By: Michelle Ruby
Director of Israel Teen Emissaries and Education
When I started my career as a Jewish Educator over 30 years ago, I was determined that, no matter what space I was working in, I would make Jewish Education relevant to my students. For me, this meant seeking out as many teachable moments as I could. One of my favorite moments came in 1998 when DreamWorks released The Prince of Egypt. The scene in the movie where Moses encounters the burning bush might still be one of my all-time favorites. In this scene, we hear Moses speaking with G-d. The dialogue they share is a close match to the biblical version we read, but hearing it in this way, as opposed to reading it, allows for a different learning opportunity.
Moses is voiced by Val Kilmer (great choice), but how do you choose an actor to voice G-d? If you look at the credits, the voice of G-d isn’t listed. It is only after careful listening and multiple viewings that I was able to identify that G-d’s voice was also Val Kilmer. This idea of having the same person play Moses and G-d has sparked many hours of discussion in classrooms, with colleagues, friends, and even my children at the dinner table. Why would the creator of this film take this approach? After all, the relationship between Moses and God throughout the Bible is clearly one of two separate beings communicating with each other.
During biblical times, the Jewish people had a clear idea of their relationship with G-d. It meant making offerings, bringing sacrifices, and only communicating with the High Priest who would then speak the Israelites’ words to G-d. After the destruction of the Second Temple, we started to form our own relationships with G-d, eliminating the intermediaries. The scene in The Prince of Egypt takes that relationship a step further and challenges us to think of how we hear G-d. Is G-d an outside presence answering our prayers and guiding our way, or is G-d that inner voice that serves as a moral compass and taps into our spiritual side?
This week’s Torah portion, Vayikra—“And God Called”—, challenges this notion even further. In this portion, God calls to Moses again, asking him to record all the laws and make sure they are followed. So how do we transition from being led and told what to do to interpreting, understanding, and acting on our own?
My answer is to go back to the movie. We see Moses change during his encounter with the burning bush from a scared, insecure shepherd into the man who will go before Pharaoh and demand the release of his people. This change happens because Moses receives a call, not just from an external source, but also from within himself, a deeper sense of personal responsibility to do what is right.
Sometimes, understanding our purpose requires both an external call (whether real or perceived) and an internal message, a voice that comes from within us. Thank you, Val, for the teachable moment. May your memory be for a blessing.
Please email Michelle Ruby at mruby@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.