With this week’s Torah reading we begin a first pass through the story of the Exodus from Mitzrayim, which will bring us to the occasion of reading it again as Pesach approaches. We saw previously that the Ramchal interprets the account of the end of this first exile as a precursor to the Final Redemption that will conclude the present, longest, and last exile. He pays special attention there to the double language of redemption that Yosef introduced in last week’s parsha and which Hashem instructs Moshe to use upon revealing himself and his purpose to Bnei Yisrael: “Pakod yifkod etchem,” Yosef says (Bereishit 50:24), Hashem will surely redeem you. The language here is very distinctive – literally “He will count you,” suggesting a final reckoning, an accounting for each and every one of us.
When Moshe approaches the elders of Israel, he is to announce (speaking for Hashem), “Pakod pakadeti etchem” (Shemot 3:16), verily I have recalled you and what has been done to you. In Gevurot Hashem, Maharal examines this phrase in light of the midrash in Shemot Raba (3:8) that teaches that Yosef left this secret code for his brothers and it was passed down among the elders until the day when Moshe arrived speaking the formula. Maharal explains that the double language of reckoning or accounting indicates two parallel time scales. Interestingly, this is similar to what we’ve seen previously that the Maharal taught about another passage in our parsha – Hashem instructing Moshe to identify Him to the elders as “I will be what I will be.” With the double reckoning as well, we learn that Hashem notes the present state – in bondage to Mitzrayim – and He will also note the needs of the moment at the Red Sea.
Maharal explains that Hashem’s power to redeem us is not merely an accident of circumstance or of being in the right place at the right time, but rather there is an overarching plan of redemption that encompasses the entire process from start to finish, all of which has been anticipated and engineered by Hashem. Indeed, when Hashem does an “accounting,” His perspective is not only transcendent of particular moments in time, but it encompasses all possible states – we find the language applied to heaven and earth, to war and peace, to good and bad. All of these factors are incorporated into the Divine plan of salvation.
The double language of reckoning also encompasses two aspects of the Divine Judgment that the true redeemer would have to know to invoke – Hashem will do good to Israel and lead us out of our misfortune, and He will also punish those who tormented us and hold them accountable. Moshe’s use of the formula anticipated by Yosef was also significant because in the face of the ensuing trials and the many doubts that afflicted the Elders and the people of Israel, it strengthened their faith to know that Moshe was the redeemer who had been promised.
Maharal concludes by citing a passage from Pirkei d’Rebbe Eliezer (cap. 48) where it’s shown that each “double” letter, i.e., those with distinct forms at the ends of words, is reserved to play an essential part in carrying out Hashem’s will and effecting a miraculous act of redemption. Thus, pakod yifkod employs the power of the pe to overcome the Egyptian exile, and the doubled letter tzadi is kept in reserve for the end of the fourth and final exile. (This is expected to follow Zechariah 6:12 – “Tzemach… yitzmach,” that which blooms will blossom.)
Maharal explains the underlying logic to this framing. We learn from the Sefer Yetzira that the entire universe is constructed of letters. Upon first consideration, the “final” letters for concluding words seem extraneous, something added on to the quorum of letters necessary for the coming to be of existence. However, Rabbi Eliezer is explaining that even these seemingly “extra touches” have a critical role to play in adding on to and enhancing the natural state of the world, by providing a framework for the miraculous to unfold. All of this has been accounted for since the dawn of existence.
