Last week Rabbi Sara continued our master class this week on the topic of midrash. She explained that midrash is not a book (as the Talmud is a book) though it can be found in books (such as Midrash Rabbah or in the Talmud). Midrash, instead, is interpretation (as in a drash given on the Torah portion on Shabbat). We discussed midrash during the period of the early rabbis, that it is not canonized, and that what is and what is not canonized is an extensive topic in itself.

We discussed the mention of the advanced ages of Moses and Aaron, indicating the wisdom required for the importance of the event. R. Sara discussed her drash that Moses is the avatar of YHVH and Pharaoh of Ra so that there is a battle between gods and avatars (in a monolotrous not monotheistic context). We discussed Aaron casting down his rod and it becoming a serpent. We discussed the fact that the word translated as ‘serpent’ (tanin) actually means ‘dragon’ or ‘sea monster’. We saw that Pharoah’s men cast their rods down and the rods become such dragons or sea monsters—but that then Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods (indicating that YHVH wins out in the battle of the gods and carrying phallic content about relative manhood). We noted that then Pharaoh’s heart hardened, as YHVH had talked about, and he did not heed them and let them go.

Our artwork this week is by U.S. Jewish artist, Joel Silverstein (1950- ), I Saw the Miracle of the Snakes (above) and Plague of Beasts (below). Silverstein grew up in Brooklyn, near Coney Island. Brighton Beach features in many of his works such as the two featured this week in which he transports the miracle of the snakes and the plague of beasts to Brighton Beach, creating a kind of magical realism. Silverstein is a founding member of Jewish Art Salon.