Parshat Shemos
January 16th-17th, 2004
23 Teves, 5764

(Exodus: 1, 1 to 6, 1)

In my fondness for zeroing in on one small part of the week’s Torah portion (rather than offering a broad overview, or summary, of what’s covered), I am almost certain that there have been times when I have written about a single word and its significance.

It should not really be surprising that one mere word of the Torah can invite--or demand--such attention, for this is (according to the traditional view, which I share) the d’var Hashem--the word of G-d Himself, the Almighty, spoken to Moshe. An Infinite Intelligence can certainly infuse His Holy Writ--given to mankind in order to teach the nature of life and our obligation to sanctify it (a big and complicated subject)--with multiple shades of meaning and countless layers of instruction.

[By the way, I also maintain--logically, I think--that an Infinite Intelligence can choose different styles in which to present different portions of His Law. That different individual chapters of a great and complex modern novel, like Ulysses, vary in their prose style should not lead an unbiased reader to conclude that the book has multiple authors! A single writer, James Joyce, authored that whole work, and varied style and perspective to achieve his desired effect. Now, the One Who gave such wisdom and gifts of craftsmanship to Joyce certainly possesses no less Himself, and can easily choose to alter the style of presentation from book to book of the Torah. We don’t need to conclude, as many modern biblical critics do, that differences in style among the sections of the Torah inevitably means it had multiple authors!]

Back to the topic at hand. (Did I ever guarantee that these parsha sheets would be digression-free?)

Yes, indeed, I have occasionally focused on one word in the past, when writing about the parsha. But I don’t think I have ever, until this week, narrowed the focus to one LETTER of one word of the Torah. Well…here goes.

“And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt; with Ya’akov, each man and his household came.” (Exodus: 1, 1; my emphasis)

So begins the second book of the Torah, which tells the portentous story of

G-d’s historical redemption of our people in Egypt: His miraculous deliverance of the Children of Israel from their hellish bondage and servitude, and His subsequent revelation of the Torah unto them at Mt. Sinai. G-d takes us out of Egypt (through the human agency of His right-hand prophet, Moshe, and Aharon), and then formally enters into an eternal Covenant (b’ris) with us…bestowing upon us His greatest gift (to study and uphold), the Torah. (That same Torah whose every word has such depth of meaning.)

And this big book opens with the little word, “And.” “And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt; with Ya’akov, each man and his household came.” And that little word, “And,” is really just a single letter in Hebrew--the letter, “vav.” [“V’eleh shemos b’nei Yisrael…”] And--you guessed it, of course--this little letter, “vav,” teaches us something very important.

The S’fas Emes (great Torah commentary authored by the second Gerrer Rebbe)--among other commentators--beautifully elucidates the significance of this vital “vav.” The letter, “vav,” can serve as a connective word, a “conjunction,” as we say in English. (Everyone remembers: Conjunction junction, what’s your function?!). That means it serves to connect and unite the present verse (or thought) with what came previously, so that we do not treat it thematically as a new subject. This is an essential point in Torah commentary and analysis. And, mind you, this little “and” (vav) announces its special importance (so to speak) by being the very first letter in the very first word of a new book of the Torah (Shemos).

Yes, this is truly a special and vital “vav.“ It’s not like so many other “ands” in the Torah, which really are (often) a misleading translation from the Hebrew--as in a verse like, “And G-d spoke unto Moses, saying…,” and so many others. Misleading because as anyone who knows Hebrew grammar will tell you, those “vavs” serve a particular grammatical function (changing the tense of the verb from the future to the past), and are not really performing the conjunction function! “G-d spoke unto Moses, saying…”, without the “and,” is the better English rendering. AHA--but here, there is no verb that the “vav” is attached to, and it is truly functioning as a conjunction. THE BOOK OF SHEMOS COULD JUST AS EASILY HAVE BEGUN WITHOUT A CONJUNCTIVE VAV: “These are the names of the Children of Israel…,“ [Eleh shemos b’nei Yisrael], without the conjunction, and not, “And these are the names of the Children of Israel.”

Our Sages tell us specifically, in fact, that “THESE,“ in the Torah, separates the coming subject in the Torah from what came before, while “AND THESE” announces a continuation.

