And Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro. The commentators said that since every shepherd is disqualified because they graze animals in others’ fields and are suspected of theft, therefore it says that these sheep belonged to Jethro, and a person does not sin if it is not for them. But nevertheless, it was necessary to inform us that he was a shepherd because most prophets attained prophecy through shepherding, as prophecy requires solitude. And through seeing the heavens, the work of God’s hands, as it is written: When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, etc. (Psalms 8:4), because through this their thoughts will be entirely focused on the existence of the Holy One, Blessed be He, until the spirit of God is poured upon them from above. This is not as readily available to one who sits in their house or engages in some other work in the field, besides the shepherd who sits unoccupied most of the time.

“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within the thornbush.” Regarding this vision, there are many opinions. Some say it represents “I [God] am with him in distress”; therefore He revealed Himself in a thornbush, a low and humble tree, though according to Rashi’s interpretation it doesn’t explain at all why specifically in a thornbush. Others say the thornbush symbolizes the sufferings of Israel, as the fire of troubles blazes around it yet it is not consumed, similar to “the arrows are spent but they are not spent.” In Genesis Rabbah, many such comparisons are also found. According to what I explained above on the verse, and they were disgusted because of the children of Israel, the Egyptians were compared to thorns because they were a painful thorn to Israel. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him that the thornbush was not consumed, alluding to Pharaoh — that although the fire of troubles blazes around him — wrath, anger, and distress — nevertheless he is not consumed, because the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him strength to endure all the plagues, as it is written But for this purpose I have let you stand, in order to show you My power (Exodus 9:16).

Another explanation: This hints at what is said: Indeed the matter is known — why are the Israelites dwelling in distress more than all other nations? Because there are informers among them who make their voice heard with insults and blasphemies against those who lie [in the grave] and are awake (Sanhedrin 29b). Like these thorns that make noise when burning in fire, so too Israel: even when the fire of troubles blazes around them, nevertheless each one is a painful thorn and a piercing brier to his fellow, as is the custom in these generations. They constantly make noise like the sound of a pot, as it is written: For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool (Ecclesiastes 7:6). This is the main reason for Israel to be in exile — due to the hatred and jealousy among them, more than among all other nations. And the slanderers caused all of Israel to not be innocent, for when the fire of dispute comes forth from the rock of dispute, the fathers kindle the fire and the children gather wood; therefore, the fire of God burned among them. Thus it is said, yet the bush was not consumed, because even though the fire of hardships burns in Jacob, nevertheless the existence of the thornbush remains intact in every generation and is not consumed, for the thorns will not be destroyed from the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, the house of Israel.

And with this, the statement about “a flame of fire from within the thornbush” is resolved. For it should have said, “a flame of fire in the thornbush” or “within the thornbush.” What is meant by from within the thornbush? Similarly, regarding what is stated: and behold, the thornbush was burning with fire — it should have been phrased the opposite: “and behold, the fire was burning in the thornbush,” since the fire is the active agent and the thornbush is the passive recipient. But the truth is as we have explained: the thornbush ignites the fire of troubles, because Israel is compared to this thornbush where each person is a thorn of pain to his fellow and raises his voice against him with insults and blasphemies. Therefore, the fire of God burned among them. Consequently, the thornbush is the active agent and the fire is the passive recipient, which is why it says: and behold, the thornbush was burning with fire — because the thornbush causes the kindling of the fire. This is what is meant by a flame of fire from within the thornbush — for the flame of fire emerges from within the thornbush, as the thornbush causes the flame of fire. And this is a correct explanation.

Let me turn away and see. The matter of this turning away is to distance oneself from that place, because the more one distances oneself from that place, the better one’s eye can perceive it. Learn from the light of the sun: the closer one gets to that light, the less one is able to look at it, but when the sun is in the east or west, everyone looks at it due to the great distance. Similarly, Moses was unable to look at and contemplate the essence of this light that was in the bush because of its great intensity. So too, Jeremiah said: From afar the Lord appeared to me (Jeremiah 31:3), meaning but not from close by. We have also explained above in Parshat Vayera, regarding the verse And he saw the place from afar (Genesis 22:4). Therefore, he said, “Let me turn away from here” to distance himself from that place, because then I will see why the bush is not consumed.

