Parashat Va'era

In Parashat Va'era, Moshe's claim that he is "of uncircumcised lips" recurs, and there is here a deep tension between a great truth and the ability for it to appear in the world. The divine truth, the higher it is, so too is it simpler and more necessary for all. And many times, because of its greatness, a person is frightened by it and tries to diminish it, to make it accessible and popular, and in this he is liable to withhold from people a great truth. The condensation is necessary; it enables the truth to act within a limited human reality. But after the idea has been conveyed and simplified, we must return to the greatness of the matter. The sin begins when a person remains in the condensation, when he gives up on the return to the greatness and purity of the truth. The claim of "uncircumcised lips" recurs again and again in order to emphasize the depth of the need to convey the word of God, so that it may be heard. And the Holy One insists with Moshe that he be His messenger despite the uncircumcised lips, because a great truth is not merely a matter of articulation, but of a whole life.

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