Whew. What a time to be having a lil’ overview of the original text of liberation theology, eh? A reminder of what is at stake for us now, and what is involved in getting there.
When we began the Book of Exodus, there was a Pharaoh who, concerned about demographic threats, turned oppressive and genocidal. We met five women who resisted oppression; the midwives Shifra and Puah use civil disobedience to save lives; Yocheved, Moses’ mother, makes the radical decision not to believe what her oppressors tell her about herself and her baby; Miriam, Moses’ sister, bravely approaches a woman who could have her killed and Pharaoh’s daughter, Batya, leverages her privilege to have an impact where she could.
We then see Moses, raised in that same privilege, struggle in the “murdering the Egyptian” episode to understand what allyship really is, but later, after he runs away, realizes (like, Dr. King, centuries and lifetimes later) that leadership doesn’t mean not being afraid. We look at the Ten Plagues from the Israelites’ point of view, and realize that they may have served more than one purpose, and then we look at Pharaoh’s heart, and our own, and understand perhaps a bit better how empires get built—and where our own complicity in that might lie.
As the Israelites get ready to leave Egypt, we were lucky enough to get some Torah from Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein on the Torah Case for Reparations—because God says YES to reparations for slavery—and we see how the story of Miriam’s leading the Song at the Sea echoes, in some ways, a more recent midwifing of liberation, with Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin.
Then we get to the base of Mount Sinai. We can think about our relationships of love as covenantal. Moses inserts his own agenda into the language of preparing for Revelation that has deep impacts for women —in ways that painfully resonated with some of the deep misses of white feminism. And then, it was time for the giving of Torah, and it turns out that Revelation—hearing deep truth—is… terrifying. But it’s also powerful, using paradoxical language to access that which transcends language.
Which gets us to the Ten Commandments! An Overview! Shabbat as a justice issue, and revolutionary declaration of everyone’s worth! There was some talk on the nature and limits of the commandment to honor one’s parents! A whole miscellany on the other eight! (There was this Lilith/Vashti/Eve/Esther interlude.) There was some thinking about mysticism and obligation.
We talked about the Torah of reproductive freedom and how Judaism is big into abortion justice (ahem) and how if you want to get involved in that fight you can go revisit that post and click some links at the bottom, and how there are lots of resources there. Also PlanCPills.org. ALSO TOMORROW (Tuez) is the Jewish Rally for Abortion Justice in DC, hosted by National Council of Jewish Women, partnering with pretty much the whole Jewish community. Join us. I will be speaking, but more importantly a lot of other really critical voices in the movement for abortion justice will be, people will be telling abortion stories, it’s a really important time to show up. Virtually or IRL. More info at the link.
The Golden Calf happened! And we talked about trauma, adaptive vs technical leadership, and COVID. Moses wanted to see God, which reminded us that a theology of contradictions may, in fact, be a good and healthy thing.
Then we started building the Mishkan/Tabernacle, which involved rainbow unicorn skins, a lesson in getting dressed in splendor and majesty—especially when the work for a more just world is grueling and hard—and a Menorah that, it turns out, is a sacred tree that can teach us about the multilayered nature of ritual. Lastly, we ended our journey of Exodus with the Mishkan itself, building a holy home instead of oppressed and building for Pharaoh, creating a microcosm of Creation for the divine indwelling on Earth.
Back and around.
The next stop on the journey is to go deep into the heart of the Holy—into a text that feels challenging and loaded for many people, for many valid reasons. But I promise that there are ways to enter the center of the Torah, to plunge deep into Leviticus, and to emerge from its innermost sanctum, like the High Priest entering the Tabernacle’s most sacred space on Yom Kippur, and to emerge not only intact, but transformed.
But for now: let us just pause and recognize how far we have come.
And pssst, no, but really. JewishRally.org. Everyone welcome. In person and live-streamed.
Looking forward to Leviticus!
Wow. I know the Torah's composed of five books, but it never struck me until now that Leviticus really is "the center of the Torah." Can't wait to read more!