Verse Ex17-11a describing the war of the Jews against Amalayk states And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. The Talmud wryly asks: Do then Moses' hands create victory that when he raises them they were victorious but when he lowers them they were losing. But rather the verse is interpreted to mean When Moses raised his hands in prayer the Jews were victorious and when he lowered them they were losing.

This interpretation appears slightly fanciful. To justify it requires a database query: In various moral episodes do we find spiritual leaders reinforcing necessary moral values with symbolic gestures? The answer to this query uncovers several such instances. These instances reinforce the reinterpretation approach indicated above. We present below half a dozen examples where symbolic gestures reinforce moral norms.
• Nu21-09a discussing the copper snake Moses made to cure the Jews who were being bitten by snakes for slandering God states And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived. Here the people looking up to the snake is a symbolic gesture reminding them to pray to the God whom they slandered in order to repent from their slander and thereby earn merit to be cured.
• Gn06-14a discussing the Ark made by Noach to save the Jews states Make thee an ark of lava wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. Here Noah made the ark of lava wood to symbolize that the generation of the flood would be punished with molten lava for their sins if they did not repent.
• Ex20-23a discussing the prohibition of ascending the ark in steps vs a ramp states Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon. Here the steps on a staircase, vs. a ramp, uncovers more nakedness and embarasses the steps. The anthropomorphic implication is that we should not embarass stones and how much more so we should not embarass our fellow human beings. It turns out that the Hebrew word for steps, Mem Ayin Lamed Tauv is also the Hebrew root for fantasies. Thus we have a further reinforcement of our moral norm.
• Ex17-11a discussing the war of the Jews and Amalayk states And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Here Moses raising his hands is symbolic of urging Jews to raise their hands in prayer which is the real reason they are winning.
• Lv20-15a presents the punishment of a death penalty to an animal who sleeps with a person. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast. This symbolically affirms how serious sexual crimes are. If we execute animals who violate them how much more so will the people who violate sexual norms be punished.
• Dt12-02 discussing the requirement to destroy idolatrous trees reinforces the requirement of avoiding idolatrous people: Ye shall surely destroy all the places, wherein the nations that ye are to dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy tree.

Sermonic Points: The idea is clear. If we in our daily lives wish to reinforce some moral norm we should use symbolic gestures.