Parashat Vaerah 5770
The Profound Word
Howard S. Joseph
http://TheProfoundWord.com
The Name
WARNING: SERIOUS THEOLOGY AHEAD. MATURE SUBJECT MATTER. READER DISCRETION ADVISED.
Theology is not a very popular subject for discussion these days. Yet there are major theological assumptions and concepts that underlie all our religious life. However, when someone tries to articulate them it proves difficult. Those who try more strenuously are often rewarded with suspicion and disbelief. So, synchronizing our religious life with theology is often left aside.
Sometimes, however, we are forced to confront this process. Neziv believes this is so in the opening section of our parashah. It has to do with the very name of God.
The previous parashah ends in a moment of great despair. After Moses’ reluctant acceptance of the mission to bring about the end of slavery and the Exodus from Egypt everything seems to have fallen apart. Pharaoh is not very impressed with Moses’ demands while Israel too is hesitant which turns to anger after Pharaoh increases the burdens in response to Moses requests. However, we anticipate a momentous change for the parashah ends with God’s direct response to the situation:
6,1. And the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a mighty hand he will send them out, and with a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”
Neziv explained there:
Not as you [Moses] think that this new evil is for their detriment and not for their benefit…. This is not the case. You will now clearly see that by trying to hurt Israel they will have hastened the time of redemption….
In other words, the Egyptian reaction to God’s demand now made it more likely that the redemption will come sooner up and that God will react with a mighty hand.
Now, our parashah opens:
Chapter 6
| 2. God spoke to Moses, and He said to him, “I am the Lord [YHWH]. |
- 3. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob with [the name] Almighty God, but by My name YHWH, I did not become known to them.
4. Also, I established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings in which they sojourned.
- 5. And also, I heard the moans of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are holding in bondage, and I remembered My covenant.
These words are God’s attempt to continue to reassure Moses that this great venture will proceed. God has heard the cries and remembered the covenant. However, commentators have always wondered what connection this question of God’s name has to the issue at hand.
The Torah uses many different names for God. The creation chapter uses E-lohim which we saw refers to judgment and balance that God used in order to create the universe. [See TheProfoundWord, Parashat Bereishit 5770].
However, Jewish tradition has always considered the four-letter name YHWH as the most sacred, special and most personal name for God. It expresses God’s personal relationship to all creation and is understood to express God’s provident loving care for the creation.
Because of the holiness of this name it was only recited by the High Priest on the day of Yom Kippur when he entered the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. Since then, tradition claims, the correct vocalization of the name has been lost. In its stead the pronunciation is not even attempted. While praying Jews use a word meaning Lord or Master: A-donai. In casual conversation even this is deemed irreverent and the faithful say Ha-shem, the Name.
So, we see, that the names of God have significance in referring to different aspects of God’s relationship to the world.
Our opening verses go even further. They suggest that the Ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not experience God’s presence as YHWH. They understood God as E-l Sh-addai. God did not reveal to them the fuller existence of YHWH. What does this mean? What does this have to do with the Exodus process? And, what does this have to do with the ultimate goals of Israel as the people of God?
Neziv faces the challenge of these verses right away:
When the Blessed Holy One answered Moses… an independent statement is presented which was necessary for that time as well as for the future to know the ways of God. [Verses 1-9 are written in the Masoteric Torah text as an independent portion (sidrah).]
Something momentous and significant is happening.
E-lohim spoke: We already explained in the beginning and end of Bereishit that this name always refers to the workings of nature…. Here as well it refers to God as the creator of nature..
and He said to him, “I am the Lord [YHWH]: who provides all through particular Providence [hamehaveh hakol behashgahah peratit], not like humans who build a home:? the builder’s power is in the home while under construction. When the home is finished his power is no longer in the home. Afterwords, the home does not stand through his power. However, the earth created in the name of Elohim stands and survives through the power of the name of YHWH who sustains all.
In this is included the response to Moses’ question. For Moses’ question assumed that Pharaoh’s decree in response to his demand was not part of the Providential plan but rather through the natural ways of these matters [i.e., the ways of political negotiations etc... (hsj)]. So God’s response is that nature is also part of Providence and that this is true for the future as well.
Now this will also be difficult for Moses; he will think how is this possible for he sees the strangeness in the natural ways of the world [i.e., how can they be part of the ways of God ?(hsj)].
