In Parshat Yitro we read how both of Moshe’s sons were given names that were reminders of the challenges that Moshe had experienced during his lifetime (18:3-4): “the name of the first sonw as Gershom, because Moshe said ‘I was a stranger in a strange land.’ The name of the other son was Eliezer, because ‘the God of my father helped me and rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.”
The Pardes Yosef explains that Moshe chose these names for his sons because he wanted them to grow up with a perspective that they may not have otherwise had. Moshe’s sons grew up in Midian, far from the oppression and danger of Egypt. They lacked nothing and probably feared nothing. They grew up surrounded by the love of their parents and (maternal) grandparents. They had a idyllic upbringing, and that is why Moshe gave them names that would always remind them of the precarious state of the Jewish experience- even when times are good. A Jewish child in the Diaspora must be taught that Galus, whether Egypt or Midian or America, is not the Jewish homeland. Though it doesn’t always feel like it, we live a precarious existence that requires both Divine intervention and a self-awareness of the underlying vulnerabilities and dangers that always exist for a Jew. By choosing these names, it was as if Moshe was telling his son, “My life should teach you, and all of Klal Yisrael, a lesson. I grew up as a prince in Egypt. I had everything a boy could want. I lived a privileged life. And then my whole world turned upside down, and I had to flee for my life.
Moshe’s story has repeated itself many times throughout Jewish history. The Pardes Yosef gives the example of the Jews of Spain. Once upon a time the Jews experienced a “golden age” living in Spain. They were secure, respected and prosperous. Jewish leaders, such as the Abravanel and Rav Shmuel Hanagid, served as trusted advisers to the monarchs of Spain. And then things changed, and the Jews lost favor. A century of turbulence for Spanish Jews ended with the edict of the expulsion of Spanish Jewry on Tisha B’Av 1492.
The Talmud (Baba Batra 73b) quotes a parable offered by Rabba bar bar Channah: “We were once traveling on a boat and saw what turned out to be a fish. It was so huge that sand collected on its back, and we thought that it was actually an island. We got off the boat and stepped onto this “island”. We started a barbecue. When the heat got too much for the fish, it rolled over and we fell off into the water. Had we not been close to the boat, we would have all drowned.”
The Maharsha explains the parable as follows: Those who live in the Diaspora are trying to navigate our way through the stormy seas of exile. We think we have found a safe haven to land. We get comfortable, start living our lives, and we may even prosper. Then our island turns over and we realize that we were never really safe- we had planted ourselves on the back of a finicky fish. As we recover from the latest expulsion we consider ourselves lucky to just be alive.
Whether America is in fact a finicky fish or Spain is beside the point. American Jews have been blessed and we hope that these blessings continue. But the lesson that Moshe tried to impart through the names of his two sons must resonate, especially today. Jewish life outside of the Jewish homeland should never be viewed as guaranteed. A Galus mentality must include an awareness of our relatively precarious state and that Israel needs to be part of our present identity, just as we know that it is our future.
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