Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
It seems like Moshe didn’t really want to go to Pharaoh and ask for Benei Yisrael to be freed. So God gave him this command:
(יג) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ וַיְצַוֵּם֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאֶל־פַּרְעֹ֖ה מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם לְהוֹצִ֥יא אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
God spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them to Benei Yisrael and to Pharaoh the king of Mitzrayim, to take Benei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim.
The end of the pasuk tells us that the goal is “to take Benei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim.” So the part about Moshe and Aharon being commanded to say something “to Pharaoh” makes sense; they had to convince him to let Benei Yisrael go. But why would God also “command them to Benei Yisrael”? And what was that command even about?
דְאָמַר רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק: "וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וַיְצַוֵּם אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" - עַל מָה צִוָּם? עַל פָּרָשַׁת שִׁלּוּחַ עֲבָדִים.
R. Shmuel son of R. Yitzhak said: “God spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them to Benei Yisrael” – What did Moshe command? He told them about setting their own slaves free (far in the future, during the יוֹבֵל [yovel] year).
According to R. Shmuel in the Yerushalmi, God was giving Moshe and Aharon a command for Benei Yisrael—in the future, slaves would have to be set free in the yovel year.
- Why might this message be important for Benei Yisrael to hear right now? What are they supposed to learn from it?
R. Shmuel understands our pasuk as a command for Moshe and Aharon to give to Benei Yisrael. But Rashi sees it differently. He thinks this is a command to Moshe and Aharon—about how to treat Benei Yisrael:
וַיְצַוֵּם אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – צִוָּה עֲלֵיהֶם לְהַנְהִיגָם בְּנַחַת וְלִסְבֹּל אוֹתָם.
God commanded Moshe and Aharon to lead Benei Yisrael gently, and to have patience with them.
- Why might Moshe and Aharon have needed this advice now?
- Look at pasuk 6:12 (just before the pasuk we started with). How might Rashi be responding to Moshe’s concerns here?
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