Yochanan Goodall’s research into non-human primate linguistic capacities results in an unexpected plaintiff (gorilla or whatnot) for the courtroom of Rabbi Moses. The genius judge had considered himself to be a lone wolf, but in the eyes of a being who becomes a synecdoche of all that he opposes, he finds for the first time a mirror and sympathy.
“The Torah does not deal in extraordinary cases,” translates Hillel.
“There is nothing unambiguous, A woman shall not lie with a beast.”
“You too were once strangers in Egypt…”
“How dare you! Egypt is slavery, colonization, death camps!”
“Egypt is discovering that the Other understands you but hates you anyway,” Hillel’s voice was always low, but it was rarely tinged with unabashed melancholy as was now obvious to all.
This story exposes the taboo liminal space of postmodernism, where communication reveals itself to be mimicry, and acceptance devolves into implicit-forced conversion. End of story could suggest itself as a Midrash upon the Midrash of Moshe’s royal wanderings in Cush et al. (here, and why the people loved Aaron more than Moshe, and why he could not cross the Jordan with his people and why this is a tragic but beautiful ending).
