In the beginning of Parashat Vaera, the Torah tells us that Hashem answered Moshe Rabbeinu on his ta'anah that he had, as it's written in the end of Parashat Shemot: למה הרעותה לעם הזה. When Hashem sent Moshe Rabbeinu to Pharaoh, to speak to him to let the Yidden out, instead of helping and making it better, it made it worse. Pharaoh made them work harder. So Moshe Rabbeinu came with a complaint kivayachol to Hashem, and he said, למה הרעותה לעם הזה, why did you make it worse? Because from when I came to Pharaoh, Pharaoh made it worse. So this week's Parashah, Vaera, starts off with וידבר אלקים אל משה, השם spoke to משה, ויאמר אליו, he said to him, אני השם, I am Hashem, and the Torah uses the name Havayah. Hashem has many names. As we see in the beginning of the Parashah itself, it starts off with וידבר אלקים, and nevertheless Hashem said to him, אני הויה, I am Hashem, using the name Havayah, Yud Kei Vav Kei. And then the pasuk continues, Hashem said, וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב, I revealed myself to אברהם, to יצחק, and to יעקב, בקל שקי, with the name קל שקי, but ושמי השם, but my name, as it's written הויה, לא נודעתי להם, I didn't notify them. And then the pasuk continues, וגם הקימותי את בריתי אתם, I established a covenant with them, etc., ואזכור את בריתי, now I remembered the covenant. לכן אמור לבני ישראל, therefore say to the בני ישראל, אני השם, I am Hashem, and again the pasuk uses the name הויה, והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים, I will take you out from under the hard work of מצרים, והצלתי אתכם, I will save you, etc., וגאלתי אתכם, and I will redeem you, etc., ולקחתי אתכם, I will take you, etc., וידעתם כי אני השם, and you will know that I am Hashem, and here again the Torah uses the name Havayah, that you will know that I am Havayah. Now the simple peshat in these pesukim, as Rashi explains it, is that Hashem was saying to Moshe Rabbeinu, don't worry. You thought that והצל לא הצלת את עמך, you were saying that since you were sent, Hashem did not save the people, so don't worry, because now just the time came for me to redeem the Yidden and to keep the הבטחה, the promise, that I promised the Avot. But the question is, why is it important to mention וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב בקל שקי ושמי הויה לא נודעתי להם? Why did Hashem have to say to him that I revealed myself to Avraham and to Yitzchak and to Yaakov, but my name Havayah I didn't let them know, I didn't notify them? So Rashi explains in the simple peshat that what the pasuk is trying to say that the reason why the geulah didn't come before was because in the time of the Avot, it wasn't time yet to keep the promise. And that's what the pasuk means, ושמי הויה לא נודעתי להם, that my name Havayah did not notify to the Avot, it means לא ניכרתי להם במידת אמיתי שלי. I did not make myself known to them with a true middah of mine, which means in other words, at that time the promise was not fulfilled. Now came the time to fulfill the promise. And that's what Hashem meant to say when he said to him that I did not notify them my name Havayah. But the question is, why is it important to know here that in the time of the Avot, Hashem still did not fulfill the promise? All Hashem should have said to him that you're complaining that I did not save the Yidden, so I'm telling you now came the time to save them, now I'm going to fulfill the promise. Why is it important to mention that in the time of the Avot, the promise was not fulfilled yet? What does that add?

So obviously, this that Hashem said that he did not reveal his true name Havayah to the Avot is part of the answer to Moshe Rabbeinu that he complained למה הרעותה לעם הזה, why Hashem made it worse. The answer was that to the Avot I did not reveal the name Havayah, but now I am revealing. The Peshat is, as it's explained in many חסידישע ספרים, that when Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says in the beginning of the פרשה, וידבר אלקים אל משה ויאמר אליו אני השם, using the name Havayah, I am Havayah, so it says in Sefarim that this was the real answer to Moshe Rabbeinu's question. Moshe Rabbeinu asked, why did you make it worse for them? So Hashem said to him, the reason I made it worse was because אני הויה, because my name is Havayah. And as the Pasuk continues later on, לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני הויה, tell the בני ישראל אני הויה, and later on it continues, וידעתם כי אני הויה, so you should know that I am Havayah. What he was saying was that what's going to happen now by Yetziat Mitzrayim is that there will be such a great revelation, the revelation of Havayah. And because it's going to be such a great revelation, therefore, in order to be zoche to it, first has to be a very strong strong Galut. We know the difference between שם הויה and שם אלוקים and other names, but the שם הויה, the name Havayah, is called the שם העצם, the essential name. It is also called the שם המיוחד, the name which is united with Hashem. It is also called the שם המפורש, the name which is specified, the clear name of Hashem. So the name Havayah represents a very, very high spiritual level. As it says that the name Havayah is made up of three words, היה, הווה, ויהיה, which means was, is, and will be, past, present, and future. And they are all in one name. That means that Havayah represents a level which is beyond nature, because naturally you cannot have past, present, and future together. If it's together, it's beyond nature. Not like שם אלוקים, which is בגימטריא הטבע. The name Elokim, א and then a ל and a ה and a י and a ם, adds up to the same numerical value as the word הטבע, which means the nature. So Elokim represents Hashem the way He puts Himself, He is מצמצם Himself, He contracts Himself, and He hides Himself in the nature, while the שם הויה represents Hashem the way He is beyond nature. And what Hashem was saying to Moshe Rabbeinu, that through the Yetziat Mitzrayim, the Yidden will be zocheh, will merit to have the great revelation of the name Havayah. And this is something He said that the Avot were not zocheh yet. The Avot only had the hitgalut, the revelation of Hashem in the form of Kel Shaddai, which means the way Hashem contracts Himself, is metzamtzem Himself into a lower madregah, as the name ש-ד-י represents. As it says in the Gemara in Chagigah, דף י״ב עמוד א׳, that it means שאמרתי לעולמי די. The word ש-ד-י is abbreviation of the three words שאמרתי לעולמי די, that I said to my world enough. Because it says when Hashem created the world, the world continued growing and growing until Hashem had to stop it, and He said dai, it's enough. And that is represented in the name ש-ד-י, Shaddai. So that refers to Hashem the way He created the world, similar to the Shem Elokim, which is בגימטריא הטבע. But the Shem Havayah, that is a revelation which is beyond creation. And that revelation was not given to the Avot. This is a revelation that was only going to be by Yetziat Mitzrayim.

