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Vol 26.03 - Shmot 3                                        Spanish French Audio  Video

 

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Summary:
Rashi (6:15) "This is My name forever"

 

Translation:

1. In our Sidra, it is told that when G-d told Moshe Rabbeinu that he would be G-d’s emissary to take the Yidden out of Egypt, that Moshe Rabbeinu replied to G-d:

"Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" G-d said to Moshe, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be)," and He said, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'"And G-d said further to Moshe, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'The L-rd G-d of your forefathers . . has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation”. (זֶה־שְּׁמִ֣י לְעֹלָ֔ם וְזֶ֥ה זִכְרִ֖י לְדֹ֥ר דֹּֽר)

Rashi, in his commentary on Torah states:

“This is My name forever” Heb. לְעֹלָם and explains:

(It is spelled) without a Vav, meaning: conceal it (G-d’s name) הַעִלִימֵהוּ (so) that it should not be read as it is written.” (: חסר וי"ו, לומר העלימהו, שלא יקרא ככתבו זה שמי לעלם )

 (Note: Since the “Vav” of (לְעֹלָם) is missing, we are to understand it as לְעַלֵּם, to conceal, meaning that the pronunciation of the way G-d’s name is written (י-ה-ו-ה) is to be concealed)

In addition, he states:

“and this is how I should be mentioned” - He (G-d) taught him (Moshe) how it was to be read, and so does David say, “O L-rd, Your name is forever; O L-rd, the mention of Your name is for every generation” (Ps. 135:14)”.

וזה זכרי: למדו היאך נקרא, וכן דוד הוא אומר (תהלים קלה יג) ה' שמך לעולם ה' זכרך לדור ודור

The plain meaning of Rashi’s comment is that since it states, “This (G-d’s Name “Havaye”) is My name forever” - ”without a Vav”, one learns from this that we are ”to conceal it”

(For the word “forever” that is spelled without a Vav (לְעֹלָם) is an expression of hiding/ העלם)

However, since the verse immediately continues, “this is how I should be mentioned”, meaning that one indeed “mentions” the Name “Havaye”, it is understood from this that “conceal it” does not mean that one should not use the name, at all, but rather it is just that “the pronunciation of G-d’s name “Havaye” is not as it is written”. Therefore, (Rashi states), “this is how I should be mentioned” – “He taught him how it was to be read”

(And (even) a five-year old knows that the pronunciation of the name “Havaye” is “Ad-noy”)

2. One must understand:

  1. It has been mentioned many times that in most of the places in Scripture, Rashi does not remark on the addition or omission of letters in a word (חסר ויתיר – choser v’yatir). Therefore, it is a proof that this instance of “choser v’yatir” is not a question which must have an answer, when one learns the verse plainly (כפשוטו).

Moreover, in those (few) places where Rashi does explain a verse according to the addition or omission of letters (“choser v’yatir”), the necessity for this is (not because of the omission etc. itself, but) due to another question in the verse.

One must therefore have an explanation in our case. What is the necessity, according to the simple meaning of the verse of “This is My name forever” to explain that it is “conceal it so that it should not be read as it is written”?

  1. On the contrary. Seemingly, this explanation does not conform to the simple meaning of the verse.

The words “This is My name forever, and this is how I should be mentioned in every generation” are (plainly) a continuation to the answer to Moshe Rabbeinu’s question, “and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?”. In reply to this G-d said to Moshe that he should tell the Yidden “Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you. . The G-d of your forefathers. . has sent me to you”. Therefore, how is the continuation “This is My name forever etc.” fitting – to make known the law regarding how one must pronounce G-d’s Name?

  1. Moreover:

Even here it states, “The G-d (“Havaye”) of your forefathers”. In other words that the “G-d of your forefathers” isHavaye”. As we indeed find most of the time regarding the “Patriarchs” –Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov – that G-d’s Name “Havaye” is mentioned in conjunction with them. If one should say that in making known the Name “Havaye” one must forewarn the law of “do not read it as it is written” – this should have been forewarned where G-d’s Name “Havaye” first appears, or at least very early on when it is stated?

In Rashi’s proof “and so does David say, ‘O L-rd, Your name is forever; O L-rd, the mention of Your name is for every generation’”,

(that there are two manners in the Name “Havaye”, the way it is written and the way that it is mentioned (זכרך) - the way it is read – i.e. how it is pronounced),

what is the ramification that David said this (as it states: “and so does David say”)?

3. One could say that the gist of the explanation in this is:

Rashi is coming to answer a puzzlement in the simple meaning of the matter. In reply to Moshe’s “When they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”, G-d answered him,

"Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be)," and He said, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'".

Afterward it states in a separate verse”

“And G-d said further to Moshe, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'The L-rd G-d of your forefathers . . has sent me to you. This is My name etc.’”

It is not understood:

  1. What is insufficient in G-d’s first (two) statements:
  • “G-d said . . ‘Ehyeh’”
  • “And He said . . 'Ehyeh has sent me to you’”,

that it is necessary to add the statement, “And G-d said further”?

  1. Moreover, this statement contradicts the previous statement.
  • Beforehand, G-d said “So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'”.
  • Yet immediately after He said “So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'The G-d of your forefathers (“Havaye”), has sent me to you.'”?!

One must therefore say that the third statement is just an additional explanation on the first (two) statements.

This means that that the statement

  • “G-d said . . ‘Ehyeh’”
  • “And He said . . 'Ehyeh has sent me to you’”,

 are the answer to the question of “when they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

However, in order that the essence of the answer should be understood and be better accepted among Yidden, G-d added another aspect – namely “G-d said further . .This is My name etc.”, which is an additional explanation of “'Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.'".

One must understand:

How is this last statement (not only not a contradiction, but on the contrary) an additional understanding to the first statements?

4. One can understand this by prefacing an explanation in Rashi’s comment on the words “Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be)”.

Rashi states:

“’I will be’ with them in this suffering. ‘what I will be’ with them when they will be subjugated by the other kingdoms”.

From the plain understanding of Rashi it appears (as Ramban explains) that “Ehyeh asher ehyeh . . has sent me to you” is not an answer on “What is His name?”, a name. Rather, it is an answer to the question “what shall I say to them”. G-d answered and conveyed through Moshe that the Yidden should rely on G-d that He will redeem them (אויסלייזן)

(for “’I will be’ with them in this suffering. . when they will be subjugated by the other kingdoms”)

It is not understood (or at least not straightforward):

Since this comes as an answer to,

“When they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”,

it would have been more fitting, at least according to the simple meaning of the verse, to learn (as many commentators according to Pshat learn) that

“What shall I say to them?”

 is a question regarding what G-d’s name is, and the answer is that “Ehyeh asher ehyeh” is G-d’s Name.

(As the commentators elaborate, how the Name “Ehyeh” depicts the true being of G-d)

However, Rashi learns that “Ehyeh asher ehyeh” is (not a name but rather an explanation that) “’I will be’ with them in this suffering”?

The explanation of this is:

The reason that Rashi specifically learns so

(Namely, that “Ehyeh asher ehyeh” is not a name, but that it means “’I will be’ with them in this suffering etc.”)

is since specifically according to this explanation in the words, is the question “And they say to me, ‘What is His name?’” answered, as it is understood according to the simple meaning of the verse, as will be explained.

5. When one learns the verse “And they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”, there is an immediately question:

Did not Moshe (and the Yidden) know G-d’s Name?!

Moreover, why should Moshe think that the Yidden would ask, “What is His name?” The Yidden certainly knew G-d’s Name. The proof of this is that Moshe himself said to G-d “Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you'”.

In other words, Yidden knew about the existence of “'The G-d of your fathers” – an understanding that they received from the Patriarchs. Therefore, just as the Avot transmitted to their descendants after them regarding the existence of “The G-d of your fathers”, so too, they certainly also transmitted to them the “name” of G-d, which they mentioned in their prayers etc.

