"We see things not as they are but as we are." Taken from
Milton's poem Paradise Lost,this haunting aphorism offers us a
penetrating look into human nature. None of us sees the world
through untinted lenses. Even when we think we're being
objective, our backgrounds, values and interests condition how
we understand life. Few tales demonstrate this better than the
story of three construction workers employed to erect a
religious institution. When asked, "What are you doing?" the
first replied, "I'm laying bricks." The second said, "I'm making
$10.50 per hour." The third reverently answered, "I'm building a
shrine to God." Three men, three totally different perceptions
of the same reality. Our portion begins with God's promises of
redemption to the Israelites, the promises we memorialize by
drinking four cups of wine at seder. After a quick detour
through Moses and Aaron's genealogy, the Torah recounts at
length the 10 plagues God visited upon Egypt. The first was
blood. Those who've watched Charlton Heston in T