Parshat Shemot: Moshe and Tziporah at the Inn

I welcome those who have been at my former classes and as well as those who are coming hearing me for the first time because my first time on a Tuesday morning class at any rate um I chose uh to discuss which something which in my view is perhaps the most difficult small little part of uh not only SA mode but even uh maybe in the entire Torah it's a simple fud three Pim three Pim about a story we are know but I would almost challenge you to understand it allow me to explain uh what as I share on uh the the screen on the first of my The Source sheets and that is um the um story of Moshe Andora and the Brit the par goes on it starts St it's a story of yro and mosha having heard God at the burning bush and going on the uh and reluctantly as we'll see certainly goes on the mission that has sent him on to go to go and get and bring them out of Egypt and that whole verse whole peric is about that Moshe goes and the last three verses of the peric tells us as you see the following on the way to go down to Egypt at the Malone I would say how Johnson was the lodging place it was there Hashem met him and sought to kill him very strange first of all God met him um and who's him um and he wants to kill him who does he want to kill and if it's mosha why what yeah so took a flint a sharp Flint at and she cut off the forkin of her son which son it is no idea at this point all we've learned about is that mosha had a son called G we haven't heard that he had a second son yet but okay cast he C she cast the the foreskin At His Feet whose Feet Don't Know by told and she declared the surely you are a bridegroom of Doom of blood to me don't ask me brid glom of blood what talking about very strange so then he let him alone who is who is he I don't know a and then again said a bridegroom of blood regarding the circumcision okay very good thank you for the nice story then we go on with the story of B is and going into and mosha taking them out terrific what is this about what in the world is this story about it it is so so puzzling so difficult to understand if God was trying to kill mosab Moshe had finally agreed to the mission that God had sent him he didn't want to do it but he went he agreed he was on his way to the m what and now God gets angry with Moshe no no maybe God doesn't want to does not want to kill Moshe maybe he wants to kill somebody else I mean maybe this child and what does mean when she said to whom is she referring what does it mean what does the Torah mean when when it's also says and then she said what connection at all this nice little little cartoon have to do with the whole story of is so puzzling what is it why does it of all things include this minor seeming incident why is it what is it really about so I'm going to start from the beginning as I can see it and clarifying for this puzzling pre Exodus event and we do so I'm going to do so in the second uh source which is from the gar in Nim the gar in Nim tells us the following it says um here see number two t we'll do the English so to sort of save some time Rua said how great is the Mitzvah of mil of the bris for despite all of moshe's merits he was not pro protective protected when he was negligent in circumcision so again Ru seemed to say that the punishment had to do with Moshe not having given a Brit assumingly to the baby to the child R said God forbid that we should we might even believe that Moshe was negligent rather this was his reasoning should I circumcise a child and then go or set off on the journey that would be dangerous should I then circumcise then and wait the three days but hasem commanded that I return to Egypt now so why was mosha punished because he first arranged for lodging before circumcising his son he wasn't negligent he was GNA do it but instead of doing it right away he had to pay the bill at the at the Howard Johnson he had to set up the the motel room whatever is rash said the Satan did not want to kill Moshe but rather the kill the sun RAB Yehuda said when mosha was negligent in failing to circumcised his son wrath and anger swallowed him this is a very uh a godic type of thing leaving only his legs untouched it was then that SEO figured it out and took a sarpent stone and circumcised her son and then they left him alone so these are the three opinions we find um uh in yeah in the in thear of the DAR there Rua and rabi seem to see the sin of Moshe as being that of uh um negligence of laziness if I could godid say that um and uh he ignored the Mitzvah you know um he didn't want to deal with it when he should have at least um course know didn't get it but that was the thing he postponed it whatever he didn't do it on the proper time both opinions rely on the fact that tor's act of Performing the um the Brit Mila uh seemed to have removed the threat of death the anger of Hashem so that must have been what made okay the problem with this approach uh is that uh we would say this I said it last time to the most important part of this story of what happened is missing here we never find that an incident in the Torah where God wants to kill someone and doesn't give a reason why and yet here that's true and we're never told why God was angry what was wrong what did Moshe do that was awful we don't know we don't know that at all very very strange now the Ezra the Ezra explains that mosha was torn between uh two commands now I'm not sure if I have this let me just yeah the Ezra which I don't have in the sources explains that uh on the one hand um Moshe knew he had to circumcise his son but he also knew that you do not perform a Britney law on a child while you're traveling it would endanger the health of the child as we pointed out and on the other hand he knew that God commanded him to travel to Egypt immediately much of what one of the opinions of the gar said as well and so mosha not wanting to delay uh I want to um to delay God's command he opted to to delay the Britney Li instead moshe's sin therefore according to the ibra was his decision not to delay God wasn't angry at that L what he says says you know what mosha sin was he took the family with him no way did God say come bring the you know bring your wife and the kids and come down to that wasn't what Hashem said and there was something wrong about making this into a family vacation that it seems was iban Ezra's point now we get to rashi's grandson the rashbam the rashbam disagrees with all of these approaches and he explains the underlying reason for God's anger as being such and again I'm going to share with you what uh I think the third um I think it's the third Source we have here um he says when when the Torah said Hashem God met up with Moshe he said explains out to an angel why because he was careless and took his wife and children with him on the journey so there's the rashbam who says it has to do with him taking the family and then when she did Brit the performance of this Mitzvah explains the rashbam helped to save Moshe as would a Corban would just as both gon and manoah did when an angel appeared to them and threatened that they offered a a corbine here two God had appeared I'm sorry to um Moshe he was angry about this taking the and Moshe doesn't respond bying and seeing Hashem that according to the rasham is the um sin unfortunately um well I should say that his his connection to the Brit Mila he said is that a Brit is like a Corban uh when you see a Mal you see an angel you offer a Corban that's what gon did that's what no did Father and but that's not what mosha did that's what was angry but ultimately let's face it um we as um I guess students of tanak you know he struggled with a number of problems with this whole this whole episode um we still really unsure what what was moshe's real Sin and um why was not that sin never even mentioned at all and again how does this tie into the story of so I'm going to share with you the view of grman still very very active in Baran in inion um and go back to the whole story of Moshe and I think it will uncover for us a a rather subtle but a crucial dimension of mos his early years and the struggles never really mentioned here in the Torah but clearly is hinted to if we try to understand Moshe more completely we understand this very well what what conf challenges he had to he had to overcome let's see in the beginning of the second chapter of schot right we read that um God hears the cries of B Isel and he responds to them um it says uh again I'll show you here it says that uh in the in the fourth begin second page here during those days again this is the beginning of the second uh paric we don't even know about Moshe yet he hasn't been born um the king of Egypt died and B is moaned from the bondage and they cried and their cry went up to Hashem Hashem heard their groaning and remembered his Covenant with AB andov so he saw the children children of Israel and took cognizant of them I'm not going to go through what in effect decided to respond to the cries of Israel okay that's what these two verses say and this is also exactly what the um the the reasons why God is responding and going to take them out of Egypt he does so um because um he says umel he God sees their suffering and therefore he listens to the police um and that's number one and the second reason why he's going to respond and take them out is because he made a promise right he made the promise to and he had that promise go down to the child and grandchild to Abraham is and yob that he would eventually take them out of bondage so those are the two reasons clearly given in this tsim why God's going to respond his mercies having seen the pain that Israel was in and the bre aot the promise that he has to keep with the forefathers interestingly when Hashem explains his plans to mosu let's see what exactly what what reasons does he give does he give the same two reasons does he say the same thing well uh if you I didn't put this here as as a source I should have but I didn't um he says the following he says I have seen the pain and the difficulty of my people in and therefore I heard their cries because due to the their overseers who were who were um who were giving who were painting them who were truly oppressing them and therefore he said for that reason um he said I understand their pains and therefore I'm going to bring them out of Egypt what does God not include toosha why why doesn't he said and you know what I promised your great great great grandfather the Abraham you know you know him I promised him I was going to take them out he never mentions BR vot he mentions it we mention it in the Torah in the beginning he says this is the reasons that how God's going to uh bring Israel out of Egypt but when it comes to Moshe and that bush is burning he never says to Moshe and I must keep my promise with the forefathers it's strange the first time