Reb Ginsbourg: ’These are the names' - a haunting title for this week's parsha

 ’These are the names' - a haunting title for this week's parsha

Names truly reflect the forces with which the creation, so named, was created.

Our Parasha: Shemot: Names - and the Chumash with which it commences - derives its name from its opening passuk: (1:1): ואלה שמות: And these are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt; with Yaakov, each man and his household came.

‘Reuben, Shimon, Levi and Yehuda; Issachar, Zebulun, and Binyamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.And all the persons who emerged from Yaakov’s loins were seventy souls, and Yosef was in Egypt.’

Rashi brings the Midrash Tanchuma:’And these are the names..’:’Although Hashem counted them in their lifetime by their names (Vayigash 45:8~27), He counted them again after their death, to let us know how precious they are to Him, because they are likened to the stars which He takes out and brings in by their number and by names.’

Rav Gedalia Schorr elaborates on this Rashi: ’Each star has an allotted special role, which is why they are called by name by Hashem, the name alluding to its essence and specific role.

‘In likening the sons of Yaakov to the stars, there is an allusion, that just as we know that the stars are actually great lights, and only because of their distance from us the brightness of their light is not seen by us -= instead appearing to be dim - so too, the strength of the tribes - they truly have mighty power, and illuminate for the rest of Israel, even in the darkness of the galut - even though it may not be seen from afar, Bnei Israel, in their exile, being, as it were, too far away to see their light.

‘Nevertheless, they must know, that they have the illumination of this light, in the darkness of their galut, and by its force, they have the ability to go out of the darkness, into light.’

Sforno adds: 'These’, who are named here, ‘were all worthy to be known by their name, each deserving to be considered as an individual, his name indicating his personal form, and all their lives, they were as luminaries, and their generation did not descend to bad culture.

However, after their death, their descendants were not as righteous, so as to have importance in the eyes of Hashem, or of men.

Rav Chaim miChernowitz expounds:’And these are the names of Bnei Israel’: ‘Did we not already know the names of the tribes, the sons of Yaakov, from Parashat Vayigash, which named all who went down to Egypt? Why were their names repeated here?

It appears to me, that this is because a person’s name is reflected in his deeds.

This is why our Sages - in the Midrash - said:’Their names are pleasant, and their deeds are pleasant:these are the holy tribes: Reuben:See this son amongst other sons; Shimon: Heeds the voice of his Heavenly Father’, and so with the names of all the tribes, as their names were apt to them, and to glorify their deeds.

This is what is said here: ’And these are the names..’, meaning: Behold, these holy names which they had when they descended to Egypt whilst they lived, were their names till the day of their deaths.

Further, as our Sages say, because these names were not changed, they were thus distinguishable from the Egyptians, and this was one of merits which made them worthy to be redeemed.

Hashem, in His mercy for his people, ensured that ‘these names’ were the names of Bnei Israel alone, and that there should not be such names amongst the Egyptians, so that Bnei Israel should remain distinct from the Egyptians, as only for them were ‘these names pleasant’.

These names, further, also all alluded to their redemption- as our Sages say in Midrash Rabba -,:’Reuben: ראה ראיתי את עני עמי: I truly saw the affliction of my people; Shimon: וישמע אלקים את נעקתם: And G-d heard their cries’, and so on.

Therefore their names were specifically theirs, and no others neared them, the Egyptians being precluded from using these names, as they were sacred to Hashem, and He did not let them mingle amongst the Egyptians until their exodus.

This is alluded to in the words:’Who emerged from Yaakov’s loins’, that they were recognizable as descending from Yaakov, as they remained separate from the Egyptians - despite Yosef having risen to great prominence, and, as we read: ‘Yosef was in Egypt’, no-one called his son after Yosef, but all remained ‘the sons of Yaakov’.

The Shem miShmuel adds: The Midrash Rabba expounds:’And these are the names of Bnei Israel': these names were mentioned here, because they all alluded to the גאולה: the redemption of Israel, ‘Reuben’ for ‘I saw the suffering of my people’, ‘Shimon’, for:’And Hashem heard their cries’.

