Shemos - Accessing Personal Redemption

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with them running assistance in Shamish Israel 5786 2026. This week's paras shamos. We have the beginning of a new book a new chapter in the annals of Jewish history. The story of the Jewish people in Egypt as slaves and we have the story of Hashem's interaction with Mosher Rabenu encouraging him inspiring him to lead the Jewish people out of slavery. And at the center of this conversation is something which I think is so essential to understand. I think it's the foundation of our relationship with Hashem who was told that he's to be the redeemer. Let's read this together. It's in chapter 3 and on Moshe says look you're sending me to redeem the Jewish people. I'm going to come to them and I'm going to say the God of your forefathers has sent me to you and they're going to ask me what's his name Mara. What will I say to them? It's a very interesting question. That's what they're going to ask. They're deep in slavery. Imagine Shalom Jewish people in in a concentration camp and someone comes to take them out of the concentration camp and and says God sent me to take you out of here. Did you think that they would ask what's your name? What's his name? It's kind of funny. It's interesting you to understand it. On the simplest level, it means how is it what is when a name is representative of and we'll discuss this further soon. It represents the essence. It represents the way that Hashem interacts with us. Right? Hashem at his essence is beyond time. Hashem at his at his essence is beyond space. We can't fathom who Hashem is, who God is. But we do have a certain relationship and an experience of Hashem. And depending on our experience, sometimes God is angry as it were. Sometimes God is compassionate as it were. That's how we perceive him. God of course is beyond any of these things because God is infinite and unchanging. But we experience him in this world where there is time as interacting with us. So what's his name kind of means how is he manifesting now? Is he a judgmental god in this moment? Is he going to interact with us in that way? Is he going to interact with us through compassion? What is it? So they're going to say, "What's his name?" And Moshe says, "Sorry, Hashem says to Moshe, and this is a divine name. So unless I'm reading a p, I'm not going to read it. I'm not going to say it that way. I'm going to say it a which means I will be that I will be." And it's important to understand what is this idea of I will be right in the I've heard people quote this and say I am that I am. That's not the translation. It's not God saying I am. It's God saying I will be. So he's saying Hashem is saying I will be. Whatever this means we need to understand it. I will be that I will be. He says, "This is what I want you to send. This is what I want you to say to the Jewish people. I was sent by Eka." Okay. So, first he says his name is a I will be what? I will be. And then he says, "Tell them I will be sent you." Right? So, heads up, this name Ekya does not appear, I think, as far as I understand, anywhere else in the entire Torah. It's a name that's used only here only in the context of gula of redemption. The deeper sources tell us that Hashem's going to use this name again in a future time before Msiah comes in the messianic age or in the advent to the messianic age. He's going to use this name again. But somehow the name I will be for some reason that's the name that he's to tell them. But that's not all. The doesn't end there. The continues. Elim says furthermore to Moshe, right? Elohim is the name of God's justice. As we'll see, this is what you should say to the Jewish people. Hashem, the Godim of your forefathers. So, as we'll see, is compassion. We're back to judgment. the God of your forefathers. I'm connected to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's who sent me to you. And this is my name forever. This is how I'm to be mentioned from one generation to another. So, it's a very interesting response to Hashem. It's an interesting question that Moshe says, "What's your name?" What am I to tell them? What's your name? And it's an interesting response. He says, "This is my name." What's his name? What was the answer? His name is His name is Elim. His name is His name is There's a lot of answers here. There's a lot of answers here. So, I want to understand what is the concept of the name, I will be. I want to understand what is the concept of all these different names. What what does it mean exactly? What is the what is the teaching? What is the depth? Why is he asking for the name? Why is Hashem saying this is my name? So the Majish gives us a depth in this whole conversation and teaches us a few different ideas which I think if we look at them in a broad way, we can see that they're all kind of the same theme. But still, let's see them together and notice the nuanced differences. God says to Moshe, "These are my names. Do you want to know my name? You want to know how I manifest? You want to understand who I am as it were? You want to know what I am and how I interact with with the world?" So my name has to do with what I'm doing. How you experience me. How you experience what I'm doing. Excuse me. Shakaiimash. There's different names for me. There's Kel Shakai. There's which is a name that's used in Tanakh. There's name. There's a name. When is the name used? When I judge, when I interact with the world in a way that seems like I'm judging you, I use the name Elohim. Elohim is, as I'm fortunate say over here, you have the word Elohim used to mean judges. We are to bring our case. If we have an argument