"And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." (Ex.2: 23-25)
Had a seder with my wife's family--including eleven children under the age of twelve--last night. I have a three-and-a-half page cutting of the Haggadah I like to use, but was a little worried about the kids paying attention even through that, so I tried to tell the story of the Exodus, as much as possible, by asking them questions.
For instance, when I asked "What did they people do when they wanted to stop being slaves?," one of my nephews correctly remembered/guessed, "They prayed."
"That's right!" I said. "And what did God do then?"
My seven-year-old niece raised her hand. "He prayed back," she said.
I like that. Here's to a God who prays back.
Rabban Gamliel used to say: The prayer that God prayed back to Israel is the Shema, and therefore as we pray the Shema God prays with us.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Amulek used to say: Whenever a man cries to the Lord, the Lord prays back and he experiences again the redemption from Egypt. For this reason you should cry to the Lord in all things. Cry to him by day and by night, cry over your fields and cry over your flock, cry for your friends and for your enemies, for your sons and your daughters and your wives. And he will pray back to you by angels, by all the holy prophets, and by his own voice.
Rabbi Alma said: It is also by remembering the captivity of our fathers that we experience our own redemption.
Oliver Cowdery asked: How can the prayer of the Lord be heard? And the Lord spoke to Oliver Cowdery, and said: When I pray to you, you will hear it in your mind and in your heart. And it is by the power of My prayer, or the breath of my revelation, that the Red Sea was parted and the children of Israel walked through on dry ground.
Wow. Well said.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you are going to return to these midrashim -- I know there are things more important than writing on a blog but so many of these are priceless!
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