And regarding what it says: And behold, the bush was burning: How could he say, Why does the bush not burn? He should have said, “Why is it not consumed”? Some say that it was burning only itself, but [Moses wondered] why it did not spread to other parts of the bush surrounding it. Others say that he judged with his mind that it was not actually burning, for if it were burning, why was it not consumed? Therefore he said, “Why does it not burn?” One can further explain: from the statement, And the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, we learn that he had already moved from his place to get closer or farther away, as I have explained in the phrase Let me turn aside now. If so, there is no place for this difficulty, because at first he thought the bush was actually burning, but when he turned away to see a bit more clearly than what he had seen before turning away, he then saw that it was not burning at all. Therefore he said “Why does it not burn?” And the Lord said to him, “Do not come closer”. This means that this distancing is actually approaching to see. Know that this is so, because if the main prohibition was that he should not approach that holy place, then it should have said, “And the Lord saw that he turned away to come.” But what does it mean that he turned away to see? Rather, the Lord saw that he moved from his place in order to see; therefore the Lord prevented him from gazing at God. Thus it is said: Do not come closer — referring to the closeness of the eye’s vision. And what it says remove your shoes is not dependent on this closeness, but is a separate matter, where the Lord told him to remove his shoes in the place where he was, because all of it is holy ground. For Mount Horeb and all its surroundings are holy to the Lord. And shortly this will be explained in a rational way according to the path that the [other] commentators have trodden.

Remove your shoes from your feet. The commentators have been aroused by several differences between this vision and the vision of Joshua. For here it says: Remove your shoes [plural], while with Joshua it says: Remove your shoe [singular]. And here it says: for the place on which you stand is holy ground, while with Joshua it does not say this, but simply “holy” without “ground.” I have seen that Rabbeinu Bachya and other commentators explained Remove your shoes as referring to the distancing from physicality, because Moses was more detached from materiality than Joshua. Therefore, I will choose [to follow] their approach and add my own insights to resolve all the questions we mentioned, following the way that our Sages of blessed memory explained (Bava Batra 75a) that Moses’ face was like the sun and Joshua’s like the moon. Just as the moon shines on one side and is dark on the other, so Joshua shone from the side of intellect but was dark from the side of materiality that remained in him. But Moses’ face was like the sun which shines from all sides — similarly, Moses was so refined even in his material aspect that he merited the radiance of the skin of his face, for he was purified by standing on the mountain for 40 days without eating or drinking, being nourished by the radiance of the Divine Presence. Therefore, it says to Moses Remove your shoes in the plural, hinting at the removal of materiality from both of his parts: both the refinement of his intellectual power from the mixture of materiality in it, and the refinement of his material power itself. And therefore, as giving a reason, it says: for the place on which you stand is holy ground. The word “place” indicates one’s level, and it is saying that the level at which you stand is such that even the earthly part of you is holy — that’s what it means by “holy ground.” And because you are at such a high level, therefore I said: Do not come closer to gaze upon the Divine Presence, for no man can see Me and live, and even the angels do not approach Him to look upon His essence, how much more so a human being while living in this world.

And this is what the [Midrash] meant that the entire house was filled with light when Moses was born, for this was a sign to him that the human “house” [body] would be illuminated from all sides. But for Joshua, who was only illuminated from the intellectual side alone, therefore it was said to him remove your shoe — in the singular, implying just one — because the physicality was only removed from the intellectual part alone. Therefore, regarding Joshua, it did not mention holy ground because the earthly part of him was not sanctified. And it was not necessary to tell him do not come closer and it was not necessary to prevent him from approaching God, because regardless, his physical nature was a dividing screen between him and his God so that he could not gaze upon the Divine. And perhaps for this reason it says Moses, Moses twice, because God called to both of his parts, as both were holy — the physical form and the spiritual form.

Some say that He called Moses, Moses because the exile of Israel seems to Him, blessed be He, like a burden, so to speak. Therefore, He called him repeatedly to hasten his coming and to lighten the burden from Him, blessed be He, as it is written: I am with him in distress (Psalms 91:15), and as it is written: for I know their sufferings — “I know” means He feels their pain, so to speak.

And regarding what is written, “I am the God of your father.” Our Sages of blessed memory explained (Exodus Rabbah 3:1) that the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared to him [Moses] with the voice of Amram, his father. And when he [Moses] said, “Here I am,” the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “This is not your father’s voice, but the voice of the God of your father Amram.” And here it is written “God” four times, corresponding to the four expressions of redemption, as will be explained, God willing, in Parashat Vaera (6:6). And some explain that He mentioned God of your father because He revealed to him through this that his father had already died, once He had associated His blessed name with him. And [this was] so that he [Moses] would not refuse to go on this mission in place of his father, for even before Aaron his older brother, he refused to take this authority, all the more so in place of his father.

