(ב) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י ה'׃ (ג) וָאֵרָ֗א אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּאֵ֣ל שַׁדָּ֑י וּשְׁמִ֣י ה' לֹ֥א נוֹדַ֖עְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃ (ד) וְגַ֨ם הֲקִמֹ֤תִי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתָּ֔ם לָתֵ֥ת לָהֶ֖ם אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן אֵ֛ת אֶ֥רֶץ מְגֻרֵיהֶ֖ם אֲשֶׁר־גָּ֥רוּ בָֽהּ׃ (ה) וְגַ֣ם ׀ אֲנִ֣י שָׁמַ֗עְתִּי אֶֽת־נַאֲקַת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִצְרַ֖יִם מַעֲבִדִ֣ים אֹתָ֑ם וָאֶזְכֹּ֖ר אֶת־בְּרִיתִֽי׃ (ו) לָכֵ֞ן אֱמֹ֥ר לִבְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ אֲנִ֣י ה' וְהוֹצֵאתִ֣י אֶתְכֶ֗ם מִתַּ֙חַת֙ סִבְלֹ֣ת מִצְרַ֔יִם וְהִצַּלְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם מֵעֲבֹדָתָ֑ם וְגָאַלְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ בִּזְר֣וֹעַ נְטוּיָ֔ה וּבִשְׁפָטִ֖ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃ (ז) וְלָקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֥ם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָכֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹקִ֑ים וִֽידַעְתֶּ֗ם כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י ה' אֱלֹ֣קֵיכֶ֔ם הַמּוֹצִ֣יא אֶתְכֶ֔ם מִתַּ֖חַת סִבְל֥וֹת מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ח) וְהֵבֵאתִ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָשָׂ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־יָדִ֔י לָתֵ֣ת אֹתָ֔הּ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֑ב וְנָתַתִּ֨י אֹתָ֥הּ לָכֶ֛ם מוֹרָשָׁ֖ה אֲנִ֥י ה'׃ (ט) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר מֹשֶׁ֛ה כֵּ֖ן אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה׃ {פ}
(י) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (יא) בֹּ֣א דַבֵּ֔ר אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֖ה מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וִֽישַׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאַרְצֽוֹ׃ (יב) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֥י ה' לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵ֤ן בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹֽא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵיךְ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֣נִי פַרְעֹ֔ה וַאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם׃ {פ}
(2) God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. (3) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My nameה . (4) I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. (5) I also heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. (6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and I will deliver you from their bondage and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. (7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the LORD.” (9) And Moshe did say this to the children of Israel, and they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage. (10) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (11) “Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites depart from his land.” (12) But Moses appealed to the LORD, saying, “even the Israelites would not listen to me; how then would Pharaoh listen to me, and I am a man of impeded speech!”
~ Note that here the four expressions of redemption are underlined.
~ Who listens and who doesn't, and why, according to the text?
Also. I have also sent you because the children of Israel have repented and have cried out unto me.
~ According to Ibn Ezra, why is God listening? What are the effects of this listening?
~ Who listens and who doesn't, and why, according to the text?
... (משלי כט, כג): גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ יִתְמֹךְ כָּבוֹד.... דָּבָר אַחֵר גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ, זֶה פַּרְעֹה שֶׁנִּתְגָּאָה עַל משֶׁה וְאָמַר (שמות ה, ב): מִי ה' אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁמַע בְּקֹלוֹ וגו', וְהִשְׁפִּילוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא (תהלים קלו, טו): וְנִעֵר פַּרְעֹה וְחֵילוֹ, וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ יִתְמֹךְ כָּבוֹד, זֶה משֶׁה (שמות ח, ה): לְמָתַי אַעְתִּיר לְךָ וגו', וְאוֹמֵר (שמות ט, כט): כְּצֵאתִי אֶת הָעִיר אֶפְרֹשׂ אֶת כַּפַּי וגו'. ...
"The arrogance of a person will humiliate them, while the humble will obtain honor" (Prov. 29:23) ... another opinion: "the arrogance of a person will humiliate them" - this is Pharaoh, who was arrogant towards Moshe and said: 'who is Hashem that I should listen?' (Ex. 5:2) and the Holy Blessed One humiliated him, as in "and hurled Pharaoh and his army" (Ps. 136:15); and "the humble will obtain honor" this is Moshe, as in "for what time should I plead for you etc" (Ex. 8:5) and also it says "as I leave the city I will spread out the palm of my hand" etc. (Ex. 9:29) ...
~ According to this midrash, why can't Pharaoh listen?
~ According to the Sforno, why can't Pharaoh listen?
(ה) ק֚וּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה בַלָּ֔יְלָה וְנַשְׁחִ֖יתָה אַרְמְנוֹתֶֽיהָ׃ (ס) (ו) כִּ֣י כֹ֤ה אָמַר֙ ה' צְבָא֔וֹת כִּרְת֣וּ עֵצָ֔ה וְשִׁפְכ֥וּ עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם סֹלְלָ֑ה הִ֚יא הָעִ֣יר הָפְקַ֔ד כֻּלָּ֖הּ עֹ֥שֶׁק בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ (ז) כְּהָקִ֥יר בור [בַּ֙יִר֙] מֵימֶ֔יהָ כֵּ֖ן הֵקֵ֣רָה רָעָתָ֑הּ חָמָ֣ס וָ֠שֹׁד יִשָּׁ֨מַע בָּ֧הּ עַל־פָּנַ֛י תָּמִ֖יד חֳלִ֥י וּמַכָּֽה׃ (ח) הִוָּסְרִי֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם פֶּן־תֵּקַ֥ע נַפְשִׁ֖י מִמֵּ֑ךְ פֶּן־אֲשִׂימֵ֣ךְ שְׁמָמָ֔ה אֶ֖רֶץ ל֥וֹא נוֹשָֽׁבָה׃ (פ) (ט) כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ ה' צְבָא֔וֹת עוֹלֵ֛ל יְעוֹלְל֥וּ כַגֶּ֖פֶן שְׁאֵרִ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל הָשֵׁב֙ יָדְךָ֔ כְּבוֹצֵ֖ר עַל־סַלְסִלּֽוֹת׃ (י) עַל־מִ֨י אֲדַבְּרָ֤ה וְאָעִ֙ידָה֙ וְיִשְׁמָ֔עוּ הִנֵּה֙ עֲרֵלָ֣ה אָזְנָ֔ם וְלֹ֥א יוּכְל֖וּ לְהַקְשִׁ֑יב הִנֵּ֣ה דְבַר־ה' הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֛ם לְחֶרְפָּ֖ה לֹ֥א יַחְפְּצוּ־בֽוֹ׃
(6) For thus said the LORD of Hosts: Hew down her trees, And raise a siege against Jerusalem. She is the city destined for punishment; Only fraud is found in her midst. (7) As a well flows with water, So she flows with wickedness. Lawlessness and rapine are heard in her; Before Me constantly are sickness and wounds. (8) Accept rebuke, O Jerusalem, Lest I come to loathe you, Lest I make you a desolation, An uninhabited land. (9) Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Let them glean over and over, as a vine, The remnant of Israel. Pass your hand again, Like a vintager, Over its branches. (10) To whom shall I speak, Give warning that they may hear? Their ears are impeded And they cannot listen. See, the word of the LORD has become for them An object of scorn; they will have none of it.
~ Who does not listen to the prophet Jeremiah, and why?
"Even the children of Israel did not listen to me." The text explains that the children of Israel did not listen due to the hardship of labor. But it is apparent that the evil Pharaoh could not receive the words of Moshe unless it was through the children of Israel did - and since the children of Israel did not listen, Pharaoh how could Pharaoh listen? And therefore [God] joined Aharon to him.
The Sefat Emet has a completely different understanding of why Pharaoh can't listen. What is it?
ד' לשונות של גאולה כי כל הגליות נכללין בגלות מצרים. ואח"כ וידעתם כי אני ה' כו' הוא קבלת התורה שמתחיל באנכי ה"א אשר הוצאתיך. אח"כ והבאתי אתכם הוא ארץ ישראל שכך הי' הסדר. ואמת כי הכל נכלל בתורה. וע' פנים לתורה שהוא נגד שבעים לשונות. כמ"ש הואיל משה באר כו' בשבעים לשון. ושורש האומות ד' מלכיות והם נגד ארבע פירושים שבתורה פרד"ס. והם הד' לשונות של גאולה. ובפסוק הן בנ"י לא שמעו כו' ואיך ישמעני פרעה ואני ערל שפתים. פי' שלא הי' יכול פרעה לקבל דבורו של מרע"ה רק באמצעות בנ"י שהי' להם קצת שייכות אליו שהיו משועבדים תחתיו. וע"ז קרא מרע"ה לעצמו ערל שפתים. שבוודאי צריך להיות דיבור הצדיק עולה עד גבוה מעל גבוה ויורד עד למטה מטה. והרי משזכה לתורה ביאר התורה בשבעים לשון. והוא הדבר אשר דיברנו בשם הזוה"ק שהדיבור הי' בגלות. והי' העצה ע"י אהרן שהוא הי' לו קצת שייכות בגלות. אף ששבט לוי לא עבדו היו משועבדים קצת:
The four expressions of redemption [this is] because all exiles were included in the Egyptian exile. And after that "and you will know that I am Hashem etc" (Ex. 6:7) - this is the receiving of Torah, which begins with Anochi, which is "that I took you out". And after that "and I brought you" which is the land of Israel, which was the order [of events]. And the truth is that all is included in the Torah. And the Torah has 70 faces, which correspond to the 70 languages. As it is written "Moshe began expounding" (Deut. 1:5) etc in seventy languages. (Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim 2:1). And the root all nations is the four kingdoms, which correspond to the four ways of expounding Torah, PaRDeS. And they are the four expressions of redemption. And the verse "even the children of Israel did not listen etc and how will Pharaoh listen to me, and I am a man of impeded speech" - the explanation is that Pharaoh could not receive the words of our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, because he needed to do that through the children of Israel, since they had a small connection to him since they were enslaved under him. And it was because of this that Moshe our teacher, PBUH, called himself "a man of impeded speech". Obviously the word of the righteous goes to the uppermost top to the lowest depth. And behold, one who received the Torah expounded it in 70 languages. And this is the thing that we explained in the name of the Zohar, that speech was itself in exile. And the advice came from Aharon, who had himself a little connection to the exile, even though the tribe of Levi was not completely enslaved.
~ the Sfat Emet explains a little more of his own thoughts. Why are the 4 expressions of redemption mentioned here, according to him, and to what do they correspond?
~ What new insight about the process of listening, and not listening, can you find? How do the people have a connection that Moshe does not?
בפסוק הן בנ"י לא שמעו כו' ואני ערל שפתים. פרשנו כבר כי ע"י שבנ"י לא שמעו לכן הוא ערל שפתים. כי הנביא מתנבא בכח שמיעת בנ"י כדכ' נביא מקרבך כו' והנה כ' שמעה עמי ואדברה ואחז"ל אין מעידין אלא בשומע
וזה הי' עיכוב עשרת הדיברות. והי' הדיבור בגלות כל זמן שלא הוכנו המקבלים לשמוע דבר ה'. ובמד' ולא שמעו אל משה שהי' קשה להם לפרוש מע"ז. כמ"ש איש שקוצי עיניו לא השליכו. ואין הפי' דוקא עבודה זרה ממש. רק עבודה שהיא זרה להם
כי השמיעה צריך להיות פנוי מכל דבר כמ"ש שמעי בת כו' והטי אזנך ושכחי עמך ובית אביך. וזה עיקר הגלות גם עתה מה שא"י להתפנות ולשכוח הבלי עולם להיות הלב פנוי לשמוע דבר ה' בלי מחשבה זרה כמ"ש ול"ת אחרי לבבכם כו'. וז"ש איש שקוצי עיניו לא השליכו. ולכן בגלולי מצרים הלכו. כי אם היו מוכנים לשמוע דבר ה' היו נגאלים מיד.
והנה עתה שכבר ניתנה התורה לבנ"י. וכ' קול גדול ולא יסף. לא פסק. ואומרים בכל יום שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו כו'. והוא המאמר אנכי ה"א. אשר לא פסק. אבל צריכין להכין עצמו לשמוע פרשת ק"ש בלי מחשבה זרה.
ולכן מקדימין יצ"מ לק"ש. שע"י גאולת מצרים יכולין להיפנות ממ"ז להיות מוכן לשמוע דבר ה'.
(Rabbi Arthur Green translation)
"Indeed, the children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh, since I am a man of uncircumcised lips?" [Ex: 6:12] We have already explained that it is because Israel refused to listen that he has these "uncircumcised lips." The prophet prophesies by the power of those who listen. This is the meaning of "a prophet from your midst...[to him you shall listen]" [Deut. 18:15]; it also says: "Hear, my people, and I will speak" [Ps. 50:7]. The rabbis teach that a witness must be one who can hear.
This is what delayed the giving of the Ten Commandments. Speech was in exile as long as those who were to receive Torah had not yet readied themselves to hear the word of God. When it says [of the people in Egypt] that "they did not listen to Moses" [Ex. 6:9], the Midrash says that it was hard for them to abandon their "foreign worship." Thus it is said: "No man would cast away the abominations of his eyes" [Ezek. 20:8]. This does not necessarily refer to idols, but to worship that was foreign to them.
Hearing requires being empty of everything. "Hear, O daughter, and see, give ear; forget your people and your father's house" [Ps. 45:11]. This is the essence of exile today as well: our inability to empty ourselves, to forget this world's vanities so that we empty the heart to hear God's word without any distracting thought. This is the meaning of the verse: "Do not turn after your hearts [or your eyes]" [Num. 15:39]. It was because "no man would cast away the abominations of his eyes" that they walked amid "the idols of Egypt." Had they been ready to hear God's word, they would have been redeemed immediately.
Now Torah has already been given to Israel by "a great voice that did not cease." [Deut. 5:19]. It has never stopped. Each day we say "Hear, O Israel, YHWH our God, YHWH is One" [Deut 6:4]; this is the voice saying: "I am YHWH your God"; it has never stopped. But we have to prepare ourselves to truly hear the Shema without any distracting thought.
This is why we mention the Exodus [in the Song of the Sea] before the Shema. By being redeemed from Egypt we are emptied of all distraction and become ready to hear God's word.
~ What is the final point that the Sfat Emet wants to drive home?
~ How are we to listen?
~ What do we listen when we say the Shema?
Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we do and we will listen!"
~ What is the traditional understanding of the name Havayah and the name E-lohim?
~ What is Listening, in this context? How can we listen? How many times are we reminded in our daily liturgy of the importance of this listening?
One example:
~ Can you name other examples from our prayers, whether daily prayers or High Holidays?