Moreover, according the simple meaning (פשטות), they knew that G-d would redeem them from Egypt. As is also understood from that which Yosef adjured his brothers “G-d will surely consider you, and you shall bring my bones up from here”. This oath had to be transmitted to their children etc., in order to forewarn them regarding bringing Yosef’s ”bones up from here”.

It is puzzling:

When Moshe came to tell the Yidden that G-d would take them out of the Galut of Egypt – why should the Yidden question this, at all, and particularly, ask what “G-d’s Name” was?

The commentators learn that the explanation of “What is His name?” is – with what name would the Geulah occur. For “G-d, blessed be He, is called according to his deeds” (or, as in the words of the Midrash here: “according to My deed, I am called”).

Therefore, this is what the Yidden would ask. Which “name” (and therefore) in what manner – would G-d use to redeem the Yidden? “Would it be with the Midah of “E-l Shaddai . . that stood for the Avot (with which hidden miracles were performed) or would it be with the Midah of Supernal mercy (עליונים רחמים ) that he would use to perform the signs, and wonders that would be new in creation (ביצירה מחודשים)”.

This explanation also has a place in the style of Pshat (so much so, that Rashi does not even have to explain it). For Rashi already explained, immediately in his commentary on Torah (on the verse “In the beginning G-d created”) that the G-d’s name “Elokim” is the Midah of Din (judgment) and the Name “Havaye” is the Midah of Rachamim (mercy). Therefore, one knows (even a five-year old) that each “name” depicts a different conduct.

However, this answer is not sufficient. For in the end - why should one think that the Yidden would precisely know (גענוי) with which “Midah”, G-d would redeem them (so much so that Moshe said quite simply – “And they say to me, ‘What is His name?’). What difference does it make what the manner of Geulah is, as long as they are more quickly redeemed from the harshness of the subjugation! Moreover, the main point is – why should they have any doubt? Since it is an aspect of Geulah, it would therefore be from the Midah of Rachamim!

6. The explanation of this is:

The explanation of “when they say to me, ‘What is His name?’” is not just a question (due to the lack of knowledge) - but primarily a question and a contradiction, that the Yidden will plainly question when Moshe would convey to them that "the G-d of your forefathers . .has sent me to you." is taking them out of Egypt.

The Yidden in the Egyptian Galut withstood (דורכגעמאכט) not only the hardship of the subjugation of back-breaking labor, which lasted an extremely long time, but also the decree of “Every son who is born you shall cast into the Nile”. So much so (as Rashi cites) that pharaoh “would slaughter Israelite infants and bathe in their blood”.

If this condition of the Yidden effected that “G-d of your forefathers” should have mercy on the “children” and redeem them from the Galut of Egypt

(as it states: “I have surely seen the affliction of My people . .and I have heard their cry . . I have descended to rescue them etc.”),

how is it, that, from the very onset, He allowed that they should endure such a terrible Galut, and for so many years?!

This was Moshe’s question: “Behold I come to the children of Israel, and I say to them, 'The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you'” (this must evoke that Yidden ask) “What is His name?”. The Yidden will immediately ask: What type of “name” and conduct is this, that allows such a condition of a frightful (מאויים) Galut, and for so many years? And only after thousands and thousands of Jewish children perished (אומגעקומען) G-d forbid, do we hear the announcement, “I have heard their cry . . I have descended to rescue them etc.”? In addition, Moshe added and emphasized that this is also for him an out-crying-question (שאלה־צעקה) – “What shall I say to them?”

To this, G-d replied “Ehyeh asher ehyeh”, that Rashi explains, “I will be with them in this suffering etc.”:

It is not that G-d forbid, during the time of Galut, G-d “looks askance” (פארקוקט) on the tzarut/sufferings of the bitter Galut. Rather, on the contrary “I will be with them in this suffering”. G-d is together with the Yidden “in this suffering”. This emphasizes that G-d is together with the Yidden not only in the same place, but rather that he is found, as it were, in the suffering. As it states, “In all their trouble (Lo Tzar), He is afflicted. Isa. 63:9)”. This means that when Yidden are suffering, this becomes, as it were, G-d’s suffering.

