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Orchard of Delights Shemot

God even informed Moses that He had not made His name truly being and God in the Tanach. It would require an entire book to
known to the patriarchs; only now that the time had come to redeem plumb the depths of what is revealed in this profound dialogue. In
the children of Israel and fulfill the promises He had made to the this section, we will elaborate on this unique name of God and show
patriarchs could He reveal the name of God to the entire world. how it is especially associated with Moses, the man who the Torah
recounts spoke to God “face to face” (Exodus 33:11).
Furthermore, God explicitly states that one of the primary
purposes of the plagues was to let the Egyptians and Jews know that The connection between this name and Moses is indeed astounding.
He was God. As the beginning of the portion of Bo relates, Firstly, the numerical value of “I Will Be That I Will Be” is 543,
the exact inverse of the numerical value of Moses’ name, 345. This in
God said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart
and the heart of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs and of itself suggests a “face to face” relationship, a mirrorlike image,
of Mine in his midst; and so that you may relate in the ears of your between Moses and God. Bolstering this notion, Moses’ name (השמ)
son and your son’s son that I made a mockery of Egypt and my signs spelled backward in Hebrew is םשה (Hashem; the Name), the term
that I placed among them – that you may know that I am God.” used to refer to God when we wish to avoid enunciating one of His
(Exodus 10:1-2). holy names. From this we may infer that during their conversation at
the burning bush, God was trying to bring out and reveal to Moses his
God’s revelation was intended to benefit not only the Jews in Egypt inner potential, while Moses was trying to draw out more information
but also their descendants; both would have knowledge of Him. from God, so that He would finally reveal His essential name.

Indeed, Moses’ warnings to Pharaoh about the imminent arrival When Moses initially turned to see the unusual sight of a bush that
of another plague are often accompanied by various declarations was burning yet not consumed, God called to him, “Moses Moses”
proclaiming God’s revelation using the keyword “to know”: “So says (Exodus 3:4). God only repeats four peoples’ names twice when
God, through this you will know that I am God” (7:17); “so that you calling them: Abraham, Jacob, Samuel, and Moses. In the Masoretic
will know that there is none like God, our God” (8:6); “so that you tradition and in most printed Tanachs there is a thick line separating
will know that I am God in the midst of the earth” (8:18); “for this each instance of the name. Only in Moses’ case does this line not
time I will send all my plagues against your heart … so that you will appear. Symbolically, this alludes to God’s understanding that Moses
know that there is none like Me in all the world” (9:14). had unique potential: his inner and outer selves could be truly one.

This goal of educating Pharaoh is of course especially striking after By revealing the Divine name “I Will Be That I Will Be” to Moses,
Pharaoh’s initial response to Moses’ request was to declare that he God was attempting to awaken his leadership qualities and prod
did not know God: “Who is God that I should heed His voice to send him into revealing this unique hidden potential. This is hinted at by
out Israel. I do not know God, nor will I send out Israel” (Exodus the numerical equivalence between “I Will Be That I Will Be” and
5:1-2). As the Midrash relates, Pharaoh could not find God’s name in the phrase “the power of song,” which both equal 543. This remez,
his “directory of the gods” (Shemot Rabbah 5:1). a mathematical hint, teaches us that an individual’s cumulative
In fact, both the beginning of Israel’s enslavement and the potential and mission in life is aroused through song. In this sense
beginning of Israel’s redemption appear to be marked by the every person has an inner song, an inner vibrational field that
keyword “to know.” Thus, the entire story of the children of Israel’s attunes itself and guides him or her to fulfill the unique potential
enslavement in Egypt seems to begin with Pharaoh’s claim that he and purpose, the “I Will Be That I Will Be,” of his or her life.
did “not know Joseph”; his convenient excuse for forgetting all the Parenthetically, according to the Zohar, Moses potential included
good Joseph had done for Pharaoh and Egypt. And God’s knowledge knowing how to sing all the songs of creation and each individual

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