between different people, we are to bring our case in front of the judges. Elohim the word Elohim and Elohim means either judges or Hashem when he's being in a state of judgment when he's interacting with us in a state that indicates he's judging us that's the name the word right the god of the hosts lord of hosts so that indicates that Hashem is involved in a in a battle. The Jewish people are fighting their enemies. In the war with Kamas, Hashem manifested as the Lord of the hosts. And the word the is an army, right? So, Hashem is manifesting through his armies. Could be legions of angels. It could be legions of Jews. when I'm interacting with the world and not holding people per se accountable to the for their sins at this moment I'm waiting I'm waiting for them to do chuva I'm waiting sometimes Hashem waits for for the to be full for a certain amount of destruction to have been caused before he unleashes the results of it kale shakai that's hashem saying I'm holding back I'm withholding my justice the name is used when I have compassion on the world. How do I know that? Hashem's name is used when Hashem is compassionate. Hashem the name used twice. And interesting, it's important to point out say we're supposed to emulate Hashem. Not in any of the other means. It doesn't say that we're supposed to judge people, but it does say that we're supposed to emulate Hashem. Just like Hashem is compassionate, so too should you be compassionate. Just like Hashem is gracious, you should also be gracious. I want to just notice the word. What is the concept of what is gracious? What does that mean? That God is gracious. So ra a person has compassion. You know, you feel bad for somebody. You help them out. They're they're down and out. You help them out. You give them a a loan or you give them some money. That's compassion. Is deeper. It's gracious. The wordina in modern Hebrew means a pardon, right? The person is in jail. They don't deserve to be pardoned. They they deserve to be in jail for 20 years, the rest of their life. They receive a pardon. And that means that they don't deserve to be out, but they're let out. And Hashem does that with us all the time. Hashem says, "You don't really deserve to be pardoned. [laughter] You deserve to see the results of your negative deeds, but I'm going to let you off the hook." Right? That's not that's not compassion. That's grace. And so, Hashem is gracious. And we're to be gracious as well. Someone's done something wrong to us, let it go. Let it go. Bottom line here, Hashem has different ways of interacting with us. Sometimes it's through the name of the judgment. Sometimes it's through the name Shakai. He withholds his judgment. Sometimes it's just free pass. Sometimes it's compassion. says when Hashem says that I will be what I will be, what he's really saying is I will manifest in different occasions in different ways. Sometimes it's going to be this way, sometimes it's going to be that way. And I and I'll point out that when Hashem was going to bring the plagues upon Egypt, right? So he's actually manifesting in two ways simult simultaneously, right? He's bringing judgments upon the Egyptians. They've wronged the Jewish people. They've made them slaves. They never paid for their work. So, Hashem is bringing about justice upon the Egyptians. And in the very same plague, justice for them and raus, compassion for the Jewish people, releasing them from bondage. There's a light where the Egyptians have darkness, the Jewish people have light. So Hashem can manifest with each of these different aspects even at the same time. It's important to know that. So the medish is understanding that that's what Hashem means when he says I will be what I will be that I'm going to interact with you in different ways. My name changes and that by the way really helps us understand why the med why the Pik says all these different names. It says, "I will be what I will be." Then it says, "I will be." And then it says, "Uh, yud and it says," and it says, "The God of your forefathers," which I think is a reference to the name Kel Shakai because it says, "I I appeared as we see in the next week's para says, I appeared to your forefathers with the name Kel Shakai." So we have all these different names that Hashem is using and really Hashem is saying I manifest in many ways. Understand that I manifest in many ways. And it's important because you know we live in a world where we see darkness, we see death and we see destruction and we also live in a world where we see life and we see goodness and we see kindness and we see parnas and livelihood and we see happiness and we see simas we see joyous occasions and we see also sad occasions. So like we need to know and that's the foundation of Yiddish. I would say everything is from God. It's all encompassing. Hashem is all-encompassing. God is beyond everything. That that's really denoted in the name I will be. It's almost like Hashem is saying you will see in the end you will see that all of these things are part of the way that I manifest. It's all unified in me. And especially when do we see that when we come to the end of a story when we come to the completion the Jewish people are downtrodden the Jewish people are under the boot of the Egyptians but ultimately they are redeemed and then in the end we see it's only in the scholus I'm afraid it only becomes apparent at the end what was going on all through all throughout that's I will be it's the name of redemption you can see that everything was says he says an interesting thing. The name is I will be. But it says it three times. It says it three times. I will be. I will be. I will be. Because there are