Shemot
Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
As we begin the Book of Exodus this Shabbat, I can’t help but think of the Passover Seder. During the Seder it is a tradition for the children to search for the afikomen, the piece of matzah that miraculously gets hidden during the celebration. This section is called Tzafun meaning “the hidden one” and comes from the root z-f-n. In the Seder “the hidden one” is the piece of matzah. However, Rabbi Nathan Laufer explains it can also direct us to Moses’ hidden role in the Exodus story told on Passover. In this week’s Torah Portion, Shemot, we read:
A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son (Moses); and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him (tetz-p’nai-hu) for three months. When she could hide him (hatz-fe-nu) no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and coated it with red clay and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him. (Exodus 2:1-4)
Twice in this passage, the root z-f-n is used to express the child’s hiddenness. These two words are the only occasions in which the Torah uses this root to describe hiding. As noted above, this same root illustrates the hidden middle piece of matzah in the Haggadah. Furthermore, the three pieces of matzah that we show during the Seder traditionally represent the three divisions of the Israelite people who experienced the Exodus: the Priests (top matzah), Levites (middle matzah) and Israelites (bottom matzah). As described in the above passage, Moses was the son of a Levi and Levite woman, making him a Levite; thus the middle matzah can be a symbol for Moses. Just as Moses was wrapped and hidden away at the beginning of his life, Moses is hidden throughout the Exodus story told during the Seder. Traditionally he is not mentioned even once in the Passover Haggadah. Yet, in the Torah Moses is central to the story-he is appointed by God as the leader of the Israelites, he approaches Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery, he instructs the Israelites on the procedures for their departure, and so forth. Why then is he not mentioned in the Haggadah? Rabbi Laufer explains in Leading the Passover Journey,
The reason for Moses’ hiddenness in the Haggadah is that the Haggadah is absolutely intent on telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt as a tale of the unmitigated love relationship between God and the Jewish people. The authors of the Haggadah did not want to hinge that relationship based on the presence-or absence-of a human leader, not even one as great as Moses. No one could come between God and His People.
In the Torah, Moses is central in helping the Israelites form a relationship with God. But as the Passover Haggadah reminds us, we cannot simply rely on a leader- Moses, a parent, rabbi, cantor, or teacher- to facilitate our relationship with God. They can help us search for and establish a relationship; but ultimately it is up to us to find our own personal and meaningful connection to God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alissa Forrest
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