There is an interesting exchange between Moshe and Par'oh in this week's parasha which, I believe, hints at a profound distinction between the spiritual worldview introduced by Hashem via Yisrael and all human attempts to address the spiritual which preceded (and most which succeeded) the appearance of Yisrael on the scene.
When, after the plague of the locust, Par'oh relents and agrees to release Yisrael to serve Hashem, he asks, "mi vami haholchim" (precisely who is going?) In modern Hebrew "mi vami" has become a popular expression indicating the leading lights, the high society, the effete snobs, and it seems to me, this is pshat here: Par'oh is asking: which elders and leaders and their retinues do you plan on taking?
He certainly didn't imagine that Moshe would answer, "bina'areynu uviz'keyneynu nelech, b'vaneynu uvivnoteynu b'tzoneynu uvivkareynu nelech ki chag Hashem lanu (with our youth and our elders shall we go, with our sons and our daughters, our flocks and our herds shall we go, for it is for us a festival of Hashem ). This is attested to by his response: You have evil designs. Not so, rather, go now the men and serve Hashem, for it is this that you are requesting ( lo chen, lechu na hagevarim v'ivdu et Hashem ki otah atem mevakshim).
Par'oh knows something about religion. He is, in Egyptian religion, something of a g0d himself, and he knows that the only people who actually are involved in religious ceremonies and rituals are the priests and those immediately around them. He can grant that perhaps the men need to go, but what possible purpose would there be for the women and childern, the elders and little tykes to come along?
It's true that there is a "hidden agenda" here - see Rashbam on Shemot 3:12 (or a pasuk earlier or later, I don't have it in front of me), but there's more than that. Moshe says that everyone must come because the entire people is the ultimate unit of engagement with the Divine. Note: I'm not claiming that there is some sort of egalitarian democratization of religion here, but rather, that in the service of Hashem, the ONE and ONLY, everyone has a role because, ultimately, all is one. In Egyptian religion, as Par'oh emphasizes, there is no role in the sacraments of the spiritual service for any but the sacerdotal class.
Juxtaposing these two statements, Moshe's bina'areynu uvizkeynenu...ki chag Hashem lanu with Par'oh's lechu na hagevarim v'ivdu et Hashem ki otah atem mevakshim. says more than any academic history of religions analysis about the spiritual revolution destined to sweep Pharonic religion into the dustbin in favor of a tradition which proclaims regarding the people as a whole that they shall become "mamlechet kohanim v'goy kadosh" - a nation of priests and a whole people!
P.S. See the Ohr Hachayyim on "l'ma'an shiti ototai elah b'kirbo" and the dibbur hamatchil - amazing!
Rav Yehoshua Kahan
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Rav Yehoshua Kahan is a teacher at Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He has held pulpits in Knoxville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, and served as educational director of Livnot U'Lehibanot. He blogs on Parashat Hashavua here |