Sefer Shemos as Sefer HaGeulah: Divine Redemption and the Resurfacing of God's Names

Rabbi Zweig addresses the name and fundamental nature of Sefer Shemos by examining multiple layers of meaning. The Netziv calls it "Sefer Shemos," the Ramban (רמב"ן) calls it "Sefer HaGeulah," and the BeHaG calls it "Chumash Sheini" (the second book). The BeHaG's designation raises a fundamental question: if it is simply the second book completing creation begun in Bereishis, why are there two separate books at all? Historically, they were joined—Rashi (רש"י) teaches that at Ma'amad Har Sinai, Moshe read "Sefer HaBrit," which extended from Bereishis through Har Sinai. The halacha (הלכה) l'Moshe miSinai requiring four blank lines between sefarim proves we have five distinct books, yet conceptually Bereishis and Shemos seem continuous. The shiur then addresses the apparent contradiction in the name "Sefer Shemos" (book of names). The beginning of the parsha enumerates only the twelve tribal names, not all seventy people who descended to Egypt (unlike Bereishis, which lists all seventy). More strikingly, Perek Beis—the birth narrative of Moshe—systematically avoids using any names: "a man from the house of Levi," "a daughter of Levi," "his sister," "Pharaoh's daughter." If this is the book of names, why this glaring absence? Similarly, the Ibn Ezra asks why the Torah (תורה) doesn't emphasize the miracle of Yocheved conceiving at 130 years old, unlike its treatment of Sarah's miraculous pregnancy.