The Talmud teaches that 30 days before Passover, we should start learning about the holiday and its meaning. In that spirit, I humbly offer "30 Days of Liberation." For each of the next 30 days, I will offer a brief message drawn from the wisdom of Passover. I hope you find these messages meaningful and inspiring. Feel free to share/forward.
30 Days of Liberation: Day 20 In his new book “The Exodus,” biblical scholar Richard Elliot Friedman argues, among other things, that Moses may have actually been a Midianite and not a Hebrew. While Friedman’s argument is compelling, this assertion may be shocking to some. If it’s true, consider what the Bible would be teaching. If he was Midianite, Moses would have been neither victim nor culprit in the drama of Israelite enslavement. He would have been a bystander. Perhaps God deliberately asked a bystander to become a liberator in order to teach us, in the words of later biblical passages, “You must not stand idly by” and “You must not remain indifferent” when others are suffering. And, if he was actually Midianite, it helps explain why Moses has to first partner with Aaron the Levite and make allies of the Israelite elders. Because privileged ones who are neither victims nor perpetrators of an injustice are critical in the pursuit of justice, but only if they become allies of the oppressed, rather than trying to play the role of savior. The oppressed always must play a role in their own redemption, buoyed by the support of privileged and powerful allies. Moses the Midianite would model both the responsibility of the bystander and the strategy of sacred partnership.
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