פרשת שמות תש"ג - ההתגלות בסנה

Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.

אחר המדבר [HE LED THE SHEEP] BEHIND THE DESERT — in order to keep them away from private property (גֶזֵל i. e. things which can be appropriated only as the result of “robbery”) — that they should not graze in other people’s fields (Exodus Rabbah 2:3).

ויבא אל הר האלוקים חורבה. Moses, all by himself; he wanted to pray and meditate there in complete isolation and concentration. The phrase is similar to Numbers 13,22 ויבא עד חברון, where we find that one of the spies, Calev, reportedly, came to Chevron. [the sudden singular ויבא instead of ויבואו, there prompted the sages to say that Calev went to pray at the graves of the patriarchs. Ed.]

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

מתוך הסנה OUT OF THE MIDST OF A BUSH (a thornbush) — and not from any other tree, in accordance with the idea (Psalms 91:15) “I will be with him in trouble” (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 14).

5. "An angel of the LORD appeared to him." It is written: "I sleep, but my heart is awake" (Song of Songs 5:2). I am sleeping [from performing] the commandments, but my heart is awake to perform them. "My undefiled [tamati]" (ibid.) at Sinai, for they attached themselves [nitmemu] to Me at Sinai and said: ‘"Everything the LORD had spoken we will do and obey’" (Exodus 24:7). R. Yannai said: Just as twins [te'omim] feel one another's s headaches, [so too] God said, as it were [as if He were our twin]: "’I am with him in sorrow" (Psalms 91:15). Another explanation: What is [the meaning of] "I am with him in sorrow"? When they have sorrows they only call out to the Holy One, Blessed be He. In Egypt, [as it is written] "And their cry came up unto God" (Exodus 2:23). By the sea [as it is written] "And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord" (ibid. 14:10) and there are many other examples like these. And it says: "In all their sorrows He [too] was in sorrow" (Isaiah 63:9). The Holy One, Blessed be He said to Moses, You do not sense that I too dwell in sorrow just as Israel dwells in sorrow. But you should know: from the place I speak to you from within the thorn-bush, [that is a sign] as it were that I too am a partner in their sorrow. "An angel of the LORD appeared." R. Yohanan said: This is Michael. R. Hanina said, it was Gabriel. Whenever they saw R. Yose the tall, they used to say, There is our holy Rabbi! So too wherever Michael appears, he is the Glory of the Shechinah. "To him." What does ’"to him" [imply]‘? To teach that other men were with him, yet only Moses saw [the angel]. So too it is written regarding Daniel: "And only I Daniel saw the vision." (Daniel 10:7). "In a flame of fire..." to embolden him, so that when he would come to Sinai and saw the fires he should not be afraid of them. Another explanation of "In a flame [labat] of fire" - from the upper half of the bush, jut as the heart ([leb] is in the upper half of a man. "From within the bush." A Gentile once asked R. Joshua b. Karhah: Why did the Holy One, Blessed be He, see fit to speak to Moses from within a thorn-bush? [R. Joshua retorted]: If it had been a carob tree or a sycamore tree, would you not have asked the same question. However to send you away you without any answer is not possible, [so] why from within a thorn-bush? To teach you that there is no empty place devoid of the Shechinah, not even a [lowly] thorn-bush. "In a flame of fire." At first only one angel descended and stood in the center of the fire as an intermediary. Only afterwards did the Shechinah descend and spoke with him from within the thorn-bush. Rabbi Eliezer said: Just as the thorn-bush is the lowliest of all trees in the world, so too Israel were lowly and downtrodden in Egypt. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself to them and redeemed them, as it says (Exodus 3:8) "And I will go down and save them from the Egypt." Rabbi Yossi said: Just as the thorn-bush is the hardest of all the trees, and any bird that enters into it does not come out unharmed, so too the servitude in Egypt was harsher to God more than any other servitude in the world, as it says (Ibid. 7) "And the LORD said seen I have seen the poverty of My people." Why does the verse say "see I have seen" twice? For after they drowned them in the river they would then bury them in a building. This can be compared to someone who took a staff and hit two people, and the two of them received [a lashing] with a whip and know its suffering. So too the suffering and the servitude of Israel was revealed and known to the One who spoke and thereby was the world, as it says "For I know their pains." Rabbi Yohanan said: Just as this thorn-bush is used as a fence for a garden, so too Israel is a fence for the world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows near any water, so too Israel only grows in the merit of Torah which is called water, as it says (Isaiah 55:1) "Ho any thirsty one go to water." Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows in a garden or in a river, so too Israel are in this world and the next world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush produces thorns and roses, so too Israel contains righteous and wicked people. Rabbi Pinhas ha-Kohen the son of Rabbi Hama said: Just as this thorn-bush, if someone puts his hand in he does not feel anything, but when he takes it out it gets scratched; so too when Israel went down to Egypt no one noticed anything, but when they went out "The Lord plagued Pharaoh" (Genesis 12:17). Alternatively, "From with in the thorn-bush." Rabbi Nahman the son of Rabbi Shmuel the son of Nahman said: of all the trees, some produce one leaf, some two or three. A myrtle produces three, as it says (Leviticus 23:40) "A plaited tree". A thorn-bush however has five leafs. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses, Israel will only be redeemed in the merit of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and in your and Aaron's merit. Alternatively, "From with in the thorn-bush." He hinted to him [Moses] that he would live 120 years, the numerical value of the thorn-bush [הסנה - ה=5 ס=60, נ=50, ה=5]. "And he saw and behold the thorn-bush was consumed by fire." From here they said, Heavenly fire raises palm branches and burns but does not consume and is black. Earthly fire does not raise palm branches and is red, consumes and does not burn. And why did the Holy One, Blessed be He reveal Himself to Moses in this way? Because he [Moses] thought in his heart, saying, Maybe the Egyptians will destroy Israel. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself in a thorn-bush that was burning but not consumed. He said to him, just as the thorn-bush is burning but is not consumed, so too the Egyptians will not be able to destroy Israel. Alternatively, since the Holy One, Blessed be He was talking with Moses and he did not want stop his task [of minding the sheep], He showed him this thing so he would turn his face and see Him. You find this [intimated] from the beginning [of the verse]: "An angel of the LORD appeared to him" - yet Moses did not go. Once he stopped doing his task and went to see, immediately "God called him" (Exodus 3:4).

