Parashat Shemot: After God sends Moshe to Pharaoh to be His emissary in the process of redeeming Israel from Egypt, He gives him signs and wonders to help him. Chazal saw these two miracles as hints to the lashon hara that Moshe spoke regarding Bnei Yisrael, when saying “They will not believe me”. Rabbi Tzadok of Lublin explains Moshe’s fear in a slightly different way: Moshe did not believe in the faith Bnei Yisrael had in themselves.
c
c
After God sends Moshe to Pharaoh to be His emissary in the process of redeeming Israel from Egypt, He gives him signs and wonders to help him. The first - turning the staff into a snake- and the other - putting his hand in his lap and upon taking it out. his hand was encrusted with snowy scales (leprosy).
Chazal saw these two miracles as hints to the lashon hara (gossip, literally meaning, “the evil tongue”) that Moshe spoke regarding Bnei Yisrael, when saying “They will not believe me”. The snake is known as ‘the tongue’s owner’, lashon hara is ‘the art of a snake’, and leprosy is associated with the evil tongue in various places.
Moshe seems to express doubt in the faith of Bnei Yisrael. Moshe’s fear is that Bnei Yisrael will not believe him and will not heed his words, that the harsh slavery in which they find themselves and the many years of concealment (hester panim) will blur their faith in God’s revelation and in Moshe being His prophet.
Rabbi Tzadok of Lublin explains Moshe’s fear in a slightly different way. According to him, Moshe believed that Bnei Yisrael would say that they are not worthy of redemption because of their poor spiritual state. Moshe did not believe in the faith Bnei Yisrael had in themselves. He dids not anticipate Bnei Yisrael doubting God’s revelation to him nor even a more serious doubt - that in the possibility of redemption from Egypt or the power of God. What disturbs him is the lack of faith Bnei Yisrael had in themselves.
At first glance, Rabbi Tzadok’s words seem far from the straightforward reading of the text. The Torah explicitly states that the problem of Bnei Yisrael’s faith in Moshe’s eyes is: “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me, but say: The LORD did not appear to you?”, yet it can be explained that the words of Rabbi Tzadok are consistent with the literal texts.
Man’s trust in himself is the foundation of his trust in another and even more so the foundation of his faith in God. Elsewhere, Rabbi Tzadok writes:
Just as a person must believe in God Almighty, so then must he believe in himself. (Tzidkat HaTzadik 154)
Sometimes, it is not ‘so then’, but before. Man’s belief in his power, in his abilities, in that he is capable, that he has hope and a purpose, that his actions affect reality - this belief is the basis for his ability to believe in God, and to trust others.
Moshe is precisely afraid of this issue - that Bnei Yisrael will perceive themselves as not deserving of redemption, and therefore will not believe in their ability to leave slavery for freedom (both physically and spiritually - to correct their ways and repent). God taught him through these signs that he did speak properly. Bnei Yisrael are themselves believers and sons of believers, and if only Moshe will illuminate this fact, their faith will be strengthened - in themselves, in him and in God.
