A word of Torah-Shemot:
Names and namelessness:
    How does oppression come about? It happens when we lose our names. The beginning of the book of Exodus begins with a list of the names of Jacob’s children who went down to Egypt. The Hebrew name for the book of Exodus is Shemot—the names. In the Bible, to know the name of something is to know its essence. Yet after the first few verses of the Book of Exodus, names disappear. The Israelites lose their individual identity. The text tells us a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. The past is erased and in the present the Israelites are described as a scary menace.
    How does oppression happen? When people are turned into “others.” We don’t know who they are. They are dangerous. They are not like us. To help forget that they are humans just like us, they must lose their individual identity/their names and just be a mass of others. They deserve/need to be oppressed.
    Here is the description of Moses’ birth: “A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.” (Ex. 2:1). In this story, they are anonymous. When Moses grows up and goes out of the palace, he sees an Egyptian man beating an Israelite man; again, no name (Ex. 2:11). While Moses is given a name by the anonymous daughter of Pharaoh, as the hero of our text he is the exception.
    In fact, the only names beside Moses to appear in these first chapters are those of the midwives, Shifra and Puah (Ex. 1:15). Pharaoh realizes that enslaving the Israelites isn’t enough so he decrees that all Israelite male babies should be drowned in the Nile. Shifra and Puah decide to disobey Pharaoh’s decree. They show the first spark of rebellion. They deserve names for they are certainly individuals.
    In the story of Moses we also see the triumph of humanity over dehumanization. Born of Hebrew slaves, he grows up in the palace and presumably knows how the other half lives.
    In a turning point in the story we are told: Moses goes out from the palace to his kinfolk. He sees their labors and their suffering. Specifically, he sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite. What is Moses’ response? “Moses turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand “(Ex. 2:12).  Moses takes action on behalf of the Israelite. His identification with his kin and with the oppressed is made clear as is his willingness to act. We can understand the phrase “seeing no one about” as meaning there was no ish, no person, willing to take a stand against oppression. Moses sees oppression and decides to act.
     Moses learns another lesson in this moment. Freedom doesn’t happen in an instant. It will take time. There will be setbacks. Even those who he has come to help will reject him. Instead of gratitude, he faces resentment. Moses is forced to flee into exile to Midian.
     In exile, Moses must figure out whether he is an Egyptian or a Hebrew. Who is he? What is his capacity? In his struggle, he will find his identity. His name, which means drawn out of the water, becomes truly his as Moses will draw the people of Israel out of the land of the Nile and ultimately through the Sea of Reeds. With his leadership the Israelites will rediscover their names and their freedom.