By Rabbi
Yisroel Shusterman
This
week’s Parsha Perspective is dedicated by Mr. Binyomin Philipson in memory
of his late mother Mrs. Ellen (Elka bas Zisel) Philipson OBM
The name of Moses does
not appear in this week's Torah portion Tetzave (Shmos [Exodus] 27:20 - 30:10),
even though he is alluded to. The reason for this is that Moses had requested
of G-d, when the Children of Israel made the Golden Calf,
that if He was not prepared to forgive the Children of Israel, then He should
erase Moses’ name "from Your book..." Although the Jewish people
were forgiven, the words of a righteous individual (tzaddik) are powerful and
Moses' decree was realized through his name being left out from this one Parsha.
The commentators
point out, however, that while Moses' actual name does not appear, Moses
himself is very much present. The entire portion consists of G-d's words to
Moses! Indeed, the first word is "and you [shall
command...]" - the you being Moses.
A person's name does
not reflect that person's essential self. A name, or a descriptive word applied
to a person, is used by others to refer to that person. The essential self, the
essence of the person, however, is beyond description and limitation.
The word
"you" at the beginning of the portion connotes its subject's very
self, in contrast to a person's name which is a mere "handle" on his
personality. This means that although his name does not appear, Moses is, in
essence, more present in our portion than if he would be mentioned by name,
limited to the description that a name implies.
Because Moses was
prepared to forgo mention of his name in the Torah for the sake of his people,
he merited that his quintessential self - that level of self that cannot be
captured by any name or designation - be included in the Torah. It is this
level of Moses' self that is expressed by his "nameless" presence in
this week's Torah portion.
We all have a
tendency to label ourselves, and each other. So-and-so is a this-ist or a
that-ist. A name provides only a limited window into what a person really is.
There is a fundamental essence which we each possess and which transcends
limitation. When we stop trying to label each other and focus on what is deep
inside, on the essence, we realize that we are not really so different than our
Jewish neighbors and acquaintances, and in fact, it becomes much
easier to get along with them.
(Excerpts
from Chabad.org - by Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg)
May you
have a meaningful and uplifting Shabbos
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