פרשת שמות תשט"ז - "לא איש דברים אנכי"

And Moses said unto God: ‘Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?’

And Moses said unto God: ‘Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them: The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me: What is His name? what shall I say unto them?’

And Moses answered and said: ‘But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice; for they will say: The lord hath not appeared unto thee.’

And Moses said unto the LORD: ‘Oh Lord, I am not a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’

מי אנכי WHO AM I? — Of what importance am I that I should speak with monarchs?

וכי אוציא את בני ישראל AND THAT I SHOULD BRING FORTH THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — and even if I am of sufficient importance for this, how has Israel merited that a miracle should be wrought for them and that I should bring them forth from Egypt?

ויאמר משה מי אנכי?, anyone who wants to truly understand the plain meaning of this sequence will heed my exegesis carefully. My predecessors were quite wrong. Moses replied to two things G’d had requested from him. He had been asked to go to Pharaoh, and he had been asked to take the Jewish people out of Egypt at Pharaoh’s command. In respect of G’d’s first instruction he answered: and that I should bring out the Children of Israel from Egypt: Which is to say, even if I am fitting to go into Pharaoh, I am incompetent for the other things. Which thing would be acceptable to Pharaoh, that I should say it to him? And is Pharaoh incompetent [so as] to listen to me to send free form his land, a large people that are his slaves? And which thing that would be acceptable should I say to him; that through this thing, I will bring them out of Egypt with the permission of Pharaoh? And the Holy One, blessed be He, answered the first [question] first, and said: