“Bring it on! Starring Pharaoh & Bruce Almighty”
(Insights from this week’s Portion: Va’eira)
- This Week’s RRR (Relevant Religious Reference):
“Pharaoh saw that there had been a relief (from the plagues), and kept
making his heart stubborn” – Exodus, 8:11
- This Week’s SSC (Suitable Secular Citation): “Okay, God.
You want me to talk to you? Then talk back… Give me a sign...” [Bruce
then passes a blinking yellow ‘CAUTION’ LIGHT, but doesn't notice…] “All
I need is some guidance. Please send me a signal.” [A truck pulls in
front of Bruce transporting various road signs: ‘YIELD’, ‘WRONG
WAY’, ‘DEAD END’, ‘DO NOT ENTER’, ‘STOP’. Oblivious to the signs, he
comments about the truck:] “Oh, what’s this joker doing now?!”– Jim
Carrey’s character Bruce in “Bruce Almighty”
“GO AHEAD – MAKE MY DAY”*
You’ve got to be kidding me, Pharaoh! You just received an uncontested
whooping from the first few plagues. The frogs and the wild beasts had you
begging for mercy! And now you’re back for more as if none of it happened,
essentially challenging G-d to “bring it on” and to “go ahead – make your
day”! No offense Pharaoh, but: what’s your problem?
If Pharaoh were around today, he might be justified in saying back to
us, “What’s your problem, Jews? How is your track record when it comes to
learning the correct lessons from history’s plagues and miracles? Aren’t
you the ones that are referred to as the stiff-necked people?
Aren’t you known for being headstrong, opinionated, stubborn – even
blind at times? Haven’t you hit the collective snooze button rather than
respond to obvious wake up calls throughout the ages?” Regrettably, I
think that Pharaoh has a point. The Jews are indeed a stiff-necked people!
The difference is that Pharaoh channeled his stiff-neck qualities to the
negative point of no return. We, the Jews – beginning with our illustrious
ancestors Abraham and Sarah – are also known for positively channeling
our “stiff-neckedness”, by stubbornly standing against popular
immoralities and injustices throughout the ages.
So why do we use the imagery of a “stiff neck” to illustrate the negative
pitfalls of this character trait?
THE “STIFF-NECK SYNDROME” OF BRUCE ALMIGHTY
1. NEVER LOOKING BACK: a stiff neck conjures up the image that
you are steamrolling forward with the tunnel vision of self-interest,
never bothering to look back to reevaluate your course of action.
Numerous danger signs are placed in front of you to reveal that your
actions are destructive, immoral, illegal, or inappropriate. Numerous
roadblocks are set in your path, all but begging for you to turn back. But
somehow, your ego, laziness, pleasure-seeking drive, or other vice of
choice has manufactured a prescription pair of blinders for you. **As
long as you leave these blinders on, your neck becomes figuratively frozen
and you can’t turn your head to reassess your decisions.
Jim Carrey in “Bruce Almighty” clearly suffers from the “stiff-neck
syndrome” when he asks G-d for signs, ignores them, and then smashes his
car into a light post (see this week’s SSC above) – symbolizing how
his life might unfold if he proceeds down the path of cluelessness and
recklessness. If his similarity to Pharaoh is not evident enough
by this point, it becomes absolutely apparent when he looks heavenward and
blasphemously challenges the Infinite: “Okay, if that's the way you want
it. The gloves are off, pal! Let me see a little wrath! Smite me oh mighty
smiter! What, no pestilence no boils?” But Bruce and Pharaoh are
not alone. We all wear these blinders, especially when we tend to view
ourselves as being a tad too almighty!
BLOCKING THE FLOW FROM HEAD TO HEART
2. SEPARATING HEAD FROM HEART: a stiff neck is like an
impenetrable impasse, blocking what we know in our heads from flowing down
to our hearts. Information we gather remains clogged up in our brains –
and as a result, our knowledge never gets the chance to become
wisdom. Through “stiffening our necks”, we are deciding not to live
with what we know to be true. We are blocking ourselves from allowing
important truths to filter down and express themselves in our actions.
May we all have the good sense to avoid these pitfalls and to channel our
tenacious tendencies in a positive direction! May we respond to the
Pharaohs of the world that while our Jewish necks are undeniably stiff, we
will only use our stubborn natures to live in opposition to what the
Pharaohs of the world stand for!
Have a Wonderful Shabbos! Love, Jon & The Chevra
* From Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry
**Some of these insights were gleaned from Shimon Apisdorf’s fantastic
Passover Survival Kit
Text Copyright © 2008 by Jon Erlbaum and
Torah.org
