Unity in Thankfulness: The Establishment of Israelite Peoplehood

The story of the Israelites’ leaving slavery in Egypt has been an inspiration for thousands of years as a tale of G-d’s love for Israel and G-d’s might and power.  And yet, the events of the Exodus themselves, as related in the Torah, seem secondary to their effect on the Israelites, not in terms of their freedom from slavery, but in terms of their recognizing and being thankful to G-d.  The purpose of the Exodus seems to have been to inspire gratitude and G-d uses whatever theatrical measures are necessary in order to make G-d’s feats memorable and dramatic enough so that the Israelites will recognize the need to be thankful.  The freedom of the Israelites, then, was a mechanism to produce the desired result of thankfulness.  Moreover, G-d does not merely wish the Israelites themselves to be grateful; He hopes that future generations will be as well.  The Israelites are to be a people defined by their thankfulness to G-d, and the ways in which they express it.  G-d establishes rituals of gratitude in order to establish the Israelites’ peoplehood through gratitude. The story of the Exodus is the story of the Israelites becoming a people rooted in their gratefulness to a G-d who led them out of Egypt.

Moses, as the leader of Israel, must be instructed first about the importance of gratitude, before he can impart this message to the people of Israel.  It is Moses’ responsibility to G-d to act as a representative for G-d on earth.^[1]  G-d commands Moses, “See that you perform before Pharaoh all the marvels that I have put within your power” (Exodus 4:21).  However, above Moses’ responsibility to perform G-d’s marvels is his responsibility to show appreciation.  G-d teaches Moses the importance of gratitude toward all who protected him throughout his life by commanding him to ask his brother to take over his responsibility to perform marvels: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt – its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water – that they may turn to blood” (Exodus 7:19).  Rashi says of this passage, “Since the river protected Moshe when he was thrown into it, therefore it was not struck by him, neither at the plague of blood nor at the plague of frogs, but was struck by Aharon” (p. 73 Rashi on Exodus 7:19).  Hence, Moses does not strike the river because it is his responsibility to be thankful to the river for having protected him.  But Moses does not make this decision on his own; G-d  commands him to tell Aaron to take over his responsibility.  By telling Moses that he should not strike the river, therefore, G-d indicates that the responsibility Moses has to be grateful to the river for its protection supersedes the responsibility that he has to represent G-d and help to perform the plagues.

Similarly, “the LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron: Hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it shall turn to lice throughout the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 8:12).  Rashi writes, “It was not fitting that the dust be struck by Moshe because it protected him when he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand wand was [instead] struck by Aharon.”^[2]  Here, G-d once again commands Moses to recognize that one kind of responsibility is more important than any other – that to remember what has been done for one in the past, and to respond with gratitude, exceeds all other responsibilities.  This lesson that G-d teaches to Moses during the first few plagues is later taught to the rest of the Israelites throughout the rest of the plagues and beyond.  Just as the Israelites should remember that G-d led them out of Egypt and show G-d respect, so too should Moses remember that he owes his life to water and dust, and that he should respect these things.

Before the section of Exodus in which the plagues begin, an introductory section serves as a proem, outlining all of the events that are to come.^[3]  This section explains that Pharaoh will refuse to allow the Israelites to leave because G-d will harden Pharaoh’s heart, G-d will create signs and marvels, and G-d will deliver the Israelites from slavery.  In Exodus 7:6, it is written, “This Moses and Aaron did; as the LORD commanded them, so they did.”^[4]  While this verse may seem to refer to Moses and Aaron having spoken to Pharaoh and performed signs, since the last mention of Moses and Aaron refers to their speaking to Pharaoh, there seems to be something lacking from this assumption.  The verses between 7:2 and 7:6 do not mention what Moses and Aaron should do but are instead a summary of what G-d will do.  As a result, 7:6 seems out of place, and the assumption that it refers back to 7:2 may not be useful.  Because the introductory section is a summary of all of the events in the upcoming pages, it would seem that 7:6 references something other than what is stated in this section, that it summarizes something that will occur later in the Scripture, which has not yet been mentioned in the proem.  It is assumed that nothing in this section exists without a purpose or without a reference to some specific later event.

