Bar-Ilan University
Parshat Hashavua Study Center
Parshat Va'era 5776/January 9, 2016
This series of faculty lectures on the weekly Parsha is made possible by the Department of Basic Jewish
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Expressions of Redemption
By Amos Frisch1
Parashat Va-Era begins with the Lord speaking to Moses. After a historical preface (Ex.
6:2-5), the Holy One, blessed be He, informs Moses of His plan to save His people from
bondage in Egypt and commands him to take these tidings to the people (Ex. 6:6-8). The
Holy One, blessed be He, lists in detail several actions that He plans to take.
In the wake of the explanation given by Rabbi Johanan in the name of Rabbi Benaiah
regarding the reason we are commanded to drink four cups of wine at the Seder,2 these
1
Prof. Amos Frisch teaches in the Departments of Bible and Basic Jewish Studies.
2
See Jerusalem Talmud, Pesahim 10.1; Genesis Rabbah 88.5.
actions became known as the “four expressions of Redemption,”3 and they are: “I will free
you,” “deliver you,” “redeem you”, and “take you.”
Three questions arise here:
1.
Does each of the expressions indeed denote a separate and distinct action? Or do
we have a concentration of expressions here designed to give emphasis to the
Lord's surprising action against the ruling superpower?
2. Why does one speak only of four terms of redemption when close by another verb
is mentioned: “”I will bring you into the land” (Ex. 6:8)? And if not all the Lord’s
actions are counted, why count precisely four of them and not, for example, only
three?
3. What need was there to detail all these actions after the Lord had already informed
Moses, in His revelation to Moses at the burning bush, of His plan to deliver the
Israelites, freeing them from bondage to the Egyptians and taking them out of
Egypt to the Land of Israel (Ex. 3:7-10)?
One could argue that the second expression, “I will deliver you from their bondage,” is a
repetition in different words of the first expression: “I will free you from the labors of the
Egyptians.”4 The third expression, however, “I will redeem you,” is different from those
that precede it in that it does not mention any kind of labor but instead introduces a
characterization of Redemption. Thus we conclude that it refers to taking the Israelites
out to liberate them, not merely putting an end to their forced labor, while punishing
those who had enslaved them. The fourth expression describes a completely different sort
of action: “I will take you to be My people, and I will by your G-d.” The different way the
text continues reinforces the inclination to distinguish as well between the second
expression and the first.
Several commentators have even determined, albeit with certain differences among them,
when each stage of the four expressions of Redemption was accomplished. For example
note the observations of Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno: “I will free—with commencement of the
plagues, the bondage was ended; I will deliver you—from the day they departed the
3
Originally “four Redemptions” but more commonly referred to as “four expressions of Redemption,”
according to the phrasing in Rashi’s commentary, Num. 15:41; also cf. Yalkut Shimoni, Va-Yeshev 147.
4
Compare: “He bent his shoulder to the burden [lisbol, to suffer], and became a toiling serf” (Gen.
49:15). On the relationship between the verbs see the parallel in the verse, “Rescued me [same Hebrew
verb as “I will free”] from my enemies,…saved me [same as “deliver”] from lawless men!” (II Sam. 22:49).
borders of Egypt; I will redeem you—with the drowning of the Egyptians in the sea, and I
will take you—at Mount Sinai.”5
The text, “And you shall know that I…freed you from the labors of the Egyptians” (Ex. 6:7),
comes after the fourth expression and expresses a certain closing of the circle in that the
verb refers to the people, no longer to G-d, and also in light of the object of the knowing—
the action of taking the people out—which is the first expression of Redemption. Since
the knowing brings us back to the first action, we must ask whether this means that the
people had not internalized the next three actions.
Close examination of the text indicates that the people fully internalized each act of the
Lord. The expression, “I [am] the Lord,” frames the passage containing the Lord’s
declaration (Ex. 6:6-8). The passage begins with the words, “Say, therefore, to the
Israelite people: I am the Lord” (Ex. 6:6), and ends with the words, “and I will give it to
you for a possession, I the Lord” (Ex. 6:8).6 This expression appears once more, in the
middle, and supports the internal division mentioned above, between four expressions of
Redemption and a fifth, “I will bring,” since immediately after the fourth expression, “I will
take,” it says: “And you shall know that I, the Lord, am your G-d who freed you, etc.” (Ex.
6:7).
It should be noted, however, that the formulation here includes a variation: “I, the Lord,
am your G-d.” This is what the Israelites will come to know, and this knowing attests to
having fully internalized the significance of the fourth expression of Redemption: “And I
will take you to be My people, and I will be your G-d.”7 Henceforth we can say: before
the people’s cognizance of the first action is described, their internalization of the fourth
is already mentioned: the Israelites acknowledged the entire series of the Lord’s acts of
redemption, from the first through the fourth.