7. Even though with the answer “Ehyeh asher ehyeh”, G-d forewarned the main claim of the Yidden (that they should not think that G-d does not think (feel), G-d forbid, their suffering (ליידן) in Galut) – nevertheless, an explanation is required.

How do these two aspects coincide, namely that G-d is with the Yidden in “suffering” (and in a manner that “He suffers”) yet together with this, He allows the suffering to continue?

To address this, the additional statement was said:

“And G-d said further to Moshe, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, 'The G-d (“Havaye”) of your forefathers . . has sent me to you. This is My name forever’” (לְעֹלָם) - It is spelled without a Vav, meaning: conceal it הַעִלִימֵהוּ (so) that it should not be read as it is written”.

The name of the “G-d of your forefathers” (who) sent me to you is “Havaye”, the attribute of mercy. This (Name of) “Havaye” is together with the Yidden in the suffering of their Galut. Yet how does He allow the hardship of the subjugation of Galut? (For it is not because during the Galut, G-d’s mercy is not present, G-d forbid). It is because the mercy is in a manner of concealment (העלם) – “conceal it הַעִלִימֵהוּ”.

However, on this there could be a claim:

Since the mercy is as if it is hidden, what is the benefit of “I will be with them in suffering?

To answer this, the verse continues –

”This is how I should be mentioned in every generation” – “(G-d) taught him (Moshe) how it was to be read”.

For even though the Name “Havaye” is in a manner of “concealment”, nevertheless there is “it is to be read”, the “remembrance” of G-d. Yidden remember (געדענקען) and remind (דערמאנען) and call it out. However, the reading (of the Name “Havaye”) is with the letters Ad-noy. This means that when Yidden pronounce Ad-noy, this is (not just the name (and the conduct of) Ad-noy, but this is) the reading of “Havaye” (However, in a manner that “Havaye” (mercy) is read (and revealed) through the letters of Ad-noy)

(On this Rashi cites the proof: “so does David say, “O L-rd, Your name is forever; O L-rd, the mention of Your name is for every generation”.

This verse comes to emphasize that in both manners, the “Your name forever” as well as the “this is how You should be mentioned in every generation” – are both connected with G-d’s Name “Havaye”. Even “Your mentioning” (the name that is mentioned and is read) is “Havaye” “this is how I should be mentioned”)

This is the answer to the question “What is His name?” – namely from what “name” comes this Supernal conduct. Namely that it is “'The G-d (“Havaye”) of your forefathers” a conduct of mercy. Yet it is “Havaye” (mercy) that is in a manner of “This is My name forever (hidden)” and “this is how I should be mentioned”. The mercy accomplishes, however – in a concealed manner.

8. According to all the aforementioned,

(Namely, that “This is My name forever etc.” is a continuation and explanation of “I will be with them in this suffering”),

there can still be a doubt (even - an error) whether the Halacha that results from this, namely that “This is My name forever (hidden)” means – “conceal it so that it should not be read as it is written” – is specifically connected with the condition of Galut. Whereas, if it is not the time of Galut (when G-d’s mercy is revealed) the pronunciation should be as it is written.

Therefore, Rashi forewarns with the precise wording of “so does David say. . the mention of Your name is for every generation”. In other words, that (even) in the time of David, when there was no condition of Galut, that the Halacha is that there is a difference between the writing of the name “Havaye”, and its mentioning – the manner of its pronunciation.

Rashi, cites further in his comment that

“Permission was not given to pronounce the Explicit Name except in a place to which the Shechinah comes, which is the Beit HaMikdash”.

In the Future, when “the glory of the L-rd shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the L-rd (“Havaye”) spoke”, the pronunciation of the G-d’s Name will be as it is written in all places.

With the true and complete Geulah through our righteous Moshiach, speedily and in our days, mamosh.

MSichas Shabbat Parshat Shmot 5743

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