Voice and Utterance: The Zohar on Moses’ Speech and Recovering Our Post-October 7 Voice
Kol versus Dibbur in exile, and how the Jewish people found their unified voice again
The Zohar on this weeks Torah portion is curious about the nature of the reluctance of Moses to petition Pharoah on behalf of his people. "Aich Yishmaayni Pharoah Va Ani Aral Sphasayim" —" I am slow of speech and of closed lips, how will he listen to me?"
The Kabala explains that though he had liberated his "voice" through protecting the slave who was being beaten by the Egyptian, he had not yet found "utterance," the ability to formulate a coherent articulation of his protest.
This same cycle mirrored the general psyche of the enslaved people, who were a step behind Moses. Subdued into the silence of those who forfeit their capacity for the vocal resistance of "sound" and submit to their fate in silence, they lacked both "voice" and "utterance."
Only after witnessing the visibly activated conscience of Moshe, did they emit a tentative preliminary sound—"they groaned," —activating the buried memories, of who they were—prior to their enslavement, and the restored memory of how it sounded to audibly vocalize one's own inner experience.
Like most abuse victims, they were overcome with deep shame. Instead of cultivating "inner wholeness" they staked their self worth on being accepted by Egyptian society. The need to please others in a bid to feel whole, is typically followed by abuse, at the hands of those who hunt for just this sort of prey.
The path to recovery and freedom was long and winding, both for Moses, and the Jewish people. It was, and is ongoing, especially if we take the time to recognize ourselves in whichever part of the story feels like it could be ours as well.
Much Love and Shabbat Shalom to a Post October 7th Am Yisroel— we too have been pushed in a re awakened trauma, a collective CPTSD, in the aftermath of our people yet again being murdered in cold blood— to look inward, and rediscover the sound of our Jewish voice, and the sweetness of its sacred utterances. The world forgets, but the truth is that when tragedy strikes, it has the opposite effect. All we want to do is make our way back home, where the door is always open and acceptance is already a given.
Rabbi Yossi