We read in our Parasha (6:2-3)’וידבר ה׳ אל משה’: G-d spoke to Moshe and said to him; I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov as אל שדי: El Shaddai, but with My Name Hashem I did not make Myself known to them’.
Rashi comments: The choice of the word ‘דבר’, denotes that Hashem spoke harshly to Moshe, because of Moshe Rabbeinu’s intemperate words to Him:(5:22)’My Lord, why have You done evil to this people’.
Asks Rav Yitzchak Karo:’Why does Hashem, in his rebuke of Moshe Rabbeinu, need to seemingly disparage the Avot, by saying that they, unlike Moshe Rabbeinu, did not merit that Hashem appear to them as Hashem, but only as El Shaddai, a more limited appearance?
‘Answer: To the contrary! Hashem is thereby praising the Avot, that, in comparison to Moshe, they were complete in their Emunah, despite Hashem ‘only’ revealing Himself to them in that more limited ‘form’.
‘Our parshanim expound that the difference between the two appellations is, that the appellation ‘Hashem’ denotes Hashem acting as the Master of all, including nature, performing open miracles, including changing nature, such as changing water to blood, and the other wondrous occurrences performed to the eyes of Moshe and Bnei Israel.
‘In His appellation of El Shaddai, as the word די: ‘enough’ denotes, He sustains the world, and all in it, sometimes performing ‘concealed’ miracles, such as redeeming the Avot from famine, and rescuing them in battle, from the sword of their enemies, but not ‘open’ miracles’.
Rav Gedalia Schorr adds:’The intent of the Torah, in these psukim, is to teach us that the greatness of the Avot was to recognize Hashem, despite He choosing to conceal Himself in ‘nature’.
‘Avraham Avinu, at the age of three, as our Sages relate, ‘discovered’ Hashem, recognizing that there was a ‘hand’ guiding the world, and asking: ‘Who is the Master of the world?’; to which Hashem answered ‘I am!’.
‘Hashem created the world in His appellation of El Shaddai, the One who said די: by setting boundaries to all that He created, such as the seas and the land masses.
‘
This appellation also alludes to Hashem ‘concealing’ Himself in the world He created, yet revealing די לאלקותו: enough of His G-dliness for all who truly seek Him.
‘The עבודה: work of the Avot, was to recognize, despite this concealment, that there is a guiding hand to all that happens, in this world’.
The Shem miShmuel adds:’By Hashem ‘limiting‘ Himself, as it were, in the appellation in which He appeared to the Avot, those who sought Him, had to bring themselves closer to Him, as He, as it were, distanced Himself from His creations.
‘This is the greatness of the Avot, that they, of themselves ‘found’ Hashem.
‘And this is clearly very different than when Hashem appears ‘openly’, as he did to Moshe, and says to him: אני ה׳: ‘I am Hashem!’’.
The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh comments:’This appellation in which Hashem made Himself known to the Avot, is revelation of a ‘lower’ degree than that in which He made Himself known to Moshe, to whom He said:’I am Hashem’.
‘Hashem’s intention here is to rebuke Moshe for being כפוי בטובתו של מקום: ungrateful for the special favor that Hashem has bestowed on him, ’favoring’ him over the Avot, in this matter, and yet he, Moshe, speaking improperly to Hashem.
‘This is the purport of Hashem’s words:’ But with My Name Hashem, I did not make Myself known to them’.
Rav Yosef Salant brings the Midrash, in which Hashem laments the departure of the Avot, ‘Who are gone and the like of whom are not to be found’, saying:’ I only appeared to them as El Shadai, yet they did not question My ways; yet you, Moshe said:’Why did you do harm to the people’’.
‘We are compelled to say that Hashem here was rebuking Moshe Rabbeinu that he did not measure up to the Avot, in this respect.
‘We also learn from here, how precious the mere mention of the Avot is in the eyes of Hashem, as, when He mentions the Avot in the course of His rebuke of Moshe, His attribute of דין: judgement immediately changes to one of mercy, saying ‘I remember My covenant with the Avot..I shall take you to Me for a people’.
Adds Rav Pinchas Friedman:’The שורש: the ‘root’ of the whole Torah is the Mitzvah: תמים תהיה עם ה׳ אלקיך: ‘You must be whole-hearted with Hashem your G-d’.
‘Bnei Israel inherited this attribute from the Avot, starting with Avraham Avinu’s unquestioning obedience to Hashem, in the Akeida.
‘The Avot paved the way for all of their descendants to serve Hashem in complete Emunah, as Hashem recalls with pride (Jeremiah 2:2):’Thus said the Lord: I accounted to your favor the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride; How you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown’.
A parting thought from Rav Aryeh Leib Heiman:’This whole-hearted Emunah, is why the Avot are the ‘heart’ of our people.
‘Since prayer is עבודה שבלב:‘service of the heart’, we commence our תפילות שמונה עשרה: daily prayers by invoking the memory of our Avot, with the words ‘G-d of Avraham, G-d of Yitzchak, and G-d of Yaakov’, asking that our prayers be received Above, in their merit- and in the merit of us following in their path.
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