Shabbat-Table Talks: Shemot

By: Rabbi Ralph Tawil

Value: Courage in Fighting Injustice and Abuse

There are times in our lives and in the life of our children when we witness abuse. In some cases, especially when it concerns us or someone we know, we will get involved. It is a value to get involved even when we witness the abuse of someone whom we do not know, or someone whom "everyone picks on." Making a joke about a person or group is a form of abuse from which we should refrain.

Torah Text: Shemot 2:16-22

A. Now the priest of Midyan had seven daughters; they came, they drew water and they filled the troughs, to give-drink to their father’s sheep. Shepherds came and drove them away. But Moshe rose up, he delivered them and gave drink to their sheep.

B. When they came home to Re’uel their father, he said: Why have you come home so quickly today? They said: An Egyptian man rescued us from the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew, yes, drew for us and watered the sheep. He said to his daughters: So where is he? For what reason have you left the man behind? Call him, that he may eat bread with us!

C. Moshe agreed to settle down with the man, and he gave Ssipora his daughter to Moshe. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name: Gershom/Sojourner There, for he said: A stranger have I been in a land foreign to me.

Method:

This story is probably well known to your children. Read the whole story and then reread section A.

Take a while and focus on the feelings of the various characters in the story.

I. At the well

  1. The Shepherds: Why did the other shepherds do what they did? Was it right? Why do people do things that are not right? (Have someone else do the work for them.) What did the shepherds think would happen? (They thought they could take advantage of the women without anything happening to them.)

  2. Moshe: What was his situation? (He was fleeing Egypt. He was a stranger. It might have been in his best interest to curry favor with the local powers.) Did he endanger himself by getting involved? How many other shepherds were there? (More than one.) Did he know the women? Did he have anything to gain? Why did he get involved? (Saw injustice. Felt the pain of the abused.)

  3. Re’uel’s daughters: How did they feel about the abused? Was this the only time that it had happened or did it happen consistently? Reread section B to your children or let them reread it carefully. (Re’uel asks them why they came home quickly _today_. This implies that the other shepherds normally would have exploited them—only today was different.) What should they have done?

II. At Re’uel’s house: Why was Re’uel interested in the stranger’s whereabouts? (--To protect him or to find a suitable husband for his daughters).

III. Moshe was rewarded for his actions at the well in way that he could never have anticipated.

Application:

In the school:

Are there people in your class that everyone picks on? How do you think they feel? How do you feel about it? What can you do to stop it? Will it be easy? (We have to prepare our children to be courageous in the fight against injustice, even on a small scale. The small scale battles against injustice that go on in the classroom and playground set the foundation for the essential fight against injustice that must go on if society is to continue to exist.)

In the home:

Are there people in our society who we insult or make jokes about? How do you feel when a joke is told that denigrates women or people of other races? How should we react when we hear such jokes? (We should say that we do not want to hear such jokes and we should never tell them.) Are there such things as "innocent" jokes when it comes to racist or sexist jokes? What are the dangers of these "innocent" jokes? (The attitudes contained in these "innocent jokes" become ingrained in our minds and we perceive reality to affirm these attitudes. These attitudes can lead to more serious forms of abuse.)