5. "An angel of the LORD appeared to him." It is written: "I sleep, but my heart is awake" (Song of Songs 5:2). I am sleeping [from performing] the commandments, but my heart is awake to perform them. "My undefiled [tamati]" (ibid.) at Sinai, for they attached themselves [nitmemu] to Me at Sinai and said: ‘"Everything the LORD had spoken we will do and obey’" (Exodus 24:7). R. Yannai said: Just as twins [te'omim] feel one another's s headaches, [so too] God said, as it were [as if He were our twin]: "’I am with him in sorrow" (Psalms 91:15). Another explanation: What is [the meaning of] "I am with him in sorrow"? When they have sorrows they only call out to the Holy One, Blessed be He. In Egypt, [as it is written] "And their cry came up unto God" (Exodus 2:23). By the sea [as it is written] "And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord" (ibid. 14:10) and there are many other examples like these. And it says: "In all their sorrows He [too] was in sorrow" (Isaiah 63:9). The Holy One, Blessed be He said to Moses, You do not sense that I too dwell in sorrow just as Israel dwells in sorrow. But you should know: from the place I speak to you from within the thorn-bush, [that is a sign] as it were that I too am a partner in their sorrow. "An angel of the LORD appeared." R. Yohanan said: This is Michael. R. Hanina said, it was Gabriel. Whenever they saw R. Yose the tall, they used to say, There is our holy Rabbi! So too wherever Michael appears, he is the Glory of the Shechinah. "To him." What does ’"to him" [imply]‘? To teach that other men were with him, yet only Moses saw [the angel]. So too it is written regarding Daniel: "And only I Daniel saw the vision." (Daniel 10:7). "In a flame of fire..." to embolden him, so that when he would come to Sinai and saw the fires he should not be afraid of them. Another explanation of "In a flame [labat] of fire" - from the upper half of the bush, jut as the heart ([leb] is in the upper half of a man. "From within the bush." A Gentile once asked R. Joshua b. Karhah: Why did the Holy One, Blessed be He, see fit to speak to Moses from within a thorn-bush? [R. Joshua retorted]: If it had been a carob tree or a sycamore tree, would you not have asked the same question. However to send you away you without any answer is not possible, [so] why from within a thorn-bush? To teach you that there is no empty place devoid of the Shechinah, not even a [lowly] thorn-bush. "In a flame of fire." At first only one angel descended and stood in the center of the fire as an intermediary. Only afterwards did the Shechinah descend and spoke with him from within the thorn-bush. Rabbi Eliezer said: Just as the thorn-bush is the lowliest of all trees in the world, so too Israel were lowly and downtrodden in Egypt. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself to them and redeemed them, as it says (Exodus 3:8) "And I will go down and save them from the Egypt." Rabbi Yossi said: Just as the thorn-bush is the hardest of all the trees, and any bird that enters into it does not come out unharmed, so too the servitude in Egypt was harsher to God more than any other servitude in the world, as it says (Ibid. 7) "And the LORD said seen I have seen the poverty of My people." Why does the verse say "see I have seen" twice? For after they drowned them in the river they would then bury them in a building. This can be compared to someone who took a staff and hit two people, and the two of them received [a lashing] with a whip and know its suffering. So too the suffering and the servitude of Israel was revealed and known to the One who spoke and thereby was the world, as it says "For I know their pains." Rabbi Yohanan said: Just as this thorn-bush is used as a fence for a garden, so too Israel is a fence for the world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows near any water, so too Israel only grows in the merit of Torah which is called water, as it says (Isaiah 55:1) "Ho any thirsty one go to water." Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush grows in a garden or in a river, so too Israel are in this world and the next world. Alternatively, just as the thorn-bush produces thorns and roses, so too Israel contains righteous and wicked people. Rabbi Pinhas ha-Kohen the son of Rabbi Hama said: Just as this thorn-bush, if someone puts his hand in he does not feel anything, but when he takes it out it gets scratched; so too when Israel went down to Egypt no one noticed anything, but when they went out "The Lord plagued Pharaoh" (Genesis 12:17). Alternatively, "From with in the thorn-bush." Rabbi Nahman the son of Rabbi Shmuel the son of Nahman said: of all the trees, some produce one leaf, some two or three. A myrtle produces three, as it says (Leviticus 23:40) "A plaited tree". A thorn-bush however has five leafs. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses, Israel will only be redeemed in the merit of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and in your and Aaron's merit. Alternatively, "From with in the thorn-bush." He hinted to him [Moses] that he would live 120 years, the numerical value of the thorn-bush [הסנה - ה=5 ס=60, נ=50, ה=5]. "And he saw and behold the thorn-bush was consumed by fire." From here they said, Heavenly fire raises palm branches and burns but does not consume and is black. Earthly fire does not raise palm branches and is red, consumes and does not burn. And why did the Holy One, Blessed be He reveal Himself to Moses in this way? Because he [Moses] thought in his heart, saying, Maybe the Egyptians will destroy Israel. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He revealed Himself in a thorn-bush that was burning but not consumed. He said to him, just as the thorn-bush is burning but is not consumed, so too the Egyptians will not be able to destroy Israel. Alternatively, since the Holy One, Blessed be He was talking with Moses and he did not want stop his task [of minding the sheep], He showed him this thing so he would turn his face and see Him. You find this [intimated] from the beginning [of the verse]: "An angel of the LORD appeared to him" - yet Moses did not go. Once he stopped doing his task and went to see, immediately "God called him" (Exodus 3:4).

