stillsmallvoice
July 20th 2003, 04:07 AM
Hi all!
In describing the effects of the plague of darkness, Exodus 10:23 says:
"...no man saw his brother..."
Our Sages offer a metaphorical interpretation to this phrase and say that this is the worst kind of darkness, when we do not see our brothers, our fellow men, and neither hear their cries nor see their suffering, everyone remaining wrapped up in ourselves and our own affairs, in spiritual darkness.
Previously, as Moses and Aaron were negotiating with Pharoah prior to the plague of locusts, Pharoah asks who would go to serve God. When Moses replies that everybody will go (animals too!), Pharoah angrily dismisses them and says that only the adults (men only) may go (10:11). Pharoah pointedly refuses to let the children go to serve God (10:10). Very recently, in our times, we have seen that the anti-religion Communist goverrnments in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union didn't care so much about adults practicing their respective faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, whatever) but were prepared to use strong repressive measures to prevent the religious instruction of children. Like Pharoah before them, they knew that if faith in God is confined to adults only, it will, very quickly, wither and die. The key to the survival of any faith is the transmission of that faith to children who will teach it to their children who will teach it to their children, etc. The Communists, like Pharoah, understood this very well and, thus, were prepared to use terrible repression to sever this chain of tradition & prevent belief in God from being instilled in the younger generations. Like Pharoah before them, the Communists failed miserably and we see that religion is flourishing all over eastern Europe and the countries of the former USSR as people flock to the same synagogues, churches and mosques that the Communists had hoped to turn into old-age homes.
Be well!
ssv :hi:
In describing the effects of the plague of darkness, Exodus 10:23 says:
"...no man saw his brother..."
Our Sages offer a metaphorical interpretation to this phrase and say that this is the worst kind of darkness, when we do not see our brothers, our fellow men, and neither hear their cries nor see their suffering, everyone remaining wrapped up in ourselves and our own affairs, in spiritual darkness.
Previously, as Moses and Aaron were negotiating with Pharoah prior to the plague of locusts, Pharoah asks who would go to serve God. When Moses replies that everybody will go (animals too!), Pharoah angrily dismisses them and says that only the adults (men only) may go (10:11). Pharoah pointedly refuses to let the children go to serve God (10:10). Very recently, in our times, we have seen that the anti-religion Communist goverrnments in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union didn't care so much about adults practicing their respective faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, whatever) but were prepared to use strong repressive measures to prevent the religious instruction of children. Like Pharoah before them, they knew that if faith in God is confined to adults only, it will, very quickly, wither and die. The key to the survival of any faith is the transmission of that faith to children who will teach it to their children who will teach it to their children, etc. The Communists, like Pharoah, understood this very well and, thus, were prepared to use terrible repression to sever this chain of tradition & prevent belief in God from being instilled in the younger generations. Like Pharoah before them, the Communists failed miserably and we see that religion is flourishing all over eastern Europe and the countries of the former USSR as people flock to the same synagogues, churches and mosques that the Communists had hoped to turn into old-age homes.
Be well!
ssv :hi: