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| “By caring for each other, by looking out for each other, by seriously addressing the needs of each other, we become truly whole, or wholly holy!” writes Rabbi Reuven Bulka. (Ashley Fraser) |
By Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka
Rabbi Emeritus
Congregation Machzikei Hadas
Who is included? That is the question.
It is not a new question. It is a question that goes
back thousands of years.
Ironically, it was a question posed by Pharaoh to
Moses. When Moses demanded that he, Pharaoh, release the Children of Israel
from bondage to freedom, Pharaoh asked, “Who exactly is going?” In other
words, who is included (in your demand)?
Moses gave an answer that resonates for the ages. He
responded: “With our young ones and our elders we will go; with our sons and
our daughters.” (Exodus, 10:9)
Put bluntly, no one will be left behind. Everyone
is included.
Why would Pharaoh have thought otherwise? Why would he
have thought that Moses would leave anyone behind?
Perhaps this relates to the “intelligence” he had
gathered, or the dirty tricks that Pharaoh engineered in Egypt, creating and
supporting an anti-Moses group among the Israelites to undermine the effort to
extricate the Israelites from bondage.
It is likely that Pharaoh was stunned by Moses’
response. Everyone, even those who opposed him, even undermined him, was part
of the exit strategy. Whether they would want to leave was another matter, but
as far as Moses was concerned, everyone counted, everyone mattered, everyone
was welcome to join, be it Israelite friend or Israelite foe.
Pharaoh’s surprise related to how he would have
reacted were he in Moses’ position. He would not have wanted adversaries coming
along. If anything, he would have eliminated them. But that was not the way of
Moses. Moses was an inclusivist.
And the bar of who exactly was included was very clear
to him. Everyone who wanted to join, everyone in the community of Israel who
wanted to align their destiny with the Children of Israel, was welcome.
Of course, inclusion then had a different connotation
than it does now. Then it meant young and old, male and female, allies and
adversaries.
Today, inclusion connotes all of the above, plus. It
includes all those who in our incessant embrace of “progress” might be left
behind, or given less attention, or not have needs addressed, among other
reasons for neglect.
Think for a moment about the “inclusion” response of
Moses. As a leader of a large community, he had to be concerned about
elementary logistics. People in their most energetic years did not pose a
problem. But the young who were not yet walking and the elderly who could no longer
walk could be a problem.
One way or another, these groups were sure to slow
down the movement of the group toward their destination. An argument could have
been made at least regarding the elderly that it would be better for the
totality if the elderly were left behind. There would be less health related
worries, less concerns about the burdens of the extra care they would need.
Yet for Moses and the rest of the leadership, it was a
no brainer. Nothing would stand in the way of taking everyone – not arguments
about logistics, not arguments about practicality, not arguments about
diversion of resources.
If the community leaving Egypt was not a caring
community, it would by definition be a community of compromised values, less
than a noble and deserving community.
In other words, by his response, Moses was telling
Pharaoh, and all of us, then and now, that a community in which any segment is
left out is a deficient community.
There is another significant difference between then
and now. Then, it was a matter who was joining the Exodus. Now, it is a
question who exactly do we care about, and for? We care about family, we care
about friends, and we surely should care about those who need our care and
concern. It is we who need to make sure that those who doubt if they are
welcome are made to feel welcome. That process starts in the head and in the
heart, and then branches out into real life, and tangible, meaningful action.
By caring for each other, by looking out for each
other, by seriously addressing the needs of each other, we become truly whole,
or wholly holy!
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