Here is the script for the first part of the "Shiur Theatre" program our Beit Midrash will present at the Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in Toronto, this Shabbos. The goal, as you will see in the Narrator's introduction, is to provide insight into Freedom. It's part of an overall Liberty-themed Shabbaton in preparation for Pesach (flyer here).
NARRATOR
Last year,
our Beit Midrash debuted a unique, dramatic form of Derashah on our Shabbaton
at Shaarei Shomayim, on our "Occupy Wall Street" Shabbaton. The
feedback was so good that we turned this into a regular part of our
programming, under the title of "Shiur Theatre". We have since performed
"Jew vs. Jew in Jewish History", "Moses Maimonides and Claudius
Galen", and "When Konstantinos Met Sarah", in various
synagogues.
Today we
bring you a new installation of Shiur Theatre, "The Day After
Liberation", which is meant to explore what a newly free nation needs in order
to survive and thrive. Our main question is: After we become free, what
becomes of us?
In order to
address this question, we will look at the events surrounding the sin of the
Golden Calf, and what we imagine could have been Moshe's attempt to find a good
defense for the Jewish nation – and we will throw in a fair bit of anachronism
to help out along the way.
ACT I: SHIMSHON AND AHARON
Scene
opens with interviewer standing before a lectern..
SHIMSHON (businesslike):
Good morning. In preparing our nation's brief in the matter of Almighty vs
Children of Israel, the Parliament of the Children of Israel is today convened
in investigation. My name is Shimshon, I am one of the Elders of Israel, and I
will preside over this hearing. Specifically, we seek:
- To determine the facts surrounding the violation of the Sinaitic Covenant executed between the Almighty and the Children of Israel, particularly restrictions 1.1, 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3, to wit, "I am the Lord your G-d," "You shall not have the gods of others before Me," "You shall make no idols," and "You shall neither bow to them nor serve them," and,
- To prepare a defense for the failure of the Children of Israel to adhere to said clauses in their Covenant with the Almighty.
We have a
number of witnesses to call and a fairly short window of time before we must
file our defense with the Almighty, so I will dispense with some of the
formalities and preliminaries in favour of getting to the heart of the matter.
Any objection? (pause)
SHIMSHON: Our
list of witnesses, willing and hostile, includes:
- Former Deputy Prime Minister Aharon son of Amram;
- a prisoner, Professor Yitzchak son of Asher;
- a Levite colonel, Jack, son of Nikol;
- and a former Egyptian, Addaya, son of Thutmose.
I would like
to call the first witness, then: Aharon, son of Amram.
AHARON ascends
to second lectern
SHIMSHON:
Do you, Aharon, son of Amram, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth?
AHARON (gently): In deference to Covenantal Clause 3.1, I would prefer to
affirm.
SHIMSHON:
Approved.
AHARON (smiling):
Then I affirm, my friend.
SHIMSHON (looking
uncomfortable): With the greatest respect, I request that the witness
address the bench with proper titles, to avoid any appearance of favour. (Aharon
grins.) It is also worth noting that you do not speak to me alone; your
brother, Moshe, is expected to arrive soon. (Aharon stops grinning.) He
is currently burying the dead.
AHARON: Oh.
Your honour.
SHIMSHON:
To business, then. Aharon, son of Amram, I humbly request that you please briefly
recount the events of the 17th of Tammuz, 2448. I acknowledge that much
of this is familiar to the committee, but it is necessary
in order for us to move forward.
AHARON: Yes,
your honour. Tension had been building for some time, during Moshe's absence. Our
brethren are wonderful, but they were nervous, you know. They recalled that I
had brought Moshe to them back in Egypt, and they sought my aid now to replace
him. By the end of the fortieth morning the people were in such a state! I
thought I could stall them, but it all happened too fast, and there was a calf!
SHIMSHON: Wait;
how did that happen? Gold takes a long time to become molten, in the rest of
the world – but it happened immediately in your kiln. Are we to believe that
gold melts faster in your kiln than any place on the face of the earth? Was
this magic gold?
