"An
Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds, and he even drew water for us and
watered the sheep" (Shemot 2:19)
Moshe
Rabbenu looked like an Egyptian. He
dressed like an Egyptian, had an Egyptian haircut, an Egyptian beard and an
Egyptian accent. He looked like an
Egyptian from head to toe. Because of
this, our Rabbis expressed somewhat of a criticism of him. They state (Devarim Rabbah 2:8): "One
who identifies with his Land will be buried in the Land, and one who does not
identify with his Land will not be buried there." Yosef identified with the Land when he said:
"For indeed I was kidnapped from the Land of the Hebrews" (40:15),
and he was therefore buried in Shechem.
But Moshe Rabbenu did not acknowledge the Land. When Yitro's daughters say to their father:
"An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds," Moshe heard himself
being referred to as an Egyptian and kept quiet. Based on this, our Sages conclude that
because Moshe did not identify with the Land, he did not merit being buried
there.
Rabbi
Meir Yechiel of Ostrovtza, one of the great Chasidic Rebbes in Poland, asked
this question: what did they want from Moshe Rabbenu? Yosef saying that he was from Eretz Yisrael
made perfect sense: he was raised there.
But Moshe was born and raised in Egypt!
Was he expected to lie and say he was from Eretz Yisrael? His answer: Every Jew is obligated to see him
or herself as an Israeli. Even if he was
born elsewhere – by historical error - he nonetheless belongs to the Land of
Israel. A Jew should always say: I
come from Eretz Yisrael! Rabbi Moshe
from Kutzi, the author of the "Semag" and one of the Tosafot, would
sign his name: "Moshe from the Exile of Jerusalem who is in
France." It is true that I am in
France, but I am from Jerusalem. When a
Jew is asked: "Where are you from," he must therefore respond: I
come from Eretz Yisrael.
I
was once invited to a Brit Milah. When
we sat down to eat, a man quickly ran into the hall and said: "When is the
Brit Milah?" The participants told
him: "It just ended. Mazel
Tov!" He took a deep breath:
"Oy vey, I missed it!" He sat
down at the meal. I was sitting nearby
and overheard his conversation with the others.
-
They asked him: "Where
are you from?"
-
He said proudly with a
German accent: "From Frankfurt am Main!"
-
I thought to myself: Poor
guy, he came all the way from Frankfurt am Main to the Brit Milah and missed it
by a few minutes… Everyone felt sorry
for him.
-
They asked: "What kind
of work do you do?"
-
He said: "I sell
Sifrei Kodesh (holy books)."
-
"In Frankfurt am
Main?"
-
"No, no. In Bayit Ve-Gan (a Jerusalem
neighborhood)."
-
????
-
"I live in Bayit
Ve-Gan."
-
"Didn't you just say
that you are from Frankfurt am Main?"
-
"Yes, yes. I live in Bayit Ve-Gan but I am from
Frankfurt am Main!"...
He
may live in Bayit Ve-Gan, but where is he really from? Frankfurt am Main! He breathes Frankfurt am Main, thinks about
Frankfurt am Main and lives Frankfurt am Main.
This is how German Jews felt right before the Holocaust.
