Moshe said to Hashem that וַֽאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם- “My lips are closed” (6:12)
Moshe was having a hard time because Bnei Yisroel was not listening to Moshe and Moshe thought if Bnei Yisroel are not listening, how much more so... Pharoah won't listen to me.
Rashi hints that the reason Moshe says that his lips are closed may be because he had a speech impediment and it was hard of Bnei Yisroel to understand and listen.
Q: Why did Moshe say this to Hashem? What happened as a result? Where else do we see speech impacting leadership?
Meira Book
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rashi (6:13) As a result of Moshe telling Hashem that he cannot communicate with B"Y because of his "closed lips", Hashem commands Aharon to be Moshes mouth.
I think that it was a good idea to give it to Aharon because Moshe trusts him because they are brothers and B"Y trust him because he is "one of them" So Aharon is like middle ground.
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ReplyDeleteSforno - he believed that this was due to the fact that from the moment he had started speaking to Pharaoh, moshes speech and his attitude became worse together. Both combined, he felt like he failed. Moshe told HaShem because he was nervous paraoh wouldn’t pay attention to him.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea because I shows Moshe sharing his insecurities with HaShem and trusting Him with them. We share our insecurities to HaShem all the time, and I think It’s inspiring that Moshe openly shares his concerns and insecurities.
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteJen Felder
Or Hachaim- Sefaria
Moshe felt that because of his Speech impediment that he would only reinforce Pharaoh's rejection of anything he had to say. Pharaoh would reason that if Hashem is represented by a man who can't speak properly that it is laughable to think that Hashem could impose His might/will on the world.
I feel that this opinion makes sense but I disagree with it. Although Pharaoh might have had this thought, I feel that Hashem choosing Moshe shows that the "underdog" (Bnei Yisroel and Moshe) will be mighty in the end.
Naomi Kutin-
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Daat Zkenim, Moshe was not aware of what we, the readers are. He did not know that G-d altered their state of mind, as to not really listen to what he was telling them. This seemed very strange to Moshe as usually when a person comes to redeem enslaved people, they are totally overjoyed. Oddly enough, that just does not seem to be the case here. With this in mind, Moshe figured that if not even his own people cared so much about his message, why would the person enslaving them care? That does not seem to make so much sense. Obviously Pharaoh will give an even more negative response.
I think that this makes a lot of sense, and I know that if I was in Moshe's shoes, I would be very discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm/optimism among the people. To me, his response to G-d seems somewhat warranted.
Moshe said these words because he believed that even if he got Pharoh to let them go, benei yisrael would still not want to leave and ‘his lips will be closed’, he will not be able to plead for them to leave. They would not listen. (ר' יצחק מווארקא זצ"ל)
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because Moshe is expressing his concern for the Jewish people, but he still has a lot of doubt because of their initial reaction to his arrival.
The Or HaChaim says that here Moshe is talking about his inability to speak effectively due to his speech impediment, which made the Jews unwilling to respond to him. He (Moshe) is trying to hint to Hashem that He should heal his stutter to make him a better advocate for the Jews.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Moshe had every right to ask for what he wanted, Hashem doesn't give us challenges he knows we can’t handle. So even thought is was obviously hard for Moshe to talk to people especially Pharo it was something he needed to do, to be the role model he is to us today.
Ibn Ezra says that not only the people didn’t listen therefore paroah for sure won’t listen, but also something else. Usually if a redeemer said they would free a people from slavary they would be excited, but bne yisrael was so negative, therefore even more so Paroa will be negative.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a nice kal vechomer, but he shouldn’t have doubted HaShem if he was litterally talking To him
- Batsheva Dattelkramer -
ReplyDeleteThe Lubavitcher Rebbe makes the point in a different way. Moshe says similar things twice. In last week's portion (3/18) Moshe says, 'I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue'. In this week's portion (6/30), Moshe says, 'My lips are not circumcised'. What new idea was Moshe trying to express? In last week's portion, G-d answered, 'I will be with your mouth', and when Moshe persisted, G-d responds again, 'Your brother Aharon 'will be your mouth''. What new claim was Moshe's making in this week's portion? Last week Moshe said he could speak, but only with difficulty. In this week's portion, Moshe says that his lips are uncircumcised-that his lips are sealed, and he can not speak at all. The difficulties of the exile were so great, he felt totally helpless.
So G-d answered him, 'I am making YOU to be E-lokim - a G-d-to Pharaoh'. Moshe's mission changed. Beforehand, Moshe would convey the content of G-d's message to Aharon who would then announce it. From this week's portion, G-d appointed Moshe as His emissary to deal with Pharaoh. Sometimes the darkness is so great, we can not do it alone. G-d's answer to the Jewish people is that in every exile, when the situation becomes the darkest, we must know that the only way to take ourselves out, is to totally nullify ourselves to G-d's will, to become His emissary. Only by focusing on what is our divine mission in that situation, and fulfilling it, will we be redeemed. Our everyday Jewish actions affect the highest celestial planes. Don't underestimate that one small mitzvah we do can tip the scale and bring Mashiach.
I think that the reason that Moshe says this is because he does have a speech impediment, he is worried that he won’t be respected or seen as good enough and therefore uses this as an excuse.
Meira Cohen:
ReplyDeleteThroughout Moshe’s life, we see him struggle with his ability to speak and often voices this to Hashem as we see in this pasuk. Hashem usually responds in the same way: by saying that Aharon will be his speaker. But in the next perek, Hashem responds differently saying “נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַֽהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִֽהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ”, “See! I have made you a lord over Pharaoh, and Aaron, your brother, will be your speaker.” This is the same idea of Aharon helping Moshe like the previous case, but Hashem uses the word “Elokim” to describe Moshe. The word “Elokim” is only used in the torah to describe someone besides Hashem 2 other times, both of which are said sarcastically. The Ibn Ezra says that the reason that Hashem called Moshe “Elokim” was because not only was He reassuring him, but He was telling Moshe that He would enable him to do all these miracles and Pharaoh would see Moshe as being on the same supernatural level as G-d Himself. The author adds on that we can learn from this that not only did Hashem reassure Moshe, but He was given “מידת הדין”, the ability to function as Pharaoh’s Elokim and this have Moshe the ability to continuously approach Pharaoh and carry out Hashem’s miracles for Him.
I think what we can learn from this is that Hashem is always there to reassure us and comfort us to overcome any of our challenges in life and I also think that it is an extremely powerful idea to think Hashem can be within us to help us get through everything.