Today You Become a People of our G-d Who Loves YOU

A couple was in the middle of a terrible fight when a gunman broke into their home. He pointed a rifle at the wife and asked her name.
“Elizabeth,” she whispered.
“This is your lucky night,” he said. “My mother’s name was Elizabeth. I can’t kill you.”
Then he turned to the husband. “What’s your name?”
Shaking, he replied: “Harry… but they call me Elizabeth.”

It’s a funny story — but it points to something very deep. Sometimes our very identity is the difference between life and death.

Moses’ Strange Declaration

In this week’s parsha, after 40 years in the desert, Moses says:
“Pay attention, Israel. Today, you have become a people to the Lord your G-d.”

But how can that be? Hadn’t we already been a people for generations? Pharaoh himself, back in Egypt, was the first to call us a nation. He saw us as a threat, and he turned us into a people defined by fear, persecution, and antisemitism.

So why does Moses say only now — “today you have become a nation”?

Pharaoh’s Definition vs. Moses’ Definition

Pharaoh defined us by hate. We were “a people” because he despised us. Because he wanted to destroy us. Because in his eyes, our blood was cheap.

Moses gives us a new definition: “You are a people because you entered a covenant with G-d. Because you are bound not by hate but by Torah, not by enemies but by destiny.”

Rabbi Saadya Gaon said it best: “Our nation is not a nation except through its Torah.”

Pharaoh’s Voice Still Echoes

Too often in history, Jews have clung to Pharaoh’s definition:

• In the Holocaust, Nazis didn’t care if you were religious or secular, Zionist or anti-Zionist. You were Jewish, so you were hated.

• On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists butchered Jews in their homes, at a music festival, on kibbutzim — not because of what they did, but because of who they were.

This is Pharaoh’s definition: “You are a people because you are hated.”

Moses’ Answer

But Moses cries out: “Hayom hazeh nihyeta la’am!” Today you become a people — not because Pharaoh hates you, but because G-d loves you. Not because you are united in fear, but because you are united in faith.

The Klausenberger Rebbe, who lost his wife and 11 children in the Holocaust, once interrupted the Torah reading when the curses were read in a whisper. He banged on the lectern and cried: “Louder! We have already lived through the curses. Let G-d hear that it is time for the blessings!”

And then he built a hospital, a city, and a community in Israel — not on curses, but on blessings.

The Choice Today

Pharaoh’s voice still tries to define us: “You are Jews because you are hated.”
Moses’ voice challenges us: “You are Jews because you are chosen to bring love, light, justice, and holiness into the world.”

Our children cannot remain Jewish if their only definition is Pharaoh’s. We must give them Moses — a Judaism of joy, meaning, and mission.

Yes, we remember the curses. But we live by the blessings.

Shabbat Shalom, and Shana Tovah,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky