This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, is the only one which doesn’t contain the name of Moshe Rabeinu (other than before he was born and the book of Devarim in which Moshe speaks in first person). The commentaries explain that this is due to Moshe’s request from the Almighty that he would rather be erased from the Book than have the Jewish people wiped out after the sin of the golden calf. This request shows that to Moshe, the continued connection of the Jewish people with the Almighty was something that affected him to the core. As such, although Moshe’s name isn’t mentioned, this parsha reveals the essence of Moshe, which is even deeper than his name – that his raison d’etre was to connect all of the Jewish people with G-d. Similarly, the Megillah of Esther doesn’t contain G-d’s name. Although the reason for this seems to be that G-d’s presence was concealed during the Purim story and all of the miracles seemed like natural occurrences, on a deeper level the reason for this is that specifically at the time of G-d’s apparent concealment is when His essence, which is beyond any name, can be found.
