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Shemot. The 'fear' that sets us free

Today is day 469 of the captivity of the Israeli hostages in Gaza.May they be set free starting on Sunday, until the last one.


“Because the midwives feared God, He granted them Homes (lineages).” (Shemot 1.21)

וַיְהִ֕י כִּי־יָֽרְא֥וּ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיַּ֥עַשׂ לָהֶ֖ם בָּתִּֽים:

We are opening a new book.Literally.

This week, we are not just opening a new book of the TorahWe are about to open a new chapter in our History and in our lives as israelis and as jews: 

A couple of days ago, an agreement was finally reached between Hamas and Israel, and the partial, progressive release of israeli hostages held captive since October 7, 2023 is scheduled, starting this Sunday, Bh.We are told that 33 hostages will start coming home, in the coming 42 days. 33 human bodies, some dead, and some alive. Just 33 out of the 98 who are still there.33, in exchange for hamas and palestinian prisoners convicted for terrorism and murder.

The israeli society is divided about this. On Wednesday, there were two simultaneous protests in Jerusalem: one, for the release of the hostages. One, against it.

The ones against the agreement are afraid it would cause harm to Israel on the long term: they see it as a sign of defeat, a message of weakness towards the enemy, and with the scheduled release of 1000 convicted  terrorists in exchange of only 33 innoncent israeli civilians- some alive, and some dead, they see in this unfair, almost cynical deal, towards which the israeli society is coming on its knees, the dark promise of a future October 7.


Fear for the future makes them oppose a deal for the release of israeli hostages.

And once again, emerging from over a century ago in his shtetl of Eastern Europe, the wisdom of the hassidic Master Mei Ha shiloach seems to speak right to us today: 

In his commentary on parashat shemot, he teaches us about fear- and more specifically, the noble kind thereof: the one that sets us free.

Let’s remember the context:

Following their father Yaakov, Bnei Israel had descended into Egypt to escape the famine in the land of Cana’an, and rejoin their brother Yossef, who had become the Vice Roi of Egypt. They come down with honors, as as guests of Pharaoh. But after a few Generations, as happens when a People isn't in their own home lands “a new Pharao arose, who did not know Yossef” (XX) And this one, as a dark anticipation of the millenia-old conditions of Jews in exile, felt threatened by the thriving of this foreign people in his midst. 

He decided to crush them anticipatorily, so that they would slowly disappear. 

Seeing that in spite of their oppression, the Hebrews kept increasing, he decided to put to death every new born male. So he gave this deadly instruction to the hebrew midwives:

“When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool. If it is a boy, kill him; ” (shemot 1.16)

בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙ אֶת־הָ֣עִבְרִיּ֔וֹת וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָֽאָבְנָ֑יִם אִם־בֵּ֥ן הוּא֙ וַֽהֲמִתֶּ֣ן אֹת֔וֹ:

But the midwives, the text continues, “ feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they helped the boys live” (shemot 1.17)

וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים:


The midwives “feared God”, says the verse.

The word irah, which is often translated as “fear” in english, might be one of the most misunderstood concepts in the hebrew language- and yet one of the most essential ones.


There is a term for “fear” in hebrew: pacha.It applies to literal fear, for one’s safety or well-being, such as in being afraid of a wild animal or being afraid of the dark. This type of fear is described via the concept of “pachad”, and from here comes the expression “pachad Yitzhak.”, as the son of Avraham felt great fear at the moment of his almost-sacrifice by his father. 

Pachad is a type of fear the israeli hostages, their families, and perhaps you, reading these lines, have undoubtessly been feeling in our blood and in our bones for these so excruciatingly long months.By contrast, “irah”, which often translates as “fear of heaven”, refers to a very different way of meeting the world.


Without being able to name it, you might have felt it spontaneously, when admiring a glorious sunrise, a sunset over the ocean, the grace of birds singing,  the immensity of snowy mountains, the face of a new born baby, and so many magnificent expressions of nature as the sacredness of Life.

When realizing that we are facing the great mystery of life, we cannot but feel great reverence- deep respect.


And this is why, just as some other important hebrew concepts, the single word “irah” , really translates better with the help of two:

 “Awe”, and “deep reverence”

When facing the beauty and power of Life, and Life Source behind it, we cannot but feel both amazement, and also deep respect: the admiration goes together with a noble way of realizing our own insignificance.

