Torah Portion - December 27, 2007

Parshat Shemot: We Become Who We Become

This week we begin the book known in English as Exodus, but called in Hebrew the book of Shemot, of names. Just as we Jews are always leaving in two civilizations, these two distinct titles give us two view into the incredible lessons that this Torah book contains.

On the one hand, Exodus reminds us that the master narrative of the Jewish people is indeed the exodus from Egypt; the escape from slavery to freedom, and the subsequent birth of Israel into spiritual peoplehood. On the other hand, Shemot reiterates the names of every individual involved in the earliest formation of our people, reminds us of how Moses grew into his role as leader of the of Hebrew slaves: by encountering The Eternal One at the burning bush, and learning that God is indeed The One Who Cannot be Named.

Moses never set out to be a leader. On the contrary, realizing that he had “anger management issues,” he sought to escape the entire Hebrew/Egyptian dilemma by running away to the desert and living out his days as a shepherd in neighboring Midian. And yet, despite his genuine humility and his reluctance to lead, he emerged as the greatest leader that Israel has ever known.

Or rather, perhaps this is because of Moses’ great humility. Moses first encounters God at the burning bush because Moses “thinks out of the box” and takes the time to see something new: a bush that is able to burn yet never be consumed. Commentators have often noted that it was not the fact of the burning bush alone that was miraculous, but the fact that Moses took the time to notice such an unusual reality.

This ability to look—and to see—outside the normal, everyday paradigm is the hallmark of good leadership. So is humility. When God first instructs Moses that he has been designated to lead the Hebrews out of slavery, his first response is to wonder aloud, “Who am I to take on this awesome task?”

And when Moses tries to communicate with God by asking what God’s name is, the reply is like a puzzle in its mysteriousness. God says, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Exodus 3:14), which is nearly impossible to understand. The closest English understanding might be, “I will become who I will become. I am still in formation.”  And, as Rabbi Lawrence Kushner has written, those who would serve such a God must themselves likewise endure a perpetual state of becoming, striving, not knowing, and yearning.

For that is what it means to be a leader: to never quite know, to always be yearning, and to acknowledge that we and those that we lead are in a perpetual sate of becoming.

The Beth Or community needs each one of us to be a leader in some way: to yearn and to strive and to build our unique community, as it takes its next steps.

Who are you to be a leader? Who am I? Together, we can find the next step!