Weekly Shabbat Parsha Thoughts – Shemoat – 1.8.2010

This week we meet Moses and the famous story of him being saved from drowning in the Nile. Whenever I think about this parsha I think of the lessons of the turtle on the fence post.

(Which goes something like “if you ever see a turtle on a fence post you know one thing, he had some help getting up there.”)

So we meet Moses, our greatest leader, and he is a turtle this week. He is yet to recognize his true destiny but much of it is being set up for him. And amazingly one of his main sponsor’s is Pharaoh’s daughter! What an amazing lesson about the necessity of needing help at all phases in our life.

We often hear people talk about “wanting to do it on our own” or “not wanting any help” and I think this idea is one of the great myth’s of all time. We are all turtles on a fence post. There is no such thing as “doing it alone” – we MUST have the help of others to succeed it is simply impossible to succeed without that help. And this week our torah potion reminds us that we should not be embarrassed by needing this help. We should embrace that help, be grateful for it and look for when we can be that person for others.

Extending our hand to help out AND accepting that hand (gracefully and appreciatively) when it is extended is part of our sacred duty and destiny as Jews. There is a great deal that the Torah talks about Moses after he received the hand up from Pharaoh’s daughter. So once we have reached the fence post we should not rest. Our lot is judged on what we do once we get there. But we should remember that no one (not even Moses) gets there without help. And we are reminded of this dynamic this week in seeing who helped Moses when he was a turtle and needed help.

This week and weekend we should take a moment on those who have helped us over the years. If you have a chance send someone a thank you for that help – I promise you they will not expect it and will be moved by it.

As I said we are all turtles on a fence post and we should take this week’s portion as a reminder to be grateful to those who have helped and remember it is in our acceptance of this help and then where we go after we have received that is our measure not how we got there.
Shabbat Shalom