Dear {{first_name}},
I’m embarrassed to admit I went through a rebellious phase as a teenager. Now, it wasn’t very obvious. I was still a teacher’s pet and rule follower. In school, at track practice, or out with friends, I had an overall kind and patient demeanor. This all lasted until I got home. My parents will attest to the fact that once I was alone with them, “kind and patient” could not be further from the truth. And looking back, I can see I was rude, disrespectful, and more importantly I was ungrateful.
Despite my behavior, my parents always supported me. In my completely unbiased perspective, they are two of the most loving, generous, and caring people in the world. I think they probably knew better than I did that any malice was misdirected, and that my actions were not about them. As a teenager, I had trouble recognizing that even parents are human, full of feelings and flaws too. I took for granted that they unequivocally loved me, and never left me even at my worst.
Moses’ upbringing was a bit different. When Moses was a baby, to escape Pharaoh’s decree of infanticide, Yocheved (Moses’ mother) cast him into the Nile River, where he was later saved by Batya, Pharaoh’s daughter. Quite frankly, I would think this gives Moses a little more reason to be a rebellious teenager than I had. But God wanted to prove otherwise. Rather than rebellious, Moses would be grateful for the protection he received.
In this week’s Torah portion, פרשת וארא, God begins to strike the Egyptians with the first seven of the ten plagues. For the first plague, God tells Moses “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt…that they may turn to blood;” (Exod. 7:19)
Why did God have Moses tell Aaron to execute the plague, rather than Moses himself? Rashi explains that “since the Nile River protected Moses when he was cast into it, it therefore was not struck by him…” (Rashi, Exod. 7:19) Further commentary from The JPS Rash Discussion: Torah Commentary adds that Moses owed the Nile, “a debt of gratitude.”
So here I am, raised in a warm house, receiving a great day school education, watching TV at my leisure, and acting defiantly to my parents? This passage brings to light the importance of sharing gratitude - even to inanimate objects. Moses was forbidden from striking the Nile as a form of showing respect. The Nile protected him as a baby so he must not strike it, even if the purpose of striking was to help free the Jews.
For all of the many ways my parents have and continue to provide for me, not striking them would have been the very least I could have done. And yet, I strayed, acting out and forgetting just how amazing, protective, and forgiving they were throughout my life.
Earlier this week, I called my mom to thank her for some of the ways she impacted my childhood and for the support she continues to give me. This call certainly can’t erase all the years I was snarky, but it’s one step I wanted to take to show gratitude to the ones who raised me. I hope this passage also prompts you to think about who influenced your life as a child, and who may have been there as support and protection. What might be one way you could show them gratitude this Shabbat?
Shabbat Shalom,
Hilary Druckman
