As a prelude to the ten plagues, Hashem sends Moshe and Aharon to demonstrate אותות, signs. Moshe throws his staff onto the ground; it turns into a serpent. The passuk states:
שמות ז:יא) וַיִּקְרָא֙ גַּם־פַּרְעֹ֔ה לַֽחֲכָמִ֖ים וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִ֑ים וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֨וּ גַם־הֵ֜ם חַרְטֻמֵּ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם בְּלַֽהֲטֵיהֶ֖ם כֵּֽן)
Pharoah called to his wise men and to the sorcerers
and the necromancers of Egypt also did likewise with their magic.
The Ibn Ezra defines מְכַשְּׁפִ֑ים as those who change created matter למראה העין, in terms of appearances. He explains that “the Torah distinguished between the act of Moshe which was אמת and the act of the חרטומים , which they did בְּלַֽהֲטֵיהֶ֖ם.” What is להט?
והוא כמו בריקות ואש עוברת וזאת היא אחיזת עינים:
And it is like lightning flashes and passing fire, and that is “grabbing of the eyes”.
The Ibn Ezra is telling us that the Egyptian sorcerers were illusionists.
The contrast between Moshe/Aharon and the Egyptian illusionists is an apt metaphor for reality vs. Illusion; objectivity vs. subjectivity; clear lenses vs. rose colored glasses; the way things are vs. the way we want to see them... I thought of this when I saw an article in the Jerusalem Post by Lahav Arkov. He noted the following headlines:
NPR: “As Israel leads in COVID-19 vaccines per capita, Palestinians still await shots,”
Associated Press: “Palestinians left waiting as Israel is set to deploy COVID-19 vaccine,”
Arkov explains that the Palestinian Authority has “refused to even talk to Israel when the latter was ordering vaccine doses, let alone coordinate a complex rollout operation...The Palestinians are in control of their health policies and, with help from WHO, will be receiving vaccines from Russia and other sources.’ Thus, the carefully worded headlines create an illusion of Israeli injustice that reinforces the stereotypes of Palestinian victimhood. The typical reader is completely taken in by the illusion.
Ms. Vera is currently working on “media literacy” with her students. How does one assess the legitimacy of the streams of information we experience every moment of every day? How does one distinguish between fact and opinion? How can you discern when context or lack of context is subtly influencing the message?
Hashem’s miracles prevailed against the Egyptians. More importantly, they initiated a conversation about reality that continues to this day.
Shabbat Shalom.
Comments