THE FINGER OF GOD

I was once driving along Koeberg Road when I noticed a sign indicating the way to Finger Of God Ministries. Intrigued by the name of this church, I searched for more information on the internet. The rather sparse website explained that “Finger of God Ministries International (FOGM) is an interdenominational church: a ministry on a new dimension.” The pastors of the church explain that “we delight to see a Nation that looks forward to a true worship experience. This is why we believe you need to be at the Finger of God Ministries, where the word, worship and praise go hand in hand.” I did not discover why they named their church Finger of God, but I imagine they did so because it evokes very powerful associations. One such association is the famous fresco by Michelangelo on the ceiling of Rome’s Sistine Chapel. In that iconic image, God, portrayed as an elderly man surrounded by angels, extends His finger towards that of Adam thereby animating him. 

It is more likely, however, that the church founders had in mind a verse from the exodus narrative. Aharon executes the plague of lice by transforming the dust of Egypt into the menacing little insects. Pharaoh’s magicians attempt to duplicate the plague, as they did the first two, but they cannot. They tell the king of Egypt (Shmot 8:15): “It is the finger of God!” Why did they describe the plague of lice with this phrase and why were they unable to duplicate it? The Ibn Ezra (Spain, 1089-1164) cited by Ramban, explains that the magicians meant that, unlike the previous plagues, this plague had not been executed by the hand of Aharon on behalf of the Israelites, but was a natural occurrence predetermined by the astrological forces on the Land of Egypt. It was therefore a random act unconnected to God’s direct supervision but to the way in which He set up nature from the outset. The Ibn Ezra’s proof is the use of the name Elokim (Etzbah Elokim, the Finger of the Lord) which denotes the God of Creation rather than the name Adon-ai which is used to indicate God’s unique relationship with the Jewish people and His supervision/interference in the natural world. 

Ramban disputes this interpretation because it does not adequately explain the use of the word “finger”, which implies a far more direct intervention on behalf of God. He therefore explains that the meaning is “like the plain sense of the words”: when the sorcerers saw that they could not duplicate the plague, they admitted and acknowledged that this was indeed the work of God brought about through the agency of Aharon. They could just as well have said “this is the hand of God”, but they said “finger” to minimise the plague, as if for God this was a very minor action. The Torah uses the name Elokim in this instance because Pharaoh and his counsellors only used the name Adon-ai when speaking to Moshe and Aharon who consistently referred to God by that name. Ramban explains that the inability of the magicians to duplicate the plague was part of God’s plan to demonstrate that the world is His and that He has the power to control everything in it. Furthermore, he suggests, there was a qualitative difference between the first two plagues of blood and frogs and the third, of lice. The plague of blood involved the transformation of water into blood and the plague of frogs involved the extraction and mass gathering of all the frogs from the Nile and the surrounding canals. The third plague, however, involved an act of creation and formation and this can only be done by the Creator Himself. 

Ramban then cites the Midrash (Shmot Rabbah 10:7) that offers an alternate explanation: “Rabbi Elazar said, “From here [the inability of the magicians to duplicate the plague of lice] we learn that a sheid [demon] cannot create something smaller than a barley-grain.” The rabbis said, “They cannot even create a [large animal] like a camel! Rather they can gather larger creatures but not smaller creatures.” This somewhat enigmatic Midrash is of the opinion that the sorcerers of Egypt employed a form of magic that used the services of sheidim, demons. These creatures are forces of impurity and there is a general rule in the laws of impurity that they cannot attach themselves to anything smaller than a barley grain. Rabbi Elazar and his colleagues seem to be debating whether sheidim have the power of creation and if so, how far it extends.  All agree, however, that their power is limited to larger items. The corollary of this is that God has power even over little things. This is a concept that needs to be emphasised for we tend to believe that God is disinterested in the petty aspects of human existence. He might be the cause of natural disasters, wars and celestial occurrences but He has no regard for the day-to-day life of the everyman. This is not so. Hashem is “The God Of Small Things”, if one may borrow the title of Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize-winning debut novel in which the author describes how the small things in life affect people’s behaviour. 

More than any other faith, Judaism teaches that God is concerned with every detail of our lives. The many mitzvoth that make up the Jewish religion interject themselves into every sphere of life from eating to working; from child-rearing to fashion; from our financial relationships to our intimate ones. Wherever man is, that is where God is, be it in the office, the kitchen, the school or the bedroom. King Solomon said it best in Proverbs (3:6): “In all your ways know Him, and He will smooth your paths.” Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks makes this point (Koren Siddur pages 130-131): “Grant dew and rain as a blessing. Judaism places great emphasis on detail. Non-compliance with even a minor detail often invalidates the entire performance of a particular mitzvah. An ardent prayer flowing from the depths of one’s heart, saturated with zeal and fervour, is invalidated if the brief phrase ‘grant dew and rain as a blessing’ is not recited in the proper season. However, while prayer is an example of Judaism’s attention to minutiae, it is still an impassioned dialogue…”

It is not just God’s obvious hand that we must seek out, but also His finger. We must find Him in the small and seemingly insignificant aspects of life – in the beat of a heart, a ray of the sun, the smile on a face and the cry of a child.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Chag Kasher v’Sameach & Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Liebenberg.

For Pesach: https://youtu.be/lJaQIiUOymU