Letter from Simha Hirsch;October 10, 1850
- Title
- Letter from Simha Hirsch;October 10, 1850
- Author
- Simha Hirsch
- Date Created
- 10 October 1850
- Location(s)
- Philadelphia
- Format
- Letter. 4 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).
- Type
- Letter
- Language(s)
- English
- Physical Characteristics
- Unlined Paper
- Manuscript
- content
-
Hebrew
Philadelphia, 4th Heshvan, 1850
(Nov.)
Of the fat of heaven may handfulls, blessings and life etc. the accomplished Isaac Leeser,
Indirectly, through God's friend and mine, the learned, wise, accomplished Mister Niumburg of the Congregation Kenesseth Israel in this city, about the great commotion caused between your honorable self and the rabbi of the cong-regation of Charleston. The basis of the dis-pute is the meaning of the words "I will be what I will be" in the Biblical portion of Exodus 3:14, and I decided that I too ought to look into, and apply my limited mind to the meaning of these words according to my small comprehension and in so far as God grants me the power to do so, and then present my results before you. Since, how-ever my knowledge and worth do not seem to fit for me for it, and since the meaning of these words is very profound and it is hard to get it through superficial translation, I decided to support my self own ideas with by the words of our
sages, "Sometimes a pearl is found in very poor wrappings." And so I begin—
First I must point out several difficulties in that very verse (14)
1-Why is the words "and he said" used twice in the same verse?
2-Why is the expression, "Thus shalt thou say" used after the second "and he said"? If this is an answer to a question by Moses, the Torah might have said briefly, "And God said to Moses, 'thus shall you say to the Children of Israel, I will be that I will be sent me to you'"
3-Why is it said repeated in the following verse, "Thus shalt thou say to the Children of Israel," and why does God remind him in this verse and not before that he Moses is to say to Israel "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Now for the answer—
The great sight which Moses saw in the bush when God came to him alone, was the first vision at that time Moses did not know the nature of God, nor his Name, nor his attributes. That is why Moses asked the name, i.e. "If Israel want to know your name by which they might
know and believe in you that you are their redeemer, if they ask me such a question what shall I tell them?" God's answer them was "I will be that I will be" i. e. "You need not know or announce my name, for I need no announcement of my name except through my deeds. For I am ever-lasting, and my name is already well known in the world. Moreover, they may not ask you about this. But only if by chance they do ask you, say to them 'I will be sent me to you', i. e. say to them, "the Everlasting sent me to you!" The meaning of the second "I will be" is "say to them, 'I will be a father to them and a redeemer from Pharoah'," And if they are not satisfied even with this, the second "Thus shalt thou say" is used i.e. "Say unto them, that I shall remain, and realize for them that which I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, namely to redeem them and bring them forth with great wealth, that I am to be trusted with regard to my
covenant and my promises for the Ever-lasting One of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man to change.
Now I beg of you not be angry at me that I have written at such length and have thus become a burden with my lowly writing. But please let me know whether you liked my idea, then will I rejoice very much, in the midst of my pre-occupation with p general affairs and with earning a living. Your well-wisher
Simha Hirsch—?
?
of Philadelphia - Identifier
- LSKAP20-1037
- Date
- 1850-10-10
Part of Letter from Simha Hirsch;October 10, 1850
Simha Hirsch, “Letter from Simha Hirsch;October 10, 1850”, 1850-10-10, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/65298