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How can God appear as a warrior at the Red Sea and as a teacher at Sinai? A human warrior cannot effectively teach, since conquest and care for students are incompatible. The shiur explains that God's actions are not measures of His essence, but expressions of a single will to bestow good—unlike humans, whose identities are defined by their characteristics.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes a Midrash discussing the difference between God's attributes (midos) and human attributes. The Midrash states that unlike a human king who cannot be both a warrior and a teacher of children, God revealed Himself at the Red Sea as a warrior and at Sinai as a teacher. The question arises: what is the difficulty with a person being both? Many historical figures, like Dovid HaMelech and Moshe Rabbeinu, were both warriors and teachers. Rabbi Zweig initially explores Rashi (רש"י)'s approach to a related statement in the Torah (תורה), where the apparent contradiction between God appearing as a warrior versus appearing as merciful is explained as different revelations of His essence, not just His actions. However, the Midrash being discussed seems to focus on the word "midos" (attributes/actions) rather than essence, making it unclear why the two roles would be mutually exclusive.
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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 Yisro - Aseres HaDibros, Shemos 20:2
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