Symbolic Staff and Serpent
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
With Parshat Shemot we begin the saga of Bnei Yisroel’s actual enslavement and the seeds being sown for their redemption. The new Pharaoh has issued multiple decrees oppressing Bnei Yisroel while the chosen redeemer, Moshe, has been born, has grown to adulthood, has proven his worthiness for the role Hashem has chosen for him, and has already received God’s communication to tell Bnei Yisroel that Hashem has remembered them and is about to redeem them.
But Moshe is extremely skeptical. “They will not believe me…,” responds Moshe, whereupon Hashem asks him, “Mazeh beyodecha/What is that in your hand?” “It is a mateh/staff,” replies Moshe. With that cue, Hashem has Moshe perform signs that, when Moshe will replay them before Bnei Yisroel, they will be convinced that Hashem had actually sent Moshe to redeem them.
Our first question revolves around Moshe’s skepticism. Why does he feel Bnei Yisroel will not believe him? Chazal point out that that this lack of faith in Bnei Yisroel was a failing on Moshe’s part, and Hashem’s pointing to the stick is an indication that Hashem felt Moshe should be punished and struck with the stick for his impugning the faith of Bnei Yisroel. The later sign of tzoraas/leprosy is a further punishment for Moshe’s loshon horo of Bnei Yisroel.
Rabbi Zaks in Menachem Zion sees completely different symbolism in the staff in Moshe’s hand. Moshe felt that Bnei Yisroel was so connected to Mitzrayim, to the outer trappings of galus, that they would not be able to accept the freedom that Torah offered. But Hashem is telling Moshe that Bnei Yisroel internally are all believers. Your job, Moshe, is to hold onto the stick, because if you don’t believe n Bnei Yisroel and you throw them away, they will indeed turn into Egyptian snakes. Moshe, pick them up, believe in them, and they will again become the strong staff in your hand.
That staff, continues Rabbi Zaks, may also represent the staff of the wandering Jew in the diaspora. In Egypt, as well as in every country in subsequent diasporas, the Jew tends to rely on the government of the host country for protection. After all, he is a good citizen who contributes to the social, economic and cultural fabric of the country he is in. But it does not take much for that reliable support to transform itself into a snake set to bite and destroy the Jews in its midst. But Bnei Yisroel has a tendency to believe that conditions will improve, for this country is another Eden. Bnei Yisroel, reasoned Moshe Rabbenu, will not believe because they will not want to believe and will not want to leave. In fact, four fifths of Bnei Yisroel actually chose to remain in Egypt and not leave.
In a related interpretation, the Oshorover Rebbe sees that the staff is no more than a dry stick representing kings and emperors who suddenly turn on the Jews under their rule. As quickly as they rose in their positions of power, so will they fall to oppress the Jews and become snakes to them. On the other hand, referring to the second sign, Bnei Yisroel may appear as dead as the leprous hand, but they will be rejuvenated and reinstated. When the Jewish community in one diaspora country has died, the Jewish community gets new life in another country. The most obvious example of this phenomenon is the birth of the Jewish State with its multiple centers of learning out of the ashes of the Holocaust. We must hold on through all these persecutions, knowing that Hashem is in charge, that it is Hashem who purifies those who are impure with leprosy, and it is Hashem who raises us up again from the depths at each point of the diaspora.
This dynamic plays out cyclically throughout our history beginning with the life of Yosef himself. This exalted, favorite son is thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. He rises to become the chief “employee” in Potiphar’s household, only to be thrown into a dungeon on trumped up charges. From the depths of the dungeon, he is again lifted up to become viceroy of all Egypt.
Rabbi Zaks then takes these ideas deeper. Hashem was not asking Moshe mah zeh/what is this in your hand, but mizeh/from this which is in your hand. Your pure hand will lead the people through the otiyos/signs/letters of the Torah. It will be Bnei Yisroel’s connection to the letters of the Torah and to Hashem that will sustain them and redeem them through every exile. How will Bnei Yisroel believe you, asks Hashem? Through your mateh, through your ability lehatot/to turn the hearts of Bnei Yisroel from the depravity of Egypt to the purity of Torah.
Part of the redemption process, writes Rabbi Scher citing the verse in Hoshea, is the teshuvah that acknowledges that we have no one on whom we may rely except on our Father in heaven, and, as the verse in Tehillim says, “Your staff and Your rod, they will be my comfort.” When we rely only on Hashem, writes Rav Bachye Ibn Pakuda in Chovot Halevavot, we free ourselves from reliance on anything in the external world and from subservience to other human beings, although we may continue using these with Hashem’s help. Bnei Yisroel were not only enslaved physically, but also by their mindset that was entrenched in the forty nine levels of Egyptian depravity.