When G-d commands Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites to observe the holiday of Passover, “the Israelites went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:28).  When G-d details the law of the Passover offering, once again it is written, “And all the Israelites did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:50).  This phraseology is almost identical to that of Exodus 7:6.  If 7:6 is indeed referencing and summarizing these later sections of Exodus, as it would seem by the similarities between the verses, then 7:6 is a summary of the Israelites’, Moses’, and Aaron’s following G-d’s commandments to be thankful.  Thus, the verse alludes to the Israelites’ fulfillment of their responsibility to be thankful for all time to G-d for leading them out of Egypt, Moses’ and Aaron’s fulfillment of their responsibility to facilitate this thankfulness, and the establishment of the people of Israel as one defined by their practices of thankfulness.  Because a reference to all of this appears at the end of the opening summary of the Exodus events, it seems that thankfulness is the ultimate purpose of all the previous events. 

Many of the Israelites may not have been grateful, though.  They recognize that G-d is exercising might to create signs and wonders, but rather than being thankful for this, they express unwillingness to accept G-d’s gifts.  According to Rashi, “There were among the Israelites of that generation evil people who did not wish to leave, and they died out during the three days of darkness so that the Egyptians did not see their demise thereby saying ‘They are being struck as we are’” (Rashi p. 105 on Exodus 10:22).  This begs the question, what does Rashi mean by referring to these Israelites as evil?  What about them was so evil that G-d would destroy them in the plagues?  It seems that their evilness can be attributed to their to leave Egypt, because while Rashi does not express this causally, there is no other available explanation for why these Israelites were evil.  But what was it that made their refusal to leave evil?  Surely a longing to remain in the familiar is not something punishable by death.  Yet by not wanting to leave, the Israelites are rejecting the gift of freedom that G-d  creates for them.  Their rejection of G-d’s gift implies a lack of thankfulness, and because gratitude is the ultimate goal of G-d’s creating the freedom, they are not acting according to G-d’s purpose. 

In addition, the events detailed in Exodus are grandiose, perhaps even excessive.  Why must there be ten plagues?  After Pharaoh had ceased to harden his own heart, why did G-d have to harden Pharaoh’s heart so many times?^[5],[6]  Wouldn’t six plagues have been sufficient?  And, given that there are so many plagues, why does each have to be so dramatic, so extensive?  Not only does the Nile river turn to blood, but also the water in every drinking vessel and “also in their bathhouses and the baths in their homes” (Rashi on Exodus 7:21).  Not only are there many frogs, but “they will emerge and come into your house, into your bedroom, and on your bed” (Exodus 7:28).  Not only was there hail, but “there was hail and fire [lightning] flashing among the hailstones (Exodus 9:24).  G-d says to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you.  Thus I will multiply my wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 11:9), indicating that G-d will multiply G-d’s wonders as a result of His own hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.  G-d creates ten plagues out of G-d’s own hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, so that the plagues may be more theatrical.  Their very theatricality makes them more memorable, and thus they are more likely to engender thanks.

The ultimate and most dramatic plague is the tenth.  “Adonay struck down [killed] every first-born son in the land of Egypt, from the first-born son of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the first-born son of the captive [prisoner] who was in the dungeon, as well as every first-born animal” (Exodus 12:29).  Yet, before this plague, there seems to be a “pause” in the text in which G-d details the sacrifices that the Israelites must make for G-d and the ways in which they should commemorate the events of Exodus as it is occurring and in the future.  This is not only a dramatic pause that increases the suspense of the narrative, but it also illustrates that the concerns about the sacrifices and commemorations are more important than the final plague. 

The sacrifice that G-d commands the Israelites to perform is one that will indicate their dedication to G-d.  The Israelites are told to hold the sheep for four days before slaughter, “something not commanded regarding the Pesach of later generations” (Rashi on Exodus 12:6).  “R. Masia b. Cheresh would say: scripture says ‘And I passed over you and saw you and behold your time was a time of love’” (Rashi on Exodus 12:6), presumably love for G-d.  Over the course of their holding the animal in their homes for four days, the Israelites must have reflected on their love for G-d, a love that was strong enough to motivate them to hold an animal inside of their homes for this length of time.  “The entire community of Israel” (Exodus 12:6) participates in the sacrifice, and so the entire community must recognize and be thankful to G-d to the extent that they are willing to hold lambs in their homes for this unusually long amount of time.

Moreover, Rashi continues:

So [G-d] gave them two mitzvos [commandments] [regarding] the blood of the pesach [lamb offering] and the blood of circumcision, for that night they circumcised themselves; as it is said: [“when I passed over you I saw] you wallowing in your bloods (pl.),” referring to two bloods (Pesach and circumcision)” (Rashi on Exodus 7:6).

