Is the Jewish faith
tolerant of other religions? It sounds like a question in a Google search box,
but it has surprising relevance to this week's parsha, parshas Va’era. Shemos 7
begins the narrative of the Ten Plagues, the actions of which are always prefaced
by Moshe and/or Aharon telling Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.
The goal, of course,
is that the Jewish people shall be freed from slavery, but Moshe starts small,
requesting only that the Children of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt on a
seemingly temporary basis to worship Hashem. Now Egypt is a polytheistic
nation, and while
Pharaoh actually declares at one point that he does not know Hashem, it is
interesting to note that he never denies that there is a God of the
Hebrews.
Long ago, however, Avraham
made it clear that he recognized Hashem as the only Deity. His monotheistic
faith, centered on the Creator of the World, was uncompromisable, and it was
for this that an eternal covenant with his descendants was struck.
Within the Jewish
faith, there are three truly abhorrent categories of behavior: murder, illicit
relations, and idol worship. While these three categories of sin are also
transgressions of the Seven Laws of B’nei Noach, the basic rules expected of
all the nations, Jewish law charges accountability to Jews only. All of this
makes Moshe's response to Pharaoh after the fourth plague particularly
interesting. After Pharaoh offers for the Jewish people to worship locally (in
Goshen), Moshe says: “It is not right to do so, for we shall offer to Hashem
our God that which is an abomination to the Egyptians - Behold if we do so, to
offer to Hashem our God that which is an abomination before their eyes, will
they not stone us?” (8:22).
Pharaoh hears their
argument and agrees to Moshe’s proposal that the people will travel three days
into the wilderness for their worship. Of course, as we all know, Pharaoh then
changes his mind.
Without question,
Moshe’s argument on why B’nei Yisrael must not stay in Goshen is a ploy to
remove the people from the grasp of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The commentaries
provide numerous explanations as to why Moshe mentioned the fact that B’nei
Yisrael would be sacrificing sheep, which is the implication of the pasuk -
that the offering of sheep, sacred to the Egyptians, would be an abomination.
Most of the commentaries focus on Moshe wishing to protect B’nei Yisrael, for
the fear of the Egyptians rising up and rioting against them was real. Other
ideas are connected to working to make certain that the worship service to
Hashem would in no way strengthen the power of the Egyptian priesthood.
As we must read the
Torah each in our own generation to understand both our past and our present,
one can perhaps see in Moshe’s response to Pharaoh’s seemingly generous offer
of “Go and sacrifice to your God within the land” (8:21) a lesson about
religious tolerance, or at least about general consideration. Moshe did not
have any interest in preaching monotheism, in castigating the Egyptians for
their idol worship, or even in preventing them from making more gods.
Ultimately, the plagues are meant to leave Pharaoh acknowledging Hashem as the
ultimate power, but there never appears to be any attempt to end polytheism in
Egypt.
It should be noted
that before entering the Promised Land, and in many other references to the
Promised Land, B’nei Yisrael are specifically ordered to destroy any and all
Avoda Zara, even remnants of the false worship of people no longer there. But
in Egypt, there was no commandment to bring them around to monotheism, to
cleanse the land of idol worship.
When Moshe tells
Pharaoh, “It is not right to do so, for we shall offer to Hashem our God that
which is an abomination to the Egyptians,” one could say that Moshe was
demonstrating remarkable sensitivity (even if it was to the advantage of B’nei
Yisrael). He may deem the belief in the animal-human deities as mistaken, but
he did not feel a need to prove his faith above others.
We today are
surrounded by belief systems with which we may disagree on a deeply philosophic
level - both belief systems religious and societal. But mocking them or
attacking these beliefs, unless in actual defense of Torah and Judaism - does
not benefit the Jewish people. Indeed, it can lead to danger for us. Our
concern must be, first and foremost, for maintaining the sanctity of the Torah
and the security of the Jewish people (both wholly and individually).
---
Speaking of Egyptians
and their gods, it is interesting to note that our traditions speak a great
deal about the sensitivity of the Egyptians to our sacrificing rams/sheep
because their god Khnum was often pictured with a ram’s head. Commentaries do
not appear to discuss, however, the somewhat strange connection of the second
plague to the Egyptian pantheon. The second plague was the plague of frogs, which
overwhelmed the land. The Midrash says that when the Egyptians would hit the
frogs, more frogs would come. Among the goddesses of ancient Egypt was Heqet,
the Egyptian goddess of fertility who was represented in the form of a frog or
as a frog headed woman. This is a fascinating connection when one thinks about
the fact that the Pharaoh’s excuse for enslaving the Israelites was that
perhaps they would multiply and join an enemy army against them. Add to that
the Midrash that in Egypt each Jewish woman gave birth to sextuplets, thus
truly multiplying, and one could see a Divine “response” to Pharaoh’s attempt
to interfere with the growth of the Jewish people through a plague wrought
through the goddess of fertility.
(On the other hand,
if you are one who shares the opinion of the commentator Sforno that tzfardeia
were actually crocodiles, then this leads you to Sobek, the crocodile headed
god of fertility and military prowess, so not much different)
*For more on the
Seven Mitzvot of B’nei Noach: http://www.jewishtreats.org/2019/11/the-seven-mitzvot.html
LAST YEAR’S PARSHA POST, “TRICKS OF THE MIND THAT HARDEN THE
HEART,” CAN BE READ HERE: http://cthedawn.blogspot.com/2019/01/tricks-of-mind-that-harden-heart-vaera.html
No comments:
Post a Comment