Parashat Beshalach, the Sabbath of Song (5761)
With God's help, on the eve of the holy Sabbath, Parashat Beshalach, the Sabbath of Song, 5761
Collective Psychiatry: Problems of Memory and Focus
Last week we dealt with meta-psychology, and this time we will move on to psychiatry (no
prerequisites).
In our portion there is an endlessly recurring motif: the short memory of human beings in general, and of the people of
Israel in particular.
Immediately after the signs and wonders that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs for Israel, He decides to lead them by a longer route
and not by way of the land of the Philistines, lest, upon seeing war, they suddenly decide to regret it and return
to Egypt. The assumption, which proved justified, was that the great miracles would be forgotten as soon as people
find themselves in a new and difficult situation.
When Pharaoh agrees, against his will, to Israel's departure from Egypt, he does so because of the suffering brought
upon him by the ten plagues. Immediately after Israel leaves, Pharaoh and his servants have a change of heart, and they
regret it and say: 'What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' (Exodus 14:5). Suddenly he no longer
remembers all the suffering that forced him to agree to Israel's departure. The Holy One, blessed be He, informs Israel that He
is hardening Pharaoh's heart and that he will pursue them, all this in order to exact vengeance upon him and his army (see
our remarks last week). This prior notice does not prevent Israel's panic when they
see the Egyptians pursuing them. In the new situation they do not remember the warning at all,
and they fall into genuine panic.
After the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea, it is said of the people of Israel: 'And they believed in the Lord and in
Moses His servant' (Exodus 14:31). Immediately afterward the Song at the Sea is recited, and then the greatest absurdity of all
occurs. Immediately after all the wonders and the great faith, they go out into the Wilderness of Shur, and there they find no water apart from
the bitter waters of Marah. Immediately everyone forgets everything and begins to complain that the Holy One, blessed be He, took them out to die
in the wilderness, and what on earth does He want from them anyway!? It is quite likely that they had water, and were only concerned
about how they would have water in the future (for otherwise their complaints would be justified). It seems that there was here a test
from the Holy One, blessed be He, and if so, they failed it miserably.
If at Marah it seemed as though there was some reason for Israel's complaints, then immediately afterward
the people arrive at the Wilderness of Sin, and there they complain for no reason at all. They are simply fed up with the wilderness.
After that the manna begins to fall, an event accompanied by many great miracles, and there the Holy One, blessed be He,
commands them not to take more than a daily portion. Some of the people here too do not listen, and take more
than one portion. The excess, needless to say, spoiled. Afterward Israel is commanded to preserve for the future
a jar of manna as a reminder, perhaps to help them improve their memory, which indeed appears to be defective to some
degree. At Rephidim there is again no water, and the people of course nearly stone Moses, and the place comes
to be called 'Testing and Quarreling.' At the end of the portion the war with Amalek takes place, and again we are commanded, 'Write
this as a memorial in the book' (Exodus 17:14). Another attempt to improve our collective memory. Amalek, in general,
is one of our stronger memory aids, as it is said: 'Remember what Amalek did to you'
(Deuteronomy 25:17).
In the prophetic reading, taken from the Book of Judges, Israel's memory improves slightly: after each victory the land
has rest for forty years. All this lasts until they forget everything, begin worshipping idols again, and once more
an enemy comes and subjugates Israel; once more they repent, the Holy One, blessed be He, delivers them for forty years,
and the cycle repeats.
In light of all this, it is somewhat difficult to understand the prophet's lofty poem: 'I remember for your sake the devotion of your youth,
your bridal love, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown…' (Jeremiah 2:2). In light of the frustrating description
above, I for one would have hoped that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not remember quite so well the way in which
our forefathers trailed after Him in the wilderness.
Moses, by contrast, was endowed with a long memory. While everyone is occupied with plundering Egypt, he
occupies himself with Joseph's coffin and bones; as we recall from the end of the Book of Genesis (about two hundred years earlier; see Genesis 50:25),
Joseph made Israel swear not to forget to take him with them to the land of Israel (to Shechem, which is in fact present-day
Palestine).
What all these cases share is a somewhat childish characteristic: living very intensely in the present, without any
connection to the past. The situation in which we find ourselves affects us so powerfully that we respond only
to it. We do not manage to look at it in perspective, to understand where it comes from, where it
is going, and how to conduct ourselves within it.
Has anything changed in us since then?
When today we have some problem—for example, a case of domestic violence or violence in the schools—
we immediately deal with it and discuss it alone. As soon as the current wave subsides, the topic disappears,
and we move on to discussing peace with the Palestinians. Once it becomes clear that this is slow in coming, we move
to the Syrians. When we see that our Syrian friend too is in no hurry to come share hummus with us, we immediately
return to domestic violence (building a few more shelters for battered women, and that too in the best case). If
there is a terrorist attack, we immediately take a hard line against terror (it seems to me that the Barak government has lost even this
healthy instinct. In general, I cannot seem to find anything it has not lost). We immediately
issue a forty-eight-hour ultimatum; afterward we forget it, along with the person
who issued it. With us, every policy, or every five-year plan, is valid for the duration of one news broadcast, or
at most two. It seems that the average length of a government's term is shrinking as well
accordingly.
If, as we have seen, Moses represents life lived in historical perspective, Amalek represents the approach
that lives in the present, in the here and now. Of him it is said: 'and his end shall be utter destruction' (Numbers 24:20). Amalek has no
future; he is a creature of the present. Yet we are commanded to remember him. And perhaps what we must remember is
precisely this: to remember that we must remember.
Have a peaceful Sabbath.
It may be placed in the receptacle for worn sacred texts in any synagogue or religious academy. Responses and comments will be welcomed.
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