That is to say, over the four days that the Israelites kept the sacrificial lambs in their homes, they also were circumcised and so entered the covenant with G-d through their own physical pain, showing thanksgiving for their being led out of Egypt and into freedom, even prior to the event itself.^[7] 

Once the Israelites performed the sacrifice, G-d then enacts the final plague.  That G-d will not harm the Israelites is a result of their performing a rite of thanksgiving to G-d.  “I will see the blood,” G-d says (Exodus 12:13), meaning, “I will focus My attention to see that you are engaged in My commandments, and I will skip over you” (Rashi on Exodus 12:13).  Had the Israelites not trusted in G-d or been so grateful that they were willing to practice the rite of sacrifice of a lamb, an Egyptian deity,^[8] perhaps G-d would not have passed over them, and they would have perished like those Israelites who were evil and did not want to live in Egypt perished in the plague of darkness.

In the narrative interruption during which the sacrifice is detailed, the Israelites are also told that they are to celebrate a festival of commemoration of the events of Exodus for all time.

And it shall come to pass when you enter the land that the Lord will give you, as He spoke, that you shall observe this service.  And it will come to pass if your children say to you, “What is this service to you?” you shall say, “It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and He saved our houses.” (Exodus 12:25-27)

Before the Israelites leave Egypt, they are told how to celebrate the festival of remembrance for having left.  It is a condition of their ability to leave Egypt that they receive the commandment to remember the events of their departure, and that they show thanks to G-d for all time to the G-d for saving the Israelites from the plagues, and for bringing them out of Egypt.  The centerpiece of the Exodus story, therefore, is the establishment of this holiday of Passover: “This day shall be for you a [day of] remembrance.  You shall celebrate it as a festival to Adonay, throughout your generations.  It is an eternal statute that you must celebrate it” (Exodus 12:14).  The events of the Exodus themselves are one-time occurrences, but the commemoration of Passover will happen seven days out of every year, for eternity.

 Moreover, just as the Israelites are about to leave Egypt, the narrative is once again interrupted to detail the law of the Passover offering.  In between the Israelites’ hurried preparations to leave Egypt and the verse “That very day the LORD freed the Israelites from the land of Egypt, troop by troop” (Exodus 12:51), the Torah details that the whole community of Israel shall offer the Passover offering, and how these rules should apply to strangers in the midst of Israel.  Once again, the Israelites’ future practices of thanksgiving are given priority over the action involved in their leaving Egypt.

One ritual in particular indicates the degree to which the Israelites are to express their indebtedness to G-d for having taken them out of the land of Egypt.  “The LORD spoke further to Moses, saying, ‘Consecrate to Me every first-born; man and beast, the first issue of every womb among the Israelites is mine’” (Exodus 13:3).  Rashi continues this by explaining that G-d means, “I have acquired them for Myself by My having struck down the Egyptian first-born” (Rashi on Exodus 13:3). Thus, the Israelites are to be so thankful to G-d that they are willing to give their firstborn sons to G-d, and this, too, is commanded before they leave Egypt, as a requirement of leaving Egypt, leaving slavery, and becoming established as an independent people.

The purpose of G-d’s emphatic commandments that the Israelites be thankful is not only that they express their thanksgiving, but that they do it in a unified way, that they are all thankful, and as a result, that they become a people defined by their thankfulness.  The entire community of Israel is commanded to commemorate Passover, to eat unleavened bread, and to participate in the rite of the Passover offering.  This helps to explain why all those who were not thankful and did not want to leave Egypt were destroyed in the plague of darkness.  Rather than showing thanks to G-d by preparing to leave Israel and to rejoice at having left, as do the Israelites who survive to stand at the shores of the Red Sea, these Israelites instead show their ingratitude by being reluctant to leave at all.  Given that the most important accomplishment of all of the events in the Exodus story is to create a people united in its thankfulness to G-d, their unwillingness to participate makes their offense punishable by no longer being a part of Israel.  They could not be a part of Israel because they were not thankful, and Israel is to be a people defined by that very trait.  Hence, they were killed in the plague of darkness, because they were not fit to be a part of Israel.

