I've got to be honest- when I first read the second aliya of this week's parsha, I was a little disappointed. Here we are amidst the initial churning of redemption, the drama is really starting to roll, and suddenly we are sidetracked into yet another tedious genealogy. Names, names, names. Why do we need to stop everything to explain from whom Moshe is descended? I mean, imagine your brother has been in jail for 20 years, and finally you're on your way to get him out. Just as you get to his cell block, you hold up your arms and say, "Wait, hold on- my great-grand uncle's name is Steve. And his kids are Billy and Jim; these are the families of Steve..." It just doesn't make sense.
So this Monday a few of the guys gathered around Rav Daniel's desk after prayer and we heard a sweet explanation. It related to a class we had heard on Tanya the night before. When you do a mitzvah, says the Ba'al HaTanya, it's not just you connecting to G-d as an isolated event. The breakfast you ate which is giving you energy is also now brought to a holy purpose. You've enabled a bowl of cereal to do G-d's will! And Rav Daniel went on to explain that it's not just food. Your family, your motorcycle, your third grade teacher- everything that has brought you to this mitzvah is upraised in holiness. You can redeem your whole identity!
That's just what the Torah was telling us. The aliya ends with the verse "...And it was on that day that G-d spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt." So what does that day have to do with Moshe's family history? Everyone from whom Moshe came was there with him; on that day they were all partaking in the redemption of the Jewish People.
So I bless us all that the next time we open a book of Torah or go to pray, we remember the special experiences and relationships that make us who we are. And lovingly, with joy, offer these treasures back to Hashem.