Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 20, 2005 Page: 16 of 24
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TJP V59-03 01-20-05 pl4-16 1/18/05 5:46 PM Page 16
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Texas Jewish Post
In Our 59th Year
January 20,2005
Torah Portion
Parshat Beshallah:
Exodus 13:17-17:16
EFRAT, Israel - "The nations
heard and were seized with trem-
bling... all the inhabitants of Canaan
melted The Lord will reign uni-
versally and eternally" (Exodus
15:14,15,18).
If the Egyptian experience was
the most seminal in the develop-
ment of the nation of Israel, then the
splitting of the Reed Sea (Yam Suf
literally translated is Reed - not Red
- Sea) was the climactic zenith of
that major historical event. The
Song of the Sea has been memorized
by Jewish children in day schools
from time immemorial, and we
even recite it as part and parcel of
our daily, Sabbath, and Festival
Morning Prayer Service. And what
emerges with exquisite clarity from
this magnificent paean of praise to
G-d is that our message of freedom
is meant not for Israel alone but also
for the entire world; Pharaohs,
despots and even more localized
communal rulers must understand
that only one Lord rules the world
and all of His children must be free!
That is the point of the verses
quoted above.
And if the Jewish people was born
- albeit in miniature but certainly in
potential - with the "Covenant
between the Pieces" (Genesis 15)
when Abraham, the founder of our
faith-family-nation, was promised
progeny and a land with borders,
then it would be correct to say that
the Israelite people was reborn as a
nation with a mission to
the world when we
emerged from the Reed Sea
freed from slavery,
unscathed from harm, and
inspired with a message for
the world: Birth or rebirth
is always associated with
water: the fetus is sur-
rounded by amniotic
fluids, the mother's "water
breaks" as a sign of imminent birth,
and therefore conversion as well as
baptism features immersion in
water.
Indeed, the Song of the sea con-
cludes with a vision of our planting
a seat for the Divine, a Temple to the
Lord, on the mountain of our inher-
itance (15:17,18), the very Temple
towards which our Prophets tell us
that the Gentile nations will rush,
and will learn from our Torah the
message of G-d's design of universal
peace, freedom and tranquility
(Isaiah 2, Micah 4).
Paralleling our national birth and
By Shlomo Riskin
rebirth is the birth and rebirth of
Moshe Rabbenu, Moses the greatest
prophet of our people, Moses the
one individual who understood and
communicated G-d's eternal Torah
to Israel and the world. And if we
study carefully Moses' emergence
onto the stage of history, the paral-
lels to the miracle and message of
the splitting of the Sea will become
inspiringly apparent.
The initial birth of Moses is
described in the first four
verses of the second
chapter of the Book of
Exodus: A man from the
house of Levi takes a wife
from the house of Levi; she
conceives and gives birth to
a son, whom she hides
(from the Egyptian police)
for three months. When he
couldn't be hidden any
longer, he was placed in an ark
smeared with clay and pitch, and the
ark was set afloat "in the reeds"
(besuf) of the Nile River; his sister
Miriam was stationed nearby to see
what would happen.
The re-birth of Moses begins
when Pharaoh's daughter goes
down to bathe in the Nile, her
maidens walk along the river, and
"she sees a basket among the reeds
(hasuf); she sends her maidservant,"
takes the Hebrew baby, takes pity on
him, and allows Miriam to find a
Hebrew wet-nurse for him.
Pharaoh's daughter has not given
birth to Moses, but she does save his
life!
And in saving his life, she endan-
gers her own life. After all, her father
Pharaoh has ordered all Hebrew
baby boys to be cast into the Nile; in
rescuing this Hebrew infant, she was
defying her father's decree. History
confirms that totalitarian despots
never hesitated to execute their
closest family members who dared
rebel against them.
Indeed, the Netziv (Rav Naftali
Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, author of the
HaAmek Davar Biblical Commen-
tary) suggests that once Pharaoh's
daughter saw the floating ark, and
suspected the existence of a Hebrew
baby within it, she sent away her
closest maidservant (Exodus 2:5) so
that when she - Pharaoh's daughter
- would rescue him, no one would
witness the event to inform her
father of her crime (the Bible had
already testified that her other maid-
servants had left her to walk along
the edge of the Nile). Pharaoh's
daughter emerges as the courageous
heroine of the moment!
This fortunate rebirth concludes
with the giving of a name: "And the
lad grew, and she (the wet-nurse,
Yoheved, his biological mother) took
him to Pharaoh's daughter; he
became for (Pharaoh's daughter) a
son and she called his name Moshe.
And she said, 'It is because I drew him
out from the water'" (Exodus 2:10)
Once again, I believe the Netziv
provid es the truest interpretation of
this verse. The Egyptian word
Moshe means son (Hebrew ben);
Pharaoh's daughter names him
"son," her son, because she earned
her motherhood by her having
risked her life for him. Since she
drew him forth from the Nile River,
in defiance of her father's orders, she
could claim him as her son.
