Shabbat Shalom!
The Torah portion for this Shabbat, called Shmot, begins the epic story of Moses. In the familiar tale, Pharoah decrees that all Israelite male children shall be cast into the Nile. Hoping to save her son, Moses’s mother Yocheved, places her infant in a reed basket and floats him down the river, where the infant is discovered by non-other than Pharoah’s daughter, whose heart is melted by the infant’s cries.
A comment attributed to the late medieval Kabbalist Isaac Luria states; “only one who can hear the cry of Moses the infant will be able to truly hear the words of Moses the Lawgiver”. In other words, only those who are able to empathize with the innocent and suffering can truly be said to understand the Laws of God.
We live in a time when too many who purport to have God’s ear and “follow” God’s will are all too willing to display intolerance and hatred of others who hold differing beliefs or practices. The ignore the suffering of the poor and cater to the powerful and wealthy. They claim to be devoutly religious, but their actions are far from Godly.
May the time come when those who claim to hear God’s Law also hear with clarity the cries of the suffering and have empathy for the souls of the innocent.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Doug Sagal