three different times. There's the past, the present, and the future. And perhaps we can say you will see in the end that I I will be it will become apparent that I was here from the from the beginning, the middle and the end. Perhaps that's the shot. But it indicates these three the the three times that this name is mentioned is to teach that Hashem was, he is, and he will be. And it's interesting to note and to point out the Moram explained this and point this out the bakay points it out that the name eia the last two letters of that name this is the highest name this name of I will be is very high it's beyond anything that we can conceive or understand because maybe one day we'll understand it that's kind of the point but hashem is beyond anything beyond time higher than anything the last two letters of the name are yud and Hey, the first two letters of the name Yud V are a yud and a hey. It's the same two letters. It's the same two letters. Yud V means Hashem was, he is, and he will be. Hashem is beyond time, but he's also within time. V represents the fact that Hashem is within time. And the name represents the fact that Hashem is beyond time. So it's a higher name the second half of which contains the beginning of the next name of Hashem that we relate to. Now this is a more famous concept of what this name means. I will be what I will be. This is Rashi brings this. What does it mean? I will be that I will be I will be with them in this challenge in this difficulty and I'm going to translate it this way again perhaps the is they will see in the end that I am with them was with them have been with them throughout and I will also be with them there's going to be other exiles there's going to be other times where the Jewish people are enslaved there'll be the Babylonian exile There'll be a Roman exile. There'll be a Greek exile. There'll be a there'll be a Yeshua exile. And we'll be under the boot many times. But I will always be with them. I will always be with them. I will be and I will be I will be with them now. I'll be with them in the future. Interestingly, should I really tell them about what's going to be in the future? the problems they're going to have in the future. They're in the middle of their own problems right now. I'm going to tell them about future problems. Let me let me just tell them about the current issue that Hashem you are with them now with them in this challenge. All right. So, Hashem responds and says, "You're right. Don't say that. Don't say don't talk about a future problem. This is what you should say to Jewish people. I have who I will be with them in this problem is the one who sent sent you to them. I'll let you know. You can understand and obviously we the reader of the Tyra who live in our current time can understand. But Hashem says I'm letting you know about the future times. I'm going to be with them. But don't you don't have to tell them about those future problems. a similar idea. They're involved with brick and mortar. They're involved in building the pyramids. They're involved in slavery, difficult back breaking slavery. And they're going to be involved in that kind of slavery in the future. There'll be other times where they're involved in that. And I and as as I saw it says which means with bricks and it says which means to the children of Israel but can also mean bricks. So there's going to be bricks now and there's going to be bricks later. Pik says in Daniel uses a lion of which is similar to I will be I was I became I became troubled. So the word I will be can also be read as troubles. So it's indicative of the fact that Hashm will be with us in our troubles in the future as well. Similar thing tell them don't tell them about the future troubles again. just tell them that I'm with them here in this current difficulty has another interesting idea of what it can mean that there is two different ways that Hashem interacts with the world. Sometimes there's Hashem says I will be and sometimes Hashem says that I will be. When is it that we apply the concept of I will be that I will be which indicates that there's kind of a more individualistic approach depending on who the person is depending on how they behave that's how Hashem interacts with them I'll be whatever I'll be right as we said before Hashem sometimes interacts this way sometimes interacts that way what determines that why does Hashem sometimes act in a way that seems like judgment why does Hashem sometimes interact with us in a way that seems like compassion well depends on us it depends on how we how we behave if we're doing what's right so Hashem interacts with usem is like the shadow by our right hand right so when it comes to individuals so Hashem says or in in the way the maj explains it and understands it another different aspect hashem says it will depend on you as an individual, whether or not you accept me to be your God, whether you receive my light, whether you become a spiritual person, that's up to you as an individual. But what about the world at large? What about the Jewish people generally? Does Hashem allow the world to continue in an atheistic way, disconnected from him? Or does Hashem at some point force things so that everyone is forced under his kingship? So Maj says like this when it comes to individuals when it comes to yes an individual can have a situation where God doesn't force him sometimes when it comes or it will be when Msiah comes because we're talking about I will be Hashem will force his hand and he will rule over the world in a way which is tough, which is breaking teeth. says chapter 20:33, Hashem promises there will be an occasion where I don't know if it's for sure