Parasha: Shemot · Aliyah: Fourth (Netzach)

ומשה היה רועה…וינהג את הצאן, And Moses was a shepherd….and he led the sheep, etc. The Torah means that G'd had His hand in this, i.e. He caused the sheep to move in that direction. Alternatively, it means that Moses was in the habit of guiding his flocks as usual but the sheep walked to that mountain on that occasion for G'd wanted to speak to him there.

ויאמר הנני, he said: "I am ready." This was different from the time G'd first called out to the prophet Samuel (Samuel I, 3,4) when Samuel thought that the High Priest Eli had called him. Moses knew right away that G'd was speaking to him. This was because Moses was a prophet already from birth; this was merely his first vision. On the other hand, perhaps the words את המראה הגדול הזה "this great spectacle," merely indicates that compared to previous contacts between G'd and Moses this one seemed infinitely more remarkable.

אל תקרב הלום, של נעליך, "Do not come closer; remove your shoes, etc." G'd gave two instructions. 1) not to come closer. 2) to remove his shoes because even the site on which Moses was standing at that moment was already holy ground. Why did G'd not instruct Moses to remove his shoes before he had accidentally stepped on holy ground wearing shoes? At that time G'd could have warned Moses not to step on holy ground (even without shoes).

We observe throughout the Torah that G'd's principal concern is with the negative commandments, since failure to observe them is injurious to the soul of the person who violates them. This is what Solomon referred to in Kohelet 12,7 when he spoke about the importance of the spirit G'd has given man returning to G'd after man dies. Shabbat 152 understand the word נתנה as if it it were written אשר נתנה לך, "which has been given to you," meaning that just as a pure soul was given to man so a pure soul has to be returned to G'd. On the other hand, positive commandments are designed to enable man to achieve the "good" G'd has made available to man. As a rule, failure to observe the positive commandments does not result in penalties with the exception of certain basic commandments such as Passover and circumcision [without which a Jew cannot demonstrate his Jewish identity, Ed.].

In this instance G'd commanded Moses both something negative, i.e. "do not come closer!" as well as something positive, i.e. "remove your shoes!" Our sages in Eyruvin 96 state that wherever the Torah uses the expression פן or אל such as here, what follows is a negative commandment. The words "remove your shoes," are a positive commandment, however. If Moses were to cross the invisible dividing line by approaching closer to the burning bush (as he had intended to) he would be violating a negative commandment. Were he to fail to remove his shoes, however, this would imply a lack of respect for G'd but it would not constitute transgression of a negative commandment because the commandment had been phrased positively, though it implied that no shoes were to be worn there. The Torah always speaks about שמירה, i.e. care not to violate a negative commandment, before demanding עשיה, performance of a related positive commandment (compare Deuteronomy 4,6; 15,5, Genesis 26,5 et al). This is why the sequence in which G'd commanded Moses at this point is no departure from the Torah's norm.

We still have to answer what G'd had in mind when He did not call out to Moses before the latter had a chance to stand on holy ground clad in shoes. Perhaps Moses did not qualify for an address by G'd unless He had been told not to come still closer. Perhaps the site on which Moses stood at that time became sanctified only by reason of G'd having revealed Himself to Moses there. Perhaps the reason G'd wanted to speak with Moses at that site was in order to have an excuse to sanctify that spot. Perhaps this was the reason for the extra word הוא in the expression אדמת קודש הוא. That word was not really necessary.

ויאמר ה׳ ראה ראיתי את עני עמי, G'd said: "I have surely seen the plight of My people, etc." Why did G'd speak about two "sightings?" Why did He have to add the words "in Egypt?" If Moses had not been aware of the fact that the Jews were G'd's people how would the fact that G'd referred to them as being in Egypt help Moses identify them? There were very many different peoples in Egypt! Perhaps no other people in Egypt suffered persecution except the Jewish people. At any rate, Moses must have known that Israel was G'd's people and His heritage on earth.

