Of the klipah (spiritual force of impurity) – to clothe itself in holiness. Therefore, we should not be surprised if a holy people, absorbed among the nations without a leader and guide, were seduced to worship idolatry.
But they were seduced only temporarily, and immediately when Moshe Rabbeinu came: וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם – And the people believed. They cast away their idols. This is the same as occurred at Cheit HaEigel – where immediately upon Moshe’s descent from Har Sinai, they abandoned the golden calf. Therefore, Hakadosh Baruch Hu hinted to him: “Grasp it (the snake) by the tail.” Meaning, you need not grasp it by the head, which alludes to rational arguments to return them to good, for then it would be fitting that you flee and distance yourself instead. But you will not need all of this – just grasp it by the tail, because without sign or proof, they will believe in G-d immediately and the earlier doubt of “they will not believe me” will be resolved.
After the first two objections comes the third objection:
לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי גַּם מִתְּמוֹל גַּם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁם גַּם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל עַבְדֶּךָ כִּי כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן אָנֹכִי:
I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before, nor from when You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue.
The Ramban explains, on the plain meaning of the text, that Moshe was saying he had always been heavy of speech – from his youth and even more so now in his old age, and that even after Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke to him and commanded him to go to Pharaoh, his speech difficulty had not been removed. In effect, Moshe was saying that had he been healed and able to speak fluently, he would have gone without hesitation, but being left with a stammer made the mission seem impossible.
This idea is reinforced by the Sefer HaChinuch, who explains that a shaliach (messenger) of Hakadosh Baruch Hu – such as the Kohen Gadol – must be physically whole and dignified, since people are influenced not only by words but by the stature and appearance of the one delivering them. A representative who lacks outward completeness will not be received with the same respect or authority. Accordingly, Moshe argued that it was unfitting for the Master of all to send an emissary who was impaired in speech to stand before the king of nations. Notably, Moshe did not pray that his speech be healed; rather, out of his deep reluctance to go, he reasoned that since his impediment had not been removed, he should not be commanded to undertake the mission at all.
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלָיו מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם אוֹ מִי יָשׂוּם אִלֵם אוֹ חֵרֵשׁ אוֹ פִקֵחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר הֲלֹא אָנֹכִי ה':
And Hashem said to him: Who placed a mouth in man, or who makes one mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, Hashem?
In explaining this Pasuk, Rashi says Hakadosh Baruch Hu asked: “Who made Pharaoh mute so that he did not persist in the command to kill you; and his servants deaf so they did not hear when he commanded about you? And the executioners who kill – who made them blind, so they did not see when you fled? Is it not I? I did all this”
If so, this is the third time that Moshe Rabbeinu tries to resist being the redeemer, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu blocks all his arguments, leaving Moshe to say: שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח – Send whomever You will send." Suddenly, there are no excuses; he simply doesn't want to go! So, who will go? Rashi says, Moshe was alluding to Aharon here, suggesting he be sent instead.
The Targum Yonatan ben Uziel suggests a different name; that of Pinchas, or more precisely – Eliyahu HaNavi:
וַאֲמַר בְּבָעוּ בְּרַחֲמִין מִן קֳדָמָךְ יְיָ שְׁלַח כְּדוֹן שְׁלִיחוּתָךְ בְּיַד פִּנְחָס דְחָמֵי לְמִשְׁתַּלְחָא בְּסוֹף יוֹמַיָא.
And he said, "I beseech with mercy from before You, Hashem, send now Your mission by the hand of Pinchas who is destined to be sent at the end of days."
Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows what is in Moshe's heart, and therefore the Torah immediately says:
וַיִּחַר אַף ה' בְּמֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר הֲלֹא אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ הַלֵּוִי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי דַבֵּר יְדַבֵּר הוּא וְגַם הִנֵּה הוּא יֹצֵא לִקְרָאתֶךָ וְרָאֲךָ וְשָׂמַח בְּלִבּוֹ:
And the anger of Hashem burned against Moshe, and He said, "Is not Aharon your brother the Levite? I know that he will surely speak, and also behold, he is going out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart."
So, it turns out that Moshe resisted going on the mission four times; the first time he claimed he wasn't suitable for the role, and additionally he didn't understand why Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to redeem them now before the proper time had come. The second time, claiming that Bnei Yisrael wouldn't believe him. The third time, because he was 'heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue'. And the fourth time, because he feared his brother Aharon would be hurt.
I would like to focus specifically on the first time, when he claimed he wasn't suitable for the role and that they wouldn't believe he was the redeemer. In less than three months, we will all sit around the Pesach Seder table, where the author of the Haggadah says:
יָכוֹל מֵרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ ? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יָכוֹל מִבְּעוֹד יוֹם? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר בַּעֲבוּר זֶה. בַּעֲבוּר זֶה לֹא אָמַרְתִּי אֶלָּא בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁמַּצָּה וּמָרוֹר מֻנָּחִים לְפָנֶיךָ
One might think from the beginning of the month? Scripture teaches: 'on that day.' If 'on that day,' one might think while it is still day? Scripture teaches: 'because of this.' I only said 'because of this' at the time when matzah and maror are placed before you
A question was raised: What was so urgent that the learning and preparation for Pesach would begin already at the start of the month? What is the significance of the beginning of the month?
Another question that requires explanation: In Parshat Shlach, Rashi explains why we have eight threads in our tzitzit. He says they correspond to the eight days that Bnei Yisrael spent from when they left Egypt until they sang the shira at the sea. But this doesn't seem right. There were only seven days, not eight, from when Bnei Yisrael left Egypt until they crossed the Yam Suf. Where did Rashi get this idea that there were eight days?
The Beis HaLevi brings a Midrash on Tehillim (Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim 486), on the pasuk כִּי־עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה־אוֹר – For with You is the source of life; in Your light do we see light. It is a parable of one who lights a candle, but the candle then went out. He said: “How long will I suffer? I will wait for sunrise and walk in its light.” So too, Bnei Yisrael – when they were enslaved in Egypt, Moshe and Aharon stood up and redeemed them. Then they returned and were enslaved in Bavel; and Daniel, Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya stood up and redeemed them. Then they returned and were enslaved in Madai; and Mordechai and Esther stood up and redeemed them. Then they returned and were enslaved in Edom. Bnei Yisrael said: “We are exhausted! We are redeemed and enslaved, redeemed and enslaved. We do not ask that flesh and blood illuminate us anymore. Rather, we hope for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to illuminate us!"
The Beis HaLevi writes: The point is that if redemption comes through flesh and blood, it is a sign that it is not a permanent redemption and the full accounting of the exile has not yet been settled. In the future, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will redeem them, and there will be no more servitude at all afterward.
Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinu refused his mission, because he wanted Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself to redeem them so that the redemption would be permanent. From the fact that He sent him, the Beis HaLevi understood that there would be further servitude, and Moshe refused for the benefit of Bnei Yisrael so that their redemption would be permanent. And thus says the Midrash: Moshe said before Hakadosh Baruch Hu: “Ribbono Shel Olam, when Yaakov descended to Egypt, did You not say to him ‘אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַם־עָלֹה – I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up'? And now You send me to Pharoah? I am not the אָנֹכִי that You promised him – that is You! If so, why are You sending me to redeem them?"
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe: "וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה עִם־פִּיךָ – And I will be with your mouth, and therefore it will not be counted that you are the redeemer, but rather I. And why? Because you cannot speak! Rather, when you stand before Pharaoh, I will speak from within your throat!"
The proof of this is from what we say on the night of the Seder:
וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַיִם לֹא עַל יְדֵי מַלְאָךְ וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי שָׂרָף וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי שָׁלִיחַ, אֶלָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, וְעָבַרְתִּי בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה וְהִכֵּיתִי כָּל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מֵאָדָם וְעַד בְּהֵמָה, וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים, אֲנִי ה'. וְעָבַרְתִּי בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם – אֲנִי וְלֹא מַלְאָךְ. וְהִכֵּיתִי כָּל בְּכוֹר – אֲנִי וְלֹא שָׂרָף. וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים – אֲנִי וְלֹא שָׁלִיחַ. אֲנִי ה' – אֲנִי הוּא וְלֹא אַחֵר.