And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people.” I have seen implies the past, likewise the repetition of the word “seeing.” It appears that its explanation is as follows: The Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted to give Moses a reason why He had abandoned them for such a long time, and why until now He delayed from seeing their trouble. To this, He said that until now, even though they would cry out from their hard labor in all their troubles, all these cries were not supplication and request before Him, blessed be He, but rather cries of complaint; they did not seek the face of the Lord until now. That is what is meant by And the Lord said, “I have surely seen”: I see now and I also saw in the past the affliction of My people, and their cry I have heard, meaning the cry of complaint. And they did not remember that I said to Jacob: I will go down with you, and the purpose of this descent was to deliver him, etc., and to bring him up, as it is written: and I will also surely bring you up. That is what is meant by and I have come down to deliver him. They should have taken this to heart and sought My face, but now the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me because they prayed to Me with a whole heart; therefore I have seen their prayer. And I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them, which is not according to what is right. Therefore now, go, I shall send you to Pharaoh — now, immediately — for this is My way: while they are still speaking, I will hear.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring out the children of Israel.” It seems to me that Moses said from two perspectives that he was not worthy of this mission: both from the lowliness of the messenger, and from the greatness of Israel’s stature. For Moses was more humble than any person, and in his own eyes he was the lowest of men. Therefore he said, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, meaning how could someone as lowly as me speak before the king? And from the perspective of Israel’s stature he said, and that I should bring out the children of Israel for how could such a lofty and exalted nation, the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a great and elevated people, follow after someone as lowly and despised as me? To both concerns, the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, For I will be with you, meaning, it is not you who will speak to Pharaoh, but I who will speak and your mouth will be like My mouth. Also, Israel will not follow after you, but after the Lord they will go, for I will be with You. And if you ask, from the beginning, why would the Holy One, blessed be He, be specifically with you, and why not with some honorable person of great stature? And why would He associate with the lowest of men specifically to appoint him as a messenger? To this, He gave him a sign that this is the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He chooses rather to associate with the lowly, and He dwells with the crushed and humble spirited. And this is what is meant by And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you. That is, if they say to you, “Why did God choose you to be a messenger more than anyone else?” you shall say to them that this is the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He. For, when you bring the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain — Mount Sinai, the lowest of the mountains. Even though there are mountains higher than it, nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose only this one, Sinai. And from this, take evidence that the Holy One, blessed be He, is more likely to choose the lowly, and this is also proof of your mission.

However, this needs to be resolved. What is stated elsewhere (Exodus 20:2), I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, while here it does not mention “land” but says and bring out My people, the children of Israel, from Egypt. Also, the word My people seems superfluous. Therefore, it seems to me that this “bringing out” is not referring to leaving the land, but rather to departing from the practices of the Egyptians, because Israel was defiled by the idols of Egypt, as it is stated in Ezekiel (20:5), And I made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, etc. From that entire passage, it appears that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent to them several times to warn Israel not to be defiled by the idols of Egypt, but they refused to listen. Therefore, also this time, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, and bring out My people, the children of Israel, from Egypt — to extract them from the practices of the Egyptians so they would no longer be defiled by their idols. Even though they were already defiled by them, nevertheless they are still My people, and even though “[Israel] has sinned, he is still Israel” (Sanhedrin 44a). This is the meaning of My people, the children of Israel. This matter was very difficult in Moses’ eyes because he knew that Israel had not listened to the messengers who had already gone to them to extract them from the idols of Egypt. Therefore, he said, “How shall I bring out the children of Israel from Egypt? By what cause will they come to abandon their habitual practices?” To this, the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, When you bring out the people from Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Through receiving the Torah, their spiritual contamination would cease, as our Sages said (Shabbat 146a), “When Israel stood at Mount Sinai, their contamination ceased.” For the event at Mount Sinai was a great demonstration to Israel of His divinity, blessed be He, and through this they completely departed from the idols of Egypt.

“I Will Be Who I Will Be.” And afterwards He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, “I Will Be has sent me to you”. Furthermore, what is meant by saying, And God said to Moses, “I Will Be Who I Will Be”? It should have said, And God said to him, for He was speaking with Moses. And it appears that it is because the phrase I Will Be indicates that the Holy One, blessed be He, will be with them. Moses was afraid of two types of fear: one, that he would be harmed in this mission; the second, that perhaps the Egyptians would not allow them to leave. But Israel feared only that Pharaoh might not allow them to leave. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, I Will Be Who I Will Be, similar to what He had said earlier, For I will be with you, also including all of Israel, that the Egyptians would not harm them and would allow them to leave. But to Israel, [Moses was to] say, ’I Will Be’ has sent me to you, because there was no need to inform them that “I will be with you” in this mission, but Moses needed both [assurances].

And there are those who say, that the statement that I will be is providing the reason for the name I will be, because for this reason I am called by the name I will be, as I will be and am in all times — in the past, present, and future. Therefore He said, Thus shall you say: ‘I will be’ has sent me, for it is not so necessary to provide a reason to Israel. And what He said further, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: ‘The God of your fathers, etc.’, [is] because it is not appropriate that He should be mentioned by this essential Name, but rather by the name God of Abraham, etc. This is what it means: This is My name forever — namely, I will be, and this is My remembrance for generation to generation — this is the name God of Abraham, by which He will always be remembered, not by the essential Name.

