Rabbi Heller's Blog

As any 6^th grade teacher will tell you, it can be very frustrating to try to communicate when people are just not listening. You may be having a parallel but even more stressful experience, talking about the situation in Israel/Gaza or our experiences of antisemitism, with people who are either uninformed and uninterested or even actively antagonistic. In our portion this week, Moses finds that not only Pharaoh, but even the Israelites, won’t listen to him as he transmits God’s message of freedom. Moses complains “Moses said to God- the Israelites have not heard me, how can Pharaoh hear me, for behold I am of impeded speech!” Understanding Moses’ experience of not being heard may help us approach our own experience in a more constructive way.

We can understand why Pharaoh would not listen. Why should the great and mighty king of Egypt, sitting in his great palace, give any credence to the rantings of a prophet once exiled from that very palace, now speaking of a god he does not know?  But why do the Israelites not listen? Surely they would be overjoyed to hear the news of impending freedom? Then finally, at the end of the verse, we are reminded of a possible reason which had been mentioned previously: Moses has stuttering or unsure speech.

Is the issue really Moses’ abilities? Later in the Bible, Moses is portrayed as a gifted orator- preaching the entire book of Deuteronomy, composing poems and songs of victory and prophecy. The Israelites have not heard Moses, not due to his speech impediment, but because they are emotionally incapable of processing the news. They are so deep in the mindset of slavery that they can’t comprehend the possibility of freedom. They refuse to listen.

Aviva Zornberg, one of the greatest modern biblical commentators, says that in order to truly grasp the verse, one must take the phrases in order. Moses inability to speak is not caused by any internal limitations. Rather, he is unable to express himself confidently because he knows that even the Israelites are not listening and that his words will not be accepted.

Indeed, who among us is able to talk or express ourselves fully, when we suspect or know for sure that no-one is listening? As we have navigated the last 100 days, it has been frustrating how quickly so much of the world has turned on Israel. That the “Pharaohs” of the world, our traditional enemies, spout falsehoods and propaganda, is upsetting, but neither shocking nor surprising. If that were it alone, it would be easy to respond with force. We can become disheartened because there are so many who we might have counted as friends and allies who also are not even willing to listen. They refuse to even consider our narrative because they have closed minds, hearts and ears to anything that we might share. Under similar circumstances Moses found himself unable to express himself. It was only after rounds of plagues and miracles that the world came around to appreciate his words.

I cannot promise what signs, plagues and miracles might lay ahead, but it is at times like these that we must continue to find the courage to make ourselves heard, loud and clear, even when we are afraid that there is no-one listening. Whether it is on the stage of world diplomacy and the International Courts, in the political sphere in our own country, on campus, or even among friends and acquaintances, we must find the bravery of words, for there is no one else to speak on our behalf.