From the Rabbi:
When I was at Oberlin College we were occasionally visited by a campus evangelist known as Brother Jed, a well known itinerant preacher who traveled across America to tell the gays, lesbians, fornicators etc. that they were all going to hell. You know the type. He was purposefully inflammatory because that grabs people’s attention and draws them to argue with him and thereby he engages them in the hope that some point may sink in. And Brother Jed was really skilled at it. He got people all riled up, but was erudite and polite so that people couldn’t just write him off as a hateful jerk. People desperately wanted to prove him wrong, to defeat him and his arguments. Dozens or even hundreds of students would gather around him arguing with him trying somehow to evade or reverse his harsh and condemning, although well constructed and scripturally backed claims.
On that particular day, which happened to be in Parshat Bo, Brother Jed had set up in the main quad. Being a hot-headed religion major with a strong opinion, I naturally wanted to get in on the action. So, I made my way forward towards him and when I had the opportunity, I asked him “why did God say to Moses ‘come to Pharaoh’ instead of ‘go to Pharaoh?’” Brother Jed surprisingly answered “I don't know, why?” At that point he essentially gave me the floor to say whatever I wanted. I presented to him one of Rebbe Nachman’s most famous teachings (LM 282), about helping people do Teshuvah by finding their good points. God says to Moses ‘come to Pharaoh’ rather than go to Pharaoh to tell Moses that he should approach Pharaoh as though God is with him. Not with Moses, with Pharaoh! That even when approaching the most egregious sinner, one who genuinely seeks God must approach each person to find their good points and the unique manifestation of Godliness within that soul. To find God within each person.
Brother Jed responded with something along the lines of “Well, I don’t believe that there’s God within everyone”. That was enough for the crowd to disperse. Someone had finally bested Jed, cornering him into saying something they could comfortably reject, and with his admission that God wasn’t with them, the students went on their way. I was congratulated and thanked, and for a brief moment felt that I had slain a dragon. Yasher Koach to me!
Upon reflection though, I realized I had fallen prey to exactly the same vice for which I was trying to rebuke Brother Jed. I didn’t approach him in that manner in which God invited Moses to 'come to Pharaoh'. I came into Jed's arranged confrontation and I tried to defeat him. That’s not what Rebbe Nachman was teaching. I didn’t practice what I myself had preached, and I realized my flagrant hypocrisy. And while I can't know for sure, I highly doubt that Brother Jed changed his confrontational approach. Our interaction probably hardened his heart and if anything, he learned a strategic lesson on how better to 'win'.
Last week we spoke about Amirah and Hashem’s Personal Name representing a dynamic of communication which expresses desire for connection rather than hierarchical power. Parshat Bo opens “וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה בֹּא אֶל־פַּרְעֹה Hashem said to Moses, ‘come to Pharaoh’”. Come Moses, it’s time to practice what we preach, even with Pharaoh. Don't go to Pharaoh with dibbur to beat him into submission. That approach (7:2,13; 8:11; 9:35) has only made his heart stronger, harder and heavier. Rather, Moses, please speak with Pharaoh softly, with amirah - in order to really connect with him and find Me hidden deep in the heaviness of his heart. Can you please arouse and awaken within Pharaoh the latent good which he has suppressed under layers of denial, greed and will-to-power? Can you let go of your own adversarial alignment and help Pharaoh feel emotionally safe enough to drop his arrogant pretense and admit his own humanity? Only when you can find Me within him will he let you go.
And ultimately, so it was. (12:32) “[Pharaoh] summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Up, depart from among my people, you and the Israelites with you. Go, worship Hashem as you said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have spoken, go and bring Blessing upon me also”. Pharaoh didn't just submit to the superior power of Elokim, he acknowledged Hashem by Name and asked for His blessing. That’s not defeat, that’s defection. That’s Teshuva. 'Coming to Pharaoh' allowed Pharaoh to come to Hashem.
May we soon see all enmity and conflict resolved through the awakening of the Divine within us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo
Purim is coming, March 13 &14. Being a Friday, expect a Purim experience that will flow into Shabbat. Stay tuned for megillah reading times, KOT Mishloach-Manot and Purim Seudah information.
Classes This Week
- Shabbat 4:30 pm before Mincha
- Sunday at 7:00 PM - KOT Beit Midrash
- Tuesday at 12:30 PM - Parsha Conversations at Cheryl's office
|