Lesson in Courage - Parshat Vaera 2012

Vaera 5772/2012

A Lesson in Courage

Rabbi Neil A. Tow©

When Aaron takes the walking stick and throws it to the ground, he draws the line in the sand.  God predicts that Pharaoh will ask him to ‘Produce your marvel’, and in response Aaron takes the stick, throws it to the ground, and it turns into a snake.  Pharaoh, unimpressed, calls upon his magicians, and they create snakes from sticks as well.  Even. 

And then…

Aaron’s stick swallows the others.

It appears here as a game of brinksmanship – who will gain the advantage over the other.  Will Moses and Aaron be able to convince Pharaoh to release the people?  How will Pharaoh respond? Already Pharaoh challenged Moses and Aaron by increasing the quota of bricks the Israelites had to make for him.

Moses and Aaron teach us a lesson in courage, a lesson that transcends the Exodus experience and transcends time, a lesson that we witnessed on February 1^st 1960 when Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond decided to sit down at the segregated lunch counter at FW Woolworth’s in Greensboro North Carolina.  It is a lesson that we witnessed in Tianment Square, Beijing, June 5, 1989 when a man in black pants and a white shirt stood in front of a column of advancing tanks during the crackdown against pro-democracy protestors.  We joined hands in the face of great power when the Jewish community called out to the world about the plight of our brothers and sisters in the former Soviet Union.

This lesson in courage is that without saying anything eloquent, we can stand up for what is right and just.  We can stand up in front of the greatest power in the world and like Joshua in battle, cause the sun to hold still in the sky. 

We have seen this lesson in the way that protestors in Syria have stayed in the streets while soldiers and military vehicles occupy their cities, with mass arrests, and thousands dead – gone but not forgotten.

We have seen this lesson in the way that on several occasions over the past weeks, communities have come together across northern New Jersey to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in response to anti-Semitic attacks. 

 Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh with no magic of their own.  The Malbim (19^th c.) notices that Pharaoh calls on his magicians to repeat the feats of Moses and Aaron in the same way that God calls on his two servants to go before Pharaoh.  The powers that be act through representatives.  While we may not have the face to face relationship to God that Moses enjoys, we can still be the agents of the Holy One, the Source of Justice.  We may not be able to change a stick into a snake, or bring thick darkness on the land, but we are not powerless. 

Winter cold may herd us indoors but do not let the cold air, wind, and snow keep us wrapped up and hidden away from the issues, difficulties, and problems that we face in our communities, in our country, across the world.

Even during the winter there is life in trees and plants as they wait patiently for the sun – in winter they put on armor to protect themselves from the elements, but they do not give up.  They may lose leaves, and a few branches along the way, but the roots stay strong in the ground. 

What issue will each of us be able to address this winter?  May the warmth of the coming spring remind us of the courage of Moses and Aaron who went before Pharaoh in the winter of the people’s discontent and emerged with new life on their walk to freedom.

Shabbat Shalom.