G'd mentioned that He had observed two distinctly different things. 1) The time of redemption had not yet arrived; in spite of this, however, G'd had taken into consideration the plight of His people and the misery they experienced in Egypt. Shabbat 10 tells that the immediate cause of the descent of the Jewish people to exile in Egypt was due only to the extra two shekalim Jacob had spent on Joseph's striped coat which had aroused the brothers' envy. Tossaphot challenge this explanation saying that exile had long ago been decreed in the days of Abraham? They answer that the exile prophecy could have come true in some other country where the Israelites would not have been enslaved so cruelly. The words אשר במצרים are to indicate that the very fact that the Israelites experienced their exile in Egypt instead of somewhere else was a reason for G'd to to commence the process of liberation already at this time. Although the time had not come for redemption, the time certainly had come for relief from the oppressive measures the Egyptians had introduced against the Jewish people.

G'd may also have seen the pain the Jews were suffering. The Torah may have written ראיתי עני עמי in order to demonstrate G'd's identification with the Jews. Inasmuch as they were His people, He was part of their suffering.

Another reason why G'd speaks of ראה ראיתי is that in addition to the suffering of the Jews which G'd had seen, He also saw that there were no more holy souls which had been taken captive by the forces of the קליפה and which were to be rescued by the Jewish people. Seeing that the exile had accomplished also this part of its function, the way was now clear for redemption. Pessachim 119 compares Egypt at the time to a pond which had been drained of fish. There was therefore no point in continuing to angle (for souls) there. Continued residence of the Jews in Egypt could only have counterproductive effects from that time on.

ואת צעקתם שמעתי, "and I have heard their outcry," etc. G'd added that in addition to factors already mentioned, He had also heard the outcry which was occasioned by the fact that the Egyptians had been more cruel than warranted in their application of Pharaoh's decrees. All these statements were in order to justify the fact that G'd was appointing a redeemer already at this time. The Israelites, of course, had believed that the exile would last for 400 years. Besides, G'd revealed to Moses that as soon as the Egyptians would suffer the first of the plagues G'd had in store for them, the Jewish people would cease to perform slave labour for them. I shall explain this in detail when commenting on verse eight.

When the Torah added מפני נגשיו, "on account of its taskmasters," after having mentioned that G'd had heard צעקתם "their outcry" (plural instead of singular) whereas the word נגשיו is in the singular this may describe that the Jewish people prayed to G'd as a single body as we explained on the words ותעל שועתם. Had the Torah written: ואת צעקתם מפני נגשיו שמעתי, I would have thought that their outcry was merely a reflection of their forced labour without an element of prayer.

The reason that the word "their outcry" is in the plural whereas "its taskmasters" describes the people as a single unit is simply that no two people cry out with the same intensity. The more people cry out, the greater the divergence between the relative intensity of these various people. Since they all had the same taskmasters, however, the use of the singular with the word נגשיו is perfectly justified. These various factors contributed to the appointment of Moses as the redeemer long before the time the Israelites expected their exile to end.

Another meaning of the additional words מפני נגשיו is in line with Isaiah 65,24 והיה טרם יקראו ואני אענה, "before they pray I will answer." In our situation G'd explains that He is sensitive to the abuse practised by even a single one of Israel's taskmasters. He does not wait until they all exceed their authority and abuse His people. G'd adds that the reason for this is that "I know their pains." The implication is that G'd is aware even before the people bring this to His attention through their prayer/outcry. All of this underscores G'd's strong love for His people, a love comparable to that of a father for his son.

According to our earlier explanation, the words כי ידעתי את מכאוביו would refer to the pains that are already way beyond what Israel could be expected to bear. The words refer both to the visible and to the invisible hardship inflicted on Israel.

G'd conveyed to Moses that He had not needed Israel's prayers in order to become aware of their problems. This awareness obligated Him to redeem Israel in accordance with His attributes. G'd's attribute of Mercy received further impetus when He looked at the injustices suffered by His creatures so that He decided to apply special yardsticks known as לפנים משורת הדין in order to alleviate their suffering. G'd told Moses that He had decided to "descend" in order to save His people.

