This week we begin the second Book of the Torah – Shemot. The word means names – and there is a good reason why the book is called that - but most people know the book as Exodus, which is the Greek rendering of the Rabbinic name for the book, Sefer Yetziat Mitzrayim – the Story of Exiting Egypt. Its story is familiar to most of us, but in light of the terrible and often dangerous spike in anti-semitism everywhere over the past year, the story takes on an immediacy and urgency it might not otherwise have. One takeaway seems to be that the scourge of anti-semitism has been with us since our earliest days when Children of Israel meant nothing more than the Family of Jacob.
Spoiler alert - I will be speaking about this on Shabbat – but did you catch this past Sunday’s 60 Minutes? This “gold standard” news show aired a segment titled “The Gaza Policy” which focused exclusively on Israel’s counter terrorist operations in Gaza with no mention at all of Hamas’ role as the aggressor in the conflict and its use of schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods as military stations. Barely a line was given to mentioning hostages.
The broadcast included interviews with former U.S. State Dept. officials critical of American support for Israel. The officials alleged that the U.S. was directly responsible for the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza – rather than Hamas – because it was US armaments that were fired into Gaza. One of the former State Dept. officials resigned in protest only 10 days after the 10/7 atrocities and told a 60 Minutes producer that Israel should have pursued a peace deal immediately after the Hamas assault, rather than holding the terrorists accountable.
Every word of the broadcast was like a dagger in my heart. Only one side was being presented – and make no mistake, it was the wrong side! The sheer arrogance and the wholesale violation of journalistic ethics in the broadcast was disturbing and disheartening. But it is nothing new. The new Pharaoh introduced in our parsha also obfuscated the truth and painted a picture of the Hebrews calculated to demonize them in the eyes of the Egyptians. Sadly, it worked.
May we see the day when truth will prevail and when anti-semitism will be a relic of the past.
Shabbat shalom!
