Timeless Torah

One can read the Biblical portions at the beginning of the Book of Exodus from several perspectives. The most obvious angle is to look at the entire story through the eyes of the beleaguered Hebrew slaves. For a more personal point of view, one can opt to put themselves in the shoes (or is it the sandals?) of Moses, the fearless leader. Of course, one can always be radical and wish to play devil’s advocate, and try to imagine the entire experience from an Egyptian point of view.

Here’s a question to ponder. Which one these three is likely to feel the most anguish? Is it the oppressed slaves who stood by helplessly while their children were being thrown into the Nile or crushed into the Pyramids? Was it Moses, who alone realized that the cruelty of the Pharaoh had to grow even worse in order to follow a predetermined Master Plan? Or perhaps, it was the Egyptians who saw their country being decimated because of their king’s incomprehensible stubbornness and knew that their firstborn were now being foolishly gambled as a prop for the Pharaoh’s pride?

The answer, surprisingly enough, is none of the above. The one who suffered most throughout this entire ordeal was none other than G-d Himself. I know you might find this hard to believe, so let me explain.

We’ve all seen those so-called computer games, like SimEarth or The Gungan Frontier. They, along with others, are a programmer’s idea of what it’s like to be G-d. One looks down at the blank screen with detachment and makes decisions that have global impact. Then we watch with fascinated horror the mess we have created.

The player is supposed to plop down animals vegetation, rivers, weather patterns, etc., all the while ensuring that the biosphere remains balanced and healthy. Sometimes it works out, sometimes there’s disaster. Like starvation, catastrophe, or even extinction. But that’s okay. When your mother calls for dinner, you shut down the machine and walk away

Thankfully, G-d doesn’t operate quite in the same way. A more accurate program, titled G-DPLAY, would allow one to see the events on earth not just from a heavenly throne but from the eyes of any creature on the planet, be it predator or victim, or even a plant or a rock. To experience life as it goes on from within that being, would mean that the player would be able to feel the satisfaction of munching green leaves, the fear of an approaching storm, the throbbing heartbeat of an attacked animal, the desperate will to live.

But to really be G-d, even that is not enough. What is really required is the capability to enter all those creatures at once, and be all of them at the same time. To be within a single universe, and yet experience billions upon billions of different entities. To be the stars that gaze upon a spectrum of color beyond what humans know. Or the worm that lives in a virtually two-dimensional world. To be as hot as the desert lizard, cold as the penguin, wet as the salty sea, dry as the prickly cactus, smart as the angel, silent as the rock...and all at once.

But even then one wouldn’t be truly playing the part of G-d. That can only occur when one experiences the boundless reality of living within each creature, and at the same time remain transcendent and aloof.

That would be some story worth hearing. Imagine playing it? A role where you are infinitely removed and intimately within, all at the same time.

We’ve finally reached the crossroads. The juncture where the simulated game and real life must go their own separate ways. For in the computer version of this story, I the player, am also the author. However, in G-d’s real life drama which seems to be filled with little side stories He’s given some of His favorite creatures the power to write their own script. (By the way, if you are able to read this, you are probably human which qualifies you for favorite creature status.)

They, meaning us humans, can put themselves down as the hero or the villain in the fight. Or maybe they will choose to be the coward and not get involved. It would all be their choice and they would each have to live with their decisions.

But magically, regardless of how they acted in their interpersonal episodes, in the big story, through the culmination of all their little stories and antics, My ending (and by that, I mean G-d’s ending), the one I’ve already written would be realized. At that point in history, all would recognize the Me that is within them....and will they be surprised. So now you know that A) G-d not only feels our pain as much as we do, but B) thankfully, He doesn’t shut us off during dinner.