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Why did Moshe resist Hashem (ה׳)'s mission at the burning bush, and why did Hashem rebuke him for questioning the plagues' initial failure? The shiur develops the idea that Moshe couldn't grasp the possibility of total dveikus—where the Shechinah speaks directly through him, not as a messenger but as Hashem's transparent vessel. This hesitation to achieve complete bitul prevented the original mission design and explains his later complaint.
The shiur opens with a fundamental question on the beginning of Parshas Vaeira. Rashi (רש"י) explains that Hashem (ה׳) rebuked Moshe harshly for questioning why things worsened after his first encounter with Pharaoh. Hashem compares Moshe unfavorably to the Avos, who endured unfulfilled promises and suffering without questioning Divine conduct. What was Moshe's error? Did he lack emunah (אמונה)? Where did Hashem promise that redemption would be smooth and immediate? Rabbi Zweig traces the roots of this issue back to the burning bush. When Hashem first commissioned Moshe, Moshe objected: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" Rashi explains that Moshe was asking two things—his own unworthiness to speak to kings, and Klal Yisrael's lack of merit. Hashem's answer, according to Rashi, was: "It's not yours, it's Mine. I will be with you." The burning bush itself served as proof—just as the bush burns without being consumed because it does Hashem's bidding, so too Moshe would go on Hashem's mission and not be harmed.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Parshas Vaeira, Shemos 3-6
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