God ever mentions it to Moshe is the next Pasha in the beginning of there it says he says I'm keeping my prison my promise to the forefathers and I've also heard them es and I remember the promise I made to the forefathers that's in but here in scho in the beginning when God's trying to convince Moshe to take the Jews out of MIT I'll say Israelites I'm sorry I call them Jews Israelites um he never mentions the promise to the forefathers and the connection to the forefathers not at all it seems that God is almost hiding the that reason from Moshe we have to understand why figure out why why does he not tell Moshe about the breach of vote is it just a oh T didn't write it down now when they're coding God they Cote it pretty well and he doesn't at all mention that to Moshe very strange I'm G to put that aside for a second but you keep it in your mind but that the question that question um I want to focus on yet another interesting curiosity in this story okay it seems to be totally unconnected and regards the ear moshe's early years when Moshe is born right no name is given and you go through braet every time someone's and so forth we read gives birth it doesn't say says the woman gives birth to a son and we're ready to say and she called the name mosha she doesn't do that we don't read that there doesn't say that that information is kept from us until the Egyptian princess comes and takes the baby out of the water and then it says she called him and she said I have drawn him out of the water who is she who is the she who called him was it bakaro as it seemed seems to indicate from the text or as you tied into it's referring to the mother of the child she called him but M which is by the wayel suggests that it was actually referring to the name we wonder seems to be based upon the Hebrew word m to draw out of the Torah as the as the Torah explains to draw I'm sorry to draw him out of the river the water as the Torah explains but guess what maybe this word is actually the root root form of that word comes from the Egyptian word you know what the Egyptian word of mas that is it means in Egyptian son s o n and therefore the Torah goes on says and that baby became a son to her to the B so now it's interesting question who was the one who called him Moshe was it the Egyptian or was it the Hebrew mother and all of this underscores the unmentioned but pressing question and that is who is Moshe who will Moshe become will he be an Israelite or will he be an Egyptian this is something the Torah Underneath It All is talking about but never mentions it to be the see he a a good you know he's sitting at the base medress he was learning but the text doesn't really say that who will be the True Mother of Moshe is it the Israelite mother or the Egyptian mother what language is he going to speak what you think is he's going to speak Yiddish or is he going to speak Egyptian who is Moshe we don't know that when he's born that's the whole dichotomy that we see the birth of Moshe he's born of an Israelite mother but brought up seemingly by the Egyptian princess so who is he the next p after this seems to resolve our quandry it says when he when he grew up he went out to see his Brethren meaning the Israelites and saw the suffering they were going through that would seem he seemingly throwing his fate with that of the birth Nation with his Israelites what happens after he saves the Israelite two other Israelites or other Israelites we don't know who say we know that and they say who are you who makes you the boss over us right he is rejected by the very same Israelites he called and indeed no Israelite comes to protect Moshe to defend Moshe no one is supporting him that we can see in the Torah the text doesn't say that and in fact when the D goes out gets out and it gets out primarily by the Israelites who saw Moshe kill the Egyptian Taskmaster what happens parro finds out so does Masha run to his Brethren to the Israelites and hide with them was planning to kill Moshe after to be he he uh doesn't have anyone to support him the Egyptians aren't and the Israelites don't come to help him what does he do you all know what he does he flees to midan he runs to midan to escape paro's sword and to escape the Egyptians and yes to escape the Israelites who it seems to him have rejected him very interesting and now we understand much better what happens when he's at the well in midan and y's daughters come and you know that story as well and when they come back to their father and they say to him how when he exp asks how come you got back so quickly usually those you know the the bullies at the well don't let you you know water the um the the Sheep the flocks how come you back so quickly and then what did they say they don't say who was referred to as an or ysep in Egypt the he is he is described by theim to as being n it was a Jew boy but Moshe is now in is pick up on that right away he is defined by people who didn't know him before as an Egyptian huh Moshe it seems would not identify with the people who rejected him people who rejected him were the Israelites the Egyptians wanted to kill him because he was a murderer as far as they see him but his own people rejected him he's an is MIT as he's seen by the daughters of it and so he gets married to Tora he has a son what do he called his son he calls him why to says I have I am a wander no G is a stranger better A Stranger in a Strange Land but where is he