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Why does Moshe sometimes introduce prophecy with "ko amar Hashem (ה׳)" (thus says God) and sometimes "ze hadavar" (these are the words)? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction: "ze hadavar" represents God's exact words—direct divine communication—while "ko amar Hashem" is approximation through an intermediary. This explains why Moshe used "ko amar" with Pharaoh but "ze hadavar" with Israel, establishing our unique relationship with Hashem.
Rabbi Zweig begins by examining a puzzling Rashi (רש"י) in Parshas Bo. When Hashem (ה׳) commands Moshe and Aharon to speak to the Jewish people about the first mitzvah (מצוה) (sanctifying the new moon), the Torah (תורה) uses the plural "dabru" (you [both] should speak). Yet Rashi states that only Moshe actually spoke. Rashi explains that Moshe and Aharon gave honor to each other, each saying "teach me" to the other, and the words emerged "from between both of them" as if both were speaking. This formulation seems cryptic—what does it mean that words came "from between" them? The Maharal raises a further difficulty: perhaps the arrangement here was like Moshe's communication with Pharaoh, where (according to Rashi) Moshe spoke and Aharon explained. Why couldn't that model apply here? The Maharal answers that "dabru" implies equal participation, which wouldn't fit a speaker-translator model. But this creates a new problem: if only Moshe actually spoke, how can "dabru" be appropriate? Additionally, the Mizrachi and Maskil L'Dovid discuss which earlier verse Rashi references when stating that only Moshe should speak—is it from the Pharaoh narrative or from the laws of Shabbos (שבת) in Ki Sisa?
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Parshas Bo 12:1-3
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What is the primary purpose of the cities of refuge - protecting the accidental killer or something else? The shiur argues that creating respect for law takes precedence over providing sanctuary. True deterrence comes from recognizing the gravity of murder itself, not fear of punishment.
