Shabbat Parashat Va'eira - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Va'eira - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov as el shaddai, but by My Name Hashem I was not known to them. [Shemot 6:3] The commentators go into great detail about the meanings of the various names of God. Here we will look only at the difference between God's "appeared to Avraham" and "I was not known to them", meaning that He is now becoming known to Moshe in some different way. The most obvious question is what did God mean that He "was not known to them" by the four-letter Name? In Bereishit [15:7] we find, "I am Hashem Who brought you out from Ur Kasdim" where God told Avraham His four-letter Name. Then in Bereishit [28:13], God tells Yaakov, "I am Hashem, the God of Avraham your father and the God of Yitzchak", also using that Name. Clearly, at least two of the Patriarchs had heard God use that Name to them. Even more confusing is Bereishit [18:1], "And Hashem appeared to him" referring to Avraham after his circumcision, using the same word as our verse. Apparently, then, the issue here is not the appearing, but the knowing. What is different in our verse that Moshe and the people should "know" God in a way that the Patriarchs did not? Abarbanel ties it to the land. God made promises to the Patriarchs, including that their descendants would inherit the holy land. For promises, either el shaddai or Hashem names can apply. But here, God was implementing this promise with Moshe, thus only the name Hashem applies. Rashbam writes similarly, that the promises under el shaddai did not include the present, but the ones as Hashem do. Rashi is similar but the difference he sees is that "I was not known" means that God did not fulfill the promises during the lifetimes of the Patriarchs. Thus now, with Moshe, God is Hashem, who will fulfill during the lifetime of the people of Moshe. Malbim views our verse as showing two levels of prophecy, appeared and known. Moshe was God's most important prophet, and was entitled to "know", while the previous ones were entitled to appearances. Ramban sees it as an explanation of a couple different aspects of God. El shaddai is an indication of His working within nature, and Hashem as working through open miracles. So, why the difference? Why should the Patriarchs not merit what Moshe is now receiving? Some commentators reverse this, tying our verse to Moshe's complaint above, thus God here is saying, the Patriarchs didn't need this information, why do you? Others see it only as following the master plan for Creation. Yet others do see it as in the merit of Moshe and his generation, that by the generations in Egypt, they became purified sufficiently to merit this high level of God's assistance. The faith of the earlier generations was simple and pure, but at this point, Jews had to work harder to achieve those high levels. Our verse teaches us that, despite being so far removed from Sinai, we in our generation still have the ability to reach the level God wants of us.