So, therefore, God now continues:
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob with [the name] Almighty God [E-l Sh-addai: It has already been explained in the book of Bereishit that whenever this name is used it is to show that the purpose of the creation and nature is to reflect the glory of God.... This is what the name E-l Sh-addai means: that God said 'dai' [enough] to the creation. Only in this manner can the purpose [of filling the world with God's glory] be accomplished. This could not happen if less were done [i.e., 'enough' had been said earlier (hsj)]. Even though it is not within human power to understand that this is the only way for the goal to be achieved, these are the concepts of the Blessed Holy One and we cannot question them just as we cannot know what is before creation and what is after. What God revealed to the Ancestors is that the entire purpose is God’s glory. That is the meaning of the name E-l Sh-addai.
but [with] My name YHWH, I did not make known to them: In actuality my name is YHWH the provider of all. However, according to appearances, anything that occurs on earth and does not seem to reflect the ultimate purpose would not seem to be a product of Divine Providence. However, this is not so for ‘ I am YHWH’. Even though these events seem to contradict the ultimate purpose that is only from a human perspective: if my name is E-l Sh-addai then not everything appears to be providential; and if everything is providential then not everything reflects God’s glory and name of Sh-addai. Yet I am YHWH; but I did not reveal to the Ancestors how this is possible.
This is a response to Moses and a teaching for the future as well. Just as they saw various things that they thought showed an absence of God’s glory and did not let this trouble them for I told them that I am E-l Sh-addai, so too Moses and we should not be troubled by this. We should believe that this is the way it is and that eventually God’s glory will emerge from it. This matter that we should believe that everything comes through Providence and that we should not be troubled by strange things, is a fundamental principle especially in exile. Therefore, Moses later instructed us in Deuteronomy[1] [concerning this.]
Moses himself at the beginning of his greatness could also not accept and believe this until these words were addressed to him by God.
Just a few opening words of the parashah have provoked Neziv to this lengthy theological excursus. He seems to be following the rhythm of the Torah itself which interrupts the flow of the story. This is directed at Moses who correctly expresses the moment of despair caused by Pharaoh’s and the people’s reaction to the events. Things have gotten worse rather than better.
God’s address to Moses is supposed to be reassuring. God reminds Moses with whom he is dealing: God, the creator, provider and sustainer of the universe. These qualities are accomplished through wisdom: the knowledge and ability to say ‘enough’ during the process of creation. God knew how to balance the order of the world so that it is sustainable. Through wisdom, balance and love the world continues. Harmonizing these qualities is no easy task and from our human perspective cannot be fully comprehended. What looks to us like a rupture in the process may not necessarily be so. The world as is, as created, is the only world that can successfully exist. Various midrashim indicate that God contemplated other possible worlds but they were not functional and sustainable. God knew when to say enough, to balance all the forces necessary in order to have a universe.
Interestingly, science today would agree that the universe, as it is, is in balance and any change to the smallest degree would not be compatible with the existence of the universe as it is. Knowing how to create and when to stop the process is a measure of Divine wisdom.
Moses is being taught, and, we as well, that we should not be overwhelmed by appearances. The rest of this section continues the theme of reassurance. It results in what are called the four expressions of redemption which are commemorated and toasted each year in the four cups of wine at the Pessah seder.
- 6-8 Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord:
-
- I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians;
- I will save you from their labor;
- I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments;
- I will take you to Me as a people,
- and I will be a God to you, and you will know that I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
I will bring you to the land, concerning which I raised My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord.’ “
It is clear from these assertions that the purpose is to get back on the redemption track. However, also clear is the ultimate purpose of being God’s nation: and you will know that I am the Lord your God. To be a light to the nations, to bring the world closer to God, they must not only be freed but know and understand and cling to God. The process is envisaged in this passage. It will unfold in the parashiyot ahead. We will see how Neziv understands the process and its profound implications for the nature of the Judaism and the Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom
Hayyim Shemuel Yosef
Rosh Hodesh Shevat
January 16, 2010
A weekly parashah essay based on the writings Rabbi Naphtali Zvi Yehudah Berlin, the Neziv, in Ha’amek Davar [HD] and Harhev Davar [HRD]. Please feel free to distribute this material for educational purposes. All rights reserved.