The Exodus tale is an account of a labor dispute: unpaid workers, toiling under dangerous conditions, negotiate against their powerful boss. This week, the portion of Va-eira brings us the first seven plagues. In the initial one, water is transformed into blood.
With these plagues, God turns the tables on the
Egyptians. They come to know suffering
as they have meted it out. It’s fitting,
therefore, that the sequence begins with the Egyptians forced to work as they
have made the Hebrews work: “And all the
Egyptians had to dig round about the Nile for drinking water, because they
could not drink the water of the Nile” (Exodus 7:24).
It’s a clever tactic.
From the outset, the Hebrew side is building empathy among their
opponents. The Egyptians are suddenly stripped
of privilege, their existence made precarious and dependent on their own
effort. As they slog in the mud, they
will begin to perceive life from the bottom up, both socially and literally. Thirsty, dirty, and aching, the Egyptians may
begin to understand the injustice of their system. Certainly, their eyes will begin to open.
Freedom will be born from this mud.
No comments:
Post a Comment