But in order to be zocheh to such a great revelation, as it says in the sefarim, there first has to be a strong galut. Like a lot of times we see that before we get a very strong revelation, a high revelation, you first have to have a very great galut, and after the suffering of galut, then you are zocheh to this high madregah. As it is concerning the inyan of Mashiach: when Mashiach will come, the revelation will be so great, and therefore in order to merit that revelation, we have to go through a terrible galut, such a long galut as we are in now. So too, in order to be zocheh for the gilui, the revelation of Shem Havayah at that time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, it had to be a very strong galut. And this is what Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu: you complained למה הרעותה לעם הזה, why did I make it worse? Why did I make the galut stronger? So He answered him, because אני הויה, I am הויה, and this is what I'm going to reveal. Till now the galut wasn't so bad, certainly the time of the Avot there wasn't a galut, because they were not zocheh to שם הויה. That's why he says ושמי הויה לא נודעתי להם, I did not notify them, I did not give them the real revelation of הויה. But now that the time came for the revelation of הויה, לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני הויה, tell the Bnei Yisrael I am הויה, which means reveal it to them, it's going to be revealed. And he continues that I will והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי, all for what? וידעתם כי אני הויה, so you should know that אני הויה, the revelation of שם הויה. And therefore there had to be the strong galut, and the closer it gets to the revelation of אני הויה, the worse the galut gets, and that's the answer why He made it worse. So it comes out from here that when Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu and he said וארא אל אברהם, etc., etc., and he said that לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני הויה, this is giving out the main point of what's going to happen in the geulah of Mitzrayim. And he's telling us that not only is the mahut, the meaning of the geulah, not only a physical geulah, a physical redemption from hard labor, but also mainly a spiritual redemption. That from being in a in a point, in a status of avadim, slaves to Mitzrayim, to Paroh, you will be now in a form of cherut, free, and you will be able to serve Hashem. As the pasuk says: בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה, that Hashem said to Moshe that when you will take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim, you will serve Hashem on this mount, meaning that the goal of Yetziat Mitzrayim is to serve Hashem, which means that Yetziat Mitzrayim really is mainly a geulah ruchaniyut, is a spiritual geulah, more even than a גאולה גשמית, but what the Torah is telling us here is even more than that: that within the ruchniyut itself, the geulah is going to make the Yidden reach such a high madreigah, the madreigah of Havayah. which is something that the Avot did not have. The Avot, as great as they were, up to the point where the Chazal say in Bereishit Rabbah, פרשה מ״ז, ו׳, and פרשה פ״ב, ו׳, and it's also in the Zohar Raaya Meheimna Pinchas, דף רנ״ז עמוד ב׳, that דהאבות הן הן המרכבה. The Avot are the merkavah, the chariot of Hashem. And as it's explained in sefarim that it means not only that they are the chariot of Hashem, the merkavah in shamayim, but it shows on their level. They were so batel, so given over, so nullified to Hashem, like a chariot is batel to its rider. The chariot doesn't have its own will; it only does what the rider makes it do. They were so batel to Hashem that they had no being of their own. That's how great the Avot were. Nevertheless, being that they were at that time before the revelation of Havayah, the spiritual level that they were able to reach was still limited. The level of being unlimited, so to speak, connecting oneself to Hashem in an unlimited way, that only came after Yetziat Mitzrayim. Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, and then took us to Har Sinai, which is the end of Yetziat Mitzrayim, and gave us the Torah.