5
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (and preceding him, Maharal in Gevurot Ha-Shem, ch. 30) sees these
actions as directed at the Lord’s promise to Abraham in the Covenant of the Pieces: “Know well that your
offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed” (Gen. 15:13).
The bondage went from light to severe, and Redemption in the opposite direction, from the stronger
action to the lesser: “I will free you” as against being “oppressed,” “I will deliver you from their bondage”
as against being “enslaved,” and “I will redeem” as against being “strangers” (who have no redeemer).
6
This expression also appears at the beginning of the entire speech (Ex. 6:2), only we wish to focus here
on verses 6-8.
7
Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman (Exodus, pp. 71-72) says that acknowledging the Lord precedes “I will bring”
since the spiritual destiny of the Jewish people does not depend on their living in the land of Israel; it
comes earlier and is binding on the people even when they are in Exile.
The first action, bringing the people to their land, is an essential part of the process of
Redemption, and for it we have a fifth cup of wine.8 But at the Seder the focus is primarily
on the first stage of Redemption, in the light of Scripture’s message that the first stage
does not end with liberation from bondage; rather, it also includes accepting the yoke of
Heaven.
Commentators see this in the Theophany at Mount Sinai. Thus, Moses was told from the
outset of his mission, in response to his question immediately after the Lord was revealed
to him at the burning bush, “And when you have freed the people from Egypt, you shall
worship G-d at this mountain” (Ex. 3:12). Note that this again alludes to the first
expression of Redemption (“when you have freed” / “I will free you”) and to the fourth
expression (“I will be your G-d”).
Thus, from the time of revelation at the burning bush, the Lord informed Moses of His
plan to choose him as His emissary to redeem His people from Egypt, and mentioned
brining the people to the Land of Israel as well as the expressions of freeing and delivering.
So we ask, why the need for another speech?
The marked addition in this week’s reading is that at the beginning of the passage the
Lord instructs Moses to announce this to the people: “Say, therefore, to the Israelite
people” (Ex. 6:6), whereas the message in the revelation at the burning bush was for Moses
himself, and only later on does Moses bring up the matter of appearing before the
Israelites (Ex. 3:13).
The expressions pertaining to taking the people out are the same, but the subjects change:
in this week’s reading, it is the Lord who takes the people out, whereas in the revelation at
the burning bush, it is Moses who takes them out: “and you shall free My people” (Ex.
3:10). This is because the Lord’s words to Moses stress the fact of his being sent on the
mission, whereas the words intended for the people stress the actions the Lord will
perform. The vision that inspired the leader does not suffice; he must also bring the
people on board, making them aware of the matter of Redemption.
In all that we have presented thus far, the expressions of Redemption as they appear in the
Torah are understandable as describing the actions of the Lord and Redeemer. But the
question remains: What is asked of the person who is redeemed, aside from
acknowledging the acts of the Lord? Two modern interpretations, of father and son,
attempt to find in the text guidelines for a Jew’s actions.
8
On the fifth cup and what it signifies, see my article, “Pesah, Yom ha-Atzma’ut ve-Shavuot: Heirut
Medinit ve-Heirut Datit ve-ya-Yahas beineihen,” Hagigei Giveah [publication of the Religious Council of
Giveat Shmuel] 1 (Kislev 1989), pp. 17-20.
Rabbi Mordechai ha-Cohen reveals a nationalist-Zionist approach, educating the people.
He identifies the four expressions of Redemption as “the basic elements that bring
Redemption to the people and prepare them for independence as a nation”:
1) freeing oneself from the bondage of the heart that comes from reconciling oneself to
living in exile;
2) making the people independent for its own sake and not for the sake of others;
3) demanding full freedom as a nation that stands upright and proud;
4) recognizing the G-d-given moral values of the people.9
The interpretation by his son, Rabbi Shmuel Avidor ha-Cohen,10 reflects a focus on the
individual: What is Redemption and to what should one aspire? Is it only to come out of
a land of oppression (Nazi Germany), to save oneself (not merely by fleeing to a
neighboring state, but fleeing to a far-away land), to achieve physical redemption
(immigrating to Israel), or to achieve spiritual redemption so as to bring about the Lord’s
words, “You shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples”?
Indeed, in every generation a person must view himself (and appear) as if he himself
participated in the exodus from Egypt.
Translated by Rachel Rowen
9
Rabbi Mordechai ha-Cohen, Al ha-Torah: Mivhar Amarim le-Farshiyot ha-Shavua, Beit-El 1989 (1st
edition 1957), pp. 166-167.
10
Likrat Shabbat, Tel Aviv 1977, p. 58-59.