Accepting Judgment as Mercy: Moshe's Two Messages

1“God spoke to Moshe and said to him, ‘I am Hashem.’”¹ The commentators, among them the Recanati, the Alshich, the Kli Yakar and the Ohr HaChaim, ask why the verse begins with vaydabeir, “spoke,” a harsh word, and ends with vayomer, “said,” a word of gentle speech. They also ask why it begins with the Name Elokim, “God,” the attribute of judgment, and ends with the Name Hashem, the attribute of mercy.

2There is a second question. On the next verse, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov,”² Rashi comments: “‘I appeared’: to the Avos.” The commentators on Rashi, the Mizrachi and the Gur Aryeh, ask what Rashi is adding. The Torah itself says so: “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov”!

3aLet us first cite the words of the Yismach Yisrael, by R' Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchak of Alexander.³ He brings a Midrash: at first Hashem spoke with Moshe through the Name Elokim, the attribute of judgment, for judgment wanted to punish Moshe for saying, “Why have You done evil to this people?”⁴ But as soon as Hashem saw that Moshe meant it for Israel's good, at once “He said to him, ‘I am Hashem,’” with the attribute of mercy. That is the gist of the Midrash. The Yismach Yisrael explains it as follows. Tzaddikim accept everything with love, even at a time when, Heaven forbid, the Holy One, blessed be He, brings evil upon the world. For they know that “evil does not go forth from the mouth of the Most High,”⁵ and that everything is for the good. But simple people do not understand this, because they are not on that level.

3bSo when the attribute of judgment heard Moshe complain, “Why have You done evil to the people?” it pressed a claim against him. He was complaining about Hashem's ways, when as a tzaddik he should have recognized and known that everything is for the good. But the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that Moshe was speaking this way for Israel's good. For his own part, Moshe accepted everything with love, knowing that all is for the good, as tzaddikim do. He spoke only for Israel's sake, because he was afraid that the simple people, who have not reached the level of accepting everything with love, would complain about Hashem's ways, and Hashem's honor would be diminished. When Hashem saw this, He at once spoke with the attribute of mercy: “He said to him, ‘I am Hashem,’” with the Name Havayah, the Name of mercy. Moshe was to let Bnei Yisrael know that although it looks to them like judgment, it is really all mercy. So it was at the creation of the world, of which Chazal say, “First darkness, and afterward light.”⁶ The whole harsh state of exile is, at its core, mercy. That is the gist of his words.

4We may find a hint of this in the verse “And the earth was tohu vavohu, formless and void … and there was light.”⁷ Tohu stands for evil, and “there was light” stands for good. Even when the attribute of judgment, the tohu, holds sway, the tzaddik understands that it is really “light.”

5That is what Chazal meant when they said, “He saw that the world could not endure through the attribute of judgment.”⁸ In other words, the simple people cannot be led through the attribute of judgment. But what Hashem desires more is the deeds of the tzaddikim: that they influence the simple people and teach them to accept everything with love.

6This may also be hinted in Rashi's words here, “‘I appeared’: to the Avos.” Rashi goes on: “‘As Kel Shakkai’: I made them promises, and in all of them I said to them, ‘I am Kel Shakkai.’” This matches the rest of the verse: “I appeared to … as Kel Shakkai, but by My Name Havayah I did not make Myself known to them.” The Avos had reached the level of recognizing that even the attribute of judgment is good. That is why Hashem revealed Himself to them through the Name Shakkai, which hints at contentment. Read as she-dai, “it is enough,” it says that whatever way Hashem leads a person is enough for him. In other words, the Avos served Hashem even when He revealed Himself to them through the attribute of judgment. And so “by My Name Havayah I did not make Myself known to them”: they did not need the attribute of mercy to be revealed, as the simple people do.

7But when Bnei Yisrael are in exile, they need Hashem to lead them through the Name Havayah, which stands for the attribute of mercy [as the Torah goes on to say, “Therefore say to Bnei Yisrael, ‘I am Hashem, and I will take you out … I will rescue you … I will redeem you … I will take you’”⁹]. Before Hashem said that He would deal with them through mercy, He revealed in whose merit Israel would receive it. He said, “And I remembered My covenant,” which Rashi explains as the merit of the covenant with Avraham Avinu.¹⁰ In the merit of the Avos, then, we will be privileged to see the revelation of Havayah, the attribute of mercy, even when Bnei Yisrael are not worthy of it.

8This answers our first question. “God spoke to Moshe”: Moshe Rabbeinu could bear being led through Elokim, the attribute of judgment, so Hashem spoke harshly with him, as the word vaydabeir shows. The same holds for the tzaddikim of every generation, who are like Moshe. Then “He said to him, ‘I am Hashem’”: Hashem sent Moshe to explain to the people of Israel that all of it is really in the spirit of “and Havayah said,” the gentle word and the Name of mercy. And He told Moshe, “Only in your merit can Bnei Yisrael reach the level of understanding that everything is only mercy.”

9May Hashem grant that we not question the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, but accept everything with love and goodwill before the Master of all. May we see fulfilled in ourselves what the tzaddikim said on the verse “Give thanks to Hashem, for He is good.”¹¹ We thank Hashem that everything is good, even the judgments, yet we still ask “for His kindness is forever”: that He show Bnei Yisrael revealed kindness. And may we be privileged to greet Moshiach. Amen, may it be His will.