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Why does God wait until after Moshe's failed first encounter with Pharaoh to command him to lead the Jews "calmly" and be "patient" with them—even to the point of tolerating being cursed and stoned? The shiur reveals that the Exodus was never merely about escaping a cruel master for a kinder one, but about teaching the Jewish people true independence—the psychological readiness to be self-sufficient, to take responsibility, and ultimately to free even those dependent on them, without codependency.
Rabbi Zweig opens with a textual anomaly in Parshas Vaeira. The Torah (תורה) states, "And the Almighty spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them regarding the Jewish people and Pharaoh" (Shemos 6:13). Rashi (רש"י) explains that God commanded Moshe and Aharon to guide the Jewish people calmly, to be patient with them, and to speak respectfully to Pharaoh. But this is puzzling: Moshe and Aharon had already been dispatched to the Jews and to Pharaoh in last week's parsha. Why does the Torah wait until now—after the initial encounter failed, after Pharaoh increased the workload and the people blamed Moshe—to issue these instructions? If calmness, patience, and respect were the mandate, shouldn't they have been stated at the outset? Rabbi Zweig marshals several additional anomalies. The Torah declares, "He is Moshe and Aharon" (6:27), and Rashi comments that they "remain steadfast in their mission and righteousness from beginning to end." But again, this could have been said after their first mission. Why here, after apparent failure? Moreover, the Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud (תלמוד)) reads the verse not only as "commanded regarding the Jewish people" but as "commanded the Jewish people"—specifically, in the mitzvah (מצוה) of sending out slaves (shilu'ach avadim). This is astonishing: the very first commandment given to the nascent nation is a mitzvah concerning freeing slaves, a law inapplicable until they enter the Land of Israel forty years hence. Why not begin with immediately relevant mitzvos? Why this mitzvah, and why now?
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Shemos 6:13 (Parshas Vaeira)
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