וארד להצילו… ולהעלותו מן הארץ ההיא, "I shall descend in order to save…and to bring them out of this land, etc." The reason G'd speaks about His "descent" is that it is not really in keeping with the dignity of the supreme G'd to convey His instructions to a vile human being such as the Pharaoh who now oppressed the Jewish people. This was all the more so seeing that Pharaoh had the effrontery to exclaim "who is G'd that I should heed His words?" (5,2) G'd explained that He waived some of the honour due to Him in order to expedite the redemption of Israel. It is worthwhile to study the comment in the introduction to Eycha Rabbah section 14 on Proverbs 29,9: איש חכם נשפט את איש אויל ורגז ושחק ואין נחת. "If a wise man goes to Court with a fool there is no peace whether the fool rages or laughs." It is remarkable that Solomon uses the form נשפט instead of שפט. He means that getting involved in litigation with a known fool can only result in the so-called wise man becoming convicted. G'd had to mention that He was going to "descend" to show that despite the fact that it was inappropriate for Him to deal with Pharaoh, He would do so for the sake of Israel. The meaning of להצילו refers to the near-term cessation from their slave labour, whereas the expression ולהעלותו refers to the longer term objective of G'd's intervention.

Seeing the time for the redemption was not yet at hand, there had to be an interval of at least 12 months between the time G'd spoke to Moses and the actual Exodus. Shemot Rabbah 9,12 debates whether the plagues usually lasted one week with three weeks warning or vice versa. At any rate, our sages seem agreed that the plagues extended over a considerable period. Why would G'd have deliberately delayed the redemption once He had embarked on the process? He could have given Pharaoh a single day's warning before each plague something that is certainly legal when a Jew is warned not to commit a transgression. In fact, Gentiles do not need to be warned specifically at all not to commit acts which they know to be criminal. We must assume, therefore, that G'd waited for a certain date to be able to justify the Exodus although He wanted to relieve the burden of the Jewish people in the interval.

In view of our premise that the principal purpose of the exile in Egypt was to salvage the souls which had been contaminated with the 50 levels of impurity at the time the forces of the קליפה "captured" some of the holy souls from Adam when the latter ate from the tree of knowledge (compare our comments on Genesis 49,9), we can understand that if G'd had redeemed the Israelites prematurely this would have aborted the plan to rescue all those lost souls. We have already explained that Moses himself was equated with the Jewish people inasmuch as Moses achieved the 49th level of בינה, intellectual insights, out of a possible total of 50 such levels. The reason that Moses never reached the ultimate level of בינה was that the achievement must parallel the effort expended on achieving the goal in question. Had the Israelites descended to the 50th level of impurity the effort at gaining the 50th level of insights would have been possible. Since Israel was never quite at the bottom of the spiritual levels, the effort to reach the top was of necessity a little less than total. Moses' achievements were directly related to the condition of the Jewish people whom he represented. We have been assured that in the future G'd Himself will influence us by means of the Torah so that we will be able to achieve the fiftieth level of בינה. We will be indebted to the cumulative exile experiences for that eventual achievement. The most important individual factor will be our present and final exile.

One of the reasons the generation of the first exile was not able to attain that level of insight was that they had not yet had the benefit of Torah. Once we shall reach that level of insight we will be able to recapture any holy souls still under the control of the forces of the קליפה, i.e. Satan. At any rate, had G'd led the Jewish people out of Egypt even a single day sooner than He did, the number of souls which had not yet been rescued would have been commensurably greater.

ועתה הנה צעקת בני ישראל באה אלי, "And now, the outcry of the children of Israel has reached Me, etc." Why did G'd repeat here something that He had already told Moses in verse seven? Besides, what did G'd mean by the word: "and now?" Why was there a need for the word הנה? The words באה אלי also seem superfluous. G'd again mentioned that He had seen the stress the Jewish people were under. Why the repetition?

It appears that G'd told Moses that while he was speaking with him the repeated outcry of the Jewish people had again come to His attention.

G'd said: באה אלי, because the prayers which come to the attention of G'd are not all of the same category. Some prayers are presented to G'd by one of His angels; others are of a calibre that do not need the intervention of any angel as the people who offer them are deserving. G'd now told Moses that some of the prayers of the Jewish people had reached Him without the assistance of any of the angels.

G'd added: "I have also seen the stress that the Egyptians subject the Jewish people to." In the Haggadah shel Pessach the author describes the word לחץ as meaning דחק. This is a detail which had not been mentioned before. This is why G'd had to tell Moses all this. When G'd added the word וראיתי He meant to tell Moses why the matter of commencing the process of redemption had suddenly assumed a degree of urgency. G'd continues in verse 10: ועתה לכה to indicate that the matter had now become urgent.

