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With this week’s parsha, we reach one of the most dramatic and interesting episodes of the Torah – Moshe’s shlichut (appointment) to take the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. From the beginning, he was an unlikely candidate, since as one who grew up in the Egyptian royal court it would have been more logical for him to side with the rulers than with the ruled over. However, that is the nature of the narrative – the unlikely takes precedence over the probable, and the supernatural definitely trumps the “normal.” So, it should not have been any surprise when Moshe, running away from a regime that sought his demise, met up with a burning bush in the desert. From that bush, God sought to persuade Moshe to return to Egypt and have a word with the Egyptian rulers on behalf of the Jewish people.
Moshe, of course, was reluctant to take on this appointment, for a few good reasons. First of all, he had an old brother (Aharon) who he felt was a more likely candidate. Second, Moshe had a lisp, making it difficult for him to communicate. But, most of all, he was just plain humble and preferred the rarefied communion with God that occurred in the desert than the vicious confrontation with the Egyptians that was sure to occur if he took on the task. But, wait a minute…this was God Himself telling Moshe to go down to Egypt to say, “Let My people go”? Wasn’t it the Commander in chief Himself who issued this directive, directly to Moshe? And if so, how did Moshe have the temerity and “chutzpa” to consider turning down God’s request?
We’ll get back to this question, but in the meantime, another question that arises at the very beginning of the parsha: The Torah tells us that God made Himself known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the name Kel Shaddai, and not with the essential name Havaya that He made known to Moshe himself. Rashi comments, “to the forefathers” – and the obvious question is, what is Rashi telling us? The Torah itself says to “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” and who were they if not the “forefathers?”
Now, we have to understand that this revelation of the essential name of God was a momentous event. It was not the mere private revelation of spirituality to a few privileged men. It was a revelation of the very essence of Godliness that served a national purpose; to free the Jews from the bonds of Egypt and to prepare them for the giving of the Torah. The initial name Kel Shaddai that was revealed to the forefathers was associated with the creation of the universe and revelation of Godliness within nature. But it was not a revelation of the essence of Godliness itself. That was only brought to the Jews later, as they left Egypt and received the Torah. So, why does Rashi find it necessary to tell us that the initial revelation was “to the forefathers”?
One possible explanation might be that Rashi wanted to tell us that an entire era – the era of the forefathers – was now coming to an end. We might have thought that whatever level of Godly revelation that the forefathers attained is still something that is operative now, as well. That is, we might have thought that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were individual examples of a certain level of spiritual revelation that we as well, as individuals are also capable of attaining. And indeed we are – the forefathers endowed us with the unique ability to attain and absorb the level of Godly revelation associated with the name Kel Shaddai. However, Rashi wants to tell us more than that – he wants to tell us that although Kel Shaddai was the highest revelation that the forefathers were capable of - nevertheless that was in the era of the forefathers. Now, after the exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, we are kelim, or vessels for a higher level, the essential revelation of Godliness in the world, through Torah and mitzvoth. That is why Rashi says, “to the forefathers,” because they represent an era that we have now surpassed.
However, the Chasidic master, the Ilana deChaya, proposes another solution in the name of R’ Moshe Sofer (the Chatam Sofer). He suggests that the Hebrew word for forefathers – avot – has a dual meaning in Hebrew. Beside meaning “forefather,” it also means, “those who want.” That is, beside being a noun meaning “father, or forefather,” the word ava is also a verb meaning “want” or “desire.” And if so, Rashi’s commentary takes on new meaning. Rashi wants to tell us that the revelation of Godliness on the level of Kel Shaddai occurs to “those who want.” Whoever wants, and whoever seeks this level of revelation, and prepares himself properly for it, will receive it. Just like the forefathers, we all have the potential to achieve revelation of Godliness in the world that was associated with the name, Kel Shaddai.
As an aside, a corollary to this explanation is that we do not all have the ability to achieve revelation of the essential name Havaya. As Jews fulfilling Torah and mitzvoth, we all have to ability to bring essential Godliness into the world and to transform the world into a Godly place. That does not mean that we, like Moshe, have the ability to perceive this spiritual level. In terms of revelation, we may achieve spiritual revelation of Kel Shaddai (God as related to the world), but not of Havaya (God as He exists in essence, beyond the universe). If so, then we can understand one of the sayings of the sages, that every Jew is obligated to ask himself, “When will my deeds match those of my forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?” We do not ask, “When will my deeds match those of Moshe?” And perhaps that is because our deeds are not expected to match those of Moshe, but only those of the forefathers. In any case, according to this explanation of the Chatam Sofer, brought by the Ilana deChaya, we are all capable of attaining the same level of revelation as our forefathers – all we have to do is really “want” it and prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for the possibility.
And that brings us back to our original question: How did Moshe have the temerity and the “guts” to tell God to give the task of rescuing the Jews to basically anyone but him – “Appoint whomever You want to this task”? And here again, we merit to a creative and fascinating explanation, this time from the Ilana deChaya in the name of the tzadik of Shetivke. He cites the story of Jonah, another prophet sent on a mission by God. He was told by God to go and rebuke the people of Nineveh, a metropolis of humans that was drifting off the path. Jonah was reluctant to go, because if his mission were successful, it would look bad for the Jews, some of whom were also straying off the path (this according to the Midrash).
The Ilana deChaya wants to suggest that the same principle applied to Moshe when God told him to go speak with Pharoah and save the Jews. As it turned out, the Jews at first did not listen to Moshe, because they were so swamped with work and tired from their travails, that they simply had no mental energy to absorb his message. And if so, Moshe reasoned, how would it look if he went to Pharoah, and Pharoah did indeed accept this message? How would it look if Pharoah agreed to let the Jews go, and the Jews themselves failed to leave Egypt? How, then, would Moshe be able to saying anything in defense of the Jews and to recommend their behavior? This, according to the Rav of Shetivke, mentioned by the Ilana deChaya, was the real reason that Moshe did not follow God’s orders at first. Not because he wished to decline the appointment, but because was worried about the ultimate ramifications for the Jewish people on the whole…