Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re exactly right.
“And how will Pharaoh listen to me, when I am impeded of lips? And Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon and commanded them to the Children of Israel...” (Shmos 6:12-13)
When Hashem told Moshe to come speak to Pharaoh, Moshe reasoned that if the Jews wouldn’t listen to them, and it was for their benefit, then certainly Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him, as it was to his detriment, and besides, Moshe spoke funny, and would not be able to impress Pharaoh with his words.
In response, Hashem commanded both Moshe and Aharon to go to Pharaoh. As Rashi explains, since Moshe’s issue was with his speech, Hashem sent Aharon, who was able to speak well, to accompany Moshe to Pharaoh. However, there is something curious here.
If you look at these two verses in the Torah, they are not adjacent to each other. There is a ‘stop,’ between them. The question ends a line, and there is a space afterwards. The command to Aharon and Moshe to both go, which seems to be the response to Moshe’s concern, only begins on the next line. What is the significance of this?
The Ohr HaChaim asks on the syntax of our first posuk. It begins, “And Moshe spoke before Hashem, saying:” Normally, the word ‘laimor, saying’ conveys something that is to be told to someone else. Here, Moshe was saying to Hashem that he felt incapable. Hashem wasn’t going to be telling that to anyone else, so what does this word tell us?
The Ohr HaChaim suggests that Moshe wasn’t declining the assignment. He wasn’t telling Hashem he couldn’t do it. Rather, he was bemoaning his own ineffectiveness, as one who feels he can’t succeed. There is no purpose in his speech; no intention to effect anything other than to express the cynical expectation that his words would have no effect.
Perhaps, this is why before Hashem commanded Aharon to accompany Moshe, He insisted on the ‘STOP’ in the Torah. Before He offered a solution to the problem Moshe raised, Hashem wanted to put an end to the negativity. Stop bemoaning your fate, Moshe. Stop crying over milk that hasn’t yet spilled.
The negative thoughts themselves are the things which can stand in the way of a person’s success. Feeling you will fail is the number one contributing factor to failure. Therefore, Hashem directed the section to end with Moshe’s question. Only once that was no longer a discussion point, was Hashem ready to step forward and address the concern. It was never an issue for Hashem, but Moshe’s own uncertainty would have been the biggest problem.
The takeaway for us is to recognize that with Hashem’s help, we can do anything we put our minds to, and that belief and positivity will go a long way towards making the potential a reality, in an easy and pleasant way.
Towards the end of the Chofetz Chaim’s life, a decree was passed in Poland that all rabbis had to speak Polish. The Chofetz Chaim felt this was terrible, and summoned all the Rabbanim to accompany him to Warsaw. There, he had an audience with the Polish President, and an interpreter was set up for him to speak.
The Chofetz Chaim said, in Yiddish, “As directed by our Torah, I pray each day for the welfare of the government. This decree that all Rabbis must know Polish will be devastating to our Yiddishkeit. If you leave us alone, we will be good citizens and pay our taxes. But if you insist on interfering with our observance, you will experience an abrupt downfall like Pharaoh himself.”
The interpreter was stunned. How could he repeat this? The President said, “There are many languages in the world. Some speak Polish, some English, but this rabbi spoke from the heart, and I understood. I don’t need a direct translation, just tell me what he’s asking for.”
The interpreter explained that they were upset about the Polish language requirement, and the President immediately sat down and reversed the decision.
©2024 – J. Gewirtz