לכה ואשלחך, "Go please, and I will send you, etc." Why did G'd say: "I will send you," after He had already told Moses to go? Besides, if anything had to be repeated the sequence should have been the reverse, i.e. "I will send you, go please!" Clearly then G'd wanted that Moses should understand that the actual going to Egypt was not the essence of the mission, only its preamble. Indeed we find later on, after Moses had already gone to Egypt, that G'd instructs him repeatedly to take the Jewish people out of Egypt, i.e. that was the essence of his misssion.

G'd also used this form of instruction to hint to Moses that one mission would not suffice to take the people out of Egypt but that he would have to perform many errands on behalf of G'd and the people before the Exodus would finally take place. Pharaoh would not agree at once.

There is another element hinted at in the way G'd instructed Moses. We are taught in Makkot 10 that "G'd leads people on the path they have chosen for themselves." Therefore He first said to Moses: "Go, please!" He meant that if you Moses are willing to perform this commandment, I will send you, i.e. I will fulfil your wish and make you My messenger. From this you learn that if Moses would have refused the mission G'd would not have forced it upon him.

Perhaps this is the reason that Moses argued with G'd. He did not feel that G'd had commanded him to accept the mission but had left it up to his own volition. Moses felt that G'd had given him leeway and would reply to any reservations he had about accepting such a mission. G'd wanted that when Moses would finally accept the mission he should do so because he wanted to and not because he had been forced to do so.

You may also take a look at what I have written in connection with Jacob sending Joseph on his fateful mission. G'd may also have assured Moses that if he were concerned about any mishap, he would be a messenger of G'd who had no reason to fear for his safety. In fact this fact saved him in the incident at the inn (Exodus 4,26).

מי אנכי כי אלך, "who am I that I should be qualified to go?" Moses meant that even if he were anxious to accept such a mission he did not consider himself qualified to speak up in front of a king. Seeing that he lacked that self-confidence his mission was unlikely to succeed. We have other examples of prophets who lacked confidence that their mission would succeed because they were personally not confident; compare Samuel I 16,2 or Amos who is reported in Kohelet Rabbah 1 as having suffered from a lack of self-confidence because his peers belittled him. Moses added וכי אוציא את בני ישראל, "and that I should lead the Israelites out of Egypt," in order to emphasize the enormity of the task G'd was about to place on his shoulders, i.e. to orchestrate the Exodus. He implied that in order for such an undertaking to succeed the messenger G'd chose would have to be an outstanding personality. He was afraid that if Israel would suffer some setback on the road to freedom he might be held responsible since he was not qualified to be that leader.

ויאמר כי אהיה עמך. He said: "For I shall be with you, etc." How was this answer going to put Moses' mind at rest? Surely he had been aware that as G'd's messenger he would enjoy G'd's assistance! He had not argued that G'd would not help him but that his own inadequacy might become the cause of his failure. Another difficulty in this verse are the words וזה לך האות, "and this will be a sign for you, etc." How could G'd describe a sign as "this" when we have never heard about this sign? If the reference had been to the bush not having been consumed by the fire, as Rashi explains, did Moses perhaps entertain any doubts about G'd's ability to save the Jewish people? Another difficulty in this verse is G'd saying: כי אנכי שלחתיך, which suggests that Moses still entertained some doubt that it had been G'd Who had addressed him in the first place and Who wanted to appoint him as His messenger. Moses had not indicated the slightest doubt in this respect!

We need to view G'd as replying to Moses' arguments one by one, in the order in which he presented them. G'd first answers Moses' question: "who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" G'd replies that He Himself will be with him during that interview. This would automatically raise Moses' stature to one exceeding that of Pharaoh. Moses was to regard Pharaoh as no more than an ordinary person.

G'd also contradicted Moses who had said that he was not fit to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. He demonstrated to him that זה לך האות the sign that he was quite capable of achieving the task G'd alotted to him was that if He, G'd, did not consider Moses as suitable, would He have appointed him to perform such a gigantic task? G'd added another dimension by telling Moses that when he would lead the Jewish people out of Egypt, they (including Moses) would serve Him at the very spot Moses was standing on at that moment. This promise should convince Moses that he would indeed complete his mission successfully.

