The Hostage Deal and Moses’ Patience
The announcement of the hostage deal brings with it a whole host of emotions. We are, of course, overjoyed that the hostages will be coming home, yet anxious about the prospect that many terrorists are being released and that the situation in Gaza is fluid. Frustrated that Israel had to make so many concessions for the return of hostages that were taken illegally from their homes. There is one word that captures a lot of what we, as a people, have endured over the last year and a quarter, and through many difficult times in Jewish history: patience.
A cursory reading of the events in this Parsha might give you the impression that the events happen one right after the other: Moses kills the Egyptian >> Moses finds out that other people know >> Moses runs away to Midyan >> Moses meets Jethro’s daughters at the well >> Moses marries Tziporah >> Gershom is born >> G-d appears to Moses at the burning bush >> Moses heads back to Egypt >> Eliezer is born on the way (or shortly before that). Ramban (Nachmanides) notes that these events could not have all taken place one after the other for a simple reason. According to the midrash, Moses was either 12 or 20 when he killed the Egyptian. The Torah says that Moses was 80 when he stood before Pharaoh. Therefore, these events took place over the course of 60 plus years. Where is the gap? Ramban suggests that for about 60 years, Moses wandered from place to place while trying to keep himself hidden from Pharaoh’s henchmen. He only showed up in Midyan at the well when he was close to 80.
In short, there are about 60 unaccounted for years of Moses’ life. We do not know where he was or what he was doing but we know that his heart was with his people, and he never abandoned them. He could have easily moved very far away, out of the reach of Pharaoh’s influence, taken on a new identity and started a new life. Instead, he stayed close by, in hiding, waiting for the right time to return to a people who were enslaved and mistreated. It takes a lot of patience to wait sixty years, and Moses’s patience eventually paid off.
There’s an expression in modern Hebrew that’s older than the State of Israel: An eternal nation does not fear a long journey ( עם הנצח לא מפחד מדרך ארוכה). The idea is that we have been around for thousands of years, and we are not afraid to play the long game. We have lived in exile, experiencing the worst of atrocities, yet we continue to build and wait patiently for the ultimate redemption, while also waiting patiently for partial redemptions along the way.
We have all waited patiently for the hostages to come home. The hostages and their families had to wait patiently while the IDF dismantled Hamas. Our patience was on full display in the defeat of Hezbollah. The pager plan was launched well before Oct. 7 and those in the know waited patiently for the right moment.
This deal will continue to test our patience. The hostages are being released slowly and we really don’t know how the various phases will play out or what will happen after that. Patience has gotten us to where we are, and it continues to be a necessary character trait. The main thing is that we don’t lose hope. As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said, the entire world is a narrow bridge; the main thing is not to be afraid. The same G-d who took us out of Egypt and has sustained and maintained us throughout our long exile, gave us back our land after almost 2000 years—He will get us through this one too. Yes, we have a great army and a resilient nation, but we must not forget that our miraculous existence against all odds can only be explained by the fact that we have a loving Provider on our side.
Good Shabbos