Moshe delivered a message of deliverance and salvation from the Almighty to the Jewish people. But they didn’t react to it as he hoped.
וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה׃
They did not heed Moshe because of shortness of spirit and hard work. (6:9)
The commentary of Seforno explains that “[t]hey did not heed Moshe,” means to convey that they did not contemplate Moshe’s message in a manner which would have brought them to believe and hope for Hashem’s salvation. Were they to have done that, it would have counted for them as a merit of righteousness as it was for Avraham. By Avraham we find (Genesis 15:7) that after Hashem promised him children as numerous as the stars, “And he trusted in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” This merited Avraham the promise of the next verse . “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.” (Genesis 15:8) Because the Jewish people in Egypt did not emulate their father Avraham the promise of the Land of Israel was not fulfilled through them but instead through their children.
Seforno explains “from shortness of spirit” that their oppressed spirit prevented them from having faith in Hashem. In their state of mind Moshe’s words were beyond belief so his message could not penetrate their hearts.
“Hard work” means that were it not for the hard labor they would have considered Moshe’s words and understood from them that they should believe and be hopeful for Hashem’s salvation.
This lack of faith in Hashem cost them the promise made to Avraham because it manifested itself again when the Jewish people faced the Promised Land that seemed unconquerable and cried to return to Egypt contrary to Hashem’s promise to give them the land. Without following in Avraham’s footsteps they could not be the ones that the promise made to him would be fulfilled. When they gave up hope on Hashem they gave up their destiny.
This took place on a national level. The same tragedy can take place on an individual level.
Rabbi Yisroel Reisman tells of his boyhood neighbor who gave the complete impression of being not Jewish. One day as little Yisroel and his friends, all wearing yarmulke and tzitzit, were playing stickball, his neighbor stopped to watch them. He then approached Yisroel and began reciting a chapter of Mishna by heart! Yisroel was shocked. The man smiled sadly and said, “You didn’t think I went to Yeshiva, did you? You probably didn’t even think that I was Jewish. But I am Jewish and I went to yeshiva. I once knew many mesechtos (tractates) of Mishna by heart. I went through the Holocaust. I survived but I never thought the religion would survive. So I gave it up and decided to live as a non-Jew. And now I see that I made a mistake. Had I known back then that Yiddishkeit (Judaism) would survive, I never would have turned my back on it.” (From Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s book, “An Offer You Can’t Refuse”)
From Seforno’s comment we see that if the Jewish people would have extended themselves beyond the insurmountable challenges they perceived and put in the effort to contemplate Hashem’s message of salvation, they could have come to have faith in Hashem and have the merit of Avraham. This carries a very important lesson for all of us. If we put in the effort even in the most trying times to contemplate how Hashem orchestrates everything that takes place and that he can release us from any challenge we may face, we can attain Avraham’s merit.
The great Chassidic Master Rav Tzadok HaKohein of Lublin writes that a Jew never gives up hope! Look at the genesis of our people. Avraham was 100 years old and Sara was 90 when they had their one and only child together from which the Jewish nation would descend from. Why did Hashem give them a child in such an unexpected way? He answers because Hashem wanted the Jewish nation to be founded on the principle that no matter how much the odds are against us and no matter how difficult the challenges we face may be, we should never give up hope because Hashem is always there for us and He can pull us through.
Jews in Israel and across the world are going through some very tough times. Let us strive to emulate our forefather Avraham and live by the principle that a Jew never gives up hope!
Shabbat Shalom,
Yitzchak