Parashat Yitro, Exodus 18:1-20:23

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Our Legs were Praying

Study with Baruch Sienna

I feel like this week is 'IT': The giving of the "Ten Commandments." Even more than the tenth plague and the exodus from Egypt, or the splitting of the sea, as exciting as these were, the revelation at Sinai is THE climax of the Torah. The Conservative Etz Hayim commentary calls this parasha the 'hinge of the Torah' as it is the pivotal event in the history of the Israelites. What was so remarkable? It is not the content of these laws: most of them are common sense or shared by any civilized society (prohibiting murder, theft) and the observance of Shabbat (the only holy day included on the tablets) is already introduced in last week's portion about the 'manna.' In fact, the 'Ten Commandments' are not called 'commandments' (mitzvot) in the Torah- but simply the ten 'words' (devarim). The preferred English term (from the Greek) is 'decalogue.' In Judaism, the ten commandments are merely a drop in the bucket (there are 603 more where that came from). It is rather the communal experience at Sinai where the Israelites felt that they had an encounter with the Divine that makes this event central.

This event 'ratifies' the relationship between God and the Jewish people. Before this revelation, God says, "You have seen what I did the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to me.. You shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:4-5). This is without precedent. Yes, there are to be priests whose job it is to run the ritual aspects of worship, but all Israel is to be holy. Quite the job description! The passage in Exodus does not use the word 'chosen', but a parallel passage in Deuteronomy (7:6) in fact uses the Hebrew 'bachar' together with the description of being a holy people to God.

I want to focus on one metaphor used in this week's parasha of Yitro. God describes taking the Israelites out "on eagles' wings." This is one of my favourite metaphors in the Torah. I assume that even the most literal-minded fundamentalist does not believe that we left Egypt airborne. To imagine that we were 'airlifted' out of Egypt (ie. to read the metaphor literally) would itself be a 'midrashic' (ie. unintended) understanding. When the Yemenite community was indeed airlifted from Aden in November, 1949, many Yemenite Jews had never seen airplanes before (indeed, even indoor plumbing). In order to make room, the Israelis had taken out all the seats from the planes (Alaska Airlines was pressed into service), and the Jews sat on the cold floor. At one point, to warm up, they started a fire! But the elders were not afraid of getting on these huge silver aircraft as they saw this as a fulfillment of God's promise of redemption, found in Isaiah: "But they that wait upon Adonai shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." The clandestine operation, in fact was called, 'al kanfei nesharim' (on eagles' wings), although it became popularly known as Operation Magic Carpet.

Nesher refers to a great bird of prey. There are a number of raptors in Israel: lesser kestrels, black kites, and golden eagles, and a variety of Hebrew terms that refer to them. The terms are included in the list of unclean birds, but the identification of ayah, dayah and racham are not certain. Nesharim is translated as 'eagle' (even the most literal Schocken translation by Fox cannot bring itself to use vulture), but most scholars identify the bird as the Egyptian Vulture. Unfortunately, in English, the vulture has unpleasant connotations (we think: carrion - yuch), whereas the eagle is seen as a noble and imperial bird. Indeed, many countries have the eagle as their national symbol.

The vulture is called Egyptian because it was used as a symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs. In Micah the identification with vulture is made certain: "Make yourself as bald as a vulture (nesher)" (1:16). The Hebrew root means 'to fall' or 'to tear.' The former may refer to the way these birds swoop down, ("as the vulture swoops on its prey" Job 9:26), or it may refer to the tearing of its prey with its sharp talons and beak. Vultures can be seen around the Dead Sea area, and in northern Israel they can often be seen soaring over Gamla. They are magnificent birds and watching them circle on the thermals, we should ask ourselves what is the meaning of this phrase 'eagles' (or vultures') wings'?

If "I took you out on vultures' wings" is a metaphor, it must be interpreted. God didn't 'literally' take us out on birds' wings! Metaphors by definition do not mean what they say (literally). I hate it when someone says, "I was so angry, I literally went through the roof" or telling a story of being embarrassed, uses the expression, "I literally died." No, I want to correct, you 'metaphorically' died. Has the word 'literally' come to mean 'metaphorically'!? So what does the metaphor mean? The image of the vulture is used in Deuteronomy to portray God's loving protectiveness: "Like an eagle who rouses his nestlings, Gliding down to his young, So did God spread God's wings and take him, Bear him along on God's pinions" (32:11). Rashi brings the midrash from the Mekhilta that pictures the nesher carrying its babies on its back to protect it. The midrash imagines the bird saying protectively:

For all other birds place their offspring between their feet, because they are afraid of other birds which fly above them; but the eagle is afraid only of hunters, lest they shoot an arrow at him, for there is no bird that flies above him. Therefore he places them upon his wings, saying, 'It is better that the arrow enter into me and not into my offspring. I (God) too have done likewise'

Rashi's grandson, Rashbam, agrees with this image of protection (quoting the verse from Deuteronomy) and adds that God safely crossed Bnei Yisrael through the Sea of Reeds, just like these birds that can fly over bodies of water. Sforno sees added significance. Just like this bird flies alone at an altitude where no other birds can fly, God took the Israelites out of bondage in an unnatural way to remind us that the Israelites are to be distinct.

Protectively? With strength and power? With speed? There are no 'right' answers. But my favourite? I once asked a class of fifth graders (in Boston). For them, the eagle is a proud symbol of the liberty they enjoy in their own country, so one student suggested that it means that God took them to freedom.

Watching the vultures over Gamla with their impressive wingspan, I wonder if the image suggests 'effortless.' But while the Torah's image is that God took us out 'on eagles' wings' we know the 'literal' truth: we marched with our feet- and with a fair amount of complaining too! There are no shortcuts to freedom- for us, or for anyone else. In retrospect, we may have felt God's guiding presence, but in the moment, we have to be prepared to walk to freedom. As Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote after marching with Martin Luther King in Selma: "For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying."

We felt God's presence, but taking human steps to freedom are still necessary for being freed "on eagles' wings."

 

Shabbat Shalom.

BDS