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

"To Horeb, the mountain of God"—Thus wrote Moses. And the reason it is "Horeb" (i.e. dry) is because of the great heat, for rain did not fall there, because it was close to Egypt, [only] a three day's walk, as Moses spoke. And because the Nile was far away, there was no moisture there, and the dryness prevailed.

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?’

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:

And He said: ‘Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be the token unto thee, that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.’

ויאמר כי אהיה עמך AND HE SAID, BECAUSE I WILL BE WITH THEE — He answered his first question first and his last question last: as regards what thou hast said, “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” i. e. of what importance am I to speak with kings, I reply, it is not an undertaking of yours, but it is partly mine for “I” will be with thee”, וזה AND THIS — i. e. the sight which thou hast witnessed in the bush, לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE, BECAUSE (כי) “I” HAVE SENT THEE and “I” am competent to save: just as thou hast seen the bush carrying out the mission I laid upon it and it was not consumed, so go thou too on the mission I entrust to thee and thou shalt suffer no harm. And as regards thy question: What merit have the Israelites that they should go forth from Egypt? — I reply that I have a great purpose in this, My bringing them forth, for they are destined to accept the Torah upon this mountain at the expiration of three months after they leave Egypt (cf. Exodus Rabbah 3:4). Another explanation is: כי אהיה עמך FOR I WILL BE WITH THEE and thou wilt therefore succeed, וזה AND THIS — viz., the fact that thou wilt succeed in thy mission לך האות WILL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE with respect to another promise: for I promise thee that when thou hast brought them forth from Egypt ye will serve Me upon this mountain — i. e. that ye will receive the Torah upon it. This is the merit which is an advocate for Israel. An exactly similar use of the word אות, where something that will happen in the future is to serve as an אות in regard to an event that will transpire in the more distant future we find elsewhere: (Isaiah 27:30.) “And this shall be a sign unto thee — for ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself etc.” (the passage proceeds to state that after a few years the devastated land will have regained its former fertility) — this, i. e, the fall of Sennacherib promised in the preceding section of that chapter shall be a sign to thee in respect to another promise: for your land is now barren of fruits, but I will bless that which grows of itself and the land shall bring forth fruits in abundance.

ויאמר כי אהיה עמך AND HE SAID, BECAUSE I WILL BE WITH THEE — He answered his first question first and his last question last: as regards what thou hast said, “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” i. e. of what importance am I to speak with kings, I reply, it is not an undertaking of yours, but it is partly mine for “I” will be with thee”, וזה AND THIS — i. e. the sight which thou hast witnessed in the bush, לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE, BECAUSE (כי) “I” HAVE SENT THEE and “I” am competent to save: just as thou hast seen the bush carrying out the mission I laid upon it and it was not consumed, so go thou too on the mission I entrust to thee and thou shalt suffer no harm. And as regards thy question: What merit have the Israelites that they should go forth from Egypt? — I reply that I have a great purpose in this, My bringing them forth, for they are destined to accept the Torah upon this mountain at the expiration of three months after they leave Egypt (cf. Exodus Rabbah 3:4). Another explanation is: כי אהיה עמך FOR I WILL BE WITH THEE and thou wilt therefore succeed, וזה AND THIS — viz., the fact that thou wilt succeed in thy mission לך האות WILL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE with respect to another promise: for I promise thee that when thou hast brought them forth from Egypt ye will serve Me upon this mountain — i. e. that ye will receive the Torah upon it. This is the merit which is an advocate for Israel. An exactly similar use of the word אות, where something that will happen in the future is to serve as an אות in regard to an event that will transpire in the more distant future we find elsewhere: (Isaiah 27:30.) “And this shall be a sign unto thee — for ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself etc.” (the passage proceeds to state that after a few years the devastated land will have regained its former fertility) — this, i. e, the fall of Sennacherib promised in the preceding section of that chapter shall be a sign to thee in respect to another promise: for your land is now barren of fruits, but I will bless that which grows of itself and the land shall bring forth fruits in abundance.

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 Abimelech said unto Abraham: ‘What mean these seven ewe-lambs which thou hast set by themselves?’

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him: ‘What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down to thee to the earth?’

and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;

And God said unto Moses: ‘I AM THAT I AM’; and He said: ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you.’

אהיה אשר אהיה I AM THAT I AM — I will be with them in this sorrow — I Who I will be with them in the subjection they will suffer at the hands of other kingdoms (Berakhot 9b). Whereupon Moses said to him: Lord of the Universe! Why should I mention to them other sorrows: they have enough with this sorrow! God replied to him: You have spoken rightly — כה תאמר THUS SHALT THOU SAY etc.… Ehyeh, “I am” — without the addition of אשר אהיה which has reference to future sorrows — has sent me unto you”.

And here Hashem answered “I will be, what I will be,” I will be with you [bnei yisroel] during this troubling time and I will with you [bnei yisroel] during other troubling times. Moshe says before Hashem enough troubles at this time, Hashem said to Moshe you said right. You should say this to Bnei Yisroel “I will be as Hashem sent me."