Are Jews a Nation, a Family, or a Religious Community?
5 min read
The meaning that we give a word affects our understanding of it. Meaning infuses mere sounds and symbols with life. In the Hebrew language, slight variations of the same word can change
not only the meaning of that word, but the context of an entire concept. A fascinating example of a Talmudic disagreement over a single Hebrew letter reveals a profound idea.
Most Jews are familiar with the blessing Hamotzi that we recite before eating bread. The Talmud relates a debate between Rabbi Nechemyah and his colleagues regarding the appropriate wording of that blessing.67 Rabbi Nechemyah believed that the blessing should be “motzi lechem min ha’aretz—who brings forth bread from the earth.” His colleagues felt that the blessing should read “hamotzi.” The only difference is the addition of one Hebrew letter, hei. Why should this slight difference in the word matter? It does matter, and it affects our understanding of God’s manifestation throughout time.
The source of this disagreement can be found in this week’s Torah portion. God commands Moshe to tell the Israelites, “You will know that I am the Lord, your God, the One who brings [hamotzi] you out from under the burdens of Egypt.” Why does it say “who brings you out” when the Israelites were still enslaved? It would seem that the future tense, “who will bring you out” would have conveyed a more accurate message.
From this verse, Rabbi Nechemyah understood the word hamotzi to imply the future. The Israelites will know that eventually their subjugation to Egypt will end, even while they were presently enslaved. He therefore argues that the blessing over bread should be recited with the word motzi (past tense), since the wheat already has been taken out of the earth.
In contrast, the Rabbis, while agreeing that the blessing over bread should reflect the past tense, broaden the scope of the word hamotzi, implying its reference to the past, the present, and the future. This broader understanding emphasizes Divine providence as it transcends time. Rather than being a one-time static action, this understanding recognizes a dynamic process, moving forward throughout time. Past, present, and future are synthesized, forming an ongoing redemptive process, in which God is the sole source.
The significance of this debate becomes far greater than just a disagreement over Hebrew grammar. Its ramifications impact our overall awareness of God’s involvement in history and time.
Rabbi Nechemyah’s preference of the word motzi was to raise our awareness of God being the first cause of what we’re about to eat. The past tense is used to enrich our appreciation of God’s involvement in past events.
His colleagues, however, maintained that hamotzi is a descriptive phrase, not just a verb. They related to God as the first cause and impetus behind the process of bringing forth wheat from the earth, enabling us to make bread. The blessing Hamotzi, recited before eating bread, is meant to enhance our mindfulness of this expansive Divine process. By stressing the first cause of this continual process, grammatical tenses become irrelevant. Hamotzi is enlarged to embody the continuum of all time—past, present, and future.
From this expansive perspective, we can gain a greater understanding of the verse “You will know that I am the Lord, your God—the One who brings [hamotzi] you out from under the burdens of Egypt.” Hamotzi is an attribute of God that is ongoing throughout all time. The one God of Israel continually vivifies the act of redemption, of taking us out.
The Hebrew name for Egypt, Mitzrayim, comes from the word meitzar, constriction. Just as God took us out of Egypt, He is constantly creating the redemptive process that can liberate us from that which constricts or enslaves us. Many of us are shackled by negative thoughts, self-destructive behaviors, or even just trying to keep up with the Joneses. Society has become enslaved by drugs, violence, hate, and toxic beliefs.
The Passover Haggadah states that “in every generation, one is obligated to see themself as having been taken out of Egypt.” Egypt represents a state of physical, mental, and spiritual constriction. A crisis or trauma can threaten to enslave us in despair and subjugate our spirit. On the flip side, we can become so accustomed to things going our way that we become enslaved and weakened by the status quo.
The Torah expounds on God’s constant involvement in the unfolding of history. We, however, are meant to be active partners. Judaism views the journey itself as valuable and life-changing. Life unfolds, and so do we. So much is gleaned from the understanding of a single word.
