The phrase “Let my people go” occurs nine times in the Biblical narrative of the Exodus, sometimes in God’s instructions to Moses, at other times in Moses’ exhortations to Pharaoh. In contrast to most Biblical expressions we survey in this column, the phrase “Let my people go” is characteristically cited as Biblical when it is referenced in the popular press. Of course, not all such citations or references are created equal!
From the world of sports, a shot at British soccer (or is it football?): “Let my people go: Yossi Benayoun has become the first player to leave Liverpool, signing a deal with Chelsea. The Israeli only the first of what is expected to become an exodus of players from the troubled club” (from Montreal’s The Gazette).
From somewhere in the clouds comes this marketing observation: “Not since Moses famously said ‘Let my people go’ has there been such pent up demand of users wanting to give up their cellular overlords as there is today. Verizon is doing everything it can to make it as easy as possible for AT&T iPhone users to switch to the big red” (from Techweb). Do you think they’re guaranteeing four bars at the summit of Mt. Sinai even during an electrical storm?
Then we get this account from the St. Petersburg Times under the headline, “The Pharaoh: Let My People Go Unburned”: “Warm weather has arrived … To prevent the back of your neck from turning beet red, you could invest in a hooded swimsuit. Or you could try out Jeremy Cooper’s new invention, the Pharaoh … a less complicated version of the hat-and-towel combo many people already sport to beat the heat … They’re available in white, pink, sky blue and kelly green. Now you can fight heatstroke and color coordinate.” Do you think Pharaoh, in this case Ramesses II, could have placated the enslaved Hebrews by offering them outfits like this?
The next report, in New York’s Daily News, has the eye-stopping (if not eye-popping), headline, “Going Kosher: Williamsburg Man Brings Diapers in Line with Law.” Opening most disposable diapers involves tearing glue-based adhesive strips, which constitutes work forbidden on the Sabbath for observant Jews. That restriction does not apply to unhooking the velcro tabs on these new diapers. The first two sentences of the story say it all: “This product gives new meaning to the old refrain, ‘Let my people go.’ It’s a kosher diaper invented by a Williamsburg entrepreneur—the perfect antidote to wet tushies on the Sabbath.”
And finally, who could resist a story with the headline, “My Seder with Brando”? The author of this narrative in The Jerusalem Post, Louie Kemp, recalls that he once had to call a synagogue repeatedly asking if he could bring additional guests to a community seder (Passover meal). He had already gotten Marlon Brando in, when “still later that day, I receive a phone call from a childhood friend who had become a well-known singer/songwriter … The shul [synagogue] was unhappy to receive my most recent request, but somehow I softened the heart of the receptionist and she agreed to let my people go—to the seder.” That night the congregation heard Brando reading from the Haggadah (the book of readings for the Passover meal) and Kemp’s other guest—Bob Dylan!—performing an impromptu rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
The phrase “Let my people go” occurs nine times in the Biblical narrative of the Exodus, sometimes in God’s instructions to Moses, at other times in Moses’ exhortations to Pharaoh. In contrast to most Biblical expressions we survey in this column, the phrase “Let my people go” is characteristically cited as Biblical when it is referenced in the popular press. Of course, not all such citations or references are created equal! From the world of sports, a shot at British soccer (or is it football?): “Let my people go: Yossi Benayoun has become the first player to leave Liverpool, […]
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