Pesach: Courage of the Seed
Over the next two Shabbatot, we celebrate the holiday of Pesach (Passover). We read selections of the Torah that talk about our Exodus and the commandments to celebrate this holiday (Exodus 12:21 – 51 and Numbers 28:16 - 25 this week, Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17 and Numbers 28:19 - 25 next).
A central theme of the Pesach story is the forward movement from constriction to freedom. I would like to examine the role of courage in propelling and sustaining that journey.
Why Courage?
Dr. Maya Angelou once said, “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”
Indeed, courage does seem to be required to be loving, honest, or generous. To me, courage feels like a summoning of strength that propels me forward into frightening territory.
The word “courage” in English comes from the Latin “cor, ” which means “heart.” In a culture that often valorizes a kind of courage that seems muscular and aggressive, the roots of the English word point our attention instead to our deepest source of strength – our hearts.
The word for courage in Hebrew is “ometz,” which shares its root with the word “effort” (ma-a-matz). In Hebrew, courage is associated with the ability and willingness to take action or make effort.
Our ancestors needed some blend of heart-fulness and the willingness to take action in order to make the move from slavery to freedom.
Exodus Story
At first glance, the story of the Exodus does not appear to be one about the courage of the Israelites. We are told multiple times that God led us out of Egypt, the Divine performed miracles, brought the ten plagues, split the sea, and fought on our behalf to birth us into freedom. We could not have, and did not, do it alone.
Upon closer inspection, however, we see many points along the journey when the Israelites had to claim the freedom that was being offered to them. They had to listen to Moses and Aaron and put blood on their doorposts. They had to pack their unleavened bread on their backs, leave everything they knew and make a run for the promise of freedom they didn’t know anything about. They had to keep moving when the Egyptians were in hot pursuit. They had to plunge themselves into the sea under a promise that God would find them dry land on which to cross.
Rabbi Alan Lew named his book Be Still and Get Going after the seemingly-paradoxical courage that is at the heart of the Exodus story and all of our lives. When the Israelites are fleeing Egypt and headed towards the sea, they panic seeing the Egyptian army advancing and no discernable way out. Moshe tells them,
“Don’t be afraid. Collect yourselves and see the salvation which the One will make for you today…the One will fight for you and you will be still.” (Exodus, 14:13) You are going to be okay, he seems to be saying. Calm down, you will be cared for
We have to have courage in our own lives to see that we are not always in control. We don’t always know or see the way out of our bondage. We have to breathe and be still and collect ourselves and wait for the path to open up under our feet. This is the courage of heart-fulness.
And yet one sentence later, God asks Moshe to ask the people, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to just get going.” (Exodus 14:15) We also need courage to move our feet towards freedom. We have to expend effort or we won’t make it. There is too much work to do to remain idle. This is the courage of making effort.
Surrender and Change
How do we know when we should “be still” and when we should “get going”? Sometimes the two are incompatible, and we need help navigating between acceptance and effort. The Serenity prayer, very well known in 12-step programs, is useful as both a guide and a request:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other
Solomon ibn Gabirol, the 11th century Jewish philosopher, came to a similar conclusion hundreds of years earlier. He wrote: "At the head of all understanding – is realizing what is and what cannot be, and the consoling of what is not in our power to change.” (Choice of Emeralds, 17).
Sometimes, however, as is the case with Moshe and God’s statements to the people in the verses above, “being still” and “getting going” are very much part of the same process. Rabbi Lew describes this process as effort arising out of the stillness, with the action in alignment with what the moment demands. He writes:
“When the mind is clear, we feel both this action and its necessity unmistakably. We know we must leave one job and take another. We know the time has come to leave our marriage. After many months of uncertainty and indecision, we suddenly feel it for a certainty in the marrow of our bones. After weeks of trying to reason our way out of a dilemma, or to coax its solution out of hiding by the force of our own will, we stop trying to force the issue, and the sea parts of its own volition. (Be Still and Get Going, 75).
Mindfulness and meditation helps us find that still place of acceptance and peace with what it is that then allows us to rise up and act in ways that are brave and wise. I once asked my therapist friend, “how do people change?” “Acceptance,” he answered. “People think the courageous part of therapy is summoning the will to change, but actually the hardest thing is accepting what is true in our hearts and minds and histories. The change emerges naturally from that place of surrender.” When I think of the ways I’ve changed – in behavior or thought – it does seem to be the case that I always had to recognize and validate with kindness the roots of why I was acting or thinking in a certain way before a new way had the space to emerge.
That same dance of surrender and effort, “being still” and “getting going” can be seen in nature. Mark Nepo writes in The Book of Awakening:
“All the buried seeds crack open in the dark, the instant they surrender to a process they can’t see. What a powerful lesson is the beginning of spring. All around us, everything small and buried surrenders to a process that none of the buried parts can see. And this innate surrender allows everything edible and fragrant to break ground into a life we call spring... As a seed buried in the earth cannot imagine itself as an orchid or hyacinth, neither can a heart packed with hurt imagine itself loved or at peace. The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way.”
See if you can have the courage that Moshe and God tell us we need in these difficult moments:
“Don’t be afraid. Collect yourselves and see the salvation which the One will make for you today…the One will fight for you and you will be still.”
“Tell the Israelites to just get going.”
Chag Sameach!
Please note: This text study will cover the next two weeks of the holiday. We will continue with parsha Shemini in two weeks.
The Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s mission is to develop and teach Jewish spiritual practices so that individuals and communities may experience greater awareness, purpose, and interconnection.
Learn more jewishspirituality.org
Inspired by ancient Jewish wisdom, OneTable is a national non-profit that empowers folks (21-39ish) to find, share, and enjoy Shabbat dinners, making the most of their Friday nights.
Our social dining platform makes it easy for you to become the producer of your own experiences, and for Shabbat dinner to become a platform for community building.
We provide simple DIY tools so hosts can get right to welcoming people to a Shabbat dinner in their home, so guests can savor a Friday meal, and for all to experience unique events for Shabbat dinners right in their neighborhood. We do this because we believe good food and good conversation with great people is simply good for you.
Led by our core values of joy, welcoming, and elevation, we envision a whole generation of young people slowing down, getting together, unplugging from the week, creating intention in their lives, and building meaningful communities.
Find Your Friday onetable.org