AHARON (sincerely
distressed): The gold cooked faster than normal, I don't know. I threw it
in a fire – and out came the calf.[1]
SHIMSHON: So
you contend that you had no hand in creating the actual idol? Your brother
Moshe would appear to disagree; in the Torah, he will write, "And Aharon
formed it.[2]"
AHARON: Please do not read my brother's writing without Rashi, who explains
that the verse was not referring to me, but to someone else who formed it. (pause) So I tried to stall the people again; I told the
people that the celebration would be for the Almighty, and it would happen the
next day. I hoped to see my brother's radiant face again before the feared
moment would come.[3]
SHIMSHON: But surely you knew that you had no control of the situation,
and that the people would do as they wished.
AHARON (gently): It is not for
naught that our descendants will label me a lover of peace and pursuer of
peace, who embraces even the wicked in the belief that they are capable of
better.[4]
SHIMSHON: So your defense before the Almighty is naivete, it appears. (notes this down) But I must ask: The people's murder of Miriam's
son, your nephew, Chur, was of no relevance for you? Come now, be forthright: Were
you not simply cowed into idolatry, out of fear for yourself?[5]
AHARON: Beware of the mistake of Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra; if you would
cite the midrash about Chur, make sure to note its closing words, which say my
concern was not for my own life, but to avert a great sin on the part of
the people if they were to murder both of us. But even without that midrash, I
didn't see where this was going; I am not worse than Barack Obama and the rest
of the world's leaders in the so-called Arab Spring of the 58th
century. None of those leaders will intervene to influence mattes, either.
SHIMSHON: Hardly a flattering comparison, I should think.
AHARON (still sweet): Does my brother fare
any better? He is brilliant, with such leadership acumen and righteousness, and
yet what were his words
to the elders, before ascending Mount Sinai?
SHIMSHON (consults
papers): "Aharon and Chur are with you; if any has an issue, let him
venture forth to them.[6]"
AHARON (still
sweet): Precisely. I was not charged with any manner of proactive
leadership, and neither was Chur. Even you elders did nothing; we were judges, functionaries,
tasked with resolving disputes between litigious parties. No one was assigned
to fill my brother Moshe's role of setting the daily agenda for the nation. No
teacher, no ritual leader, no representative before the Almighty, no spokesman for
the Almighty. We were bureaucrats; no one could share the power of our master
Moshe, apparently. Like NATO before rioting Arab populations, there was no one
at the helm. And
like the leaders of Arab populations after the old tyrants will be deposed, whose freedom to change the system will be limited by economic power players,[7] our power was extremely limited.
like the leaders of Arab populations after the old tyrants will be deposed, whose freedom to change the system will be limited by economic power players,[7] our power was extremely limited.
SHIMSHON (deeply
offended): Do you then lay the blame for this fiasco at the feet of the
great Moshe, or his elders? Do you think it our choice? Or do you blame the
Almighty for designing this system?
AHARON: Far
be it from me, your honour, to assign blame. As a man of peace, I certainly do
not wish to battle with anyone, let alone my sainted sibling. But (takes a
deep breath, steeling himself) – I'm sorry to say this, but I would wager
that our father, Amram, never similarly abandoned his people in Egypt. Perhaps
there are lessons to be learned, indeed, and defenses to be offered before the
Almighty. (pause) Does your honour have any further questions for me?
SHIMSHON (stares
at Aharon for a long moment, before continuing): I have no further use for
this witness. You may step down.
[1] Shemot 32:23-24
[2] Shemot 32:4
[3] Shemot 32:5
[4] Avot d'Rabbi Natan 12
[5] Yalkut Shimoni 391
[6] Shemot 24:14
[7] The Middle East after the
Arab Spring, London School of Economics, http://www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SR011/FINAL_LSE_IDEAS__ConclusionsTheMiddleEastAfterTheArabSpring_Dodge.pdf
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