in the moving ceremony that Rabbi Farkas led at the mikvah. The parents will always be able to remember the day of their daughter’s Jewish experience, and look forward to celebrating other Jewish milestones as a family. The Mikvah was their moment.

To the teens that read Torah for the USY Kinnus, it may have just been another great USY event. I saw it as a communal celebration; it was a joy to watch the teens worshiping together with great ruach. I was moved to see each of them chanting Torah and Haftarah for our congregation. You could see the satisfaction and pride in their faces as they read. They performed a play about the Parasha to the congregation; it was creative, funny and contagious to share their enthusiasm in teaching the congregation and each other. That was their moment.

The moment for the family in mourning is more difficult to define. It’s been a long struggle with Mom declining for several years with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. As a Holocaust survivor, Mom was a tough lady, even wresting with the Angel of Death at the end, but finally passing peacefully last Shabbat. Now its time for her family to mourn, which we did at Shiva this week. Listening to stories about Mom with her sharp sense of humor and distinctive Yiddishisms made her presence felt in the room. There was a lot of laughter and love in the house last night, tinged with a few tears to mourn her passing. That was the moment.

A popular song from the 1960's was based on the text from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "To everything there is a season and a moment under heaven."

Shabbat Shalom

Cantor Toby Schwartz

 

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784