Shemot - I Will be... Part I

 Moshe asks G-d (Elokim) - I’m approaching the Jewish People, when I say to them the G-d of your fathers sent me to you.  What should I tell them? And He said, Tell them that E-ke-yeh (aleph - keh - yud - keh) sent me to you.  Hard to understand. They were told who was sending him - the G-d of their fathers, so why question this, asking his name. Why does the name matter? In their dire situation they’re concerned with the name? Further, why does Moshe himself ask what to tell them? What is the meaning of G-d’s answer and why does it put Moshe at eve?

 Via Arizal - Moshe thought the redemption would come via the known 4 letter name of G-d (yud -keh - vav - keh).  If that were so the galus would be 260 years, which is ten times that name of G-d. Moshe thought redemption had not yet come because 210 years had passed. That’s a meaning behind it saying that G-d saw that he was SA”R lirot - samech-reish, which is 260, what Hashem saw that Moshe thought the number of years would be. Hashem told him the name He did, which is 21, telling him that the redemption was to be ten times that, 210, which was the present time. 

This is explains why the JP asked His name.  They too thought the geulah would come with the Yud-keh name of G-d, and had a tradition that the years would be ten times this number, 260. So they asked how they could be told that  redemption was coming now, as it was early.  And Hashem replied with the name Ehe-keh, bringing the redemption with this name, ten times this name’s number, 210.

In an avodah, spiritual way, we can explan, via Chazal that when Moshe said they would be redeemed the JP asked, how could it be, as all of Egypt is covered with the filth of our idol worship.  Moshe answered, since Hashem wants to redeem you he is not looking at the dirtiness of your Avodah Zarah.

Question: Galut comes about because of Avodah Zarah, so how can it be that Hashem doesn’t look at the Avodah Zarah now? And there’s the Gemorah Bava Kamma 50a that says that if you say Hashem overlooks things, then your life get’s overlooked (erased). 

This can be understood vis B”R regarding Yaakov saying Eisav had hair, while he was smooth.  It’s like two standing by the threshing floor, one hairy, and one smooth, when the chaff goes flying it gets stuck the hair of the hairy one, while the smooth one just wipes it away.  Thus, Eisav gets sins stuck within him every day and has no way to atone.  On the other hand, Yaakov sins, but there comes a day, Yom Kippur, and he can find atonement.  

The idea is that there is the realm of the sins of Yaakov, which is that a Jew sins and does teshuva.  He says to G-d, it’s know before you that our will is to do your will, but the yetzer harah gets aroused in us.  This is the idea of the chataim of the smooth skinned Yaakov, that he can wipe the dirt away, and accept on himself to not let it happen again.  And G-d forgives him for what was in the past. The realm of the sins of Eisav is to sin and get deeply involved in it and doesn’t know how to get out, like the hairy person for whom the dirt gets stuck and he can’t get it out.  

This explains the question of the JP, thinking that redemption would come via the name Yud-heh…, and the idea of that is that He was, is, will be.  He sees all. And thus, the question was for them, how could redemption be possible, as Egypt was full of their dirt/misbehavior.  How could they be redeemed from such a low level, 49th level, sunk into it, of Tum’ah.  So G-d says, tell them that you were sent by I SHALL BE. 

The Beis Avraham explains that Ek-yeh is the name of teshuva, leaving the past and saying from now on I will be good. Thus G-d says geulah will come via this name, the name of the future, accepting from this moment on to be different. (A Rav Haber on Tzidkat HaTzedk says that when we get a spark of enthusiasm to open up spiritually we need to jum and not wait).  The idea is to accept from now on.  That’s the idea of Hashem not looking on the A”Z you did.  If you accept moving forward, he won’t look at the past.