THE BAIS HAVAAD ON THE PARSHA 5773~ PARSHAS VA'EIRA ~Making Sense of Suffering

This week's Parshah begins in the midst of a dialogue between Hashem and Moshe. Moshe was protesting that his mission to save the Bnei Yisrael had so far only served to further aggravate their plight. Hashem responded to Moshe that he is about to witness a number of misfortunes that will come upon Paraoh, and the strong hand with which the Jews will be redeemed. Although this dialogue seems to be quite simple on the surface, Chazal made a comment that requires clarification. The Midrash, quoted by Rashi, notes that Moshe's query contained the word Oz, meaning "since". "Why have you harmed this nation? Since - Me'Oz - I have come to Paraoh, he has harmed this nation, and You have not yet saved Your nation!" The Midrash continues to explain that since he sinned with the word "Oz - since", he was told that he would only see the Exodus from Egypt, but that he would not merit to witness the nation's conquest of Eretz Yisrael. He nevertheless rectified this error by uttering the song at the sea, "Oz Yoshir" ("Then Moshe will sing") which begins with the word Oz. Why is it that his wrongdoing is emphasized by the word Oz, which is not really associated with protest or objection? A more fitting word to convey these sentiments would be the word Lama "why". Additionally, how did the seemingly immaterial "Oz" of the song at the sea, serve to correct this fault?(Click here to listen to this week's feature audio shiur by Rav Zev Leff.) PRINT VERSION HERE Adapted by Rav Yehonassan Sasportas.