(The song “I always dreamed” by Eliad. My friend Jordan sent it to me today! In honor of the dreamer Joseph whose story and its erasure leads to the drama of the Exodus.”)
“Why did he give?” One of the most beautiful parts of my job is asking the questions that will best lead to a difficult product: Two paragraphs that sum up the meaning of someone else’s life. In preparing a funeral this past week, the deceased’s kids kept on coming back to the idea of how much their father gave. And I was curious, “why do you think he gave.” The answers were varied: because he could, because he wanted to, because of how he and his father grew up, and because he wanted to be remembered. In Hebrew, the word for inheritance and legacy are the same: yerusha. This man was ever thoughtful of what he inherited from his father, and what he wanted to leave behind in the world. And through that generosity, he wanted to be remembered — by name.
In English, the book of the bible we are entering is called “Exodus.” In Hebrew, it is called “Shmot” or names. In general, the English names of the 5 books of Moses are thematic. In Hebrew, it is often the first full/non-preposition word in the book. However, in the case of this book, the different names for this book tell two different stories: one that focused on what happened, and the other on the main characters.
The Book of Shmot begins naming everyone who came to Egypt with Jacob: (Exodus 1:1)
וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַבָּאִ֖ים מִצְרָ֑יְמָה אֵ֣ת יַעֲקֹ֔ב אִ֥ישׁ וּבֵית֖וֹ בָּֽאוּ׃
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household:
And then there is the list of each of their names. Rashi comments:
— Although scripture has already enumerated them by name whilst they were living, when they went down into Egypt (Genesis 46:8-27), it again enumerates them when it tells us of their death, thus showing how dear they were to God — that they are compared to the stars which also God brings out and brings in by number and name when they cease to shine, as it is said, (Isaiah 40:26) “He bringeth out their host by number, He calleth them all by name” (Exodus Rabbah 1:3; Tanchuma Yashan 1:1:2).
We learn from Rashi’s commentary that listing the names of Jacob’s sons is not housekeeping or summary. Rather, it is an act of love. To be remembered by name not only in life, but also in death is an act of deep love that God not only affords to Jacob’s children, but also to each star as it begins to shine and ultimately dims. Our humanity, our value, and the extent to which we are respected and loved is deeply entwined with being called and remembered by name — not only as a group, but as an individual.
This Shabbat, let us remember this act of love. We may not be able to prevent the deaths of others, but we can do a Divine chesed, act of loving kindess, when we recall and remember those who have died by name. Of course, what we can all do is live the kind of life and leave the kind of legacy that merits the kind of remembrance we hope for: one that made the most of what we inherited, and one marked the the beauty and depth of what we leave behind.
Shabbat Shalom