Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Bo Exodus 10:1-13:16

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - “And Moses and Aaron came to Pharoah and said to him, ‘So says the Lord G-d of the Hebrews….If you refuse to let My people go I shall tomorrow bring locusts upon your borders.” (Exodus 10:3,4)

This week’s Torah portion of Bo brings the Ten Plagues to their zenith, ultimately convincing Pharoah to give the Jews their freedom after the plague of the slaying of the first born of the Egyptians. Included in the list of ten are natural disasters as well, such as the plague of locusts and hail and total darkness. Emerging from these plagues as well as from the story of the flood is the prevalent notion - even logical to most religionists - that natural disasters are a special sign of Divine displeasure with human conduct, a punishment from the Almighty for our sins on earth. This notion becomes even more relevant just a few weeks after the tragedy of the Tsunami which claimed close to 150,000 lives and leaving many more wounded, homeless and bereft of material possessions off the shores of Asia. When we realize that many of the victims of the Tsunami were innocent children and very ethical and upstanding adults, it becomes difficult to understand how a beneficent G-d of compassion and loving-kindness could cause such punishment to blameless individuals.

When we examine the Talmudic sources which discuss natural disasters, a very different theological picture may well emerge. Although there certainly are statements in the Talmud suggesting a cause and effect relationship of sin and punishment regarding such phenomena (J.T. Berachot 9,2), there is a major source which bears further study. The Mishna teaches, “… upon witnessing an earthquake (zvaot) … one recites the blessing, ‘Blessed art Thou… whose strength and power fills the world’ (Mishna Berahot 9,2).” Rabbenu Ovadia Bartenura, probably the most well known of classical Mishna commentaries, offers an alternate blessing, “Blessed art Thou… the Creator of the world”, based upon an alternate reading of the Mishna. Our legal code enables the individual to choose whichever blessing he prefers (Shulchan Aruch Orah Haim siman 227, seif 1). What is the difference between these two blessings conceptually and theologically? Moreover when the Talmud attempts to explain the earthquake phenomenon, one reason given is, “When the Holy One blessed be He is reminded of the great pain of His children suffering under the heels of their Gentile oppressors, He sheds two tears into the Mediterranean Sea whose sound is heard from one end of the world to the other. That is what we call an earthquake” (B.T. Berachot 59a) This too seems like a strange comment.

Let us return once again to this morning’s Torah reading and the very first commandment given to the Jewish People: “This renewal of the moon shall be for you (the festival of) the New Moons…” (Exodus 12:2). We are commanded to mark the New Moon, witnesses must peer the black in the sky until they see it’s first glimmering light and must even transgress the Sabbath to quickly arrive at the Sanhedrin and report on their sight, and we even have a monthly ritual in which we sing songs of praise and dance in a circle while gazing up at the New Moon. Why such moon fascination?

The beginning of the answer stems from the midrash, which sees the emergence and subsequent waxing of the moon as the ultimate symbol of world redemption. This harks back to a verse which describes the original creation of the orbs of the sky: “And G-d made two great lights: the great light to rule by day and the small light to rule by night” (Genesis 1:16). Why does the verse begin with two great lights and conclude with one which is great and one which is small? Rashi ad loc sites the Midrash: “They were created equal, but G-d lessened the moon (cut her down to size) because she was critical and said that it was impossible for two kings to wear one crown. The moon was jealous of the sun; since she wanted to be the major light, G-d made the sun the major light.

I believe that this midrash is teaching that G-d built jealousy - the source for all sin - into the very fabric of the creation. He punishes the moon, but allows her - as well as all of the subsequent creations, especially the human being - the ability to choose evil. It is our hope that eventually all of creation will return to G-d, perfect itself and perfect the world. In effect, nature reflects human beings; as long as human beings sinned with the fruit of good and evil, as long as human society remains imperfect and undisciplined, nature will likewise be undisciplined and imperfect. The prophet Isaiah expresses this very well: “I create light and I make darkness, I make peace and create evil; I am G-d who does all these things…” (Isaiah 45:7). The picture of the prophet is of a world with darkness not only light, with chaos not only order. G-d has chosen human beings to be his partners - not his puppets - with the freedom of choice to perfect the world under the Kingship of G-d and to help bring about world redemption. G-d guarantees that this will eventually happen; but when and precisely how depends on us as much as it depends on Him.

G-d is not always pictured as being happy with the nature of the world that He has created. Indeed the great talmudic sage Reish Lakish suggests that G-d even brings His own sin offering on the day of the New Moon for having created an imperfect world of free choice and tragedy, of good things that happen to bad people and bad things that happen to good people. (B.T. Shevuot 9a). I believe that this is why the Almighty weeps and it is His tears - not his might which produces earthquakes and Tsunamis. From this perspective the more appropriate blessing upon seeing such a disaster is praise to the G-d of Creation rather than to the G-d of power. And we are certainly heartened by the ultimate vision of Isaiah, who promises us that when humanity perfects itself G-d will perfect all of nature. At that time, “When the wolf and the lamb live together…. and when there is no evil or destruction in the mountain of My holiness” there will be no more earthquakes and no more Tsunamis. But we cannot escape our responsibility; at the end of the day it depends on us.

Shabbat Shalom.