Shemot Chapter 6:2-10 - Why Wait?
When Moshe and Aaron approached Pharaoh, they faced an incredibly stubborn man who was the monarch of the greatest power and civilization of that era. He had every good reason to disregard the unknown spokesman for slaves. How dare they make demands and try to undermine Egypt’s slave economy? He immediately piled on the pressure thinking that this was going to crush what he saw as a revolt. He commanded the taskmasters to stop providing the straw needed to make bricks, and insisted that the slaves gather the straw themselves while still having to maintain the previous production rate.
The Israelite foremen responsible for overseeing the work then turn on Moshe and Aaron and berated them for making their life more difficult. And then the people too, turned against them saying that they had failed to keep their promises. To which G-D replied to Moshe and Aaron, again guaranteeing the end result, that they would be free but not giving a time scale. Still the people were not willing to listen. G-D insisted that Moshe and Aaron keep on trying.
Why didn’t the Children of Israel just get freed right away? One reason was in order to use the plagues to undermine everything the Egyptians relied on and believed in, as a prelude to establishing a new and more ethical and religious way of life to theirs. But the other was to make the very important point that is as relevant to us now as it was to them then.
The idea of G-D is precisely a non-human one, a different concept and time scale to humans. Things will work out, but not necessarily right away. We humans are impatient creatures. We expect immediate gratification, and we want easy, quick answers. Whether it is the war in Israel, or the state of humanity, we tend to be short sighted. Most politicians think only in terms of the short term, and what will get them reelected. Rather than being able to make the right decisions that may take a long time to come to fruition but be in the best interests of the country.
When it comes to morality you could argue that for over 2000 years all the major religions have preached the doctrine of “love your neighbor as yourself” and yet here we are thousands of years later and we're still not loving our neighbors as ourselves. Even within the Jewish community we argue and fight and have many different interpretations of what Torah wants. Some think it is up to us to heal the world, others thing we need a messiah to do it for us.
It's not surprising that the children of Israel acting as humans do, not prepared to put up with the short-term pain, for the longer-term gain. Yet this is precisely what the Torah is teaching us about G-D and Torah. G-D is not like a human immediately responding to whatever we ask for. Sometimes we have to be patient. Just as we should curb our appetites, so we should curb our desire to see immediate answers and solutions. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait and faith, however dark it may seem at any particular moment.
The Haftarah from the book of Yechezkel (Chapter 28:26), reiterates this. The Kingdom of Israel has been destroyed by the Assyrians. The Kingdom of Judea has been destroyed by the Babylonians. It looks like the end of the Israelites. Yet the prophet is full of optimism. It may seem dark and hopeless at this moment, yet things will change. But it takes time. “My people will return and live again in safety. They will re-build their houses and plant their vineyards after those who despised them have been destroyed.” He was referring to the Pharaoh of his days and the King of Babylon, a thousand years after the Shemot both of whom fought over the land of Israel and appeared undefeatable. And even if we suffered and had to wait, in the long, long term we survived. THere are no easy answers or short term time scales.
How appropriate a message today.
Shabbat Shalom
Jeremy Rosen
January 2025