By saying: זה לך האות, G'd may also have indicated to Moses that the very fact that he did not consider himself as adequate for the task was the factor which had made G'd choose him. G'd needed a humble person, not an arrogant one. The reference to that mountain which was not a high mountain was to confirm that G'd preferred the humble and the modest to the high and mighty, and therefore arrogant. G'd could have chosen Mount Hermon as the site for the revelation; instead He chose Mount Sinai.

הנה אנכי בא אל בני ישראל, "When I come to the children of Israel, etc." At this point Moses had agreed in principle to accept the mission, conceding that the arguments he had voiced previously had now become irrelevant. However, he needed accreditation as a prophet in order to make the Israelites accept him as such. As soon as he would come to them they would ask him to identify himself by revealing the name of the G'd Who he claimed had spoken to him. We find that whenever G'd began to speak to the patriarchs He identified Himself by stating His name (compare Genesis 15,7; 17,1; 28,13). Moses wanted to know which of G'd's names he was to mention when he would come to the Israelites. Moses had been wondering that seeing G'd had identified Himself to him as "the G'd of your father Abraham, the G'd of Isaac, and the G'd of Jacob" without adding any other attribute as part of His identification, whether he should similarly identify G'd to the children of Israel when they would ask him who had communicated with him and had appointed him as their redeemer. Did G'd really think that this would suffice as an identification for the people to accept Moses as their leader?

Moses implied that inasmuch as both he and the Israelites were already familiar with that aspect of G'd, in what way was Moses better or more intimate with G'd that they should believe he was a prophet sent on such a great mission? On the other hand, if Moses were to claim that the name of the G'd in whose name he had come was one that was unfamiliar to them, why would such a name carry any weight with them at all? I have seen many different commentaries on this verse, but I do believe that any person with an ounce of common sense will appreciate the way I have presented the problem Moses poses here. At this stage Moses most certainly did not ask G'd to provide him with a miracle he would be entitled to perform in order to prove that his claim was not spurious. You will note that G'd told Moses to tell the Israelites that He had identified Himself as אהיה. It is true that this was an attribute that G'd had never employed in His communications with the patriarchs. Moses realised now that as a true messenger he would never presume to interpret something G'd had said without first making certain that he had understood G'd correctly. No doubt Moses had been familar already with more than one attribute of G'd. However, he did not dare to convey to the people something he himself thought G'd had meant without checking. It is also possible that this verse merely reflects Moses' curiosity to learn more about the attribute G'd presently employed when speaking with him.

ויאמר…אהיה אשר אהיה, G'd said: Ehyeh asher Ehyeh. G'd revealed the attribute He was using while speaking with Moses. This attribute is closely related to the attribute of Mercy, an attribute employed in leading someone from slavery to freedom. It is interesting to study what is written in the Sefer Tikkunim section 50 about the mystical dimension of why the Torah mentions the Exodus from Egypt a total of 50 times. This is also the mystical dimension of why G'd smote the Egyptians with 50 plagues at the sea as mentioned in Shemot Rabbah 23,9. Actually, G'd had already alluded to this name when He had said to Moses וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך, when the meaning of אנכי is the attribute that G'd would employ during that entire mission. The same name occurs again at the revelation when G'd commences the decalogue by referring to אנכי ה׳ אלוקיך אשר הוצאתיך. At the present juncture Moses had simply not yet understood the connection between אנכי and אהיה. G'd had been aware from the beginning that Moses would question Him as to how to identify the G'd Who had spoken with him.

Perhaps Moses was aware of these meanings and only asked if he were to reveal these meanings to the people when they would ask him. G'd responded אשר אהיה, i.e. that the reason He employed this attribute was because it was appropriate when He would share the pain of the Israelites whenever they would endure suffering. The Talmud Chagigah 12 has already explained this. G'd identified Himself sometimes as שדי to indicate that it was He who put a stop to ongoing proliferation of the universe (Chagigah 16). He employs the attribute צבאות when He acts as the Commander-in Chief of His hosts. The attribute הויה reflects that He is an eternal Presence, was, is, and will be (Zohar third volume page 297). G'd revealed the mystical dimension of His great name to Moses at this point, namely that He would always be at the side of His people whenever they would find themselves in distress. There is also an allusion in that attribute to the three "crowns" [Torah-Priesthood-Royalty, Ed.]. Students of the Kabbalah will get my meaning.

ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישראל, He said: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, etc." Although G'd revealed to his servant Moses the mystical dimension of His attribute, i.e. אשר אהיה, He repeated that all this was only contained in the "name," i.e. אהיה. As far as Moses was concerned he was to tell the Israelites only that the One who calls Himself אהיה had sent him. As to the aspect of that name which referred to the future, i.e. אשר אהיה, that G'd would also demonstrate that attribute of His when the Jewish people would face problems in the future, this was something Moses was not to mention.

Our sages in Berachot 9 have already stated די לצרה בשעתה, it suffices to deal with one problem at the time it is topical. They claim that Moses suggested to G'd not to draw attention to the אשר אהיה aspect of this attribute. I have made a careful search of the text and found that the sages in the Talmud who attributed this reply to Moses were absolutely correct. If there had been no new dimension added at the end of the verse which had not been present at the beginning, why would the Torah have inserted the word ויאמר once more within the same verse? Our sages therefore concluded that G'd had originally meant to conclude His answer with the words אהיה אשר אהיה. He added the new version, i.e. אהיה שלחני as a result of Moses' question "why speak about future troubles already now?"

You will no doubt ask how it is that G'd was not sensitive to that consideration even before Moses raised it? When you examine G'd's words closely you will observe that G'd had already indicated His awareness of that aspect. When G'd instructed Moses to speak to the children of Israel, His instructions should have commenced with the words: כה תאמר לבני ישראל, as this would have been the appropriate answer to Moses' question: "when they say to me what is His name what shall I say to them?" However, since G'd already knew that Moses would query that answer G'd immediately pre-empted his question by explaining that he should identify G'd first as the One who is known as אהיה. If G'd first spoke about אהיה אשר אהיה, this was privileged information for Moses only at this time that just as G'd could be relied upon in this crisis so He could also be relied on in any future crises; however, Moses was to keep the latter part of the promise to himself at this stage. In the future, after the Torah would be revealed and the generation reading this had already experienced G'd's salvation, they would realise that the same G'd who appeared to Moses out of the burning bush would also be at their side in any future troubles. If G'd would have answered Moses by saying immediately: "The G'd of your fathers has sent me to you, etc.," then the words אהיה שלחני would have lost their impact since the principal message had already been delivered. It is also possible that seeing that Moses was exraordinarily perceptive he only wanted to hear G'd spell out in detail what he had already surmised to be the meaning of אהיה.

ויאמר עוד אלוקים, G'd continued to say, etc. The reason the 4-lettered name of G'd is repeated here once more when G'd could have been content with having the 4-lettered name אהיה is that the latter 4-lettered name of G'd comprises all the holy aspects that are unique to G'd. To begin with, G'd had revealed only a single one of these attributes which G'd ascribes to Himself when intervening at a time when the Jewish people are in difficulties. The attribute אהיה was used to address itself to Israel's current problem.

Another reason why G'd repeated the words כה תאמר "Thus you shall say, etc.," is that G'd realised that Moses had misinterpreted His reluctance to have invoked the 4 lettered name י־ה־ו־ה to mean that He would also not invoke the fact that He was the G'd of the patriarchs at this stage and would content Himself with the Identification: אהיה שלחני אליכם. G'd therefore added mention of His 4-lettered name י־ה־ו־ה- in association with identifying Himself as the G'd of the patriarchs. I believe that by doing so G'd alluded to the fact that His name אהיה which has a numerical value of 21 was also the numerical value of the respective first letters in the names of the patriarchs, א=אברהם, י=יצחק, and י=יעקב, a total of 21.

Verse 15 has yet another message. It is that the G'd now identifying Himself as אהיה is none other than the One who had promised the patriarchs there would be redemption even though this name of His had not appeared in that connection previously. G'd had to introduce this name also because in the future He would reveal legislation attesting to the holiness of His name. The name אהיה was alluded to when G'd said: אנכי, whereas the 4-lettered name י־ה־ו־ה was spelled out directly in order to justify what Moses told the people, i.e. that when G'd would speak to them (at Mount Sinai) He would use the words אנכי י־ה־ו־ה. These considerations suffice to explain the sequence of these verses.