Page 36 - HaMizrachi #8 Pesach

Rabbi Stewart Weiss
GOING UP

g-d is a Zionist to Jerusalem

In every generation, we must see ourselves as From this point of view, the plagues were calamity? We felt abandoned, forsaken,
if we, personally, experienced the Exodus. directed solely towards Pharaoh and the the unwanted stepchild of the universe.
O ne of the most iconic and But there is another intriguing had not personally suffered in the
Even those Jewish communities that
Egyptians.
elements
of
the
dramatic
Holocaust were in a state of shock,
Exodus is the 10 Plagues. They
begin with the first plague, presaging viewpoint: that these blows (the literal deeply traumatized by the persecution
translation of the word makot) while of
what was to come, as all the water in course impacting upon the Egyptians, and powerlessness we had endured.
Egypt turns to blood; and they end with were designed first and foremost for Then, step-by-step, miracle by
the death of the firstborn, a fitting, final their effect upon us, the Jewish people. miracle, we were again raised from
response to the hardships laid upon our melancholy and rehabilitated
the Jewish nation, the firstborn of G-d. Consider: during our more than a to our former selves. Our shocking
These miraculous events occur over the century as slaves, we had been subjected victory in the War of Independence
course of a year and result in Pharaoh to every possible abuse. We had been – which virtually no expert gave us a
finally agreeing to let the Israelites go. tortured, demonized, de-humanized, chance to win – set in motion a chain
murdered. We had been cruelly cast of remarkable events that has turned
The question has often been asked: down to the lowest rung of the social
Why specifically 10 plagues? Could G-d order. Once a proud, pre-eminent nation history on its head. The Six-Day War;
not have extricated His people via one that was respected – even feared – by our our brilliant comeback in the Yom
mighty, devastating jolt that would have neighbors, our sense of self-esteem and Kippur War; the ingathering of our
shaken Egypt to its core? exiles; the repulsion of numerous Arab
self-confidence had reached its lowest and Palestinian attempts to subdue us
To answer that question, we must first ebb, and all but vanished. How could we through acts of terror; the emergence of
address another issue: for whom, exactly, be restored, physically as well as in our Israel as an economic power and world
were these plagues intended? own psyches, back to our former glory as leader in technology, all combined to
G-d’s Chosen? rapidly restore our self-respect and
The classic response is that G-d brought
these acts, which continually accelerated As G-d performed miracle after miracle, national pride. No amount of rational,
in scope and intensity, primarily to manipulating Nature in our honor and scientific theory can logically explain
punish the Egyptians for their cruel for our sole benefit, we gradually came how a nation so divided and down on its
behavior, in a measure for measure to acknowledge not only His awesome fate could so rapidly reclaim its rightful
fashion. The Egyptians did not allow power, but also our own unique ability honor and buoyant hope for the future.
us to bathe, causing us to develop lice, to elicit an unparalleled Divine response. And so, if ever there was an opportunity
and so they, too, would suffer this same In a kind of 10-Step process, our faith in to relate to and revisit the events of the
indignity; they made us work in the ourselves was slowly but surely restored, Exodus – as the Haggadah bids us to
boiling sun, and so they developed a faith that affirmed we were destined to do – it is in this generation, which is
boils. And on and on. The plagues become a great nation and a light unto blessed with the flowering of the State of
were also designed to show Pharaoh – a the world. Israel. G-d, it seems abundantly clear, is
self-proclaimed deity – just who was unequivocally a Zionist.
boss, at the same time affording him Fast-forward 3,330 years to our present
the ongoing opportunity to change day. Just 75 years ago, we were once
his mind and make the morally-proper again a broken people. The Holocaust
decision to acknowledge the inhumanity had decimated not only our numbers, Rabbi Stewart Weiss is Director of the
of enslaving fellow human beings and but also our view of the future. How Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana
release the Hebrews from bondage. could we go on after such a monumental jocmtv@netvision.net.il

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