בס”ד
By Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
Painting by: Baruch Nachshon z”l
In this parsha Hashem tells Moshe that His Name is Havaya, a revelation that was not known before by the Patriarchs. This Name is known to represent the “supreme” Name that includes all other Names of Hashem, and also represents Hashem’s attribute of compassion. By revelation by this Name Hashem shows that He is merciful and compassionate upon Israel, and that the troubles they are experiencing since Moshe spoke to Pharaoh are only an initial stage of discomfort, but ultimately the Divine direction is to redeem Israel with great mercy, as is fitting to this Name. Also implied is that God’s “supreme” Name and Presence is involved, thereby calling for miraculous Providence in this redemption process. Right after the revelation of this Name five terms of redemption are mentioned. These can be considered to correspond the four letters of this special Name Havaya: “I shall take you out of the bondage of Egypt” corresponds to the yod, which also means “hand”, and in a different verse it says “with a strong hand Hashem took you out of Egypt” (Shmot 13, 9). “I shall save you from their work” corresponds to the first heh, which looks like a canopy/abode over the yod/vav within it, as if “saving” the yod/vav within it. “I shall redeem you” implies a type of “acquisition” that attaches Israel to God through redemption as it says in the book of Vayikra (25, 25) “and he shall redeem [i.e buy] the land of his brother.” “I shall take you as a People and I shall be your God,” implies taking into an “abode”, so-to-speak, of surveillance in a way that God’s Presence be upon Israel – “I will be your God.” These third and fourth terms, which both involve acquisition, whether through “redeeming” or “taking” seem to hint to the vav of the Name Havaya, for this vav means to “connect”, and acquisition means to connect between the acquirer and the one/thing acquired. The reason there are two terms for this is due to the Kabbalistic teaching that the sefira of Da’at, although belonging to the “middle path” includes two elements, one more associated to the “right side” [hence “redeeming with a lifted arm” is similar to the first term “I shall take out” which implied a strong hand as above] and the other more associated with the left [hence the resemblance to the “take you” implying taking to an abode similar to the canopy/abode in the second term “I will save you”] . Indeed, identifying these two terms with the two sides of Da’at, Kabbalistically associated with the letter vav, also explains the continuation of the verse “and you shall know” – of the verb-root “da’at” – “that I am Hashem your God Who takes you out of the bondage of Egypt.” The last fifth term – “I shall bring you to the Land” corresponds to the final heh, associated by the Kabbalists to the sefira of malchut and the “earth” aspect [for the Kabbalistically attuned: note that also the fourth term has an aspect of malchut, but its aspect is the “source” of malchut in “da’at”].
In this painting we see the Name of Havaya and its numerical value, twenty-six, represented by twenty-six angels with the letter “shin” within them, a matter that hints to the Divine Presence in many of R’ Nachshon’s paintings. At the last heh we see the image of the Beit Hamikdash and the “earthen altar”, both hinting to the sanctity of the earth, attached to the final heh, as we explained above. The last term of redemption “I shall bring them to the Land” is also tied to the Patriarchs of Hebron, as this verse continues “the Land that I have raised my hand to give to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yakov.” Thus, the ultimate goal of all the terms of redemption is to bring Israel to the Land, which is also so tied to Hebron, City of the Patriarchs to whom the Land was promised, Hebron as the Beacon of the Holy Land, Hebron as a focal point of the Divine Presence, Hebron which triggers the building of Jerusalem and its Temple as well.