going to happen this way, but it may happen that I'll have to rule over the world or over the Jewish people in a way that is angry. Hashem will appear in anger in order to take back his people, so to speak, to take us out of the idolatry, the idol of of consumerism or the idol of of believing that I'm the one who's doing everything of myself or the atheism, whatever it is, I'm going to rule over you. And it and it may be with an outstretched hand and with anger, outpouring of anger. believe this is a Pik that we quote or something similar in listen to his amazing name another which means God answered me the son of means joy that's his name God answered me so I'm with joy says another aspect which is similar to the first aspect but also it's another way of thinking about it understanding it. Shem says look I have different ways of interacting with the world. Sometimes Hashem interacts directly with the world and with an individual and sometimes Hashem sends he sends angels or or intermediaries. When I want to, if I want to, I can have an angel who is a huge spiritual being that extends all the way from the heavens down to the earth, reaches down his hand and touches the land all the way from the heavens. says also that there was some kind of image of a hand that was sent down and grabbed him by the titus of his head. I don't know what that means exactly. Titus of the headashi. But the point is that Hashem can send all the way from stretching all the way from heavens down to earth. Sometimes I want there were three angels that he appointed. He sent them down to tell him about the fact that he's going to have a baby and to destroy Sadom. And they appeared as three men sitting under a tree. Bosik says they they were instructed by Abraham to relax and lean on lean or or to relax under the tree. So Hashem can bring his the manifestation of his will in different ways. Sometimes through an angel, sometimes through angels that look like people. When I want to, Hashem says I can have my honor for the entire world. The whole world can have an awesome recognition of me. There can be just this amazing sense that I'm there 23 24 it says behold the heavens and the earth I fill them says Hashem and sometimes I communicate sometimes I communicate from amidst the storm cloud Job was communicated to by Hashem from a stormy cloud through his difficulties. Right? Yo is the classic person who had incredible troubles. But Hashem sometimes speaks to us through the troubles. And when I want to, I can speak to you from the side of the thorn bush. Right? The thorn bush is also indicative of and representative of the challenges and the difficulties that the Jewish people are enduring. Hashem says, you know, and this is kind of a a deeper understanding of what we said at the beginning. We said Hashem sometimes appears in judgment and sometimes Hashem appears in confession. That sounds a little bit impersonal, right? Especially the concept of judgment. But what's happening here is that the measure seems to be saying as I understand it that I am communicating with you. I am interacting with you. Hashem is saying I am coming to you and I'm saying here I am. I'm waking you up. Here's God. And sometimes that can be like a miraculous thing like Hashem sticks out his hand from heaven to earth and you feel like lifted up. And sometimes it's wow the entire world is lit up with Hashem's light. And sometimes Hashem speaks to us from our challenges. Sometimes Hashem speaks to us from the storm cloud. Sometimes Hashem speaks to us from the side of the thorn bush from the snat. And Hashem gives us the Tyra there at Hari which is the place of Senai is the same as the word snat. That's where Hashem appeared to Mosher Raben who was at Hari right the terra is given to us in that difficult place. So, Hashem is saying in essence, I want you to understand what your relationship looks like with me. This is what redemption looks like. Redemption really is about establishing relationship with Hashem, taking us out of Egypt, giving us the Tyra. This is what our relationship looks like. Sometimes it looks like, wow, the world is amazing. Wow, Hashem is so kind. And sometimes it looks like it's so challenging and difficult, but I know that Hashem is here in this with me. It's amazing. So it comes out the bottom line of what we're saying here is Hashem is saying I will be that I will be. Hashem is saying I will manifest to you. We're establishing a relationship. Understand that our relationship will take many forms. Understand that you're going to experience me in ways that sometimes are comfortable and sometimes that are uncomfortable. But understand that all of these are are me. All of these are a manifestation of my will. All of these are a manifestation somehow of my light. Sometimes the light is open and revealed light. Sometimes the light is hidden within darkness. But no matter what, understand that this is my light. I want to bless you and I ask you to bless me. Should help us to be able to have the vision of who he will be. should help us to be able to understand and we will get to that space where we'll be able to see it after the fact hindsight. Hashem should help us to be able to understand that now to have that vision to have that that all-encompassing broad type of understanding that he is there with us. He's there with us and he's manifesting sometimes in the difficulties, sometimes in the good times, but it's all Hashem. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Shabas. This podcast was made possible through the gracious [music] donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.rigoldwag.com [music] or search on iTunes Arig Goldwag.