Shemos 5786 - True Love

When Moshe first appears before Pharaoh, not only does Pharaoh refuse to allow the Jewish slaves to leave Egypt, but he intensifies their suffering. He orders them to gather their own straw for bricks while maintaining the same production quota (Shemos 5:18). When the Jewish foremen blame Moshe for worsening their plight (5:21), Moshe turns to Hashem in anguish:

“My Lord, why have You done evil to this people, why have You sent me? From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name he did evil to this people, but You did not rescue Your people.” (Shemos 5:22-23).

Moshe’s reaction is puzzling. Hashem had already warned him—twice—that Pharaoh would initially refuse to release the Jews: first at the burning bush (3:19), and again on Moshe’s journey to Egypt (4:21). Moshe should have anticipated resistance. Why, then, does he complain so forcefully?

The Ramban explains that although Moshe knew Pharaoh would object, Hashem had also promised that He would strike Egypt with wonders and then redeem the Jewish people (3:20). Yet significant time had passed since Moshe’s appearance before Pharaoh, and no plagues had yet begun. Instead of redemption, the Jews remained enslaved—and their suffering had increased.

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, zt”l, offers a different perspective. Moshe understood that Pharaoh might initially refuse, but he at least expected that conditions would not worsen. At worst, Moshe anticipated the status quo. He was unprepared for Pharaoh’s cruel escalation of oppression.

According to both explanations, Moshe’s distress stemmed from unmet expectations: either the redemption did not begin as soon as anticipated (Ramban), or the suffering intensified rather than eased (Hirsch). Still, a fundamental question remains. Hashem never promised immediate redemption, nor did He guarantee that conditions would not worsen beforehand. Why, then, did Moshe complain? Did he doubt Hashem’s promise?

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, provides an insightful perspective. Moshe was driven by an overwhelming love for the Jewish people—so deep that it surpassed even his concern for himself. He could not bear to witness their suffering, especially knowing that his own mission had triggered harsher conditions. His emotional pain eclipsed his intellectual awareness that redemption would eventually come.

Moshe fully believed in Hashem’s promise. Yet his compassion for the people was so intense that he could not tolerate their present anguish, even temporarily. That unbearable tension—between faith in the future and pain in the present—led him to cry out to Hashem.

Although Moshe was punished for his complaint (see Rashi on Shemos 6:1), because we know that Hashem always fulfills his promises, Hashem nevertheless responds by revealing Himself with the Name associated with mercy: “I am Hashem” (6:2). Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that this response reflects Hashem’s recognition that Moshe’s complaint arose from love, not doubt—from empathy, not rebellion.

In every generation, including our own, Jews suffer across the world. Moshe teaches us that true leadership demands empathy for every Jew. When we feel the pain of others as our own, we help bring about the unity described in Tehillim:

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” (Tehillim 133:1)

In that merit, may we see Hashem’s blessing flow “like the dew of Hermon upon the mountains of Zion” (133:3), and may the suffering of our people be transformed into redemption.