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From the Rabbi:
Parshat Va'Era is a familiar drama to those of us who've ever been to a Pesach Seder or seen The Ten Commandments. This is THE parsha of "let my people go!" We see the four phrases of redemption after which the Seder gets its four cups of wine. We see seven of the ten plagues. God strengthens, hardens and makes Pharaoh's heart heavy, all in order to continue the drama rather than letting Pharaoh buckle to the pressure of his courtiers. The Jews who last week doubted Moshe this week come to embrace him and the stage is set for the great redemption next week.
What many of us miss is the opening line of the Parsha which seems so commonplace and unexceptional that, even in naming the Parsha we skip it entirely and take the name "Va'Era" from the following verse. Yet, in some ways, this innocuous verse is the punchline of the entire parsha. Perhaps even the entire Torah. In fact, the very crescendo of Yom Kippur at the close of Neila is a seven-fold reiteration of the essence of this very verse: (Ex. 6:2) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹקים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י ה God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am Hashem".
Let's analyze this a moment because it does seem a little obvious. What's the difference between speaking and saying, aren't they essentially synonymous? Furthermore, don't we all know that God is Hashem? Isn't it like "the rabbi spoke to the congregation and said, 'I am Shlomo'. Duh, we all know that. What's your point?
Dibur and Amirah, the two words used for "speaking" and "saying" are indeed similar, both connote verbal communication. Yet the Torah uses them differently and the use of one or the other, or frequently both, is quite telling. Dibur means formal communication of content. When I use Dibur I want you to understand, internalize and perhaps obey what it is that I'm saying. It's instructive, formal and wields authority. Like a stop sign. Stop! What Dibur isn't is personal, artistic or connective. The point of a stop sign is to get you to stop, not to express the inner feelings and let you intimately understand the artist behind it. That's Amirah. When I want to share myself with you, telling you what to do won't be effective. Quite the contrary, a dynamic of authority and power can severely damage intimate communication.
Similarly, Elokim describes God as powerful. On its own, it means lower case god, a powerful being. It can also indicate a person in a position if authority. One who holds power of others. God is indeed Creator, Judge and, when necessary, Executioner. Elokim describes WHAT God is, His job and perhaps His species. It's like addressing someone as Homo-Sapien, or Earthling. While it may be correct, you'd immediately assume it's coming from an alien because it highlights the difference between the speaker and the listener. Speaking like that is meant to intimidate, command or establish authority. So too, in our dealings with God, there is a clear difference in power. God Creates, Commands and Judges us, so God rightfully speaks with Dibur. The Ten commandments are the Aseret HaDibrot.
But what does He 'say' with Amirah? "I am Hashem." This is my personal name, it's WHO I am. I want you to see me as a relational being and I want to connect with you. I want you to know me, not just admit that I'm powerful. Back to the example, "the rabbi spoke to the congregation and said, 'I am Shlomo'. The point is clearly that I want you to see past the professional title and know me for WHO I am. That's Amirah and here, that's Hashem's point.
God could have defeated Pharaoh quickly and forced him to admit that Elokim is stronger than him or his gods. That wasn't the point. The point is (7:5) "In order that Egypt will know that I am Hashem" - that as a Unique Relational Self, I Hashem manifest in each unique relational self. Therefore Pharaoh should let the slaves go because slavery is inherently wrong, not because someone more powerful commands it. That would only reinforce the kind of hierarchical power dynamic which creates slavery in the first place. That's for example why the Union victory in the civil war didn't end racism. Only seeing the Divine Image within each person can do that.
So Yom Kippur closes with "Hashem is Elokim!", seven times to underscore that it's the relational dimension which drives the whole power dynamic of commandedness and judgement. Similarly, throughout the Torah we read countless times, "Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe Laymor, Hashem spoke to Moses to say..." The whole purpose of the power dynamic of authority and command which comes through Dibur is to facilitate the intimate knowing of Hashem which comes through Amirah. To which we lovingly respond, (24:7) "Naaseh V'nishma, We will do and we will listen" - We commit ourselves to obey God's Dibur so as to also really listen to the love poetry of Hashem's Amirah.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shlomo
Classes This Week
NOTE: The Thursday evening class is paused until further notice.
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