Pemikiran Yahudi Amsal 30:9: Akeidat Yitzchak & Duties

In Leviticus 12,2, we read "A woman who is impregnated and gives birth to a male child etc." The male symbolises perfection, wholeness and spirituality, whereas the female symbolises imperfection. A woman who gives birth to a male, (to the spiritual) requires less purification than her counterpart who gives birth to the female (physical). During the first seven years, a child has no meaningful mental understanding of morality, therefore it is in a complete state of impurity. The following thirty three years are to be devoted to remedying this situation. At forty, when mature, atonement is made for previous immaturity. Those who give birth to the female, that which symbolises the physical, are impure till the onset of puberty (14 years) They need to devote the remainder of their lives (sixty six years) to remedying that state. They even have to atone for their imperfection at death, (80 years) since only then can they hope to achieve the innocence possessed when they entered the world. We have seen how the introduction of our Parshah, dealing with the need to purify oneself after certain abnormal body functions have occurred, is divided into two basic groups. 1) the avoidable; 2) the unavoidable. There are sub-categories under heading number one, introduced by the symbolism of the birth of a female child. The first sub-category is skin disease. It can be viewed as a derivative of giving birth to a female child. Such a disease is certainly an aberration of natural processes, an imbalace of body fluids resulting in four different possible blemishes. These reflect different degrees of such imbalances. Our sages tell us that tzora-at is due to four different kinds of sins, so that the four categories of skin disease listed represent each of those sins. Each respective discolouration reflects the abnormal quantity of one of the four basic elements man is made of. Arrogance is due to a disproportionate amount of air. The burn marks are due to a disproportionate amount of fire, heat. An example of arrogance is Na-aman the Syrian general (Kings II chapter 5) and his king ben Hadad, of whom many examples of haughty behaviour vis a vis king Achav are related. No doubt, "like master like servant." Na-man's own cure came only after he had humbled himself. Had Na-aman immediately acceeded to the advice of the prophet Elisha, we would have remained in doubt about both the cause of his affliction and the reason why he had been cured. As it is, the prophet Jeremiah makes it plain that the affliction was due to haughtiness, and that the cure was due to humility. We have here a perfect example of midah keneged midah, the principle of the crime fitting the punishment in reverse, i.e. rehabilitation being demonstrated by removal of the affliction caused by the sin. At that point, the instrument effecting the cure became of secondary importance. (he could now have been cured by immersion in other waters also) Tzora-at is also due to the evil tongue. This is symbolised as due to an imbalance in the water component of the four elements in man's composition. Flowing water is associated with a certain amount of sound, noise. It is also influenced by the moon's position. Since the moon is a passive force, it is symbolic of woman rather than man. (sun) Therefore, we find Miriam being struck with tzora-at for something she said, and not Aaron, who had only listened in silence. (Numbers chapter 12) Tzora-at is also due to spreading lies about someone. We will discuss this in greater detail in the next chapter. Tzoara-at can also be due to excessive greed, desire, due to an imbalance in the earth, i.e dust component in man's composition, the fourth of the raw materials he is made of. Creed for matter without specific objective, is apt to become insatiable, brings in its wake a lack of satisfaction even with the things we do have. Gechazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha, was of that category. Since he coveted what Na-aman possessed, he not only received Na-aman's money but also his tzora-at, the latter's former affliction. Our sages say that he who steals from the public purse, community property, will be struck with tzora-at. Anger can also be an indirect cause of tzora-at. Cain was given an ot, sign. According to one opinion, this sign was a form of tzora-at. When our sages say in Vayikra Rabbah 17, that there are ten causes that can result in a person being afflicted with tzora-at, these are merely derivatives of the four main causes corresponding to the four materials man is made of, and which therefore are subject to an imbalance of their proper ratios.

