In the first parsha of the Torah, we learn how Hashem made man in His image…alas, ever since then it seems that man has been trying to do the reverse – make Gd in man’s image. Ok, it’s a bit of a pithy thing to say, but, in many ways, not so far from the truth. Even today when Western society has moved far away from statuesque idolatry or that Greek pantheon, most people tend to have an understanding of Hashem that reflects Gd as they want or expect Him to be. Sometimes that is the all-loving, all-forgiving, “if I’m just a good person Gd will accept me” deity, & sometimes it’s the fire & brimstone deity who will punish those who cross a person’s moral line. 

 Hashem is all-knowing, of course. Hashem does reward the righteous & punish those who deserve to be punished. The calculations for all of that, however, are well beyond our means of understanding…and understanding that is critical criteria for this week’s parsha, Shemos. Parshas Shemos is a testament to the difference in how we mortals view the world and Hashem’s comprehension of all the moving pieces & His understanding of what, ultimately, needs to happen and is thus “good.”

 The parsha opens with a recounting of the names of the 70 who came down with Yaakov to Egypt, & here we must remember that when Yaakov hesitated to come, Hashem told him it was what he should do. But was it good? We see quite quickly into the parsha that it really wasn’t what one would say is for the good b/c the Egyptians turned on Bnei Yisrael rather quicky once Yosef’s generation had passed. 

 One of the primary factors of the events in Mitzrayim (beyond, the foretelling of the oppression by Hashem & it being the means of forging the nation) was Pharoah’s belief that he could shape his world. He wished to kill Jewish boys b/c an astrologer gave him a foretelling, and he believed that he had ability to thwart it. He believed that he could remove himself from infanticide by trying to recruit the Jewish midwives to do it, but their better nature couldn't be turned. He believed that he could ignore Moshe b/c, as he himself declared: He didn't know Hashem. 

 In contrast, however, there is Moshe. The Torah tells us that when Moshe was born, his mother saw that he was “good.” Of course there are lots of interpretations of what that means, but perhaps it is an allusion to his innate connection to the Divine.  Think about the fact that only his youngest years were spent in an environment of kedusha, when he was nursed in his mother’s house. The Torah only first records him interacting with any Israelites is when he stops the taskmaster from killing a slave, and he stops him by striking him with, as the Midrash tells us, the actual name of Hashem. This is an incredible level of connection for someone who had no one to teach him the ways of Israel, which makes it even more perplexing that Moshe doesn't immediately agree when Hashem instructs him to go back to Mitzrayim. 

 When Moshe asks Hashem what he should tell the Israelites when they ask for Hashem’s name, the response is more than just a message for Bnei Yisrael. It is a message for every person… “Gd said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” continuing, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’” Ehyeh-asher-Ehyah – I am that I am or I will be what I will be… 

 Moshe, with his inborn special connection to Hashem, can't alter the path that Hashem wants to occur. None of us can. We can judge the world all that we want. We can look at individuals or whole groups of people or situations & declare that they are wrong, that they need to be different, but we are mere mortals. To be frank, we know nothing except what we see & what we feel, but Hashem… Hashem doesn’t just know everything, Hashem IS everything.

 I wish all a beautiful Shabbas, & let us all come to truly accept that it is all Hashem.