staying busy

 

An article in the Harvard business review tracked an interesting change in our culture over the last 100 years. In the old days, being able to afford leisure time was a status symbol. It meant that a person was wealthy enough not to work and it was viewed favorably. A new trend, however, has changed all that. What is now perceived as high status is when a person says they are busy. It is a sign of success and value that a person is constantly busy. It must be they are always wanted for their talents and ambition. While some times true, it means people look to become busy for the sake of status. There is a danger, however, that comes with always being busy. It seriously infringes on the ability to think big and have the peace of mind to capture important opportunities in life.

This idea is borne out when we analyze how the Torah communicates the initial stages of the exodus. Moses arrives on the scene and the Jews are receptive. He has given them the special password that redemption is around the corner and they are ready. Pharaoh, in contrast, is not ready to let go of his slaves. He devises a brilliant plan of how to keep them in Egypt. One might think Pharaoh should make it slightly easier, convince the Hebrew slaves that it isn’t so bad in Egypt. Instead, he does the opposite. He makes things much worse. He adds layer of work to an already difficult situation. He prohibits the normal Shabbat break and the reading of hope filled scrolls detailing a future redemption. He knows that if he can just make them busy and cut them off from their break that it would be sufficient.

Sure enough, that is exactly what happens. Rather than let the slaves go and ease their work, Pharaoh makes their life much worse. The slaves engage in super intense work that is unending. When Moses comes and claims that the plan for redemption has only hit a hiccup but will continue nonetheless as promised, the Hebrews don’t listen this time. What is interesting is why they don’t listen. The Torah says they didn’t listen because they were ‘short of breath’ and because of the ‘hard work’. As Pharaoh understood, when stressed in the moment and fatigued, it becomes hard to think, and even harder to think big about major changes. Even though it was detrimental to stay in this situation, they couldn’t think about the thought of change. This is the danger of a busy life. It leaves us short on thinking in general, and in particular with the ability to think about change. Luckily, we are not enslaved, but we can be busy and constantly bothered by our technology. It is crucial we don’t let busy short circuit our ability to process life. Via Shabbats and quiet moments throughout the day we can make sure we have moments of big thinking.

What does Moses mean?

The origins of our greatest hero is shrouded in mystery. An anonymous Jewish man meets an anonymous Jewish women from the house of Levi and they have a child who is described by the general adjective as ‘good’. The Talmud wonders what this multi- purpose adjective alludes to and settles on five different possibilities. Interestingly, the first two possibilities are that this was Moshe’s actual name- Tov or the other opinion, Tuvia. But why were these names hidden in the Torah and never spelled out? Why is it that it is Batya, the daughter of Pharoh who saves Moshe, the one who gets to name arguably the most important Jewish person of all time? Further, what does the name mean and is it Egyptian?

The first question is addressed by the midrash. It answers beautifully that Batya won the naming rights for Moshe because of her heroic act to save a Jewish baby that likely endangered her own life. The Torah’s foundation is act of loving kindness and because she acted in such a way, it is the name that she gave Moshe that became the name he is known as even over his own parents. But why was that name a perfect fit to be the name of the redeemer of the Jewish people?

The Torah says that the name means that he was drawn from the water. The strange part, though, is that the conjugation of the name means that he will draw others up from the water. In other words, because he was saved from the death, he would then be a person that would save others from death. Often, it is the dramas in a person’s life that become their life mission, and this was the case for Moshe. More than that, there is an emphasis that Moses was drawn up specifically from the waters (as opposed to the river) in the sense that he was separated from the water. A commentary points out that it implies that his

essence was different than the water. Water is a substance that takes the shape of its surroundings because it is formless on its own. In contrast, Moses, the ultimate leader is one who leads with purpose and vision- he has a shape of where he wants to go that is not determined by its surroundings. This is the prophetic name that Pharoh’s daughter gives to the baby and it is a Divine sign that he is in fact the perfect person to lead Israel out of Egypt.