And also i myself have heard the groaning of the Israelites

whom the egyptians

enslave and i do remember my covenant.

(shemot 6:5)

And I appeared to

Abraham – Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moshe: 'Alas for those who

are gone and no more to be found! For how many times did I reveal Myself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of El Shaddai, and they did not question my character,

nor say to Me, What is Thy name? I said to Abraham, Arise, walk through the

land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it,' for I will give it unto

thee: yet when he sought a place to bury Sarah, he did not find one, but had to

purchase it for four hundred silver shekels; and still he did not

question My character. I said to Isaac, Sojourn in this land, and I will be

with thee, and will bless thee. yet his servants sought water to drink, and did

not find it without its being disputed, as it is said, And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen saying, The water is

ours; still he did not question My character. I said to Jacob, The land whereon

thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed: yet

he sought a place to pitch his tent and did not find one until he purchased it

for an hundred kesitah;³¹ nevertheless he

did not question My character; nor did they say to me, What is Thy name? Yet

you, the beginning of my mission, say to me "What is Thy name", and

later you said "And since I have come to Pharaoh" and regarding this

it is written "And I fulfilled My covenant which was given to them",

just as I told them that I will give them the land and they did not doubt me "

and also I have heard the groaning of the Children of Israel", because

they did not doubt me and also even though Israel in that generation did not

behave properly, I heard their groaning because of the covenant I cut with

their fathers, as is written (Shemot 6) "I do remember My covenant".

(Midrash Rabba

Shemot 6:4)

This was the argument of

Moshe our teacher, of blessed memory, "Why have you done harm to this

people" – this is to say that they are at the level of people, which is a

lowly and deficient level, and they do not consider arousing themselves to repentance,

and this is the meaning of "Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your

name, he has done harm to this people", harm has sprouted for them, and "You

surely have not rescued Your people", that is to say that no salvation has

come of this, and the Holy One answered him that such is not the case as he

described it, because you hear only the external voices of ‘people' but the

Holy One hears the internal voice of their hearts from those portions of Yaakov

which are inside every Israelite, and this is the meaning of "and I have

heard the groaning of the Children of Israel"- in addition to the cry

which you hear, I hear a different groaning from the depths of their hearts and

from the part of Yaakov which is within them, which is called the groaning of

the Children of Israel.

(Rabbi Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchak of Alexander: Yismach

Yisrael – Parashat Shemot)

I will be with him in

distress;

I will rescue him and

make him honored

Yael Levin

Said R. Yannai: [This

may be compared to] Two twins, if one has a headache, the other feels the same.

Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, said: "I am with him in

distress" (Psalms

91:15),

and it says

in Isaiah (63:9)

"In

all their troubles, He was troubled". Said the Holy One to him: If you do

not sense that I am in sorrow, just as Israel is in sorrow, know you from the place

from where I speak with you, from among the thorns, as it were, that I am a

partner to their distress – "And the Lord appeared to him in a blazing

fire out of a bush." (Shemot 3:2) (Shemot Rabba, Shinaan

edition, 2 5(1) p. 110).

Two

passages in the Book of Psalms begin with descriptions of a person in distress,

followed by his delivery as a result of his turning to God and crying out to

him. One reads: "Call upon Me in time of trouble;

I will rescue you, and you shall honor Me" (50:15), and the second: "When

he calls on Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will

rescue him and make him honored" (91:15). The passages contain thematic and literarily

similarities, but there are also differences.

The

passage in Psalm 50 is an invitation from God to Man to turn to Him and call to

Him in time of distress. God offers His hand (an anthropomorphism) and turns to

man while there is still time, looking ahead, and reminding him that in the

event that he is endangered, there exists for him an anchor of rescue and an

opening of escape from his grief. In consequence of the person's appeal to Him,

the Lord will deliver him from his distress, and following this Man will honor

Him. It is not entirely clear whether the intent of the passage is that the

honoring of God after delivery from distress will develop as a natural reaction,

coming from the grateful man's inner self, or whether the Psalmist is

describing an acquired reaction, a demand on God's part that Man show

gratitude, even when it does come from the heart.

The

parallel in Psalm 91 is a statement,

written in the third person, teaching that when a person falls into a state of

distress and calls out to God, his prayer will be answered. God feels

communality of fate with the suffering person, and He will free him of his

trouble, and He will even come to respect the person. God cannot remain apathetic

to Man and to all that befalls him, to the power of the experience with which

Man has been tested. And after He has freed him of his distress, He becomes

filled with appreciation and admiration of him, holds him dear and respects

him, and – as it were – salutes him and lowers His head before him.

The

two scriptures reflect opposite views about the relation between God and Man. Psalm

50 presents a more one-directional picture of Man's duty toward the Lord. The

delivery of Man from his distress creates an obligation to show gratitude

towards God, as indicated by the words "Call upon me" and "you

will honor Me". The passage "When he calls

on Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will rescue him and

make him honored" refers, ostensibly, to a one-directional participation

by God in Man's fate. The Holy One, blessed be He, identifies with suffering

Man, and, yet more, after His deliverance of Man, He personally honors him.

