Have you ever met an ex-Frenchman, or ex-Briton or ex-Australian? I haven't.
So you'll forgive me as well if I refer to myself as an ex-Egyptian. Yes, I know, my family started there. We were given so much by that glorious African nation. Employment, opportunity and fulfillment - how many people can claim to have built the pyramids. But we also left with bitter feelings towards our employers, so you'll excuse me if I only refer to myself as an ex-egyptian.
So here's my advice to all my fellow ex-countrymen in Tahrir Square;
Listen to me. We have experience in this area. Our Pharaoh makes your Mubarak look like a friendly milk deliveryman. When I see the scenes of bloodshed against protesters in Cairo it is heartbreaking... Tragically it reminds me of our first born sons becoming fish food in the Nile during the round one of Egyptian oppression. Hearing about the beatings, going on since last Friday, is a throw back to close to three generations of daily torment in building Ramses. And much more. So take it from me that I don't speak about the importance of freedom in Egypt lightly.
But here's the thing;
1. Don't let it out on others. The first thing we were told by G-d (in last week's Parsha) after taking us out from under such horrible employers, were the Mitzvot about being a good employee. The Torah gives pretty strict labor laws as the opening shot of Jewish law taught after the stories of Exodus and Sinai. So I only hope that when you do succeed in throwing off the yoke of this tyrannical government, please, don't become one yourself. Not to your own. Nor to your northeastern neighbors. Remember that.
2. But being a good guy is more than just not being the bad guy. Unlike many of your African counterparts, I hope you'll realize that governing is far more complex than liberating. Your objective now is very clear and simple. But when the dust settles is when nation building really begins. Getting him out is digging the hole and making space for the foundation. It's pretty easy to dig the hole where you'll build a home. Filling that hole is a whole different story.
And this week the Torah give us lots of advice on how to build, on how to fill that space in our lives.
Would you believe that the story of creation of the universe is only one chapter of the Torah.
Revelation at Sinai? Three.
Building a Tabernacle in the Desert? Thirteen.
It seems strange that the architectural and artistic design and construction of a hut in the desert gets more airtime than the creation of the world and the exodus from Egypt combined. But that is in fact exactly the point.
Up until this week, we have been laying the ground work. Whether it was the physical universe of Genesis, or the spiritual purpose of Exodus, only now does the real work kick in. And that's the important part.
"Terumah", the name of this week's parsha, means contribution. It's a name that tells us that after all of the remarkable things that we read about in the first 2,500 years since Adam and Eve, it is our contribution in building a nation, through the building of a central Tabernacle, of our own initiative, that our story truly begins.
The commentaries point out that the the Hebrew word Terumah is a combination of the Hebrew word "Torah" and the letter "Mem." That letter has the numerical value of 40, alluding to the 40 days that Moshe spent on the Mountain understanding the Torah. It represents the transmission from the Divine to the Human. The transition from heaven to earth. Liberating his people from Egypt overnight was heroic. But spending 40 days to understand how G-d wants them to live thereafter, was even more important.
So often we allow the "opening show" to overshadow the "centre stage" of what life is about.
Whether it's the allure and romance of love you may see at a wedding which obscures the sacrifice and true commitment that a successful relationship requires, or the passion and idealism that inspires a popular rebellion, hiding the true challenges that lie in the nation building ahead.
The painstaking detail of the Tabernacle, that we read about in this week's portion, may seem boring to someone searching for all the excitement of the last few weeks.
But as we all know, it's in those details, the intense understanding of G-d's Torah and observing His Mitzvot, the sensitivity we apply to every aspect of the life we create with our families, the attention we pay to the needs of clients in building a business, it's in those details that we truly succeed.
Please G-d may the desire of millions of oppressed citizens across the Middle East for true freedom, translate not only into free and fair elections under the great celebration of liberty for all, but true and just societies that seek lasting security and true peace for themselves, and everyone - every nation - around them.
Wishing you a Shabbat of noticing and building the details in your life,