This is why Heschel encapsulated the concept of ira as “radical amazement.”It is not for no reason that Irah is considered in Jewish texts as “the beginning of wisdom” (Mishlei 9.10), and that it is one of the first things we say in our morning prayers.

Living without irah is living like Pharaoh, who, in a jewish mystical perspective, represents the ego: 

Our ego is by definition self- centered, oblivious of how small we actually are, and therefore stipped in a form of arrogance stipped in a deep ignorance and disconnection from Life Source.And it would just be sad if it wouldn’t be so dangerous:

When we are self- centered and oblivious of the greatness of Life, we fall into ignorance and arrogance; And when we forget how small we are, it becomes very easy to disrespect Life.  

This is what happens with terrorism and totalitarianism and human violence.

Look at what we, humans, have been doing to each other for millenia. Look at what we have been doing to planet earth.Look at what has been happening in Gaza tunnels, and in this terrible war, from anyone who didn’t come from a sense of Irah (deep reverence for Life).


But the midwives, these simple hebrew women, says the biblical tex, had the greatness of irah:


But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they helped the boys live. (Shemot 1.17)

וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים:

 


Because they had this great reverence for Life, because they “feared” Life Source, they weren’t afraid of Human power. And they were ready to embody civil disobedience, and disregard the insane orders of Pharaoh.And because of this courage, the new born Moshe, who was to become Bnei Israel’s first leader, was able to stay alive.


This is how the Mei Hashiloach explains the passuk (verse) which describes how the Divine Source of life rewarded them:


“Because the midwives feared God, He granted them Homes (lineages).” (Shemot 1.21)

וַיְהִ֕י כִּי־יָֽרְא֥וּ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיַּ֥עַשׂ לָהֶ֖ם בָּתִּֽים:


He teaches us about the difference between human fear (irat bassar va dam literally the fear of the flesh and blood), and noble “fear” -awe-deep reverence: irat ha shem the fear of god-

He starts by acknowledging that human fear is a natural phenomenon, but points to the consequence thereof: 


Human fear is when one experiences fear in front of another human being,  (and then) they have no peace of mind (yishuv ha da’at)

יראת בשר ודם כשאדם מתירא מפני אדם אין בו ישוב הדעת, 


However, with the fear of God, one experiences comfort. אך יראת הש"י יש בה נייחא. 


 There is also a great reward to living from a place of Irat Shamamyim, “fear of heaven”: It is not only that it enables us to behave more ethically.  It also grants us more serenity.This is how the Mei Hashiloach explains the concept of God making “homes” for the midwives- which has been translated as granting them great lineages.On a more immediate, inner level, for the mei ha shiloach, it points to feeling at home, that is, settled, within oneself: 

for “houses” teaches of a settled mind

כי בית מורה על ישוב הדעת, 

Because they had the “fear of God”, he concludes, they didn’t have the “fear of Pharaoh”.When we live from a place of deep reverence for Life, we are more serene. We fear less humans.This is what David ha melekh was expressing in his psalms:

ט֗וֹב לַחֲס֥וֹת בַּיהֹוָ֑ה מִ֝בְּטֹ֗חַ בָּאָדָֽם׃

It is better to take refuge in God than to trust in mortals (tehilim 118.8)


And this is what Etty Hillesum was expressing throughout the war, as the German oppression was rising in Amsterdam, all the way up through her arrest and internment in a camp before she was sent to death.Living from a place of deep Awe for Life enabled her to be free from the Human fear that was crushing so many around her.This too, is what Rachel Goldberg Polin, the mother of Hersh, who was killed in captivity this summer, expresses. Living from a place of Awe and Deep reverence for Life enables her to stay connected to the Divine, to Others, and to Life, in connection, compassion, and strength, no matter how crushing the pain she is given to live through.

The book of Shemot is the book of Jewish freedom.

And from the very opening of it, we learn of ultimate freedom: freedom from Human power, freedom to keep living from a place of deep awe and reverence from Life. A freedom that gave strength to the middle wives to midwife Moshe.A freedom which, I pray, will give each of us the strength to midwife our future together.


Shabbat shalom

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