It

is, however, not absolutely necessary to read these two passages as reflecting

opposing and conflicting views; we can join them together and relate to them as

complementary texts serving as two expressions of a single experience. Man's

turning to God in his distress results in God's willingness to answer Man's

cries and release him from his predicament, and creates an intimate experience

which brings them together in a constructive relationship. Contrary to what we

might have thought at first, this connection creates mutual, not one-directional,

commitment. Man must do his part; he must show gratitude and show respect and appreciation

to He who answered him, but the Holy One, blessed be He himself values Man's suffering, He respects him and blesses him.

This

being so, latent in the experience of suffering and the extraction there from

is the opportunity for establishing a renewed covenant between Man and his

Creator, one of mutuality and of respect and gratitude, an everlasting covenant

that can never again be violated. The covenant is mutual, but from Man's point

of view, his being in distress perpetuates the possibility that Man will come

closer to his Maker, and the endorsement and recognition which the Holy One

grants the person liberated from distress have the potential for serving as an

impetus to renewed growth and personality empowerment.

It

should be further noted that the idea that one delivered from distress should

feel everlasting respect for his deliverer is expressed also in Psalm 30: "I

called to you, Lord, to my Lord I made appeal. What is to be gained from my

death, from my descent into the pit? Can dust praise You?

Can it declare Your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and

have mercy on me; O Lord, be my help!" (9-11).

The

suffering which was Man's portion and from which he was delivered, has the

potential for establishing reciprocal

relations and mutuality between Man and his Creator, mutuality which can serve

as the framework in which similarly the two passages from Song of Songs can

abide alongside each other: "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"

(6:3)

and "My beloved is mine

and I am his" (2:16)

It seems that

one of the greatest and most important challenges facing a person who has

merited deliverance by God is the ability to properly contain the intimate

relations which were woven between himself and his Creator in such special

circumstances. This is the ability to know how to further the personal dialogue

and tie which were created between himself and his deliverer, to be attuned to

this dialogue, to exalt and intensify it, to perpetually make sure to breath

into it new vitality. This is so as not to lose and irretrievably miss the

moment of opportunity which has arisen, in the sense of "But my beloved

had turned and gone" (Ibid. 5:6).

Thus,

the experience of suffering which affects Man and his deliverance resulting

from his answering the Creator's invitation to turn to Him, presents Man with a

fitting opportunity, one whose worth cannot be measured in gold, for continual

and constant proximity to the Lord, if Man will only be wise enough to fulfill

his part in the renewed set of mutual relations which has been woven between

himself and his liberator, and will be worthy of this closeness.

Dr. Yael Levin is, among

other things, editor of a recently-published compilation of prayers "Sim Shalom", prayers for peace in the world, an

anthology from "Likkutei Tefillot",

published by "Magid" (Koren),

Yerushalayim).

"And God hardened

the heart of Pharaoh" – What is free choice?

The Hebrew vernacular attributes everything directly to God's

action; of the barren woman we say "The Lord closed her womb", on a

fatal accident caused unintentionally we say "God made it befall him"

on ad infinitum, and according to the Israelite view, the cause of all

causes is the will of God, creator and manager of the world […] therefore the

expression "I will harden his heart" is no different from a statement

like "His heart will be hard".

(Prof. David

Cassuto's commentary on Shemot

4:21, quoted in "Studies in the

Book of Shemot", Nechama

Leibowitz)

Pharaoh's natural hard-heartedness left him and he could no

longer bear the weight of the affliction, and because of his soul's agony and

his heart's cowardice he was forced to send off the people, but God did not

want this, so He therefore miraculously hardened his heart so that he not

collapse from all troubles afflicting him, until God would bring upon him all

His terrible punishments, as decreed by His superior wisdom, giving measure for

measure, and this is the meaning of the root ch'z'k'

is in your hand to elevate and it is in your power [lit. "hand"] to make anyone great and strong".

(Yitzchak Shmuel Reggio, Italian

scholar, Shemot 9:12)

R. Pinchas HaCohen ben R. Hama said with

regard to that which is written, "But the impious in heart become enraged;

They do not cry for help when He afflicts them" (Job 36:13): After the Holy One, blessed be He,

waits for the wicked to repent but they do not do so, even through they may

want to, He finally takes away their heart so that they cannot repent. And what

is "the impious in heart"? [Trans. note: The original Hebrew is chanfu = were obsequious] Those who do not

come and flatter in their hearts at first, in the end they bring upon

themselves the rage

And what is the meaning of "They do not cry

for help when He afflicts them" (ibid.)? Even though they desire to return to the Holy One,

blessed be He, and indulge in prayer, they cannot. Why? Because "He

afflicts [ties] them". So Pharaoh wanted to pray, and the Holy One said to

Moshe: Not before he goes out to you and you stand before him.

