This week we begin the Book of Exodus/Sefer Sh’mot with the portion/parsha of the same name, Sh’mot. Literally translated as “Names,” the title seems to have little to do with the essence of the book: The miraculous rescue of our people from bondage and their journey towards the Promised Land. Aside from the technical need to name a book (and weekly portions) after the first substantive word of the text, and the subsequent listing of the names of the progeny of Jacob who “went down to Egypt,” the symbolic power of naming as an element of identity provides additional levels of meaning to the narrative. For our establishment in Egypt, and Pharaoh’s malicious reaction to it, are the dynamic catalysts for the unfolding of our destiny, the fulfillment of the covenant forged with Abraham, and thus our rootedness in the Land of Israel. Naming in the historical record links person to time and place, which further reveals God’s personalized and specific intervention in history and in the world—a power and grace that demands a reciprocal faith in its Source and fidelity to the teachings that will eventually be revealed on Sinai to our people and to our civilization.