This also explains why so much time is spent explaining what the Israelites should do with strangers in their midst.  “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ‘This is the law of the Passover offering: No foreigner shall eat of it’” (Exodus 12:43).  The rites of thanksgiving that the Israelites perform serve as a distinction between the Israelites and all other peoples and allow them to establish an identity.^[9]  It is important that the Israelites have a sense of separate identity, a nationality, and peoplehood because they will soon become a self-governing body, will receive the Ten Commandments, and will eventually return to the Promised Land.  A defining and unifying factor of their peoplehood, something that will shape their character as a people and help them to grow together with unified practices and traditions, is their thankfulness to G-d.  Hence, after this historical moment, G-d continues to remind the Israelites of their having been slaves in Egypt, so as to also remind them of their duty to be thankful.^[10] 

In today’s world, Jews are often not a united people.  We are replete with bickering.^[11]  While there is such beauty in the variety in belief and practices among Jews, we often do not respect one another or recognize and feel thankful for the unity and peoplehood that we all share.  If the purpose of all of the events in the Exodus was for the Israelites to find a means of self-definition and peoplehood through thankfulness, perhaps the lesson to be learned is not only the importance of thankfulness, but also the importance of finding a means to have a united peoplehood.  We cannot expect Judaism to continue to exist, never mind to flourish, if we do not find a way to celebrate our peoplehood under the G-d who, by strength of hand, brought us out of Egypt.^[12]

Works Cited

The Metsudah Chumash/Rashi: A New Linear Translation.  Trans. Rabbi Avroham Davies.  Lakewood, NJ: Israel Book Shop, Judaica Distribution Center, Inc., 2002.

Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text.  Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985.

Shemoth. Vol. 1.  Trans. A. J. Rosenberg.  New York: Judaica Press, 1995.

ENDNOTES

^[1] “The LORD replied to Moses, ‘See, I place you in the role of G-d to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet’” (Exodus 7:1).  For more discussion of this verse, see Ben Parziale’s paper in this journal.

^[2] Rashi p. 81 on Exodus 8:12

^[3] See Exodus 7:1 – 7:7.

^[4] One interpretation of the reason for this verse is that “The Torah speaks in general, that through both Moses and Aaron the signs were performed.  Afterwards, the Torah elaborates on each sign, explaining which ones were performed by Moses and which ones were performed by Aaron” (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 7:6).

^[5] For more on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, see Daniel Harris’s paper in this journal.

^[6] “At first the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was of his own doing, but now [during the plague of boils] it was caused by G-d” (Ramban on Exodus 9:12).

[7] “After Joseph’s demise, the Israelites failed to observe the covenant of the circumcision, so that they could conform to their neighbors” (Exodus Rabbah 1:8).  In order to perform the rite of the Passover sacrifice, they first had to be circumcised.

^[8] “The Israelites in Egypt had become somewhat attached to the practices of the Egyptians” (Ohr Hachayim on Exodus 12:6).  Therefore, they may have been in the habit of revering lambs, which would have made their task all the more difficult.  Ohr Hachayim continues, “In addition to commanding the Israelites to uproot these practices in which they resembled the Egyptians, G-d dealt wisely to uproot the evil that had become imbedded in them.  And to rectify this sin, He ordered them to take the lamb – which was the Egyptian deity – upon which the Israelites had stumbled, and to perform the mitzvah mentioned in this chapter.  In this way the Israelites would gain expiation by observing the prohibitions related to idolatry.  This is what G-d commanded them: ‘And it shall be to you as an observance,’ meaning: instead of observing the laws of idolatry, they would perform the sacrificial rites required for the observance of the Passover sacrifice.”

^[9] There are a number of instances in which G-d helps the Israelites to establish their peoplehood over the course of this narrative.  They are given a separate calendar (Exodus 12:2) and are constantly referred to in terms of their separateness from Egypt (see Exodus 8:18, 9:4, 9:27, 11:7 for some examples).

^[10] For examples of G-d’s reminding the Israelites of their having been slaves in Egypt see Exodus 20:2, 29:46, Leviticus 11:45, 19:34,19:36, 22:32-33, 23:43, 25:55, 26:13, Numbers 15:41, Deuteronomy 5:6, 10:19, 20:1, 28:59.

^[11] For an account of the kinds of divisions to which I am referring, see Friedman, Samuel G. Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry. New York: Touchstone, 2000.

^[12] Exodus 3:14.

© 2007, Society for Scriptural Reasoning