Moses brings the Children of Israel five good tidings in the name of the Holy One, Blessed Be He; four plus another one.

“And I will free you. . . and I will save you. . . and I will redeem you. . . and I will take you as a nation for myself, and I will be your G-d.” (Exodus 6:6-7).

These four promises are embedded in the Passover Hagadda, and the fifth promise is different from those preceding it because it has not been completely fulfilled (yet?):

“And I will bring you to the land.”
(Exodus 6:8)

The response of the Children of Israel to these good tidings is therefore surprising:

“…they would not listen to Moses, due to impatience (literally - lack of air) and hard work……”

When Moses first appeals to the nation, in the preceding Torah portion, we read that “the people believed and listened.” (4:31). How different is their response to Moses’ second appeal, after their work conditions had become more severe. The Children of Israel are suffering so miserably that they do not believe and cannot even listen to the good tidings that await them. It is easy enough to understand how hard and thankless work can prevent a person from being open and attentive, but what is the nature of the impatience? Our commentators offer a number of answers to this question. We will relate to two of them.

“Whoever is in narrow straights,” explains Rashi, “His spirit and his soul are narrowed, and he cannot breathe at length.” Misfortune and hard work have turned physical hardship and impatience to spiritual hardship – one is connected with the other, and both prevent the people from raising their heads above the bricks, the mortar and the hardships of bondage. The enslaved Jewish People were even denied the ability to expect redemption.

The Mesech Chochma writes:

“Those who face daily hardship will only want to hear about that which brings them immediate relief, and will not listen to future promises of great success.”

In the contemporary Israeli reality we can also identify impatience and hard work (or rather impatience as hard work). Many among us seek immediate relief for their suffering and lack the necessary stamina required to see beyond their existential anxiety, the stamina necessary to deal with difficulties and their solutions.

Another commentary holds that the verse refers to Moses and not the people. Ralbag (Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom of the 14th century) writes:

Israel did not believe in the words of Moses because of Moses impatience in properly formulating his message in a manner that would allow it to be heard.”

According to this explanation, it is the leader whose spirit has become impatient in trying to bring his message to the people. It was he who was distant from the people and from their daily experience (according to Ralbag, the problem arose from Moses becoming overly reclusive).

In our day, it is difficult to distinguish between the impatience of the people (as in the accepted explanation of the verse) and the impatience of its leaders (as in Rashbag’s explanation). It often seems that we have even become tired of hope. Thus, we would request the following:

May it be God’s Will that we know how to cease being a nation of slaves, and focus our sights on the future in reverence and hope.

May it be God’s Will that we stop rejecting solutions that require stamina and breadth of vision.

May it be God’s Will that that we will succeed in seeing the good that is implanted within us, if we no thow to actualize in the State of Israel a culture of dignity and justice.

Before nightfall – come, everybody come!

A joint effort, stubborn and awake

Of one thousand arms. Will it truly not be possible to remove

The rock from the mouth of the well?

Rachel the Poetess

This D’var Torah is dedicated to my son, Tom Moshe, on the Shabbat of his becoming a Bar Mitzvah.

Recent Articles by Dalia Sara Marx

• Vaera: What we Lose because of Impatience and Hard Work - January 19th, 2007
• Rabbi Dr. Dalia Sara Marx - August 7th, 2005

Categories: Shemot / Exodus, Vaera
Tags: Bo, ease, human rights, palestinians, Passover, settlers