It seems to that the ba’al haMidrash expounded in this way, because he found a difficulty in the passuk: why the Torah again specify their named, after having already done so in Parashat Vayigash?

Further, why did the Torah here not mention the names of all the seventy souls who descended to Egypt, as it did there.

To answer these difficulties, he expounds that the names that were mentioned here, were only because of their allusion to the redemption.

This was in accord with the teaching of our Sages (Meg’ 13:), that Hashem., does not afflict Isrsel unless he first creates the remedy to the affliction.

This was the case with the galut, the intention being to make them worthy to receive the Torah, and therefore, by necessity, the remedy had to be created before the affliction - the redemption before the galut.

This, too, is why the names of the Tribes alluded to the redemption, as had this not been the case, there could not be the necessary affliction of the galut.

Thus, their names were not brought here for themselves - as these were already known from Parashat Vayigadsh - but were brought to teach the reason why the galut could now begin, the necessary remedy already having been created, as alluded to in the names of the Tribes.

The failure to name here all the seventy souls who descended was because they had no relevance to the beginning of the galut, or the redemption from it.

The names of the Tribes which alluded to the redemption, in itself strengthened the people, and enabled them not to be lost in the impurity of Egypt.’

As we have learned of the allusion of these names to the redemption, in the Parasha of Names: Shemot, we also find that the redeemer’s name - which is also related in our Parasha-also alludes to the redemption.

We read:(2:1-10) ‘A man went from the house of Levi and he took a daughter of Levi.The woman conceived and gave birth to a son.. She could not hide him any longer.. (so) she placed the child into’ a wicker basket, ‘and placed it in the reeds..Pharaoh’s daughter.. saw the basket among the reeds..she took pity on him, and said:’This is one of the Hebrew boys’..The boy grew up, and’ his sister nursed him, at the request of Pharoah’s daughter; and Pharoah’s daughter ‘called his name משה: Moshe, as she said: ‘ For מן המים משיתהו: I drew him from the water’.

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh comments:’When the Imahot gave names to the holy tribes, we find that the giving of the names was preceded by the reason for the name chosen, as, for example, ‘Reuben’: Because Hashem saw.. ‘Shimon’: Hashem heard, and she called his name ‘Shimon’.

However, when Pharoah’s daughter called him ‘Moshe’, the chosen name was mentioned first, and then the reason for the name.

Perhaps this was because the Imahot had ruach hakodesh, by which they perceived the essence of the name, and the name given was what they alluded to.

Pharoah’s daughter - unlike them - did not merit to understand the inner meaning of the name, as it was put in her mouth by Hashem.’

Chezkuni adds:’משוי: drawn from, is not the name he was given, but משה, to allude that, just as he was drawn from the water, so too, he will draw others - redeeming them from their bondage in Egypt’.

Let us enrich our souls, with the wondrous exposition of Rav Schorr:’Ramban tefers to Sefer Breishit as ספר הזריעה: ‘the book of sowing’, the Avot sowing, as it were, for their descendants, and, when they completed this role, Sefer Shemot is ספר הצמיחה: ‘the Book of growth’, or ספר הגאולה: ‘the Book of redemption’, the כוחות: the forces which the Avot sowed in their descendants, emerging in practice.

Be that as it may, we find that the name of our Chumash was set as ‘the Book of Shemot’: ‘the Book of Names’, and so we find, as the whole of our Parasha is concerned with the subject of names, starting with the names of the Tribes, and the name of the Redeemer, and also the name of Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu.

To gain an understanding of names, we need to go back to our Sages sayings as to the wisdom of Adam Harishon.

The Midrash relates that Hashem brought all living creaures before the angels, and asked them: What are their names? When they were unable to answer, they were brought before Adam Harishon, and he gave names to each creature. Asked Hashem:’And what is My Name?’ - replied Adam Harishon:אדנ׳י: because You are the Master of all the creations’.

Here we ask: what great wisdom was there in Adam Harishon knowing what names to give to all the creatures, that Hashem extolled to the angels? Do we not find that the sages of all the nations also give names to all the creatures.

