Parashat Sh’mot
Torah: Exodus 1:1 - 6:1
Haftarah: Isaiah 27:6 - 28:13; 29:22-23 (Ashkenazim); Jeremiah 1:1 - 2:3 (Sephardim)
Tevet 21, 5786 / January 9-10, 2026
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GOD HAPPENS!
"... You shall go with the elders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, happened upon us. And now, please let us go on a three-day journey in the desert and we shall sacrifice to the Lord, our God.'" Exodus 3:18
A traditional take (Rashi and Sforno) on this verse is that the Israelites are telling Pharaoh that this was not something that they had asked for or intended - after all, Pharaoh hates them enough as it is! Sforno adds that the Israelites are saying, "It's His will, He commanded us, what can we do?" And yet, one has to wonder - perhaps the Israelites did cause God to "happen" upon them.
At the end of chapter 2 of Exodus, the Israelites groaned because of their slavery and cried out. Their cries reached God, Who "remembered" the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They turned to God and their outcry caused God to respond. One might say, then, that one can bring God into the world, cause God to "happen", by praying, or by crying out, or by searching for God.
"... You shall go with the elders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, happened upon us. And now, please let us go on a three-day journey in the desert and we shall sacrifice to the Lord, our God.'" Exodus 3:18
A traditional take (Rashi and Sforno) on this verse is that the Israelites are telling Pharaoh that this was not something that they had asked for or intended - after all, Pharaoh hates them enough as it is! Sforno adds that the Israelites are saying, "It's His will, He commanded us, what can we do?" And yet, one has to wonder - perhaps the Israelites did cause God to "happen" upon them.
At the end of chapter 2 of Exodus, the Israelites groaned because of their slavery and cried out. Their cries reached God, Who "remembered" the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They turned to God and their outcry caused God to respond. One might say, then, that one can bring God into the world, cause God to "happen", by praying, or by crying out, or by searching for God.
Moses at the Burning Bush (Domenico Fetti, ca. 16-1615-1617)
On the other hand, perhaps Moses made God happen through his own actions. Moses acted righteously on several occasions before God chose him to save the Israelites - he struck down the Egyptian who was beating an Israelite, he saved Tzipporah and her sisters from the shepherds at the well, and he stopped to consider the burning bush. He was not seeking God, but he caused God to happen by acting justly, by defending the downtrodden, and by acknowledging a miracle.
We can cry out to God, we can pray to God, we can search for God, we can act in a Godly way - God comes into our lives, God happens, if we make God happen.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom, DD (HC)
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B'nai Hayim
"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”
BT Yevamot 88a
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