(1) The reason the Torah lists the ages of Moses and Aaron at the time they began their mission in Egypt, is to show that at that time they had ceased to be merely important persons in their own right, but had become instruments of G-d’s will. When Aaron's staff swallowed those of the magicians, Pharaoh, in his obstinacy, chose to interpret this as merely a difference in the calibre of Moses’ss and Aaron's magic as compared to the magic of his own magicians. He refused to see in this the legitimization of Moses and Aaron as messengers of another deity. Thus, G-d demonstrated to Moses and Aaron the rigidity of Pharaoh's state of mind. (2) Subsequent plagues were designed to make him more responsive. The plague of blood had the avowed purpose of demonstrating "so that you know that I am G-d," the first principle Pharaoh had denied when Moses introduced himself as a messenger of G-d. At that time, Pharaoh's reaction had been "Who is G-d?" (5,2). This query was to be answered by the conversion of water into blood. The plague established then that Moses was indeed a messenger of someone who could command nature in this fashion. The first few plagues were designed to demonstrate to the magicians that Moses’ss source of power was the same as theirs, namely G-d. In addition, the fact that Moses was able to call off a plague, not just to bring it on, should have convinced them of his superior powers. The Egyptians' desire to keep the Jews enslaved, was, however, stronger than their newly gained insight into the powers of the G-d of the Israelites. They were aided in this rejectionist approach by having found ways to circumvent the effect of the plague by digging for new sources of water in the ground. During the second plague, though the magicians copied it, the inconvenience was such that they asked for the plague to be called off. This was Pharaoh's first concession. Pharaoh acknowledges the existence of G-d, since he asked Moses to pray to Him. He implied that if Moses could call off the plague, something his own magicians had been unable to do, then he, Pharaoh, would acknowledge the fact that the plague did originate with G-d. He would then let the Jewish people go. Since Moses realized that Pharaoh was trying to test G-d, he allowed himself to boast and let Pharaoh set the timetable. This was in order that there could be no doubt as to who had made the frogs die. When Moses accepted Pharaoh's timetable, he added the words "so that you will know that there is no G-d like our G-d." Moses emphasized that the frogs would remain only in the river, to make it plain that nature would resume its normal course, that frogs would not be removed except as a plague. Pharaoh reneged, perhaps since the magicians had not yet admitted their own inability to duplicate Moses’ss feat until the third plague. Because of Pharaoh's having reneged, the third plague arrived without prior warning. If Pharaoh would respond to this plague by acknowledging the existence of G-d as well as His uniqueness, then this phase of plagues could be considered as concluded. (3) Even though Pharaoh had acknowledged G-d’s uniqueness at the end of the third plague, he had not yet acknowledged that a special relationship existed between Israel and G-d, and that Moses therefore had the right to demand the freedom of the Israelites. The fact that Moses was commanded to give Pharaoh warning of the fourth plague, meeting Pharaoh at the river, shows that G-d wanted him to know that he was aware of Pharaoh's intention to avoid just such a meeting. The plague would show that G-d could act arbitrarily on earth and at the same time distinguish between the part of the earth inhabited by the Israelites (8,18). The fifth and sixth plagues demonstrate the same point in varying degrees. Even the livestock of the Israelites would enjoy special protection by their G-d. Even microbes, bacteria, in the case of the sixth plague, would not harm Jews. Precisely because this was the purpose of these plagues, no new and unknown phenomena could be used to demonstrate the power of G-d. The fact that these plagues had been predicted to occur within a certain time frame, demonstrated that G-d was their author. Pharaoh's reaction, suggesting that the Jews serve their G-d within the country, is his response to Moses’ss statement that G-d is master in the whole land. Moses’ss reply to Pharaoh's unspoken question, "Why do you have to leave the country to do your worshipping?" is that the attitude of the Egyptians poses a threat to the Israelites' safety, especially when the Egyptians would become aware of the nature of the sacrificial service intended. From an objective point of view, service to G-d in Egypt would be possible. Moses, careful not to refer to an eventual return to Egypt, phrases his demand very vaguely, stating only that they would get their instructions from G-d. Pharaoh agrees, adding that they should pray for him also. Moses agrees to call off the plague, warning Pharaoh not to default on his promise again, and he agrees to pray for Pharaoh immediately, not at a distance of three days' march (8,21-26). (4) Pharaoh remains unrepentant also after this awesome display of G-d’s power as demonstrated by the strange immunity of the Jewish people to the invasion of the wild beasts. As a result, this group of plagues has to run its full course to teach Pharaoh a further lesson. The immediate reason for Pharaoh's astounding reversal may be due to his rationalizing the absence of the wild beasts' invasion of the land of Goshen being due to the particular area rather than the people living in it. After all, Moses had stressed that the miracle would occur "in the land of Goshen" (8,18). To cure him of this misconception, the plague of pestilence would not be restricted to certain areas, but cattle belonging to Egyptians that were grazing in Goshen would be struck, whereas cattle owned by Jews grazing in Egypt proper would remain unharmed. This would debunk Pharaoh's theory that makom gorem mazzal, that a certain location can be lucky or unlucky. Pharaoh still had doubts, ascribing good luck to the owners of these cattle rather than to a deliberate act of Divine intervention. Therefore, the third in the series of these plagues found the magicians unable to protect even themselves against the impact, much less to offer relief to anyone else struck by it. Pharaoh still does not admit that G-d’s power is more than local, and the third series of plagues will disabuse him of that fallacy: "So that you will know that there is no one like Me on the whole earth" (9,14). It was necessary to include amongst these plagues both qualitative and quantitative phenomena that would place them outside previous human experience. Thus G-d would demonstrate that He could alter the laws of nature. These phenomena had to be predicted both as to when and as to how they would occur, in order to provide absolute credibility of both messenger and Author. (5) When the Torah states prior to the plague of hail (9,14), "This time I will send all My plagues," the message is to acquaint Pharaoh with the fact that G-d’s power extends way beyond the boundaries of Egypt. Since the prime object of the plague was to demonstrate power, an opportunity to escape the immediate consequences could be allowed. The result of this plague was that Pharaoh, for the first time, acknowledged his guilt and G-d’s righteousness (9,27). When Pharaoh, in 9,21, states that "there is no need for further thunder from G-d," he meant that there was no need for G-d to teach him any further lessons, that he had become adequately convinced. That was the reason he asked Moses to pray for him, and why he offered to dismiss the Jewish people. Moses was audacious enough to point out that in his personal opinion further lessons would prove necessary (9,30). By including Pharaoh's servants in his comments, Moses in his wisdom had hoped to galvanize Pharaoh's servants into some action, since their own destruction would result should Pharaoh continue in his obstinate attitude. This explains the servants' remonstrations during the eighth plague (10,7). Pharaoh's latest reversal may have been induced by the hope that the unheard-of phenomena pointed at an imminent worldwide cataclysmic event, after which his fortunes would change for the better (his interpretation of the horoscope).

Be on guard against the imaginations of your heart, and enticements of the yetzer (evil inclination) towards you that would mislead you to haughtiness, arrogance, pride, lust for ruling, self-glorification and domineering. The wise man already exhorted us as to the right road a man should take in this world in saying: "Two things have I asked of you... Remove far from me vanity and lies: [give me neither poverty nor riches]; give me my daily bread. [lest I become sated and deny, and say, 'Who is the L-ord?' Or lest I become poor and steal" (Mishlei 30:7-9).