Musar su Esodo 17:16

When G–d said to Moses שלח לך, send for you, it meant that just as G–d's intention had been constructive, so also Moses was guided by constructive ideas when he consented to arrange this mission. The meaning of וישלח אותם על פי ה', means with the consent of G–d, and not because of the demand of the spies or the people. Moses understood part of this allusion, and though he did not foresee how these spies would report individually, he did have a notion of how the horoscope they were born under might influence them. This is why the Torah reports Moses as studying the individual names of these people for clues to their character. This is why the Torah repeats in 13,17: "these are the names of the men whom Moses sent out, etc." The Talmud in Sotah 34, says that we have a tradition that their names reflected their deeds, however, according to Rabbi Yitzchak, only in the case of the prince of Asher סתור בן מיכאל, does the Talmud manage to elaborate. Rabbi Yochanan also provides such a rationale in the case of the prince of Naftali, נחבי בן ופסי, claiming that the name means he hid from G–d, or that he cleverly hid his true intentions. His father's name ופסי is an allusion to פסע, skipping, i.e. reporting G–d's words only out of context, not completely. When Moses began to suspect that possibly these people harbored unworthy thoughts, seeing their names could be so construed, he renamed Hoshea, calling him Joshua, the implication being that G–d should assist him not to adopt the counsel of the other spies (Bamidbar Rabbah 16,9, on 13,16). The reason Moses employed the two-lettered name of G–d in doing so was that it had been employed when describing G–d's struggle against Amalek, at which time Joshua's eventual role had first been hinted at. The reason Caleb was the one who silenced the spies in the middle of their report, was that Joshua was afraid to say עלה נעלה, we can certainly ascend," i.e. conquer the land (13,30), since this might be construed as Joshua's personal ambition to lead the people.

We must remember that though the redemption from Egypt was indeed a great redemption, it was not an ultimate redemption. Such a redemption will occur only in the future when the Messiah comes, at which time the impact of the remaining two letters in G–d's Ineffable Name will also be felt. The fact that during the episode of the Exodus only the first two letters of G–d's Ineffable Name had manifested themselves is alluded to in Exodus 17,16: כי יד על כס י-ה מלחמה לה' בעמלק, which alerts us to the fact that only the first two letters in G–d's Ineffable name carry on the war against Amalek. Our sages have confirmed this when they point to the שירה חדשה, song in the feminine gender, that the Jewish people sung in appreciation of G–d's salvation at that time. This song will be replaced by a שיר חדש, song in the masculine gender, which will be composed and sung by the Jewish people in the future when the final redemption will occur. The redemption from Egypt was rooted in the עולם הנקבות, the "female" world. We read in Jeremiah 31,21 (22) where the prophet speaks about the ultimate redemption, that: ברא השם חדשה בארץ נקבה תסובב גבר, "For the Lord has created something new on earth; a woman courts a man!" This is an allusion to the type of redemption that still awaits us. I have elaborated on this theme in my commentary on the הגדה של פסח. The time of the redemption is the time when all the letters in the Ineffable Name combine and form the dual-faced, male-female Name, i.e. the concept that prevailed at the time the prototype of אדם -who was created male and female combined- was conceived. The prevalent name then was masculine, as is clear from the word אדם as opposed to אדמה.

The Torah provides a strong hint of the perfection of such a future world when it describes Abraham as "standing over the angels under the tree while they ate" (18,8). We read in Kohelet 11,3 מקום שיפול העץ שם יהוא, "wherever the tree will fall, there it remains." [The following is based on the word יהוא meaning יהיה-הו. At least this is the spelling of the word in that verse adopted by Avodah Zara 31. Ed.] In this instance Abraham is described as והוא עומד as opposed to having fallen. We find in Zachariah 14,9: ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד, "on that day G–d will be One and His name will be One; this is an allusion to a perfect world when G–d's name will be complete, not as in our imperfect world where G–d appears only with half His name as we are told in Exodus 17,16 כי יד על כס י-ה מלחמה לה' בעמלך, "that as long as G–d has to make war against Amalek, a hand is raised against His throne which is described as כס instead of as כסא. Also, His name is only י-ה, instead of י-ה-ו-ה. We have explained that the first two letters in G–d's Ineffable Name represent more of the attribute of Mercy than the last two letters. In the future as described in Zachariah not only will G–d's name be complete, but the last two letters will equal the first two letters. The name will then be as if it were spelled יהיה. This is the real meaning of "on that day G–d and His name will be One."

Although the salvation from Amalek in the days of Mordechai was great, it does not compare to the extent of the salvation in the future when the messianic age will be ushered in. As a result of this future battle between the forces of Amalek and G–d, G–d's name will emerge restored to its full glory, i.e. not י-ה, but י-ה-ו-ה. According to Manot ha-Levi this is the reason that the name of G–d is not mentioned at all in the Megillah. The absence of G–d's name is meant to bring home to us how incomplete the salvation of Purim was compared to what will occur in the future. We have to read פרשת זכור before Purim. This is equivalent to praying for the annihilation of Amalek, reminding ourselves that, all other evidence notwithstanding, the forces of Amalek are still around. One normally is asked to first think about what one hopes to accomplish before launching a project, in this case the final extinction of Amalek.