"And They Did Not Listen to Moshe"

 

Summarized by Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon

 

 

"And Moshe spoke thus to Bnei Yisrael, and they did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of spirit and because of hard labor." (Shemot 6:9)

 

            Why did Bnei Yisrael not listen to Moshe?  After all, his message was one of support, consolation and redemption, and his words - exalted as they were by virtue of their transmission from God - were supposedly meant to exert a considerable influence on the nation: "And I shall extract you from under the suffering of Egypt, and I shall save you from their servitude, and I shall redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments" (Shemot 6:6).  Despite all of this, Moshe's words failed to impress the nation; their response was one of apathy.

 

            The Torah provides the reason for their lack of enthusiasm: "...because of shortness of spirit, and because of hard labor."  Nevertheless, we still find the situation surprising.  Indeed, the situation of the nation was harsh, with relentless Egyptian slavedrivers making their lives a misery; but surely something of Moshe's message should still have penetrated and made somewhat of an impact?

 

            Apparently, it was specifically the exalted and prophetic nature of Moshe's message that made it difficult for Bnei Yisrael to accept it.  We find support for this view in two areas.

 

            Firstly, the expression "shortness of spirit and hard labor" can be understood according to the simple and literal sense of the words, but we may also examine the words "shortness of spirit" (kotzer ru'ach) more closely and arrive at a different interpretation.  The spiritual barometer of the nation records an all-time low; they are altogether incapable of hearing this type of promise: "And I shall take you to Myself for a nation... and I shall bring you to the land...."  The nation was happy to hear of the news that there would be a week-long break from their work, that their back-breaking labor would ease up a little, etc.  But they had no interest in listening to the type of ideals and promises that Moshe brought with him.  All they wanted was a little respite from their labor.

 

            Secondly, perhaps the nation would have been prepared to accept the gist of the promises, but could not accept the timetable.  They wanted immediate redemption; they were not interested in listening to lofty prophetic promises while the whip was lashing at them.  Moshe spoke of events that would take place sometime in the uncertain future: "And I shall take you out...", "and I shall save you..." etc.

 

            If we accept this interpretation, we are left with some difficulty concerning the "kal va-homer" ("how much more so," an a fortiori argument) which Moshe presents to God.  He says, "Behold - Bnei Yisrael did not listen to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me - I, of uncircumcised lips?" (Shemot 6:12).  It would seem that this argument is out of place, considering the fact that the reason for Bnei Yisrael failing to react to his words was the "shortness of spirit and hard labor".  The same would not apply in the case of Pharaoh, who would have no reason for "shortness of spirit" and was certainly not enslaved.  What, then, is the meaning of Moshe's argument?

 

            It would seem that an additional reason would be the very lack of interest displayed by Bnei Yisrael.  It is true that the nation failed to respond to him because of their shortness of spirit and the hard labor, but if Moshe had been a demagogue, a charismatic speaker, he could have succeeded in sparking some interest; he would have managed to excite them.  Moshe is aware of the fact that he is not blessed with oratorical powers and knows that this contributed to Bnei Yisrael's lack of enthusiasm for his message.  Hence his claim is justified: "Behold, - Bnei Yisrael did not listen to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me - I, OF UNCIRCUMCISED LIPS?"

 

            Hence there are two factors which combine to explain why Bnei Yisrael would not listen to Moshe:

 

A. shortness of spirit and hard labor.  This can be understood on two levels: 1. shortness of spirit, i.e. the immersion in materialism which nullified their openness to spirituality, and 2. a sense of immediacy - their desire for immediate redemption.

B. "uncircumcised lips" - the speaker is not a great orator, he doesn't come across well in a public forum.

 

            Thousands of years have passed since the momentous Exodus, but our generation, too, needs to take the message of our parasha to heart.  We need to remember both the nation's words and Moshe's message.  We must transmit the message of redemption to the entire nation, but in order to achieve this we require two conditions: we have to ensure that we do not reach a situation of "shortness of spirit and hard labor," and we have to avoid a situation of "uncircumcised lips."

 

            A person who is overly immersed in materialism, concerned exclusively with matters of livelihood and enslaved to money and material things, is bound to gradually lose his spirituality.  Even when momentous spiritual phenomena take place before his eyes, he remains apathetic.

 

            Such "shortness of spirit" leads to a situation in which he himself will be "of uncircumcised lips."  A person who is not imbued with a sense of the Divine providence which accompanies us and the redemption which awaits us will not be able to transmit the tradition further.

 

            We need to overcome the condition of "shortness of spirit" - to strengthen our spiritual awareness and thereby to transmit the message of redemption onwards and outwards.

 

 

(Originally delivered at Seuda Shelishit, Shabbat Parashat Vaera 5750.

 

Translated by Kaeren Fish.)