However, from this we learn that the names Adam Harishon gave - and not some other names - were according to the essence of each creature, and its role, and this was very different than the names the sages of the nations gave.

This is because lashon hakodesh is different from any other language - they being the product of the sages of the respective nation, but have no relation to the essence of that which is named by them.

Lashon hakodesh, on the other hand, is connected to the essence of each thing, and the names are given according to this essence.

To better understand this, let us contemplate our Sages teaching, that Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which Heaven and Earth were created, this because our Sages also teach, that ‘When He created this world’, Hashem looked at - was guided by - the Torah’ - this because the Creation of this world, was by the letters of the Torah, which contain special powers, and these powers also have a specific form when written: just as combining letters makes words, and combining words make a complete essay, so too, the root of the letters, as, in reality, combining letters is a combination of forces - and from the combination of these forces, heaven and earth were created.

We therefore find, that names truly reflect the forces with which the creation so named, was created - and this was the great wisdom of Adam Harishon.’

Now to our subject: the names of the Tribes, the Rav elucidates:’Our Sages say that the names of the Tribes ‘were נאים: pleasant to them, and their deeds were נאים to their names’.

The explanation of this is, that the objective of man is that the latent forces with which he was created, should be revealed, and his name alludes to these forces with which he was created - when his deeds match these forces, revealing these latent forces, it can truly be said that ‘his deeds are pleasant, and he is נאה to his name’.

This is the praise that the Midrash lavishes on the Tribes, that they brought these latent forces into their deeds as is the task of every man.

The ba’alei Midrash, on our opening passuk, say that the names of the Tribes all allude to the redemption’, as we have brought, ‘the same names in Parashat Vayigash there alluding to the galut.

This requires explanation, as our Parasha relates the beginning of the galut, and, if so, why do the Sages say that here they allude to the redemption from the galut?

To answer this, let us note that the purpose of the galut was to purify the people; but, the great affliction and darkness into which they descended in Egypt, required special forces to enable them to stand firm in the bitter galut, as though the galut was a preparation for the צמיחה that was to follow, just as if the seed sown is unable to survive, it will not have the power to sprout, so too, in the spiritual sowing, despite the impurity and darkness into which Bnei Israel descended, they could not lose their ability to be redeemed, as the objective of the redemption, was that those latent forces with which they descended, would be the springboard for their redemption - the galut was to purify them, until they were worthy to be ‘Hashem’s nation’.

The names the Tribes were given all allude to the redemption, to the forces which had been ‘sown’ by the Avot, by which they were redeemed, and this enabled them to survive the affliction and impurity of their galut.

This is also the deeper meaning of our Sages teaching, that ‘they did not change their names’ in Egypt, as this also safeguarded them from assimilating, so that they remained, in their core, true to themselves and to their essence, retaining the name ‘Israel’, and merited redemption.

A beautiful parting gem from the Chatam Sofer:As a person’s name reflects his essence, Moshe Rabbeinu’s name should have been מה - omitting the ש -as his essence was his unmatched humility, as he declared: נחנו מה: ‘We, what are we?’ - in Parashat Beshalach - and as the Torah testifies in Parashat Behalotcha.

What does the ‘omitted’ ש allude to?

It can be seen to be composed, in its form, from the letters ט and ז.

Moshe was, at root, wholly טוב, as the Torah states, in regard as to his birth:’And she saw that he was good’, one of his names being טוביה, and he did not want to resort to force or the attribute of strength.

Whilst the ט therefore alludes to טוב, the ז alludes to כלי זין, to force.

These two forces were, in fact, the two that guided Moshe, as circumstances dictated.

This can be seen in his reply to Hashem, in our Parasha, when Hashem asked him - in regard to the staff in his hand -: מה זה : ‘What is this in your hand’ - with a ז, alluding to force - Moshe replied: מטה - with a ט - alluding to ‘good’, as Moshe wanted to only conduct by being ‘good’.

לרפואתֶ חילי צה"ל ונפגעי הטרור וביניהם נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.