And it seems to me to explain, that because the name Ehyeh [I will be] is derived from the language of existence/being and indicates His eternality, for He, blessed be He, was, is, and will be, therefore He said This is My name forever. Meaning, this name of Mine indicates that I am forever [leolam], i.e., from world to world [min haolam vead haolam] My existence is constant. And this is My remembrance for all generations — this refers to what I said that I am called God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be remembered by this name always, indicating not only that I am constant in existence from the perspective of My essence throughout all times, but even that in all times My name will be remembered among those who fear God and think of His name in every generation equally, when the children maintain the holy practices of their fathers. Just as I did for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that I was called by My name for each one individually, so too in every generation My name will be remembered among all the remnants whom God calls. This is what is meant by and this is My remembrance for all generations.

And according to Ezekiel’s prophecy, from which it appears that Israel was wicked and sinful in Egypt, consequently they had no merit, and they were redeemed only because of two things: First, for the sake of His great Name which is with them in exile, as it were, as One who feels their pain, as it is written for I know their sufferings, and as it is written and what will You do for Your great Name (Joshua 7:9). Second, through the merit of the forefathers. Therefore He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: ‘I Will Be’ [Ehyeh] has sent me to you, specifically using this Name which indicates “I am with him in distress.” And He further said, “Thus shall you say, etc., the Lord, the God of your forefathers, etc.,” meaning the merit of the forefathers. These two [factors] combined to bring them from distress to relief.

And a woman shall ask [shaalah] from her neighbor, etc. Some explain that this “asking” is not in the sense of borrowing, for how could God command to speak falsely and take by deception? Rather, it is in the sense of Ask, and I will give you said about King Solomon (First Kings 3:5), which refers to a total gift. Similarly, He asked life from You, You gave it to him (Psalms 21:5). Likewise, this “asking” means that [the Egyptians] would give them gifts. And what is written (Exodus 12:36), and they lent them [hesheilum, which is more difficult to understand as giving since it is causative] means that the Egyptians began to demand of them that they accept gifts from them, so much did they find favor in their eyes.

One must examine why here it mentioned silver vessels, gold vessels, and clothing, but in Parashat Bo (11:2) when commanding, it didn’t mention clothing, and then later during the actual event, it mentioned clothing again. Furthermore, why did He say here and you shall put them on your sons, etc. — is He giving good advice about what to do with the clothing? And why didn’t He give them advice about what to do with the silver and gold vessels? It seems to me that this request [for items] only occurred after the plague of the firstborn, after Pharaoh agreed to send them out, because before this why would [the Egyptians] lend to them? And the plague of the firstborn was like a concern of epidemic, and there is a danger in taking garments from a house where there is a concern of changed air [infection]. Therefore, [the Israelites] did not need to ask the Egyptians to lend them their garments, because [the Egyptians] themselves would give them the clothing, as it was preferable to them that [the Israelites] go into the desert in their garments so that the wind would air them out. The Holy One, blessed be He, was concerned that perhaps the Israelites would be afraid to wear those garments due to the concern of contaminated air in them. Therefore He said, and you shall put them on your sons and daughters and do not fear, because no harm will touch them. Therefore, in Parashat Bo (11:2), when God commanded them to ask from the Egyptians, He did not mention clothing because God knew that the Egyptians would lend them of their own accord. And perhaps it is about this that it is said and they lent them, and our Sages interpreted (Berakhot 9b) “against the will of the Israelites.” And it also says (Exodus 12:35) that during the actual event they also borrowed clothing, but not because of the Israelites’ request, rather the Egyptians lent them of their own accord. And when it says here and each woman shall ask, etc. and it also mentions clothing, this is not the place of the commandment but rather a telling of future events, saying that this is what will happen in the future — that they will lend them everything, some through the request of the Israelites, namely the silver and gold vessels, and some they will lend of their own accord, namely the clothing.

A hint to this matter is that we find the term “favor” [chen] three times in this request, once in this portion [of Exodus], twice in the Bo portion, and the numerical value of “favor” [chen] three times equals the numerical value of “silver gold” [kesef zahav], indicating that specifically silver and gold were lent to them because of the favor they found in the eyes of the Egyptians. But garments were not included in this “favor” because even if they had not found favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, they would have lent them as mentioned. This resolves what is written here, Each woman shall ask from her neighbor, without mentioning men, while in the command it states, Let each man ask from his fellow. This is because in the command, garments were not mentioned for the reason explained, and regarding the request for silver and gold vessels, both men and women were equal. But here, when foretelling the future that they would also borrow garments, and presumably the women whose firstborn husbands had died would lend them in order to allow the wind to [shake out] the clothing, therefore only the women are mentioned, and it refers to the outer garment of men that daughters also typically wear.