This is what Moshe was afraid of when he stated that Bnei Yisroel will not believe him. Moshe was afraid that their minds could not conceive of a higher spiritual calling. Bnei Yisroel believed they were what others perceived them to be, no different than the Egyptians among whom they lived.
Rabbi Belsky offers the following parable to explain this point. A hunter, passing by a farmhouse, noticed an unusual bird among the chickens, pecking away at the ground for some bits of grain. When the hunter asked the farmer about this bird, the farmer said it was just another chicken, although hatched from a larger egg and eating more than the other chickens. What a sorry situation, thought the hunter, as no one had told this bird that in reality it was an eagle, meant to soar through the heavens. Just so was Bnei Yisroel, thought Moshe. Bnei Yisroel cannot imagine that they are meant to soar with angels in the spiritual environment of heaven. Moshe’s mission would be to implant this idea in their minds so that even when they forget their true identity, the spark remains alive within them and their spirits will still have the ability to reignite and soar.
What was the catalyst for the dialogue between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Moshe? The burning bush that refused to be consumed. This was the symbol that would carry Bnei Yisroel forward toward redemption, writes the Netivot Shalom. Although Bnei Yisroel were steeped in the fiery passions of Egyptian depravity, the bush itself would not be consumed, for the land to which it was anchored was holy, a land that required Moshe to remove his shoes.
The signs that followed reinforced this idea, continues the Netivot Shalom. Hashem asks Moshe, “What is this in your hand?” That wood could have been either a makel/stick or a mateh/staff. The difference in terminology is instructive. While a stick is generally used for destructive purposes, a staff is usually meant to be constructive. Moshe answers that it is a staff. If you drop that staff on the ground, it is no longer useful and becomes nothing more than a stick. But if you then pick it up, it again becomes something to lean on. Although Bnei Yisroel were now downtrodden in Egypt, Moshe was to lift them up again to return to their glorious destiny, to transform the snake again to an eagle.
Every Jew has that spark of Divinity within him, a spark that will never leave no matter the circumstances he is in temporarily. The snake is only temporary; the diseased hand can return to health and productivity. But the Nile, the symbol of the depravity of Egypt, will not survive.
We have seen that serpent before, reminds us the Imrei Chemed. That snake, that serpent is the primordial serpent, the source of sin, the evil inclination. When we grab it even minimally, by the tip of its tail, so that we can suppress it and do teshuvah, Hashem will help us succeed. All you need is for your heart to take a small turn toward Hashem, and Hashem will clear the path of return and, unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Take that one small step and change your mentality.
Just as Moshe picked up the snake and took control of the snakelike, physical aspect of himself, writes the Malbim, so must we too be aware of that aspect within ourselves and control it. Although we have the Torah as our guide, we must still be constantly on our guard against the alluring snakes in our environment, warns us Rabbi Belsky.
We are all influenced by our environment. Even if we ourselves do not smoke, we are polluted by second hand smoke. If we regularly attend a shul where the congregants have conversations during lulls in davening, speaking during davening slowly becomes acceptable behavior. Our personal standards are influenced by the standards around us. [Just think of what is now accepted as a “marriage” and “family” in our society. CKS] Succumbing to the values and mores of the society around us becomes our inner galus, and we ask that Hashem help ask retain our eagle perspective and ideals, for without Hashem’s support, we are doomed to failure. Bnei Yisroel in Mitzrayim needed Hashem’s help to grab the snake by the tail, as do we.
As we know, we are not in control of our circumstances, writes the R, Michel Twerski in Yiram Hayam, but we are in control of how we respond to those circumstances. That is in our hand, and how we turn, mateh, our perspective will determine whether the circumstance remains negative or becomes a catalyst for growth. Rabbi Twerski presents a metaphor of a beautiful diamond that in a moment of carelessness developed a scratch that seemed to mar its beauty. However, the diamond cutter etched some roses onto the diamond, using that initial scratch as his starting point, and that diamond became even more valuable and magnificent. We have the ability to make teachable moments for ourselves and for others by pausing to observe our negative situation, grabbing it by the tail, and transforming those negatives to build positives.
We are each multi faceted beings and find ourselves in many environments. Will we take hold of the snakes in our lives, have faith, and choose to turn them into the support we can always get by relying on Hashem and His Torah? The choice is in our hands.
This summary was written with the thought that it be a zechus, a merit, for a refuah shelaymah for our beloved Morah d”Asrah and my personal Rav, Harav Yehudah ben Rivkah Leah Kelemer. Rabbi Kelemer has been a uniting force in our West Hempstead community, a model of middot and character, and a source of strength, wisdom, and support in all aspects of learning and Torah observance. We pray that Hashem heal Rabbi Kelemer so that he may return and continue to lead us and teach us Hashem’s ways.