Thought of the week
The most dangerous thing about perception is that it is often mistaken for fact.
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“...Behold, the Children of Israel didn’t listen to me, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me; and I am of stopped up lips?” (Shemos 6:12)
Upon approaching the Jewish People with Hashem’s message of the upcoming redemption, Moshe found them unreceptive. Moshe chalked up his failure not to the fact that they were overwhelmed, but to the fact that he was ineffectual as a communicator. Therefore, it was a given to him, that if they didn’t listen, surely Pharaoh would not as well.
This was essentially the same argument Moshe had made at the time of the burning bush. Then, Hashem answered him, “Who places a mouth in a person?” Essentially, Hashem had told Moshe that He had given Moshe all the tools he needed, and an eloquent delivery was NOT a requirement for the success of his mission.
When Moshe makes that claim here, the Torah, in the next verse, tells us that Hashem commands Moshe and Aharon, his brother, to go together to Pharaoh. However, we find something unusual. After Moshe asks that Pharaoh will not listen to him because of how he speaks, the Torah places a break there. Called a “pesucha,” and symbolized by a {P} in the Chumash, it ends a parsha in the Torah, and the rest of the line is left blank.
At the next line, we find Hashem commanding Aharon to accompany Moshe. It seems like the answer, but traditionally, these complete breaks are thought to separate concepts or parshios, and the other type of break, a “stuma,” consisting of nine blank letters, is considered an incomplete break, and the two paragraphs on either side are connected.That means Hashem didn’t respond to Moshe’s question here. He just began a new topic. What does this teach us?
Chazal understand that as Hashem dictated the Torah to Moshe, He made certain pauses and at those spots, giving Moshe time to reflect on what he had just been told. In that case, the break here, after the question, was Hashem giving Moshe time to reflect on his own question. Hashem had already answered Moshe that this wasn’t a true concern. Moshe’s repetition showed that he had not fully digested the response. That was unacceptable, so Hashem didn’t dignify it with an answer. Instead, he gave Moshe a moment to reconsider what he had asked.
Then, Hashem commanded Aharon to go with Moshe. What Hashem had previously told Moshe he was capable of doing alone, would now be shared with his brother Aharon. R’ Ephraim Lever Shlit”a suggests that perhaps Hashem was giving Moshe a chance to reconsider what he was asking for, much as when he asked for help in leading the Jewish People, and Hashem took from the spirit that was on Moshe and gave it to the seventy elders. He’d had the power, but his insecurities caused him to lose the sole claim to the reward for doing the act.
If the greatest man to ever live made the mistake of thinking he was incapable, how much more likely are we, to give up? But we should not do so. Hashem has given us each the tools and abilities to accomplish the missions He sends our way. If we take a moment to think about it, we will be able to tackle each challenge as it comes and succeed - because Hashem is by our side.
R’ Abba Zalka Gewirtz z”l was a rabbi in Bradley Beach, NJ and Waterbury, CT. One day, a congregant came to him to discuss schooling for her children. They were getting older and the local day school couldn’t accommodate them. He advised her to send them away to Yeshiva.
“Rabbi,” she cried, “I can’t send them away. I’ll lose them!” “Shirley,” responded R’ Abba Zalka with sincere emotion, “If you send them to Yeshiva, they will give you nachas for the rest of your life. But if you DON’T send them away, then you will lose them!” Shirley didn’t listen.
Years later she came back. “Rabbi Gewirtz,” she sobbed. “You were right. I didn’t send them away... they didn’t go to Yeshiva to study Torah... and now I’ve lost them.”
She couldn’t see how sending her children away would be the right choice. Sadly, she paid the price for doubting the benefit of serving Hashem, and not trusting in His messengers.
©2025 – J. Gewirtz
