"The Burning Bush — Presence, Attention, and the Shape of Redemption — Part III"

“אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה” — A Name of Presence, Not Timetables

Introduction — The Question Moshe Asks

Standing before the Burning Bush, Moshe does not ask how redemption will happen.
He asks what to say.

When the people demand legitimacy, Moshe anticipates their question:

“וְאָמְרוּ־לִי מַה־שְּׁמוֹ מָה אֹמַר אֲלֵהֶם”
[“They will say to me: ‘What is His Name?’ What shall I say to them?”] (Shemos 3:13)

Moshe is not asking for information.
He is asking for assurance.

Names in Torah are not labels. They describe how Hashem will be experienced in history. Moshe seeks a Name that can carry a people through suffering without breaking them under expectation.

Hashem’s answer is unexpected — and deliberately incomplete.

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” — Being With, Not Scheduling

Hashem responds:

“וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה”
[“And G-d said to Moshe: ‘I will be what I will be.’”]

This is not a definition.
It is a refusal to be defined by timelines.

Rashi explains that “Ehyeh” means I am with them in this suffering, and I will be with them in future sufferings. But Hashem immediately limits what Moshe may relay:

Tell them only “אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם” —
“Ehyeh has sent me to you.”

Hashem withholds mention of future pain, not because it will not come, but because a people crushed by exile cannot bear forecasts of suffering.

The Name offered is not predictive.
It is accompaniment.

Presence Without Guarantees

This moment completes the theology of the Burning Bush.

• In Part I, Hashem reveals presence within pain
• In Part II, Moshe responds with attention
• In Part III, Hashem defines redemption without dates, deadlines, or assurances

“Ehyeh” means: I will be with you — but I will not give you a calendar.

The Torah refuses to equate faith with foresight.

Why Timetables Corrupt Redemption

Chassidus and Rav Kook both warn that obsession with timelines deforms faith.

When redemption is reduced to prediction:

• Disappointment becomes theological crisis
• Delay feels like abandonment
• Presence is ignored in favor of outcomes

“Ehyeh” protects Israel from this distortion.

Hashem does not say when He will redeem —
He says how He will relate.

Redemption is not measured by speed.
It is measured by presence sustained.

A Name That Grows With History

Unlike static names, “Ehyeh” unfolds.

It is a Name that adapts to circumstance without changing essence:

• In Egypt
• At the Sea
• In the Wilderness
• In future exiles

Rav Kook teaches that this Name reflects a living relationship — Hashem reveals Himself as the people can receive Him, without abandoning them to abstraction or overwhelming them with certainty.

Presence remains.
Form evolves.

Faith Without Demands

The Torah here sets a demanding standard for faith.

Faith is not trust that things will improve quickly.
Faith is trust that one is not alone, even when improvement delays.

“Ehyeh” sanctifies waiting.

It insists that accompaniment is enough to endure uncertainty.

Application — Living With “Ehyeh”

Every generation asks Moshe’s question anew:

• Where is G-d now?
• What comes next?
• How long must we wait?

The Name given at the Burning Bush answers gently — and firmly.

You may ask for presence.
You may not demand a timetable.

Redemption lives where presence is recognized without guarantees.

Closing — The Last Lesson of the Bush

The Burning Bush does not burn out.
Moshe does not rush ahead.
And Hashem does not offer dates.

Instead, He offers a Name that can survive history:

אֶהְיֶה — I will be with you.

The Torah teaches that this is not less than certainty.
It is deeper.

When presence is enough, redemption has already begun.

📖 Sources

• Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Shemos page under insights and commentaries.