Rabbi Howard Morrison

You may have seen the following depiction on line -  If the events of Moses versus Pharaoh had been reported in today's social media, it may have been reported as follows:

The tit for tat cycle of violence between Jews and Egyptians continues with no end in sight. Following eight previous plagues that destroyed Egypt's infrastructure and destroyed the lives of millions of Egyptians, hard-line Jewish leader Moses, has now launched a new offensive, code-named plague of Darkness.

The Egyptian health ministry reports that under the cover of darkness, Jewish militias are annihilating tens of thousands of Egyptians.

"These plagues, orchestrated by Moses, have caused a devastating humanitarian crisis," the Egyptians declared. "The Jews are committing genocide." World leaders, fearing regional conflict, held an emergency session to condemn Moses for "warmongering and collective punishment." They issued a joint statement warning Moses to refrain from "dangerous escalation" against Egypt and its proxies, and demanded an immediate ceasefire.

Moses said the plagues were in response to alleged "mass enslavement of Jews in concentration camp conditions, and Egypt's policy of murdering every Jewish baby boy."

Experts have been unable to verify these accusations.

Pharaoh, Egypt's Supreme leader, defended his actions as "legitimate resistance - the only means to fight the Jews' superior weaponry supplied by its superpower God."

Pharaoh continued: "If only the plagues would stop, there would be no slavery. We just want to live plague-free. It is the right of every society."

Students for Justice in Egypt criticized the international community 'for failing to maintain peace and security, while allowing Moses to transgress red lines and commit war crimes. The Jews should remain in slavery, for the good of the rest of the world." - - - - - Had social media existed in today's Parsha.

A partial antidote to such social media perspectives is EDUCATION! Much of the Pesach Seder finds its roots in today's Parsha. For example, the narrative of the four kinds of children originates in today's Torah lesson. Three out of four citations regarding children are recited today:

1. When your children ask you, what does this service mean to you? (Exodus 12:26)
2. When in time to come, your child asks you, saying, what does this mean? (Exodus 13:14)
3. And you shall explain to your child on that day (Exodus 13:8)

A fourth reference to children appears in Deuteronomy 6:20 - "When in time to come, your children ask you, what mean the decrees, laws, and rules. . .?

From these four citations, the earliest form of the Seder instructs the parent to teach the child according to his/her abilities and talents. The narrative of the four children: the wise, wicked, simple, and who cannot ask, are not value judgments. Rather, they are modalities challenging parents and educators to teach our children in the most effective way possible.

This lesson is relevant right now. We cannot necessarily control the education of Jew haters, who twist facts to fit their already manufactured narrative. A the very least, however, we Jewish parents, grandparents, and educators might teach our children in a manner so that they understand the facts intellectually, emotionally, and morally. That pedagogic technique originates in our Torah lesson today.

Early in our Parsha, Moses demands of Pharaoh that "We go forth with our young and with our old." Especially in our times, we need all generations to work together in learning the truths of Judaism, our heritage, and our land. In this way, we can constructively confront the social media misrepresentations which exist today, and which surely would have existed in Biblical times had social media been around.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Howard Morrison