Every year at the Passover seder, we read Ezekiel’s allegorical description of the Israelites in Egypt:
| “You grew big and tall. You came with great adornments and were beautiful of form, with flowing hair. But you were naked and bare.” (Ezekiel 16:7) |
The prophet describes the Israelites as being large and numerous, yet, at the same time, impoverished and barren. Physically, Jacob’s family of seventy souls had developed into a large nation. Despite Egyptian persecution and oppression, they had become numerous. Morally and spiritually, however, they were “naked and bare.”
What about the “great adornments” that the verse mentions? What were these ‘jewels’ of Israel?
Two Special Jewels
These
“jewels” symbolize two special traits of the Jewish people. The
first trait is a natural propensity for spirituality, an inner desire
never to be separated from God and holiness.
The
second ‘jewel’ is an even greater gift, beyond the natural realm.
It is the unique communal spirit of Israel that aspires to a lofty
national destiny. Even in their dispirited state as downtrodden
slaves in Egypt, their inner drive for national purpose burned like a
glowing coal. It smoldered in the heart of each individual, even if
many did not understand its true nature.
For
the Hebrew slaves, however, these special qualities were like
priceless diamonds pinned on the threadbare rags of an unkempt
beggar. The people lacked the basic traits of decency and integrity.
They were missing those ethical qualities that are close to human
nature, like clothes that are worn next to the body.
Without
a fundamental level of morality and proper conduct, their unique
yearnings for spiritual greatness had the sardonic effect of
extravagant jewelry pinned to tattered clothes. “You came with
great adornments... but you were naked and bare.”
(Silver
from the Land of Israel.
Adapted from Olat
Re’iyah vol.
II, p. 276)
"ותבאי בעדי עדיים שדים נכנו ושערך צמח ואת ערום ועריה": גם התכונה הטבעית היסודית של ההכנה לגדלות יש לך שנקבעה בהסכמת הלב החזקה של האומה בכללה שלא להפרד מקדושת השי"ת וגם המעלה הנוספת על הטבע המעלה היותר עליונה של רוח ישראל העולה למעלה בתשוקת האומה בכללה לתכליתה הנשגבה והנפלאה באש הקודש הבוערת בלב כל אחד מישראל, גם שאינו יודע בעצמו את טיבו וענינו. אמנם לעלית המעלה הגדולה הזאת אשר לך הרי במעוט המעשים בפועל נחשב הוא כמו ערום מהתקשט בתכשיטין כי חסר לך הדבר הקרוב אל הטבע דהיינו הבגדים כדי שיהיו העדיים מתקבלים וראויים להתקשט בהם.
