spirit Weak- מִ קֹּצֶ ר רוּח eira’Va
ט ו יְד בֵּ ר מֹשֶׁ ה כֵּן, אֶ ל-בְּ נֵי יִשְׂ רָ אֵ ל; וְ ל ֹא שָׁ מְ עוּ, אֶ ל-מֹשֶׁ ה, מִ קֹּצֶ ר רוּח , וּמֵ עֲבֹדָ ה קָ שָׁ ה.
9 And Moshe spoke so to the children of Israel; but they did not listen to
Moshe because their spirit was weak, and for cruel hard backbreaking
work.
spirit Weak- מִ קֹּצֶ ר רוּח – Zohar
There are a few different of opinions of how many years the Children of
Israel were supposed to be slaves in Mitzrayim.
#1- The first opinion is by Avraham Avinu where Hashem tells Him that his
children will be slaves for 400 years.
בְּ רֵ אשִׁ ית 31-41
יג ו יּ ֹאמֶ ר לְא בְ רָ ם, יָדֹע תֵּ ד ע כִּ י-גֵר יִהְ יֶה ז רְ עֲָך בְּ אֶ רֶ ץ ל ֹא לָהֶ ם, ו עֲבָ דוּם, וְ עִ נּוּ אֹתָ ם–א רְ בּ ע מֵ אוֹת,
.שָׁ נָה
13 And He said to Avraham: ‘Know of a surety that your childre shall be
strangers in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall
afflict them for four hundred years.
.יד וְ ג ם אֶ ת-ה גּוֹי אֲ שֶׁ ר י עֲבֹדוּ, דָּ ן אָ נֹכִ י; וְ א חֲרֵ י-כֵן יֵצְ אוּ, בִּ רְ כֻשׁ גָּדוֹל
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward
your children will come out with great wealth.
Opinion #2 They were there for 430 years! Why?
Because Avraham started to count this affliction as soon as Hashem told
him that it will take place and that was 430 years.
Opinion #3 They were there for 215 years! Why 215 years? We are told
that they will only serve 210 years!?
בְּ רֵ אשִׁ ית 24:2 Chapter Genesis
.ב ו יּ ֹאמֶ ר–הִ נֵּה שָׁ מ עְ תִּ י, כִּ י יֶשׁ-שֶׁ בֶ ר בְּ מִ צְ רָ יִם; רְ דוּ-שָׁ מָּ ה וְ שִׁ בְ רוּ-לָנוּ מִ שָּׁ ם, וְ נִחְ יֶה וְ ל ֹא נָמוּת
2 And he said: ‘Behold, I have heard that there is food in Mitzrayim.
Go down there, and buy for us food; that we may live, and not die.’
דוְּ ר ,Go down – The numerical value is 210 and that is how our sages learn
210 years
So where is the 215 years come from?
Our sages tell us that indeed when Avraham heard that his children will be
slaves for 400 years, he started to count as soon as he was told and when
Yacov sent his 10 sons to Mitzrayim, he told them דוְּ ר/Go Down! That count
of Avraham made it 430 years and not 400.
However, since the Mitzriyim doubled their work load by day and by night,
they had served their time in ½ the time and that is where our sages come
up with 215 years.
****************
We can understand when the Torah tells us that Bnai Yisrael were
enslaved and that the labor the Mitzriyim inflicted on them was
backbreaking labor!!!
But what does רוּח רֶ צֹקִּ מ -weak spirit mean?
רֶ צֹקִּ מ in numerical value is 430 and that is how our sages learn 430 years.
½ of that for working day and night is 215 and spirit- רוּח is 214 !!
If רוּח/spirit is only 214 then the numbers don’t add up!!!
So Bnai Yisrael are not listening to Moshe because of רוּח רֶ צֹקִּ מ -weak spirit
!!! They are telling him we are supposed to get out after 215 years but you
came one year to early!
Moshe go back and come back in a year from now we can’t get out yet!!!
But Moshe tells them, “Yes you are right tyat it’s only 214 years right now,
but Hashem will stop the hard labor work now and you will watch a show. A
show of how Hashem will make 10 miracles to prove the whole world that
there is only one God the God of Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov

By Torahs Emet Rov