Who is Wise? — Kendell Pinkney

In this week’s parasha, Shemot, we are introduced to a new set of characters and a new set of conflicts as we make our journey deeper into the saga of our ancient, mythic ancestors. We arrive at the story of Moses, his birth, the oppression that the Israelites endure at the hands of a new Pharaoh, G-d in the burning bush, and so on and so forth.

Despite the overwhelming abundance of stories and themes that we could ponder this week, I was struck for the first time by something near the beginning of the parasha. Let me set the scene: Joseph has just died. Some time later, a new Pharaoh arises in Egypt. This ruler has no memory, or knowledge of Joseph. What he does have is a palpable fear of the sheer number of Israelites who seem to be growing out of the woodworks (i.e. being born). Pharaoh is terrified of this. He fears that the oppressed Israelites might turn on him and that he will lose power. Because of this fear, he declares the following in Exodus 1:10-11:

הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּ֗ה וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־תִקְרֶ֤אנָה מִלְחָמָה֙ וְנוֹסַ֤ף גַּם־הוּא֙ עַל־שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּ֖נוּ וְעָלָ֥ה מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

וַיָּשִׂ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מִסִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן עַנֹּת֖וֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיִּ֜בֶן עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ לְפַרְעֹ֔ה אֶת־פִּתֹ֖ם וְאֶת־רַעַמְסֵֽס׃

Let us deal wisely (נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה) with them, so that they may not increase…So they (i.e. The Egyptian ruler and his advisors) set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.

In these two verses we find a troubling irony: Pharaoh declares that he must deal “wisely” (other translations say “shrewdly”) with the Israelites, and the result of that חכמה - that “wisdom” - is to oppress them. This peculiar juxtaposition raises the question: What is wisdom?

We find in other core texts of the Jewish tradition that “wisdom” is presented as a positive trait. In Proverbs, we learn that Hashem created the world by way of “wisdom”. This would even lead later interpreters to personify “wisdom” as Hashem’s quasi-embodied-spiritual partner. Throughout the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and Qohelet, “wisdom” is extolled above all things. This trend continues into rabbinic literature. As Ben Zoma says in his famous line from Pirkei Avot 4.1:

אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם, הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קיט) מִכָּל מְלַמְּדַי הִשְׂכַּלְתִּי כִּי עֵדְוֹתֶיךָ שִׂיחָה לִּי.

Who is wise? One who learns from every person, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding” 

But what if the one who is leading you down that path of “wisdom” is wrong? What if they are actually leading you to do something wicked? For this reason, Ben Zoma follows up the above quote with the following:

אֵיזֶהוּ גִבּוֹר, הַכּוֹבֵשׁ אֶת יִצְרוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי טז) טוֹב אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם מִגִּבּוֹר וּמשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ מִלֹּכֵד עִיר. … . אֵיזֶהוּ מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ב) כִּי מְכַבְּדַי אֲכַבֵּד וּבֹזַי יֵקָלּוּ:

Who is mighty? One who subdues their [evil] inclination, as it is said: “One that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and one that rules their spirit [better] than one that takes a city”... Who is the one that is honored? That person who honors their fellow human beings as it is said: “For I honor those that honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored” (I Samuel 2:30).

In virtually all Jewish traditions I can call to mind, “wisdom” holds a prized position of being an unqualified good thing. So what is happening with the “wisdom” of pharaoh and his advisors?

The word that the narrator uses to describe Pharaoh’s “wisdom” maybe gives us some hint. Instead of using the word in its noun form (חכמה) the author(s) use it in a weird verbal form (נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה). I say this form is “weird” because it only shows up twice in the Bible. This grammatical verb form is called the hitpael, and it is often used to communicate that an action is self-reflexive. (For example, the verb for “to pray” is התפלל, which could be translated to “pray to oneself.” We see this is, in fact, the way that some Jews pray in that they either “pray” silently in their minds, or they whisper the prayers loud enough to hear it themselves, but not loud enough for another person to hear what they are saying.) Beyond this self-reflexive meaning, however, the hitpael form can also carry a meaning that someone is pretending to do something, or pretending to be something that they are not. And maybe it is here that we can understand Exodus 1:10. When Pharaoh utters “Let us deal wisely with the Israelites,” it could be that the biblical narrator is winking at us as if to say that Pharaoh is deluding himself by pretending to be wise; because wisdom leads to human flourishing, not oppression. This observation feels especially relevant in this moment.

Friends, as we make our way into the first shabbat after the dangerous extremism that engulfed the Capitol, I want to encourage us to strive to live out the deeper, better attested meaning of “wisdom” that we see exemplified throughout Jewish tradition. This is a wisdom that is humble, industrious, mature, responsible, and is able to discern that which is ethical and upright; as we move deeper into Exodus, we will have ample opportunities to encounter examples in which Moses lives up to and surpasses this standard. My hope is that through honing this skill of “pursuing wisdom,” we will not only maintain moral clarity, but we will also be able to see through all of the pretending, self-deception and faux-wisdom of those misguided leaders in our world who would have us remain confused, small, overwhelmed and oppressed. Shabbat Shalom.

Kendell Pinkney is the Rabbinic Fellow at Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy