Unscrolled : 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle With the Torah (9780761178743)

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Unscrolled : 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle With the Torah (9780761178743) Page 10

by Bennett, Roger (EDT)


  “I’ll be back,” I said, already running.

  “What is your name?” she shouted.

  I did not hesitate. “Teshubah,” I called out, and then I ran as I had never run before, already thinking about what I would tell my mother, my broken mother, how I could coax her to believe, to come with me back down the banks of the Nile, where she would find her son, starving and screaming and desperately hungry for her milk. Could I carry her if I had to? I could. I would. I am Miriam, star of the sea, star of the river, and I delivered my brother not once but twice.

  “Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magicians, in turn, did the same with their spells.” —Exodus 7:11

  VA-ERA (“And I appeared”)

  Exodus 6:2–9:35

  The plan is revealed: God tells Moses that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew the Lord by the name El Shaddai, but that the real name of God is YHVH (pronounced Yah-weh). The Lord then repeats the covenant and declares that slavery will soon be ended after a series of extraordinary punishments have been inflicted on the Egyptians. Moses relays this news to the Israelites, but they refuse to believe it: The slave experience has crushed their hopes.

  Undeterred, God instructs Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the Israelites’ release, but Moses questions God, wondering why Pharaoh will believe a man with a speech impediment when even his own people have ignored him. God attempts to compensate for this speech problem by instructing Aaron to accompany Moses on his way.

  The Lord informs Moses that he will play the role of God before Pharaoh, and Aaron will act as a prophet. Moses will repeat God’s words; Aaron will handle the small talk and demand that Pharaoh liberate the Israelites. But Moses is also warned that God will harden Pharaoh’s heart, preventing the Egyptian from freeing the Israelites, so the Lord will have the opportunity to perform multiple miracles and leave no doubt which deity forced the Egyptians’ hands. Moses is eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they assume this task.

  The Lord sets out the plan: When Pharaoh asks to see a sign of God’s power, Moses is to instruct Aaron to perform the “rod into a serpent” trick. They do as directed. Pharaoh reacts by ordering his sorcerers to do the same; they meet his challenge. But no sooner have their rods become serpents than Aaron’s rod swallows them all. Despite this, Pharaoh’s heart hardens, exactly as God promised.

  Bloody Hell

  God commands Moses to intercept Pharaoh as he takes a morning bath in the Nile and ask that he release the Israelites. To reinforce the point, Moses is to threaten Pharaoh. If he does not accede, the Nile water will be turned into blood and instantly made undrinkable on account of the dead fish it will contain.

  Aaron is then to hold his rod over the Nile, and all the water in Egypt—even that borne in water jugs—will turn into blood. The plan is executed: The Nile stinks and blood flows across Egypt. But once the Egyptian sorcerers work out how to replicate the spell, Pharaoh’s resolve stiffens and he will not free the Israelites, even as his people dig into the ground in search of water to drink.

  Frog attack

  A plague of frogs is next to be unleashed. God tells Moses to threaten Pharaoh with the prospect of having amphibians cover the Nile, the royal palace, and even Pharaoh’s bed. Aaron triggers the plague with his rod, but again the Egyptian sorcerers are able to replicate the feat. Pharaoh asks Moses to intercede with God; the Lord makes all the frogs die, leaving them to rot in stinking piles. But once Pharaoh sees the threat has been removed, he changes his mind as God predicted.

  Let there be lice . . . and other ghastly stuff

  Aaron’s rod then produces a plague of lice, which smothers man and beast across Egypt. This time, Pharaoh’s magicians cannot reproduce the trick. All they can manage is to express their admiration for God’s work. But Pharaoh remains unmoved. Insects are then unleashed across the land—swarming amid Egyptians yet avoiding Israelites. Pharaoh encourages Moses to make a sacrifice to his God in the hope that the insects will be removed. Moses agrees, warning Pharaoh not to change his mind again. But once God withdraws the insects, Pharaoh says he will not let the people go. The Lord tells Moses to threaten Pharaoh with an epidemic that will destroy the country’s livestock. The next day, all the Egyptian farm animals are struck down, but still Pharaoh remains stubborn.

  Moses and Aaron receive instruction to take soot from an oven and throw it in the air in front of Pharaoh. The gesture will make a dust to cover the region and cause boils to break out on humans and animals everywhere. The Egyptian magicians are among those struck down and so are prevented from reversing the plague, but God has hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he remains unmoved.

  The next morning, God dispatches Moses once more to implore Pharaoh to let the Lord’s people go and to threaten that worse will befall him; God can wipe him out, but has spared the king as a demonstration of power and to spread renown throughout the world. A hail shower is threatened—one so powerful, it will kill animals and humans alike.

  Moses is told to hold his arms to the sky so the hail will fall. He does, and thunder, hail, and fire rain down on Egypt, striking down humans and animals and shredding trees.

  Pharaoh summons Moses, admits his guilt, and promises to let the Israelites go if he can make the hail stop. Moses promises to do so. But once the hail and thunder stop, Pharaoh reneges on his deal, just as God has predicted.

  Sloane Crosley

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  “And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron: ‘Take to you handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moses throw it heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.’ And they took soot of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it up heavenward; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.”

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  “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them.’” —Exodus 10:1

 

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