As we receive more information about the terrorist attack in Washington D.C, the more troubling and disturbing the information becomes. Besides seeing swastikas, Nazi paraphernalia, and white supremacist symbols, one of the more disturbing bits of information was the identity of a 34-year-old Jewish man from Brooklyn, NY. His father is a judge and former president of a Brooklyn Shul. When my children saw the story about this particular individual and his recent arrest, they were troubled. How does a Brooklyn Jew whose father is a judge, align himself with anti-Semites, White supremacists, and their Nazi symbols my children wondered? He clearly had become radicalized by swimming in a parallel universe, a universe built upon propaganda and dystopian lies, or otherwise known as “alternative facts”. This young man’s participation in the attack upon the Capitol served as a powerful example of what can happen when a person begins to sink into the quagmire of all those conspiracy theories and dystopian white supremacist alternative realities. Alternative facts justify chaos. Alternative facts, conspiracies, and ignorance replace science, empirical evidence, and thought. Alternative facts and conspiracies lead to a cult of personality.
This week we read from Parsha Va’Eira. In this Parshah, God reassures Moshe after Pharaoh mocked and dismissed both he and Aharon. God explains that he will cause Pharaoh’s heart to harden after each plague, but eventually, Pharaoh will capitulate and free the Hebrew slaves. God explains the various stages of redemption to Moshe. The plagues begin. We are supposed to understand that each of these first seven plagues is more severe than the previous plague: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Wild Beasts, Animal plague, Boils, Hail. Moshe requests that Pharaoh permit B’nai Yisroel to worship God for three days. At times, Pharaoh acquiesces and there are moments he changes his mind. Sometimes he asks Moshe to pray on his behalf and sometimes he doesn’t. One thing is clear, whenever Pharaoh gets his way with the cessation of a plague, ordinarily an indicator of God’s presence and power, Pharaoh behaves like a petulant child. He returns to his arrogant self-centered nature. It seems that Pharaoh is operating under an alternative set of facts regarding Hashem’s authority and power. By the Parsha’s conclusion, the plague of Hail has devastated the land and killed anything that was outside, Pharaoh expresses the evolution of his belief system based upon facts, not alternative facts nor upon an incorrect interpretation of facts.
Two men, Moshe and Pharaoh, two groups, Hebrew slaves and Egyptian task masters, experience a type of revelation. Moshe is told by God, Ani Adoshem VaEira el Avraham El Yitzchak v’ El Yaakov B’Eil Shaddai U’Shmi Adoshem Lo Nodati LaHem – I am Hashem, I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but with My Name Hashem, I did not make Myself known to them (Ex. 6:2) With Signs and Wonders, God wanted Moshe and B’nai Yisroel to know exactly who God is. V’Yadu Mitzrayim Ki Ani Adoshem, BinToti et Yadi Al Mitzrayim V’Hotzeiti et Bnai Yisroel MiTocham – And Egypt Shall know that I am Hashem when I stretch out My hand over Egypt; and I shall take the Children of Israel out from among them (Ex. 7:5). With each ensuing plague, God wanted Pharaoh and Egypt to know and accept God’s existence and God’s authority as a fact. What is being transmitted? Ani Adoshem – I am Hashem, the fact that Hashem exists and has a covenantal relationship with his people. How is this fact transmitted? Va’Eira – I appeared through signs and wonders or as a harbinger of plagues. It depends on who is experiencing the appearance and how that experience is perceived. For the Egyptians, God displays God’s presence through plagues. For Bnai Yisroel, God displays God’s presence through signs and wonders. That is to say, each interprets God’s presence according to their values, their perceptions, their world view, and their place within the world. However, there is one fact, one truth, one God, everything else, is perception and interpretation. This is the lesson that Moshe and B’nai Yisroel will be reminded of and this is the lesson that Pharaoh, a man who thought himself to be God, will eventually learn and accept.
We have seen that alternative facts can be very dangerous and even deadly. Alternative facts are the tools of dictators and kings. When society accepts alternative facts, it ultimately accepts moral relativism and becomes corrupt. There are plenty of historical reminders of the dangers of “alternative facts” with the rise and fall of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes. As the participants in this recent terrorist attack are arrested, placed on “no-fly” lists, and treated as threats to the welfare and safety of democratic institutions, maybe they will begin to understand the dangers of listening to those who espouse conspiracy theories and alternative facts for their own self-aggrandizement.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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