ספר שמות

In explaining this verse we must, of course, assume that ‎Moses told the people what G’d had asked him to tell them. The ‎Torah took it for granted that the reader will understand this. ‎The Torah, however, saw fit to also record some explanatory ‎remarks that Moses made when conveying the law of the sanctity ‎of the firstborn to them. Let us now refer to another verse in our ‎portion (Exodus 3,13) ‎ויאמר משה אל האלוקים הנה אנכי בא וגו'‏‎, ‎‎“Moses said to G’d, here when I come to the Children of Israel, ‎etc., (who shall I say has sent me?)” to which G’d replied ‎אהיה אשר ‏אהיה‎, adding further: ‎ה' אלוקי אבותיכם שלחני אליכם‎. Surely this ‎would be confusing for the Israelites who were aware that the G’d ‎Who had communicated with the patriarchs was known as ‎הויה‎ ‎and not as ‎אהיה‎. It appears that the best way to resolve this ‎‎"confusion" is by reminding the reader that there are two types ‎of redemption. One type of redemption was accompanied by the ‎Israelites receiving the Torah and the good deeds commanded ‎therein, as a result of which the people had become entitled to be ‎redeemed. At that time miracles, i.e. extra terrestrial means, ‎גבורות‎, were needed to bring about their redemption. When Moses ‎came to Egypt to orchestrate the redemption, the Israelites were ‎very far from such a spiritual level, so that G’d had to resort to ‎other means, known as ‎גבורות, חוזק יד, זרועה נטויה‎, “heroic deeds, ‎heavy hand, outstretched arm,” in order to accomplish His ‎objective. G’d did not consider the merits that the Jewish people ‎lacked at that time, but He gave them an “advance” on the merits ‎they would acquire as a result of accepting the Torah at Mount ‎Sinai 49 days after the Exodus.‎When Moses had enquired what merits the Jews possessed at ‎the time so that they could be entitled to redemption, G’d ‎explained to Moses that they would acquire these merits in the ‎near future, hence He described Himself as the G’d known as: ‎אהיה‎, i.e. looking toward the future. At this time only G’d can ‎foretell the future, i.e. that this people will accept the Torah at ‎Mount Sinai, the spot that Moses was standing on, and they ‎would accept it enthusiastically. G’d assured Moses that what ‎seemed now like a far off future, would shortly be transformed ‎into a present. There had been a time in the past however, when ‎He had been very much the G’d of the present, i.e. during the ‎lives of the patriarchs. It was because of their past, i.e. their roots, ‎that He was able now to extend credit to them so that He could ‎redeem them before they had really deserved it. The word ‎חזק‎, ‎although popularly translated as “strong,” is defined as the ability ‎to control powerful urges and not to allow oneself to become ‎overwhelmed by them. In the parlance of the Mishnah in ‎‎Avot 4,1 ‎איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו‎, “who is a true hero? He ‎who controls his biological urges.” When we describe G’d in our ‎prayers as a ‎גואל חזק‎ as a powerful Redeemer, we refer to His ‎suppressing His urges, overcoming His natural reactions by doing ‎something that according to the “Book,” should not be done at ‎that time. Doing something that was supposed to be done does ‎not require ”heroism,” so that anything that involved miracles, ‎supernatural input, must by definition be an expression of ‎‎“heroism” i.e. ‎חוזק יד‎. The concept of ‎בעל כרחו‎, against one’s will, ‎i.e. under “duress,” when applied to G’d is called ‎בעל כרחו‎. ‎Whenever G’d has redeemed us in the past, He had done so ‎against His will (attribute of Justice) and He has had to invoke the ‎attribute of Mercy after the attribute of Justice had opposed His ‎plan of action. When we described Him as redeeming us ‎למען שמו‎, ‎‎“for the sake of His name,” this means that only because of His ‎invoking the attribute of Mercy was G’d able to redeem the Jewish ‎people.‎