At the beginning of this week’s parasha we learn that Moshe
Rabbeinu prophesied on a higher level that Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov.
God revealed Himself to Moshe through His
ineffable name whilst He revealed Himself to our forefathers through the name
ש-ד-י/Almighty.
Yet Rashi
, quoting Chazal, tells us that
God was more pleased with the forefathers than with Moshe Rabbeinu.
Referring to the forefathers God says, "
חבל על דאבדין .../Alas, those who
are gone …" If Moshe Rabbeinu was on a higher level than the forefathers,
why was God more pleased with the forefathers?
A deeper understanding of the names through which God
revealed Himself to the forefathers and Moshe Rabbeinu will shed light.
The name
ש-ד-י/Almighty, represents the Godly life force which, although
hidden, permeates the entire Creation.
This life force is the source by which the Creation manifests.
The mission of our forefathers was to spread
this idea and the awareness of God in the Creation.
Chazal
teach us that Avraham Avinu
was the first person to refer to God as
אדון/Master.
He is Master of
the Creation.
Our mission as well, is to realize that God's presence is in
every aspect of the Creation. This is
easy work in holy places. The work
becomes more difficult the less holy the venue.
The definition of exile is God's concealment just as the definition of
redemption is God's revelation. The
purpose of exile is to come to believe and internalize the belief that God is
with us even in the most unholy of places.
God reveals Himself to those who believe that He is there and in fact,
this is the way to redemption. The work
and teachings of our forefathers prepared us for redemption.
In order for our forefathers to do their work of spreading an
awareness of God in nature, they had to experience the natural world, be a part
of it. This is the level of ש-ד-י/Almighty, God's life
force within the natural world.
Moshe, as well, was charged with the mission of bringing an
awareness of God to the nation of Israel within the exile of Egypt. But God revealed Himself to Moshe Rabbeinu
through the Tetragrammaton, representing God as eternal, above nature. The nature of Moshe’s relationship with God
made his mission exceedingly difficult for him.
So, God was more pleased with our forefathers because they were able to
do a better job of spreading awareness of God in the world.
Moshe Rabbeinu told the nation that the redemption – God's
revelation – was at hand but they did not listen, "... ולא שמעו אל משה מקצר רוח .../… and they did
not listen to Moshe from shortness of breath …" (Shmos 2:6) The simple meaning is that they were too
consumed by their oppressive work to even hear Moshe Rabbeinu. The deeper meaning involves the concept we've
been discussing – the idea that God's presence permeates the Creation but is
hidden by it. How so?
Everything has a physical component and a spiritual
component. In man this idea is clearly
stated in the Torah, "ויפח באפיו נשמת
חיים .../He blew into his nostrils the soul of life …" If we
act with a view for the spiritual, for the soul so to speak, then our actions
are spiritually meaningful. If we act
only for the physical, then our actions are cut off from the spiritual. Exile is the ultimate being cut off from the
spiritual because it is the ultimate concealment of God.
"מקצר רוח/from
shortness of breath" alludes to this idea.
רוח
also refers to the soul. קצר/short also means to cut (as in לקצור/to harvest.) Therefore, מקצר רוח can also be
translated as, "because of being cut off from the soul." Moshe Rabbeinu was trying to teach the nation
that God was with them even in the exile.
Internalizing this belief would be instrumental in revealing God and
bringing on the redemption. In fact,
this acknowledgment was a prerequisite for the redemption. But the nation could not hear the teaching
because they were removed from the spiritual and involved only in the physical.
This concept explains the Zohar
on the pasuk, "...
הן בני ישראל לא שמעו אלי ואיך ישמעני
פרעה .../… Behold the children of Israel did not listen to me so how
will Pharaoh listen to me …"
(
Shmos
6:12)
The Zohar says that they did
not listen because the
דבור/speech
was in exile.
What does this mean?
Chazal
teach us that the world was
created with ten sayings –
עשרה מאמרות.
The Chiddushei HaRim explains that these ten
sayings became the
עשרת הדברות/ten
commandments through the ten plagues.
This seems even more enigmatic than the Zohar.
However, according to what we've said earlier
we can understand this.
The purpose of
the Creation is to conceal God, to afford us free will.
When we look around us, all we see is the
physical word.
This concealment is
represented by the ten sayings through which the Creation came about.
The word
דבור/speech,
means to lead in Aramaic.
We find, for
example in Tehillim, "
ידבר עמים תחתינו/He
shall subdue (lit. He will lead) nations under us …" In another example,
the Zohar
explains, "
ודברת בם/You shall speak about
them" as meaning that we should lead our lives according to the
Torah.
In exile, God's leadership is not
apparent.
This is the reason the Zohar
says that
דיבור
– meaning God's leadership – was in exile.
God's leadership was concealed.
The Chiddushei HaRim is teaching us that God's leadership was
revealed through the ten plagues. By the
end of the plagues it was clear to all that God was controlling nature. So, the ten sayings that created nature to
conceal God turned into the ten דיברות/leadership
revelations through the ten plagues.
One can imagine Moshe Rabbeinu’s frustration. He was on a level of experiencing God beyond
time and nature. The exile represented
no barrier to his experience. The nation
would not listen to him because they were so far removed from the
spiritual. So, when God instructed Moshe
to speak to Pharaoh, his response was that if the nation could not accept that God
is with them, then how would Pharaoh possibly accept it. And in fact the prophet tells us that Pharaoh
said, "לי יאורי ואני
עשיתני/My river is mine and I have made myself" (Yechezkeil
29:3) This is the ultimate
expression of God's leadership being in exile, of God’s concealment.
So, clearly, God would be more pleased with our forefathers
even though Moshe Rabbeinu was on a higher level in terms of experiencing God.