Why, then, is the Torah going out of its way to thematically CONNECT this book with what came previously--the Book of Bereishis [Genesis], by beginning, “And these…?” [And the answer is….]

As the S’fas Emes explains, the first book of the Torah, Bereishis, is concerned (broadly) with “brias ha’olam”--the creation of the world. Wait, you ask, don’t only the first several verses deal with the creation of the world? That’s the physical world…but the Ramban [Nachmanidies] tells us that the narratives regarding our patriarchs which form most of Bereishis also constitute the “creation of a world“--though in a spiritual, or religious-historical sense:

“In the Book of Genesis, which is the book of Creation, the Torah completed the account of how the world was brought forth from nothingness and how everything was created, as well as an account of all the events which befell the patriarchs, who are a sort of creation [or, formation] to their seed. All the events that happened to them were symbolic occurrences, indicating and foretelling all that was destined to come upon their seed.”

[Nachmanidies, Commentary to Shemos, Chavel edition; p. 3]

In short, the patriarchs and matriarchs, through their actions, formed the “genesis” of the Jewish people and Jewish history. And, therefore, all of the Book of Genesis is concerned with brias ha’olam, the creation of the world.

The Book of Shemos (Exodus), however, deals with the miraculous redemption from Egypt and the receiving of the Torah. It is (directly) connected to what came before because these events are the “tachlis ha’briah,” the ultimate purpose of the creation of the whole world! G-d created the world (and providentially guided the patriarchs)…so that one day, the Jewish people would accept the Torah and its mitzvos! Not just for their own good, but for the moral and spiritual benefit of all mankind (created one and all in G-d’s image): “…[the Jewish people] came to be a mamleches kohanim, a “kingdom of priests,’ a nation serving as the guardian of G-d’s Word in the midst of humanity, as a priest serves among his people” (S.R. Hirsch, The Nineteen Letters). By the same token, the Exodus itself has a seminal importance for the spiritual education of all mankind:

“He [G-d] reveals Himself as the sole Creator, the Lord of nature--even though human hands had sought to subjugate it. He reveals Himself, too, as Lord over the life of nations, as Vindicator of the oppressed, as judge of the arrogant. Egypt’s glory collapses before the majesty of a people that has nothing but G-d alone. G-d speaks--and the walls of the Egyptian prison tumble down; and the people, still in its fetters, is free to march out.” (Hirsch; Nineteen Letters)

The Book of Exodus is conjoined with the Book of Genesis…by means of a single letter. Our little, but vital, “vav” comes along to make sure we clearly understand that the story of our becoming G-d’s chosen people is directly connected to the story of the creation of the world…and in fact, represents the real Divine purpose for that world-creation! (Of course, we Jewish people believe that the ultimate culmination of that Divine purpose will only be realized in the messianic age, when the whole world comes to accept the truth of that Torah which we accepted, and have upheld throughout the ages.) The Exodus from Egypt is so important an event that we Jews are commanded to mention it every day (when we recite the Shema)…and it is important because it represents the completion of the story of “brias ha’olam,” the creation of the world by G-d.

You know, I could have written much the same thing had I been looking at the first word of the Book of Genesis, instead of the first word (and letter) of Exodus. For Rashi cites on that very first word of the whole Torah, “bereishis,” a famous rabbinical teaching (grounded in the strange grammatical construction of the first clause): “For the sake of the Torah, which is called ‘the beginning (reishis) of His way,’ and for Israel, who are called, ‘the first (reishis) of His crop’ [G-d created the heavens and the earth].” It is fitting that the very first word of the Torah would contain inside of it (alone) the statement of the purpose of all that follows!

I’ve written many words on one little letter. But the lesson it teaches is a big one, and important to keep in mind as we begin the Book of Exodus. May we study this book with the awareness that it contains the completion of the account of Creation. And [note my final, “and”] may we take to heart the astounding truth that with each mitzvah that we do, and each word of Torah we study, we are not only connecting ourselves unto G-d (and sanctifying the world), but fulfilling G-d’s ultimate purpose in Creation.

GOOD SHABBOS.

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923