the Strange Land is midan so if Midian is a Strange Land what is the land his land what would he think his land is my land is Egypt that's where I grew up I'm an Egyptian and this is a Strange Land for me I've been ex exiled from my home he wasn't talking about Kon was never been there he's talking about Egypt and now we understand the word of kazal which we find in um rabba in darar rabba we actually see the following um we we we find the in the next Source in Source five where it says Amar right right said that mosha argued Hashem yosef's remains will enter the land but I will not so God answered him he who admitted the truth about his land you know his identity will be buried there MOS uh yoseph who was Anar um he is going to be buried in the that land but he who denied his land his identity will not be buried there you Moshe no Yosef was described as a Hebrew mosha was described as an the Egyptian that's the uh Raba powerful stuff given this background about Moshe rabeno given what he had been gone going through born to an Israelite and yet brought up by an Egyptian rejected by the Israelites pursued by the king of the Egyptians taken in and marrying into the milites who was he who did he consider himself what and now we understand why God was reluctant to tell Moshe about the promise to the aote because he knew that Moshe himself was doubtful about whom he was and about his connection to aot to whom he belonged to wh with whom he identified and who truly were his aote his ancestor my Egyptian who saved my life and brought me up or my mother who weaned me he didn't know he was doubtful and so God never mentions Abraham is and yob to him not yes it's true and mosha goes out for the first day he sees his Brethren right not because they're my Israelites they're my brothers but because it says he was a good man Moshe he was sensitive and he saw these people being suffer suffering but not because he didn't say because he saw his brothers he saw people neb who were suffering and he being a good person a sensitive person was going to help them and that's why God only mentions to Moshe why he's going to save the Israelites because they are suffering and you are a very sensitive man who cares about people who are suffering that's very clear the whole story of Mo is someone who saves people from suffering he saved the Israelite when he saw the two is Israelites fighting he tried to save the one who was being beaten up one who was right and when he comes to the well with yro he tries to save the suffering of the daughters of yro he's a sensitive guy but not because they were specifically Israelites because the daughters of itra weren't Israelites were they so God refuses to bring up the whole connection with the aote and the Brit aote until he knows that Moshe understands that that he recognizes who he truly is until he sees that he too is part of am Israel and that he too was part of the promise that was given to Abraham that's why he waits and why does he wait until what happened that we see that mosa suddenly realized I am an Israelite I'm not an Egyptian I'm not a medanite what happens at that point there were two events two events one event [Music] is he was met up he was met up by he met up with who his brother with Aon as Mo as um God refers to Himi part of levite his family he now meets up with his family when he reunites with his brother and they probably had a family you got to meet my kids he sees his family for the first time in so many years 40 years perhaps and he realizes so he's not a stranger here he has Mish he's part of a nation and that's where he does belong and the second which is actually happened before this is what we started out witho God met up with him and he wants to kill him this episode began to Shear with right at that Malone God wants to speak to to kill Moshe what was happening here God had been reminding Moshe of his roots since their confrontation confrontation um at he said and he says so he mentions the name never using them as a reason foros to go but he says I am the god of mosha hears that but he doesn't commit and despite the fact that his nation is threatened he doesn't say okay I'm G to go go think about this God says you're going to save your nation he doesn't think it's his Nation if he did he would have done it himself no he's not convinced it's his nation and so he goes on the mission it's true he does so let me think if you read the text you think that mosha couldn't wait to go to the on the mission if you look at the end of parag gimo when the whole argument goes in between God and Moshe at the very last argument when go Moshe said send somebody else somebody who know you usually send with say it's doesn't matter but he's again rejecting that when he took no more arguments with God he had to say well then that's s somebody else and then God got angry and said you're gonna go and you're G to do what I tell you to do and that's how it ends does it say did Moshe say I hear you I'm going to go he doesn't say that we don't see any acceptance by Moshe of this Mission he has to go on in fact I would argue he goes back to and waits until God has to tell him go to now no threat for you go he didn't go and say go now to he waits when be told and when Moshe finally follows God's command to return to Egypt listen to what the text tells us I think I do have this in um in my sources listen this this the last Source the sixth Source you have