(Shemot Rabba

(Vilna) Parasha 11:1)

But did not Resh Lakish state: The wicked do not repent even at the gate of Gehenna, for it is said: And they shall go forth and look

upon the carcasses of the men, that rebel against me etc"!? It was not

said: that have rebelled", but "that rebel" implying that they

go on rebelling forever.

(Bavli, Eruvin

19a)

Subjugation of the subjugators

Why did He bring upon

the Egyptians the frogs? Because they had subjugated the Israelites, ordering

them "Bring us abominations and crawling things." Therefore He

brought upon them frogs, and when they would pour into their glasses, they

would fill up with frogs.

(Shemot Rabba 10:4)

If we

examine the places which were disturbed so disrespectfully by the frogs, we

find reference to all the instances in which the Egyptian masters embittered

the lives of their Jewish slaves. As slaves, our fathers had no homes, no

private family rooms, no sleep, no proper bread (our own lechem oni – "bread

of affliction" reminds us of this), in all these places these timid

creatures promenaded and showed the Egyptians what it means not to be able to

quietly enjoy one's house, one's bed, one's bread, without having to fear every

moment disturbance by annoying entries.

(Rabbi

Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Shemot

7:28)

"And

Conciliation

The name

"Egyptian", in the heart of the Israelite, was bound up with memories

most bitter. It would not surprise us if the son of Israel was to hate the Egyptian as

the enslaver of the fathers of the nation, and was he to consider it a privilege

not to behave towards the Egyptian as we are commanded to act towards the

stranger. How can I? Can I feel love for the Egyptian, as I was charged with

respect to the stranger "Love him as yourself" ?

Were not my ancestors enslaved in Egypt?! But the Torah says: In the

end, they sent you off as friends, with gifts of silver and gold vessels, and

they behaved towards you just as you were commanded to behave towards a Hebrew

slave "You shall not release him empty-handed". Therefore,

"Do not abominate the Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his

land." And since the Egyptian was not far-sighted enough to lend

articles on his own initiative, Israel

was commanded to encourage them, saying to them: "Let us leave you as

friends, we ask a gift at this hour of parting."

(From an article by R.Benno

Yaakov, quoted in translation by N. Leibowitz,

"New Studies in the Book of Shemot")

" God spoke to Moshe and to Aharon,

and charged them to the Children of Israel. . ." – He said to them, know you that they are the

children of rebellious (parents) and they are a nuisance, but despite this you

must accept upon yourselves (the fact) that they will curse you and stone you

with rocks.           

(Yalkut Shimoni,

Bemidbar 11, 735)

Here we have a warning to all those who are sent to be

leaders of the Israelite nation – including those motivated by their desire and

inclinations – to be psychologically constituted, capable of tolerating all the

bother and distress involved with leading the stubborn Jewish nation. If they are

not, they are not suited to this task.

(Leibowitz, Seven Years of Discussions of the

Weekly Parasha, p. 217)

How Many Left Egypt? How Many Entered the Land of Canaan?

"And the Children of Israel went up chamushim" (Translator's note: Meaning of chamushim is uncertain. Although usually translated

"armed", the midrash reads it as related to

the number 5, chamesh) – One out of 5; some say one out of

50; some say one out of 500. Rabbi Nehorai…one

out of 5000. And when did they [all the rest] die? In the days of darkness, when the Israelites buried their dead, and the

Egyptians sat in the dark, Israel

praised and thanked God that their enemies could not see and rejoice in their

misfortune.

(Tanchuma, Parashat Beshalach

1)

Rabbi Simai said: it is written "I will take you for me

as a people" and it is written "and I will bring

you", we deduce their exodus from Egypt

from their entry into the Land: just as upon entry into the Land, they numbered

two out of 600,000, so at their exodus from Egypt, two out of 600,000. Raba

said: And so will it be in the days of the Messiah, as is written (Hoshea 2) "There she shall respond as in the days

of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt."

 (Bavli, Sanhedrin 111a)

The

meaning of this exaggerated discussion is that all the signs and portents and

acts of judgment which He brought upon the Egyptians in the ten plagues and

with the crossing of the Reed Sea were justified even if they made possible

only the bringing of two out of 600,000 to the divine goal… these miracles

were performed in the sight of all, but only very few were able to perceive and

understand the message of morality, justice, and pure faith.

(Meshech Chochma, Shemot 6:7)

These

words provide material for deep contemplation. The Rav

(Meshech Chochma) deals at

length with this, finding in it something symbolic regarding the recognition of

the Lord and of man's fate forever bound up with this recognition…

These

words have great value for understanding the subject of prophecy in Israel during those many generations of Biblical

history, when Israel

was supported by emissaries of God who spoke the words of the Shechina. Their words, however, are understood only by the

exceptional few in each generation. From the words of the Rav

we understand that the truth of recognition of God is not at all contingent

upon the number of persons who are fortunate to attain it. Enough

that there are a few exceptional persons, such as two out of 600,000.

(Y.

Leibowitz: Seven :Years of

Discussion of the Weekly Parasha, p. 214)

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