Not knowing, not recognizing—no way!

Sh'mot-Ex. 1:1-6:1 Va'erah-Ex. 6:2-9:35

As we begin the recitation and study of Sh'mot, the Book of Exodus, some startling realizations confront us in the title parashah and in the second, Va'erah.

The first is the basis of the conflict between the nascent Israelite nation still living within Egypt and its host. Braysheet, the Book of Genesis, just concluded with an entire novella about Joseph's divinely guided rise to power, how he saved Egypt and its neighbors from disastrous draught, and how he reunited with his family —including elderly father Jacob-Israel, who then came to settle there.

But as Exodus begins, enough "real" time has passed that a newly-crowned pharaoh can ascend to power without consciously remembering, acknowledging, or publicizing any momentous role having been played by Joseph.

"How is this possible?" one might ask. How can the most perilous challenge of great Egypt's past and the Hebrew mastermind who steered the country through to survival and renewed prosperity be dismissed out-of-hand a few centuries later by a leader who certainly would have been thoroughly schooled in his homeland's glorious history and achievements? The key here must be that the new pharaoh was choosing to diminish (if not completely dismiss) Joseph's role because the current conditions lent themselves to a different political reality.

Isn't this what we've experienced repeatedly throughout our history—that the accomplishments of individual Jews, or of our collective wisdom, is downgraded in order to keep us in our place especially after we've served some special purpose beneficial to the host society?

Even today, merely 60-some years after near-annihilation, Israel and the world Jewish community must still fight for recognition and justice within the family of nations, our flaws greatly exaggerated and our accomplishments typically overlooked or downgraded.

What must we do, then, to remain "strong and resolute" in the face of never-ceasing criticism and expressions (or entire campaigns) of hatred against us?

We must take a lesson from Moses whose faith was kindled anew by his encountering of the Almighty through the burning bush.

No matter how frustrated we are with others, no matter how far we have drifted from Jewish practice and learning, no matter how hard it is to acknowledge and voice gratitude for all of G-d's great gifts to us each and every day, we must turn aside from the complexities and the least desirable aspects of being Jewish and seek wisdom and guidance from the Eternal Flame, the Source of knowledge and purposeful living.

In this way will we succeed in becoming a generation that also preserved the link of tradition and maintained unwavering faith in a compassionate and praiseworthy G-d, gracious Creator and Preserver of all life. .