To explain this a little bit in detail: The word Mitzrayim, even though in פשוט פשט it refers to a country called Mitzrayim, Egypt, nevertheless, it also has another meaning. It comes from the word מצר, which means border, limit. So Mitzrayim means limits. It's possible for a person to serve Hashem and to do everything right, and nevertheless, still to be limited. If a person does mitzvot, learns Torah, based on his understanding, he does it as much as he understands, he does it according to his feelings, so he only does it according to his feelings, as much as he feels, even if he will be doing everything because he feels that we have to do everything, or he does it because of his sechel and his sechel tells him to do everything, nevertheless, this person is still limited. He is serving Hashem out of limits. He is limited to his own understanding, his own emotions, or whatever it may be. So really, he is not going out of himself to connect himself to Hashem, but he is still within his own limits. And we could imagine that when a person wants to connect himself to Hashem, who is unlimited, and he still remains within his own limits, that connection is a very weak connection. You don't really connect yourself, because Hashem, who is the Creator, who is unlimited, and the human being, who is the creature, who is part of the creation, they cannot combine, because the nivra and the Borei are two extremes, they're two opposites. So how can you combine a nivra with the Borei, a creature, the creation with the Creator? The only way is if the creature, for some reason, is able to go out of the boundaries of creation, then he is able to connect himself to the Creator. But that cannot be done, because whatever the person will do, since he's doing it, so it comes as a result of him, and he is limited to the creation, so he cannot go out of the creation. Only Hashem Himself, who is the Creator, can take a person out of the limits of creation. Similar to the מאמר חז״ל of אין חבוש מתיר עצמו מבית האסורים. A person who is in prison cannot get himself out. You have to have a person who is on the outside, who is free, to get the prisoner out. We are within the prison of our own limitations. So how can we get ourselves out, to connect ourselves to the Creator who is beyond limits? It is only the Creator, Hashem, who could do it. And that's actually what happened by Yetziat Mitzrayim. He took us out of the limits. Since at that time He took us out of Mitzrayim, and took us to Har Sinai, and He gave us the Torah, since it came from Him, so then we are able now to connect ourselves to Him in an unlimited way. That we do mitzvot, not because of our sechel, and not only because of our middot, but beyond that, we do it going out of the boundaries, we do it with a complete bitul, with self-nullification, that we are mevatel ourselves completely, and we do it only because of Hashem, and then the connection we have to Hashem is an unlimited connection. But this happened at the time of Yetziat Mitzrayim, and this is what the pasuk means, that at that time there was a revelation of the שם הוי׳. As we said before, שם אלוקים and שם ש-ד-י represent Hashem the way He is within the world, within the nature, which means it's still the way the world is limited. So when a person would serve Hashem while there's only a revelation of the name אלוקים or the name ק-ל ש-ד-י, so then this person is still not out of his limits, because he's serving Hashem in a form the way Hashem is connected to the creation, so therefore he's not going out of the limits of the creation. And that was the level that the Avot served Hashem. That was the best they were able to reach. But since Hashem never took them out, that's why they weren't able to reach any higher level. But by Yetziat Mitzrayim, and later on it led to מתן תורה, that's when Hashem revealed the name הוי׳, which means He ...revealed himself in the form the way he is beyond limits, which means he gave us the power to connect ourselves to Hashem, the way he is beyond nature, the way he is beyond the creation. And that is an unlimited connection. And that's what the pasuk means, אני הויה, now you are able to feel the שם הויה. And this fits to what the Midrash says in Shir HaShirim Rabbah that כל מה שעשו אבות לפניך ריחות היו, אבל אנו שמן תורק שמך כמוריק מכלי לכלי, that whatever the Avot did to Hashem was only like a smell. But what we do is like we take from one keli to another. The mashal is from perfume: if you smell the perfume, you only have a smell. But if you take a little bit and pour it over from one bottle to the other, so then the one that has the second bottle also has the essence of the perfume, while if he would only have a smell, then he has nothing. The Avot, it says, all they did for you was like a smell. What we have, we actually have כמוריק מכלי לכלי, as if you empty from one keli to another. What does the Midrash mean? That since the Avot served Hashem before Matan Torah, so as high as they went, it was only like a smell, which means it was still limited to the limit of creation. The highest level of creation, true, but within the limits of creation. Only connected with the Shem Sha-dai, the Shem Elokim, etc. But אנו, we, after מתן תורה, כמוריק מכלי לכלי, so like you pour from one keli to another, which means Hashem gave himself over and brought himself down. He, the way he is beyond creation, gave us the power to go out of our limits and connect ourselves to Hashem beyond limits in an unlimited infinite way.

And this is what Hashem answered to Moshe Rabbeinu: You complained and you said, למה הרעותה לעם הזה? Why is it that it became worse? You were sent to take the Yidden out of Mitzrayim, so it should have been a step closer to take the Yidden out. Instead of that, what happened? It made it worse. So Hashem answered him, you're right. This is a step closer, being that the revelation is going to be אני הויה, not like the Avot. Now there will be הויה. For that, you have to have a stronger Galut. And that's the answer. You went, so you brought it closer to the Geulah, and in order to get closer to the Geulah of אני הויה, there has to be the strengthening of the Galut, so that's what happened. It became worse, and now that it became worse, it is getting closer to the end. And what's going to happen? Now they will be zoche to יציאת מצרים, which is the revelation of אני הויה.