Seidemann: Role reversals

From the other side of the bench

by David Seidemann

Issue of January 22, 2010/ 7 Shvat 5770

The task entrusted to Moses was not an easy one. He was to use, at least initially, the power of speech to motivate both a despondent nation and a despot ruler, to change their ways. The king was used to subjugating and intimidating. The Hebrews were accustomed to being dominated. The king did not believe in any power greater than himself. The Hebrew slaves did not believe in any power greater than Pharaoh. Both had to be convinced that the king was no king.

Both had to be convinced that there was a King that ruled over Pharaoh; that Pharaoh himself had to answer to a higher authority. Both had to be convinced that this lowly nation of slaves and their G-d, a G-d they’d never met, could rule over Pharaoh.  And who was sent on this mission to persuade the king that he was a slave and persuade the slaves that one day they would be kings? Who was sent to convince the parties that in the very near future the slaves would rule over the evil man that ruled over them? It was none other than a man with a speech impediment.

I think we can all agree that if American Idol can select the best dancer and the best singer in the land, then G-d, even without Simon Cowell, could find the most eloquent of speakers to effectuate change in people who were resistant to change. Neither the Hebrews nor the king had any prior exposure to G-d and therefore everything hinged on the presentation of Moses. Perhaps there was a better choice.

Well, we all know that there wasn’t a better choice. We all know how things turned out. We all know that G-d sent Aaron along with Moses to help deliver the message. This then begs the question, why send Moses at all; why not just send Aaron? One can spend hours upon hours immersed in the texts and commentaries on the texts as to why both Aaron and Moses were sent to turn slaves into kings and a king into a slave. One can spend hours analyzing and explaining the wisdom of sending a man with a disability on a mission to lift the disabled. One need not dig too deeply however, to understand the connection between a broken tongue and broken spirits, and how both can find their way to redemption.

What I found interesting was that Moses never rejected the mission because he possessed a disability and therefore felt unable to undertake the mission. His only reservations were based on the fact that others might not be able to overlook his disability, in terms of being able to accept the message which Moses was attempting to deliver. Somewhere along the line Moses developed the ability to transcend his limitations, his disabilities, his perceived shortcomings. Somewhere along the line his caretakers instilled in him the notion that if one is lacking, he simply is obliged to try harder to succeed. Somewhere along the line he absorbed the message of independence.

The words and pictures out of Haiti are haunting. An underdeveloped nation with little, if any, physical, social, educational, or fiscal infrastructure was reduced to rubble. Efforts to build a progressive society have been set back decades. The lack of a physically sound infrastructure caused much greater damage than might have otherwise occurred. The lack of a sophisticated economy and other elements of an advanced society caused a greater degree of suffering now and for the future than might have occurred in a better developed part of the world.

We cannot prevent earthquakes or other heaven-sent disasters. But we can build proper infrastructure before disaster strikes so that recovery becomes more possible.

But this lack of infrastructure is not restricted to mortar. Another fundamental lack of infrastructure is just as dangerous, here in the United States and in other seemingly developed regions of the world. It relates not to mortar but to mortals.

We continue to coddle anyone who claims to be lacking; anyone and everyone who lives in a bubble of their own self-created disability. Instead of providing those who lack with tools to help them succeed in the future, we grant them everything they desire with little or no effort to be exerted on their own behalf. We have spoiled our children and entire segments of the population by creating shortcuts to success, immediate handouts, and few if any incentives to build their own personal infrastructures.

We have created a generation of dependence and dependants. We have retarded their growth and in the process have retarded the growth of our families and our society. Charity is important but it is not the answer. Disabilities exist, but have you noticed that the more physically disabled a person appears, the more he or she believes in him or herself? It is the people that have been handed everything on a silver platter, those with two arms, two legs, and a working mind who tend to be the ones that believe that they are disabled beyond repair and reform.

Parents, teachers, and governments are not doing themselves or the people they are entrusted to care for any favors by providing quick fix solutions to people’s legitimate problems. Nor are parents, teachers and governments doing society a favor when they allow those that lack nothing but motivation, to continue to underachieve.

G-d’s answer to Moses was not to stay home and collect disability. Rather G-d’s response was to tell Moses that he could succeed despite his disability, and that if he needed any assistance, his brother would be there at his side. Parents and governments need to convince most of the “disabled” people or children that what they perceive as disabilities are not barriers but challenges. And for those that really are disabled, help is only a brother away.

David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann & Mermelstein.  He can be reached at (718) 692-1013 and at ds@lawofficesm.com.