Va’era

I (God) will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the Lord.” But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed (Mikotzer) by cruel bondage.

6:8 - 9

No trace of faith and trust; not even misgiving or even argument and opposition. Simply, “they would not listen.” They were so downtrodden and crushed by persecution that they were unable to tune in even to the message of immediate relief and release from bondage, not to speak of the grander and remoter themes of Homeland and Divine Kingship.

Nechama Leibowitz (20^th Century)

Thus the lowest point in the story of redemption is reached. Even Moses, the leader, is ready to give up as he sees the dismal results of his doings and hears the carpings of his people. It is then that the Lord appears again to Moses to tell him that the road to freedom is long and full of obstacles, and that there are no short cuts. Freedom does not come easily as a result of an overnight revolt of the oppressed masses…only when a people runs out of patience and feels that its condition of helplessness is intolerable is it ready for the next stage, which is the delivery from actual bondage. Mental freedom is thus a prerequisite for physical freedom. Moreover, a freedom loving people does not sweat and exert itself to build magnificent Pithom and Ramses for others…

Pinchas Peli (20^th Century)

This is the moment God had been waiting for. There is now a sense of utter helplessness and despair. It is now clear that human efforts will not work. Only God’s intervention will save the Israelites.

Samson Raphael Hirsch (19^th Century)

Had Israel listened to Moses, this demonstration of faith would have been considered as a great merit and they would have been given the Land of Israel as promised…Since they failed to do so, they would not receive the Land; their children, however, would.

Sforno (15^th Century)

The reason was not that they either disbelieved God’s promise…but it was due only to shortness of breath and hard work. The people’s collective condition was much like that of an individual who wishes himself dead as he can no longer bear the pain he is enduring…According to a Midrashic approach the word “Mikotzer”… which totals 430 in Gematria (numerical value), made them believe that the redemption was due to occur only after 430 years of such suffering. Such a prospect naturally made them deaf to Moses’ promises at this time (they did not realize that by commencing the count from the time God had revealed Himself to Avraham…430 had just about elapsed so that the redemption was close at hand).

Rabbeinu Bachya ((14^th Century)

When Moses brought back God’s announcement of deliverance from Egyptian bondage, we are told the Israelites “did not listen…because their spirits were crushed by cruel bondage.” So, too, today as well, it is hard to take seriously Judaism’s age-old message of ultimate freedom…But oddly enough, it if is cruel bondage that crushes spirits to the point where messages of good news go unheeded, we ought to be the most willing listeners the world has ever seen. American Jews are anything but enslaved… Given our freedom, our spirits should be soaring…

Lawrence Hoffman (Contemporary)

Every social, cultural and political trend that has developed in modern Jewish history has been accompanied by a distinctive sense of the past, which supports the collective identity, ideology and activity of its advocates and justifies them to themselves, contemporary Jewish society, and history. Nearly every new ideology seems to have been formulated as a historical schema, combing the past in order to select figures worthy of serving as heroes and to construct a range of supportive historical myths…
Shmuel Feiner (Contemporary)