Va'era

God is teacher, educator and instructor of behavior.  The Bible is no a mere set of stories but an instruction book on justice, fairness, and kindness.  We, the reader, are asked to pay close attention to people’s behavior throughout the books and observe how God responds to them.  

This is how we learn: by imitating God.  God feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and in this week’s Torah portion tells us how He frees the enslaved.

Note that God could perform the act to redeeming the Jewish slaves without the input of Moses of the mouthpiece of Aaron.  But God is determined that He show us what is good and right by teaching us what to do, how to confront power with truth, how to gather the masses under a united banner of cohesion for dignity and life’s sake.  God does not free the slaves.  Instead He teaches us that in each successive generation we must work to protect the dignity and quality of life of every human being. 

Judaism is concerned with every aspect of human behavior in public and even behind closed doors.  Everything matters.  Our actions inform our intent and have a ripple effect that rebounds through the universe.  

If we truly believe that everything does matter then we will give our mindful attention to all that we say and so.  What better guardianship of the world than this?

Viktor Frankl, a survivor of humanity’s most brutal era, wrote:

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. That may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

God does not harden Pharaoh’s heart, Pharaoh does.  We may want to declare, “you made me do this” or “what you said forced me to behave this way.”  But, for us, we are ultimately in charge of what we do.  Only us.

Soften your heart.  Share what is yours because it was a gift given to you, only on the condition that it be shared.

 

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