Towards the end of the Exodus narrative, the Jewish people are described as leaving Egypt with an “elevated hand”, something that many commentators have found peculiar. Why not just say they left, what does this extra phrase symbolize? Some have suggested that it means that they left with self assurance and confidence, and another suggested that it meant that they left arrogantly taking their time in such a way that allowed Pharaoh to catch up with them. However, one particular answer made by the Hasidic work, the Meor Va’Shemesh, sheds a unique light on this phrase and gives us a message about how to recover from traumatic experiences, and how to help others do the same. He writes that while “elevated hand” may sound like arrogance, it is just the opposite. Quoting the Zohar, the 13th century mystical Torah commentary, he writes that when the Jews left Egypt, they were broken in spirit, unable to be happy, even in response to praise. He goes on to explain that the Hebrew term for elevated, “RaMaH”, is an acronym for “Rinat Malachai Hashareit- “songs of the ministering angels.”

This broken people needed these angels to sing to them to give them hope, raising their hands in joy. The true message of the descriptive, “elevated hand”, is that they were not raising their own hands, but rather, they needed help raising them. After being so broken and full of despair from their years of servitude, they needed angels to give them the confidence, strength, and hope that their despair was finally coming to an end. In that way, the original phrase can be reread as “the hand that lifts others”, and serves as a reminder that sometimes, just being there for someone struggling, carrying them to the finish line and reminding them of how close they are is exactly how exodus, in all forms, takes place. When we see others suffering, it is our imperative that we help those in need, by raising them up when they feel low.

свернуть