CHOCHMAS NASHIM: VAERA:
YET IN EVERY GENERATION
By: Suri Davis
Today in Jewish History, Portuguese Expulsion (1496)
Following the death of King Joao of Portugal in 1494, his son King Manuel I ascended the throne. When his legitimacy as heir to the throne was challenged, Manuel wished to marry Princess Isabel of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, in order to solidify his position. As a precondition to the marriage, the Spanish monarch demanded that Portugal expel its Jews—many of whom were refugees from the 1492 Spanish Expulsion who found refuge in the neighboring country of Portugal. Manuel agreed, and five days after the marriage agreement was signed, on Tevet 23 (5257), he issued a decree giving Portugal’s Jews eleven months to leave the country.
Appreciating the Jews’ economic value, Manuel was unhappy with the potential loss of this economic asset, and devised a way to have the Jews stay in Portugal—but as Christians. Initially, he instructed the Jews to leave from one of three ports, but soon he restricted them to leaving from Lisbon only. When October of 1497 arrived, thousands of Jews assembled there and were forcibly baptized. Many Jews stayed and kept their Jewish faith secret; they were called Marranos or Crypto-Jews.
Over the next 350 years, the infamous Inquisition persecuted, tortured and burned at the stake thousands of hidden Jews throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies for continuing to secretly practice the Jewish faith. Chabad.org
Continuing from last week’s Torah portion, G-d asks Moshe to go down to Egypt to lead the Jews through redemption. We discussed last week, the promise G-d made to Abraham in Genesis, Yodoah tedah/you shall surely know that Jews will be strangers in a strange land, will be enslaved…and will be redeemed with great riches. No where in this promise is the word Egypt mentioned. The rabbis tell us that what is revealed in the Book of Genesis is meant to be a paradigm for all generations to come.
The etymology of the Hebrew word Mitzraim, Egypt, is Tzar, narrow straits, or tzarot/trouble. What G-d was telling Abraham was that there will be many times when the Jews are in trouble in Israel and the diaspora and G-d will redeem them with great wealth. King Manuel knew what many countries knew, that the Jews brought with them G-d’s blessing of prosperity, which was also the root of great jealousy among citizens of every country, hence Shakespeare and Shylock in the Merchant of Venice.
When Moshe wants to know by what name should he call G-d, G-d replies Eheyeh asher eheyeh/ loosely translated, I will be what I will be. It was a play on G-d’s name, Yud-Heh-vav-heh, which is G-d’s name of mercy, which oversees the daily lives of man on Earth.
Again, building on last week’s essay. Aristotle believed that there was a First Being, the name of Elokim, which reveals G-d’s attribute of Judgment, with which He created Earth, as in the first verse of Genesis, In the beginning, Elokim created… Aristotle believed that Elokim created the world as a first domino, which created a rippling effect on Earth to this day. Eheyeh represents G-d’s attribute of mercy and daily supervision/hashgachah pratis, with which He redeems Jews from their difficulties, even if we are not deserving.
We commemorate this attribute of divine mercy and G-d’s promise at the seder table when we sing the very famous song of “V’he sheamdah.” We sing about how G-d stood up for us in the past with our forefathers and how in every generation, there are those who rise up to destroy the Jews and G-d saves us from their hands and evil plans.
It is a constant reminder that as frail humans who sin constantly, we might not be deserving of redemption, yet G-d, our Father, in His divine mercy redeems us nevertheless. Core belief and faith.
As we deal with another round of variant virus, know and pray that redemption is arriving, hopefully a full and complete redemption, speedily in our time.
Gut Chodesh Shvat.
Gut Shabbos.
-Suri