At this point in the narrative,
there is no verbal connection what-
soever between the name Moshe
and the Hebrew verb meshitihu, to
draw out; after all, the name is
Egyptian and the verb is Hebrew.
However, the Writer of the Bible is
clearly making reference to the
double-entendre inherent in the
name: Moshe the son (in Egyptian)
will also draw forth (Moshe, in
Hebrew) his people, the Israelites,
from Egyptian servitude as well as
from the Reed Sea.
Just as the daughter of Pharaoh
drew forth (and saved) the Hebrew
child from the reeds of the Nile
River, so will the adult Moshe draw
forth and save his nation from the
Reed Sea; and he who learned the
courage to dissent from evil totali-
tarian laws of servitude from an
Egyptian princess will communicate
a Torah which will eventually teach
the entire world to have the courage
to be free - even if it means putting
your life on the line!
Shabbat Shalom.
Obituaries
Herbert Albert Marcus
DALLAS—Herbert Albert Marcus, Gabbai of
Congregation Shearith Israel from 1993-2003,
died of pancreatic cancer at his home on
Jan. 14, 2005, in the presence of his two sons.
He was a lover of Judai sm and the Hebrew lan-
guage, a passionate chanter of Jewish liturgical
music, an owner of the boutique decorative
fabrics supply business Orb Fabrics in his ear-
lier career, a devoted husband to his wife Peggy
for 45 years, and a model for his sons and
grandchildren of what it truly means to be a
"mensch." Born April 14, 1921 to Jewish
immigrants from Romania and Russia,
"Herbie" grew up in a traditional Jewish home
in St. Louis, Mo., the eldest of three brothers.
He began teaching Hebrew school at an early
age, went on to graduate from St. Louis Uni-
versity with a degree in accounting, and then
served as an officer in the Army Medical Corps
during World War II. Upon returning to St.
Louis after his military service, he met his
future wife Peggy. Shearith Israel had been Mr.
Marcus's spiritual home since 1950, when he
moved to Dallas with Peggy and his 1-year-
old-son, Steve. A second son, Paul was born
three years later; both boys received their
Jewish education in the synagogue's Hebrew
school. When Peggy Marcus died early in 1993
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at age 67, Mr. Marcus started attending a daily
minyan (prayer group) for mourners at the
synagogue. He decided that this would be the
time to retire and to carry on his late wife's tra-
dition of volunteer service to the Jewish
community. After selling his business, his reg-
ular attendance at minyans, knowledge of
Judaism and welcoming personality were
noted, and he w7as asked to succeed Gabbai
Phil Olian in the duties of the ritual chair. He
cherished his time at the synagogue, whether
tending to prayer books and sacred scrolls,
arranging honors ("aliyot") for members at
services, or assisting families with the process
of a child becoming a bar or bat mitzvah. His
voice could be heard from his seat on the
"bima," harmonizing and singing the bass part
at every service, as he had for four years in the
Glee Club at St. Louis University, where he
served in his last year as president. Preceded
in death by his wife Peggy, brother Stanley,
mother Sarah, and father Isaac, he is survived
by sons Steve and Paul, brother Ray, grandchil-
dren Kate, Jeremy and Tobin. Services to
celebrate his life were held, January 16, at
Cong. Shearith Israel. Interment followed at
Cong. Shearith Israel Cemetery. Donations
may be sent to the Peggy and Herb Marcus
Adult Education Fund, Congregation Shearith
Israel, 9401 Douglas Avenue, Dallas, Texas
75225.
Hannah Lois Garonzik Okon
DALLAS—Hannah Lois Garonzik Okon, well-
known Dallas resident, died Jan. 10, 2005.
Affectionately knowTi by her family as "Mimi,"
she is survived by her husband, of 63 years,
"Bennie." She is also survived by her children:
Susan and Kenny Chazanow; Frances and
Steven Okon; Tricia and Matt Gold; Howard
Okon and David Ellis; beloved grandchildren;
Mark and Jen Chazanow, Marti and Chad
Herman, Louis and Melanie Okon, Beth Chaz-
anow, Eric, Tracy and Josh Gold; precious
great-grandchildren: Ross Chazanow, Ted and
Jacqueline Herman; two brothers, Horace and
Joe Silberstein and their spouses; her devoted
friend Arnett Perry, and a large extended family
of relatives and friends. Lois was an active
member of numerous organizations and espe-
cially loved her card games, but her greatest joy
was her family. Graveside services were held
Jan. 11,2005, in Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial
Park with Rabbi Gerald J. Klein officiating.
Donations can be made to the charity of
your choice.
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Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 20, 2005, newspaper, January 20, 2005; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188063/m1/16/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .