Speaking from the burning bush, G-d commands Moshe to return to Egypt and deliver the following message to Paroh: “The Lord, the G-d of the Hebrews, has encountered us. And now please let us go on a three-day journey in the wilderness and we will bring offerings to the L-rd, our G-d.” (Shmos 3, 18).
Questions
G-d’s instructions to Moshe at the burning bush threaten to undermine our understanding of the entire Exodus narrative. Where is the ringing and powerful demand for freedom “Let my people go”? Why do we find in its place the seemingly tepid request, “Please let my people go on a three-day journey to the desert to worship G-d”? What could be more central to the Exodus story than the demand for complete freedom?
And if Paroh had agreed to Moshe’s request, would the Jews have returned after three days? If so, what would have been accomplished by their brief departure? If they would never have returned (if a three-day journey was not a truly viable option) why would G-d instruct Moshe to “lie” to Paroh? Is the Jewish nation to be born through deceit? As Abarbanel exclaims, “How could the Almighty command Moshe to lie in His name? It would have been better to clearly demand, ‘Release my nation from under the burdens of Egypt.’ ”
Approaches
A Abarbanel
The request is an exercise meant to test and expose the limits of Pharaoh’s obstinacy. This position implies that the request for a three-day journey was offered as a serious option. Had the Egyptian king shown flexibility by agreeing to this first request presented to him, the Israelites would indeed have returned and the Exodus might well have unfolded in a different, less painful, fashion. Once Pharaoh refuses to accede even to this reasonable appeal, however, the three-day option is removed from the table and replaced with the demand for total freedom.
B Chizkuni
The limited journey was never really presented as a viable option at all. G-d certainly had no intention of allowing His people to return to Egypt after three days of freedom. Moshe never clearly verbalizes a pledge to come back. He was therefore not guilty of an outright falsehood.
C Medrash
G-d’s deliberate deception of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The three-day request emerges as an integral part of G-d’s planning from the outset. The Exodus is designed, from its earliest stages, to ultimately lead Pharaoh and his army to the banks of the Reed Sea. The Israelites will never truly be free of their taskmasters unless they witness the total destruction of Egyptian power in the roiling waters of that sea. If we are obligated to kill on the battlefield in order to defeat evil, it stands to reason that we are obligated to use subterfuge, when necessary, to accomplish the same goal.
D Rabenu Bachya
Abrupt, total change in the human condition is impossible. Consequently, the Israelites would have been unable to even conceive of an immediate transition from slavery to freedom. G-d, therefore, proceeds slowly. He approaches the Israelites with a proposal that they can accept. In this way, G-d orchestrates the entry of the Israelites into the realm of responsibility through measured steps.
E Alter Rebbe
The Jews fled Egypt because of the “Egypt” in their souls, and not because of the earthly Paroh. The redemption from Egypt needed to be done in a manner of flight, since the exodus was only the redemption of the G-dly soul and not an exodus of the animal soul or the body (in which the evil remained). Thus, Moshe requested only three days so that the Jews would “only” leave in a manner of escape and continue to elevate the G-dly soul by engaging in Torah and Mitzvos. Only in the time of Moshiach when the Redemption will be complete (G-dly and animal souls and the body itself) and evil will be eliminated and no need for escape or haste in the final Redemption.
