A recent article in the Atlantic details the principles that Fred Rogers insisted his writers use to carefully craft the words of his children’s television show, “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” Everything had to be clear, precise, simple enough to be understood by young children, and not subject to misinterpretation by the very literal preschoolers who watched the show. When I present Torah texts to students, particularly younger ones, I grapple with the same concerns. I want to be as close to the original as possible, maintain clarity, and avoid confusion. There is usually a compromise on one element or another.
The opening phrase of this week’s parsha presents just this kind of difficulty. The name of the parsha, Bo, literally translates as “come”. In context, most translations render the phrase, “God said to Moses, go to Pharaoh…” The Torah tends to speak concisely, but, unlike Mr. Rogers, not necessarily simply, and it often cries out for interpretation. Why does the Torah use the word “come” to tell Moses to go to Pharaoh? Last week’s parsha covered the first seven of the ten plagues, and as this one begins, God is sending Moses to Pharaoh to warn him of the impending eighth plague, locusts. This is actually the third time in the plagues narrative that God tells Moses to “come to Pharaoh” and there are, as usual, several ways of explaining the choice of words.
While some of the plagues are announced down by the river early in the morning, when Pharaoh is outside his palace, when Moses is sent with the word “bo,” he is being sent to the palace in the middle of the day. This more private setting, some explain, is the reason for the more intimate word, come. It is still a confrontation, but it holds less potential to embarrass Pharaoh while giving him the opportunity to respond favorably.
Another explanation is that when God tells Moses bo, come, to Pharaoh, God is saying, “this time, you do not have to go alone. I will go with you.” I like this explanation. I like it partly because, like Mr. Roger’s principles dictate, it makes sense of the language literally. If God says “come”, then God should be in the place that Moses is coming to. Otherwise he’d be going. But it also appeals to me because it depicts God as not only commanding, powerful and angry with Pharaoh, but also as nurturing and supportive of Moses, God’s reluctant messenger. I imagine Moses, asked again and again to approach Pharaoh with the audacious demand to let God’s people go. He knows that Pharaoh is unlikely to agree, that the confrontation will be difficult and unpleasant, and that he must, nevertheless go and do it. I like to imagine that the Authority insisting that he go through this has the compassion to accompany him on the way. Moses must do this thing, but he doesn’t have to do it alone.
Why then is he only sent with bo three of the times? I think of the ways that we support children in taking on new challenges. There are times that we insist that they do things for themselves, despite their apprehension. Sometimes they need the support of their parents or teachers to do it, and sometimes we sense that they are capable of exercising more independence with the support of a friend or sibling, or even on their own. Developing this independence is not always linear. A child may need direct support today, even if yesterday they were capable of doing it themselves.
In our culture, we name our parenting styles, our teaching styles, and those of others. If we choose to accompany our children when they are feeling uncertain, and if we step in to help them through a tricky situation, we risk being labeled helicopter moms. Jewish tradition has many names for God. I doubt that anyone has used this one before, but in the language of our times, God is acting unabashedly in support of God’s people, risking being named “God, the Helicopter Mom”. And at the same time, we see God pushing Moses, when Moses is capable, toward greater confidence, independence and responsibility.
God does not care about being labeled a helicopter mom, or about being accused of pushing too hard and expecting too much of God’s people. God responds to the cry of the Israelites, pushes Moses out of his comfort zone, and sometimes walks with him. I’d like to strive to uphold this image of God; God the “Nurturing-My-Kid’s-Growth-And-I-Don’t-Care-What-You-Label-Me” Parent.