that there mosha went he turned to yro and said to him let me go and turn to my brethren in Egypt and see whether they're still alive and Y said to him all right go in peace fine father-in-law says that said he can leave he can leave Hashem had had said to Moshe I change that you see that didn't change um Moshe I think it's more clear clearly that he had already said to Moshe minan go return to Egypt for all the men who sought your life are dead so mosha took his wife and his sons and returned to Egypt and mosha took the rod of God in his hand Hashem had told mosha when you return to Egypt do all the Wonders that I gave you before parro and I but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go so you must go to parro and and say you know say say to parro th is Hashem Israel is my son my first born and I said to you let my son go so he serve me but if but you refuse to let him go behold I will slay your son your firstborn that's what he says you see Moshe here goes too and says yro I'm going to go and uh back to Egypt because I want to see the family I want to visit to Mish Hashem told him he's commanded to return to do God's Mission and save Israel but Moshe takes his family he's going on a pleasure trip the whole idea that he had to save Israel and go to Pharaoh it it conflicts completely with the idea that he's gonna take his family with him to meet the M that's what he's here no expression to his people so God reminds him that he has to confront parro and threaten him and what is the threat God command God commanded Moshe to go to parro and tell him Israel is my eldest my treasured child and that if he should refuse to listen I am going to kill your son and what's the very next PUK the story of Moshe at the in the end God meets up with mosha at the end and wants to kill his son and the story of getting the Brit you see mosha was going to Egypt as a medanite tourist he takes his medanite wife his medanite son and his newly born midianite baby so God comes and reminds him that he's on a mission not as a medanite and not as an Egyptian but as an Israelite to meet his Israelite brother and receive his assistance to meet the Israelite elders and plan with them to save the Israelite nation and it was finally at the Malone that Moshe takes on his Israelite identity how by giving the Brit LA to to his son and realizing that he needs the dam breit to save his son from the decree that of what would happen to the Egyptian Sons establishing now his identity and that of his son and Sons as Israelites B is B Abraham B and therefore part of the breit aot just as Corb P that Israel will soon be commanded the Corban PES um has a d PES to establish who is a Jew an Israelite in Egypt so too and which would to protect him from so to the damit that Moshe now does will protect his sons and himself from the against the non-israelite people in Egypt and exact which you say all the time says exactly that as explained that the two bloods of and will bring you life so now mosha finally proceeds on his mission not a humanistic moral level alone but on a nationalistic as level as well because he now identifies with his people the realization that he too is part of Brit aote and part of Abraham is andov and you'll notice that after this we never read anything about the family coming along with him as I'll see that right away and they claimed that our says Well everybody's getting enslaved here you're bringing more Jews here send them home whether that's literal or not the idea that he now recognizes why he's going and that it's not as a tourist he not going to be just a a family vacation he sends them back but there's much irony in this story as well because uh ultimately who brought this all about who forced Moshe to connect and recognize his connection to Israel it was after all Zora the midianite he she who humed humbled herself and her culture before Israelite practice and by doing so helped Moshe uncover who he really was Moser RAB learns the lesson of the he follows the opinions of both ra and Ando being slaves is a terrible shame and enslavement was terrible but he also understood that that he was uh there was a unique and special relationship with God through the aote and the Brit as well that is a different story and maybe a different approach to what was happened to Moshe it's a difficult one because we never see mosha in that light but what I see with it is a better appreciation of how remarkable Moser rabenu truly was and what Challenge and and and struggles he had to go through to move himself to be the real Israelite he more than anybody else no more than any other Israelite had to make a decision am I going to be part of the Egyptian royal family or am I going to be part of the Israel Israelite slave nation and that struggle especially after he had he'd been rejected he felt by the Israelites and after he found a wonderful home in midan that struggle that realization to connect to his people was truly one that uh you have to appreciate when you understand it in these T in these in these terms at least we know more than anything else that maybe this whole story was indeed very crucial for the whole story of youim of Moshe and the story that seem to make no sense at all maybe now difficult difficult with difficulty though maybe now though makes sense to us and uh hopefully it gave you a little to understand if there are any questions I'm happy to try and uh ask answer them for you