Kahane on the Parsha
Rabbi Meir Kahane – Parsha
Bo
Moses: Fanatic and Extremist
Nine plagues have descended upon Egypt. Pharaoh, reeling under the pressure from his
noblemen and servants, capitulates. He
tells Moses: “Go, worship the L-rd; only
let your flocks and your herds stay behind” (Exodus 10:24)
Consider, dear Jew.
After 201 years of slavery, the Hebrews have been told that they can
leave! Freedom, at last! Pharaoh has capitulated! All he gives is one small condition, so
unimportant in view of the fact that he has agreed to Jewish freedom. Go, he has told the Hebrews, all I ask is
that you leave your flocks and your herds.
The Hebrews, bursting with joy and anticipation, wait for
the “official” acceptance by Moses, the sage and stable leader, his agreement
that will open the door to freedom. And
Moses? He replies: “You must also give
into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may offer them to the
L-rd, our G-d. And our livestock, as
well, will go with us; there shall not be a hoof left behind” (Exodus 10:25-26.
Picture the Hebrews! Picture
the Jewish leaders of today, had they been there! Moses!
Have you lost your mind? We have
been slaves for 210 years and now we can go free! Give him the animals! Agree to his unimportant condition. Make the insignificant compromise so that we
can enjoy freedom and peace. Moses, what
is this extremism and fanaticism? Freedom
now, peace now! Give him the flocks!”
But, no. Moses, the
greatest of Jewish leaders, refuses.
There will be no compromise.
There cannot be a compromise, for we are not speaking here about mere “freedom.” The Jewish people is not a nation like all
others with nationalistic strivings for independence and freedom. The liberation of the Jew was not a
nationalist struggle for secular freedom.
The entire breaking of the Egyptian yoke of bondage was a religious
struggle, the war of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, against Pharaoh who mocked Him
and refused to recognize Him as the one and only G-d.
From the first moment that Moses came into the palace and
told the Egyptian emperor, ruler over the mightiest of all the empires of his
time, “Thus says the L-rd, G-d of Israel:
Let My people go. . .” and Pharaoh replied, “Who is the L-rd, G-d of
Israel: Let My people go…” and Pharaoh
replied, “Who is the L-rd that I should obey His voice . . . ? I know not the L-rd, and I will not let
Israel go!” (Exodus 5:2), the battle was joined. The battle against Chillul Hashem; the
battle against the arrogance of the nations who dare to proclaim, “ I know not
the L-rd”; the battle for Kiddush Hashem, the recognition and acceptance
of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, as the one G-d, as the G-d of the universe.
Kiddush Hashem!
That is what the story of the Exodus is about! And Kiddush Hashem brooks no
compromise, not the slightest. There must
be total surrender, total acceptance of the L-rd and His people’s
sovereignty and power.
There is more.
The tenth and final plague now strikes Egypt. In every home, the firstborn dies; there is
not a house in which there is no dead.
It is midnight but Pharaoh rushes through the streets and cries out to
Moses: “Rise up and leave from the midst of my people, both you and the children
of Israel, and go serve the L-rd as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you
have said and be gone!” (Exodus 12:31-32).
At last, total capitulation!
Unconditional surrender! But leave
now immediately, in the middle of the night!
Dear Jew, surely the moment has come. What could even the worst fanatic and
extremist want after this surrender?
Listen:
Moses says to Pharaoh: “Are we then thieves that we should
leave in the night? We will not leave
except with a mighty arm before the eyes of all of Egypt!” (Tanchuma, Bo 7)
Ah, the fanatic and extremist. . . He lays down yet another
rule of Kiddush Hashem. Sanctification and the proclamation of G-d’s
omnipotence and sovereignty cannot be hidden, silent, discreet
thing. It must be done openly, with a
proclamation before the nations, with trumpets and drums. No fear, no attempt to keep a low profile, no
effort to “avoid antagonizing the nations.”
Openly, loudly, with a public majesty that proclaims the majesty and
kingship of the L-rd, G-d of Israel, who is one!
If Moses were alive today and were he to lay down these iron
rules of Kiddush Hashem, what would the gentilized Hebrews of Israel and
the Hellenists of the Establishment in the Exile say?
The lesson is clear:
Their gentilized thoughts are not those of the G-d of Israel. What to them is a “fanatic” and “extremist,”
in Torah eyes and to authentic Judaism is principle and the iron rule of
Judaism. Those who believe in nothing
but themselves will always be “flexible” – except when their own interests are
threatened. Those who believe in nothing
will always be ready to “compromise,” since they stand on no principle that is
stable and untouchable. Parash Bo teaches us about the greatest
of all Jewish concepts, Kiddush Hashem, and the greatest of Jewish
leaders, Moses – the fanatic and extremist.
Written in The Jewish Press, 1988
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