Beshallach 5772

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

 

The Urgent and the Important

This week’s parashah starts with the exodus from Egypt, allowed under an order issued by a dejected Pharaoh, following the tenth plague: the death of the firstborns.  The departure had to be quick, since Pharaoh could change his mind.  Moreover, staying too long could be dangerous.

Just as the Torah tells the story of the departure from Egypt, the following verse appears:  “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely remember you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you’” (Ex. 13:19).  The verse recalls that, before his death, Joseph took an oath from his brothers, making them swear that when the people were to return to the land of Israel, they should take his remains with them, to be buried along his relatives (see Genesis 50:25).

It is interesting to notice that, while Jacob made his son Joseph swear to take his bones to the land of Israel, Joseph asked his brothers to take his bones only when they were leaving Egypt.  According to Rashi, who quotes Midrash Mekilta, Joseph knew that Pharaoh had only allowed him to leave the country to bury his father because of the greatness he enjoyed at the Egyptian Empire, but that his brothers would not be allowed to do the same thing with his mortal remains.   That is why he only asked, according to the Midrash, that they take an oath from their children, and their children from their children, that once they left Egypt they would take his bones with them.

Now then, in our parashah, the children of Israel are about to leave Egypt, and Moses, recalling his ancestor’s oath, decides to take Joseph’s bones with him.

Let us imagine the situation:  the entire people are leaving the country; they are in a hurry, sort of escaping.  According to the Midrash, everyone was hurrying to pack their few belongings: some food (matzah) and clothes for the journey, perhaps some animals, preparing the children… everything done very fast, and very likely, amidst confusion.  Another Midrash describes that the people, at the time, were “pillaging/borrowing” from Egypt, just as God had promised.

At that same time, what was Moses, the leader of the people, doing?  Moses collects Joseph’s bones and prepares to take them with him.  Imagine all the people rushing, carrying all their possessions, watching as Moses gathers bones.  As if this was not enough, another Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 20:19) described that the Egyptians had hidden Joseph’s coffin within Pharaoh’s palace, keeping close watch over it, for they knew that if the Hebrews took it, the promise of redemption would start to become a reality, and they would leave the country forever.  Nevertheless, Moses moved heaven and earth just to comply with the order of taking Joseph’s bones with them.

Imagine, then, the image of a large people escaping with their few belongings (whether their own or those delivered by the Egyptians), while their leader walks at the head, carrying a coffin full of bones.  Had Moses lost his mind?  Was it that urgent to take Joseph’s bones?  Weren’t there other more pressing things to do?

I think we can learn something important from this action of Moses.  The people were leaving Egypt, never to return; so that was the only chance they would have to take Joseph’s bones away.  Perhaps there were more “urgent” things, but that was what was “important”.

The lesson here is that we must learn to distinguish between what is urgent and what is important.  By “urgent” I’m referring to the everyday things: the work meetings we cannot postpone, the people with whom we must deal, the TV program we have to watch, etc.  What we call “urgent” is what we do on a daily basis and makes us sweat, because we want to accomplish it all.  “Important”, on the other hand, are those things that mark a difference in our lives: affections, family, friends, being there when someone asks us to be.  The problem is that we often confuse the priorities of what is urgent and what is important.

When our lives move only through the urgent, forgetting the important, then we are failing, we are making a mistake.  When we cannot devote the time and energy required by those things that we appreciate and love most, we’re in a bad place… and we have to change our priorities.  Priorities should be the most important and essential, that which gives us life and inspires us to get up every morning.  Let us review our lives and identify the more important things, giving them the time they deserve.

Moses could distinguish between important and urgent, even at the most pressing of times.  With a little effort and a small dose of sincerity, we will distinguish them as well; we only have to allocate priorities correctly.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica