Reis Lakish stated: “The Patriarchs were the chariot, as it states in the verse ‘and G-d went up from above Avraham,’ and ‘And G-d went up from him,’ and ‘And behold, the Lord was standing over him.’”
Bereishis Rabba 47:6
Notwithstanding the greatness of the Patriarchs in their being called chariots for G-dly expression, they still were not living in a redemptive reality. They only perceived G-dliness in the way in which it related to the world. They were, however, trapped in their own G-dly reality. True redemption means leaving the confines of worldliness and perceiving the reality of G-dliness for what it is in truth.
In order to truly experience redemption, one must leave the confines of “Keil Shakai” and the way G-dliness relates to the world, and perceive the reality of “HaShem (YKVK)” in the way that it transcends our reality.
When the verse says, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov as Keil Shakai, but with My name HaShem (YKVK), I did not make Myself known to them,” it wished to stress the supreme heights that each one of the Patriarchs reached. Doing so amplifies all the more, the greatness of the redemption from Egypt; that despite the great levels that Patriarchs reached, they still could not attain the revelation of Hashem (YKVK).
The verse relates to each of the Forefathers individually and says, “to Avraham to Yitzchak and to Yaakov” instead of merely stating, “to the Forefathers” or “to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.”
Were the verse to have referred to them merely as the Forefathers, it would have expressed the commonality that they all had—that they were all our Patriarchs. Clearly, separating each one of these tremendously holy individuals enunciates the specific greatness that they each particularly possessed.
They were each respectively awesome in their own right, and each Patriarch exemplified a variant form of service to the Almighty. Avraham personified the service of G-d through kindness to others; Yitzchak was expressive of serving G-d as a service and of prayer; and Yaakov served G-d through the study of Torah. They were each different, and each reached tremendous heights and perfection in the way they individually served their Maker.
Notwithstanding this however—“with My name HaShem (YKVK), I did not make Myself known to them.” The Patriarchs did not experience the name of HaShem (YKVK) and therefore never truly felt a situation of redemption.