And Hashem brought us out from Egypt – not through an angel, not through a seraph, not through a messenger, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in His glory and by Himself. As it says: 'I will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and against all the g-ds of Egypt I will execute judgments – I am the L-rd. I will pass through the land of Egypt – I and not an angel. I will strike every firstborn – I and not a seraph. And against all the g-ds of Egypt I will execute judgments – I and not a messenger. I am the L-rd – I am He and no other.'
On this paragraph, the Sefat Emet says (Pesach, 5635): Something done through an angel or messenger is only according to the level of that messenger and would not include redemption other than according to that level. And for the lower generations, the concept of such a redemption would not be grasped either. Therefore, the redemption came through Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Redemption that comes from His power includes all levels from the beginning of all levels to the end of all levels.
This is why we also say at the Seder: “And if Hakadosh Baruch Hu had not brought us out,” – i.e., if it had been through a messenger – “then we and our children and our children’s children, would still be enslaved to Pharoah in Egypt.” But because He brought us out in His glory and by Himself, it was an eternal redemption.
The Midrash on the Pasuk מִי אָנֹכִי כִּי אֵלֵךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה – Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, says the meaning is that Moshe Rabbeinu said: “How will the promise made to Avraham Avinu – וְגַם אֶת־הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲבֹדוּן אָנֹכִי – be fulfilled if not performed directly by Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Moshe Rabbeinu wanted the redemption to be in His glory and by Himself. Moshe Rabbeinu, who was of great humility, nullified himself from existence before the Borei Olam. Because of this, says Rav Matityahu Saloman, the name of Moshe Rabbeinu does not appear in the Pesach Haggadah – so that you know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself is the Redeemer, and his mission was as if through Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Moshe Rabbeni, however, did not consider himself worthy to be counted at such a great level, and therefore asked מִי אָנֹכִי.
In his sefer Tiferet Torah, Rav Shimshon David Pincus expounds on the pasuk: וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֵוִי וַיִּקַּח אֶת בַּת לֵוִי – And a man from the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi. He writes: I heard a wonderful insight on this matter. Amram was the greatest of the generation, and Yocheved was the greatest and eldest of the generation, 123 years old, daughter of Levi and granddaughter of Yaakov Avinu. Miriam was a prophetess of Hashem, and the Torah testified about her and her mother that they were G-d-fearing. Why therefore were they not mentioned by name, such as "And Amram went and took Yocheved – and Miriam stood from afar," but rather it is written anonymously, as if their name is not important to mention. The same for Moshe himself, where his beautiful names, listed in the Gemara, are not mentioned; only the name given to him on account of him being taken out from the water, eventually appears.
Rav Pincus then answers his question: And the answer to this is – because here we are speaking of the story of redemption, and the redemption came through Hakadosh Baruch Hu in His glory and by Himself; therefore, no one is mentioned here by name. These are the words of Rav Shimshon David Pincus.
Rabbotai, if the redemption from Egypt came directly through Hakadosh Baruch Hu, how could it be that afterward there came additional exiles such as the exile to Bavel, the exile to Madai, and the exile to Edom? Was the exodus from Egypt not supposed to be an eternal redemption that was eternal rather than a temporary one that came through flesh and blood and is followed by more galut?
The Beis HaLevi provides a wonderful idea regarding this question. Chazal ask (Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot 171): why did Hakadosh Baruch Hu show Moshe a snake that turned into a staff? Just as a snake bites and kills people, so too Pharaoh and his people were biting and killing Bnei Yisrael; and then they became like a dry tree. And why did He show him something impure in the form of a leprous hand? Just as this leper is impure and makes Bnei Yisrael impure, and then becomes pure, so too will Bnei Yisrael be purified from the impurity of Egypt.
The Egyptians did two evils to Bnei Yisrael. One was the evil of the body, in that they enslaved them with hard labor. The second was the evil of the soul, in that they caused them to sin and severely corrupted them to the extent that at Yam Suf they accused: "הַלָּלוּ עָבְדוּ ע"ז וְהַלָּלוּ עָבְדוּ ע"ז – These worshipped idols and these worshipped idols." But Hakadosh Baruch Hu answered them: "These worshipped idols under duress and under confusion of mind." And this is the second of the signs that He showed Moshe: Pharaoh is compared to a snake that bites, and this is about their hard servitude in their labor. And the second is leprosy, that the Egyptians were making them impure in their souls.
But one must still understand: why was a snake chosen? There are many animals that bite and kill, some far more dangerous than a snake – so why was Moshe shown specifically a snake?
The explanation is this: even in the physical bondage that Pharaoh imposed upon Bnei Yisrael, his primary intention and ultimate goal was not the servitude itself, nor the financial gain that would come from their labor, as is the usual way of masters with their slaves. Rather, his main objective was to cause them to sin, and to draw them away from their faith. The enslavement was merely a calculated strategy through which he sought to carry out this evil plan. He reasoned that by intensifying the burden of labor, necessity would eventually force them to abandon their faith in order to ease their suffering.
This is what is explained in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) at the end of Parshat Beshalach: when Bnei Yisrael would circumcise their sons, the Egyptians would say to them, “Why are you circumcising them? Be like the Egyptians, and the labor will be lightened for you.” This was the true aim of their desire. For this reason, they enslaved them with crushing labor.
The Midrash further explains that they deliberately switched the work of men and women. Certainly, someone whose goal is financial gain would assign a slave to work he is accustomed to, so that the labor would be performed efficiently and properly. But when the work of men is given to women, the labor is inevitably ruined, since they are not accustomed to it. However, since Pharaoh’s true intention was the suffering itself, he paid no attention to whether the work would be done well or productively. He deliberately altered the labor in order to add further hardship and oppression – like a person who is untrained in a task and is nonetheless forced to do it, thereby toiling with far greater strain and suffering.
The Kli Chemda writes: Chazal say that the first and second redemptions were annulled because they involved human agency – the geula from Egypt through Moshe Rabbeinu, and the second geula through Ezra. In the future, however, the redemption will be carried out by Hakadosh Baruch Hu alone, and since Hakadosh Baruch Hu is eternal, that redemption will be eternal as well. At first glance, this requires clarification, for the Haggadah explicitly states that the Yetziat Mitzrayim was carried out by Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself – not through an angel, not through a seraph, and not through a messenger. Yet in truth, both statements are correct. In the geula from Egypt there were two distinct redemptions: the redemption of the body and the redemption of the soul. The redemption of the body was accomplished through Moshe Rabbeinu, who physically took Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt; but the redemption of the soul, however, was carried out by Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, in His full glory.
This also explains what is stated in the Gemara (Megillah 14a), whereby we do not recite Hallel over the miracle of Purim. For in the case of Yetziat Mitzrayim, we can truly say הַלְלוּ עַבְדֵי ה' – Praise, servants of Hashem, as we were no longer servants of Pharaoh. But on Purim, even if we say הַלְלוּ עַבְדֵי ה' and not servants of Achashveirosh, we were still, in fact, servants of Achashveirosh.
Nevertheless, this distinction fits well. The retelling of Yetziat Mitzrayim, even while in galut, centers on the spiritual redemption – leaving Egypt in order to receive the Torah. In that sense, we indeed went from servitude to freedom, and it is therefore appropriate to recite Hallel. In contrast, the miracle of Purim involved only a physical salvation; spiritually, we remained in exile and under foreign rule. Since we were still servants, we do not recite Hallel. These are the words of the Kli Chemda.
Based on this, we can understand something wonderful. The Ba’al Haggadah says:
רַבָן גמליאל היה אומר: כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלשָׁה דְּבָרִים אֵלוּ בַּפֶּסַח, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלוּ הֵן: פֶּסַח, מַצָה וּמָרוֹר.
Rabban Gamliel used to say: Anyone who has not said these three things on Pesach has not fulfilled his obligation, and these are they: Pesach, matzah, and marror.
And why did he say them in this order?
In Ma’aseh Nissim on the Pesach Haggadah, Rabbi Yaakov Lorberbaum of Lissa
