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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Yetziat Mitzraim

The Story So Far (TSSF)

The sun has finally come out after a week of much needed rain here in Jerusalem. On the bus ride to work everything looks different in the sunlight (including the train tracks that they are laying at the speed of glaciers). But I have figured out why it doesn’t look like New Zealand, where I grew up. There are no sheep anywhere! If you only know one thing about New Zealand it is that there are LOTS of sheep there (and if you only know one other thing about New Zealand it is that all New Zealanders have a sense of humour – but then again they need that so that you can tell them apart from the sheep).

One of the interesting things about sheep is that they have learned grazing patterns. They pass down from generation to generation the best places to find grass at different times of year. In Britain when they culled the sheep they lost that tradition of grazing patterns. The collective memory creates something bigger and more lasting than any of the individuals, and defines the group as a whole.

People are a lot like sheep in this respect (I’ll bet you saw that coming didn’t you – but even New Zealanders can tell sheep apart from people (usually) – the sheep are the ones that look like clouds with legs). Each of us belongs to a culture or group or organisation (or all of the above) which defines itself through the stories that it tells. As Jews we are particularly reliant on stories to define ourselves. These stories begin with the opening of Bereishit, and continue throughout the Tanach. Furthermore the format of the Gemara is one of narrative. It is as important to know who said something (and in what context, at what time in which city) as it is to know what they said. This is something that can frustrate the beginner, or be overlooked by the experienced learner, but is in fact central to the nature and structure of Torah she’Ba’al Peh.

We have more specific narratives that we must keep alive, and there is a strong focus on passing it on from generation to generation. The most famous is the Yetziat Mitzraim. We are commanded to remember the exodus from Egypt every day and every night. We fulfil this Mitzvah with the twice daily recital of the Shema (primarily the last paragraph). Everyone is familiar with this Mitzvah because it is probably the most famous Mishna in the world – the one about Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah being ‘like’ someone who is 70 years old (yes, you know it – it is actually a Mishna in Brachot, but you remember it from the Hagadah).

In addition once a year (or twice a year for those who are still in New Zealand or other parts of the galut) we sit down on Seder night and tell over those stories to the next generation (or if there is no next generation we tell it to our spouses – if there is no spouse we must tell it to ourselves). This is not just any story, but a STORY! which defines who we are, why we are here and what we are supposed to be doing about it! This is an entirely separate Mitzvah with its own separate entry in Rambam and its own separate Halachot (and philosophy I think).

At the moment I am working on the difference between these two kinds of narratives – the mitzvah of remembering the exodus, and the mitzvah of retelling the exodus.

R’ Chaim of Brisk (in stencil on Pesachim) gives three distinctions between sipur yetziat mitzraim (telling about the exodus on seder night) and zechirat yetziat mitzraim (remembering it daily). The Griz adds another (the last one on this list):

RETELLING
REMEMBERING
Telling to others in question and answer format
Say it to yourself
Begin with disgrace and end with praise
Simply mention it
Delve into the reasons for the mitzvot and make drashot
Just the facts ma’am
Learn the Halachot all night long
One sentence is sufficient, without description or Halacha

I think I have worked out to a certain extent the reason, necessity and purpose of retelling the story to our children every year. What I am focussing on now is the meaning and purpose of remembering the exodus every day.

Remembering the exodus is one of six (according to many siddurim) things that we must remember daily. The plan is to write a series of shiurim about these six rememberances, which cover many of the major events of Jewish history and the messages that these events give us.

The six are:
1.the exodus from Egypt
2.receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai
3.the Golden Calf
4.Amalek
5.Miriam’s punishment for speaking ill of her brother Moshe
6.Shabbat

For the next couple of weeks I plan to focus on Yetziat Mitzraim (it is topical) and would welcome your thoughts and insights on what the essential message of this memory is (or should be), and what implications it has for how we live our lives. Included within this (I hope) will be the discovery of the national narrative which this memory, along with the other five, creates for us.

The story so far (TSSF):

Sheep are not (quite) the same as people, but very similar.
There are two distinct and separate mitzvot about the Exodus – remembering and retelling.
What are we supposed to remember about Yetziat Mitzraim and what difference does it make?

Rabbi David Sedley