(13) Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

(14) And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh.” He continued, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’”

(15) And God said further to Moses, “Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you:
This shall be My name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity.

(1) AND THEY SHALL SAY UNTO ME: WHAT IS HIS NAME? WHAT SHALL I SAY UNTO THEM? This verse calls aloud for an explanation. It is incomprehensible that Moses should say, And they shall say unto me: What is His name? meaning that this will be a sign to them to believe in him.

The asking for His Name and Moses’ telling it to them are no sign to anyone who did not believe in Moses to begin with. If Israel knew that Name, Moses likewise knew it, and thus his knowledge thereof was equivalent to theirs and it would be no sign or wonder at all. If they had not heard of it previously, what proof would that be that they should believe in his words altogether?

The verse states: “On that day shall the Lord be one and His name one.” The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the word one in this context? Is that to say that now His name is not one?

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: The World-to-Come is not like this world. In this world, God’s name that is written with the letters yod and heh is read as Adonai, which begins with the letters alef and dalet. God’s name is not pronounced in the same way as it is written. However, in the World-to-Come it will all be one, as God’s name will be both read with the letters yod and heh and written with the letters yod and heh.

Rava thought to expound upon the correct punctuation and enunciation of the name of God during his public lecture before one of the Festivals. A certain old man said to him: The word forever is written in the verse: “This is My name forever [le’olam]” (Exodus 3:15) without the letter vav, such that it can be read le’alem, to conceal, meaning that the name should be concealed.

Rabbi Avina raised a contradiction: It is written in the verse: “This is My name forever,” implying a requirement to conceal the name of God, and in the very next phrase it states: “And this is My memorial unto all generations” (Exodus 3:15), which indicates that the name of God is to be publicized and remembered by all. Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I, i.e., My name, is not read as I am written. I am written with the letters yod and heh, and I am read with the letters alef and dalet.

(1) זה שמי לעלם THIS IS MY NAME FOR EVER — The last word is written without ו (so that it may be read לְעַלֵּם and it would mean “this is My Name which is to be concealed”) to suggest: Conceal it (this Divine Name), so that it shall not be read exactly as it is written (but should be read as א-דני; cf. Pesachim 50a; Exodus Rabbah 3:7).(2) וזה זכרי AND THIS IS MY MEMORIAL (the word may signify “the mention of Me”) — He taught him how the Divine Name should be read.

(14) And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh.”

(Onkelos doesn't translate these words - referring to the name of Hashem)

(1) אהיה אשר אהיה I AM THAT I AM — I will be with them in this sorrow — I Who I will be with them in the subjection they will suffer at the hands of other kingdoms (Berakhot 9b). Whereupon Moses said to him: Lord of the Universe! Why should I mention to them other sorrows: they have enough with this sorrow! God replied to him: You have spoken rightly — כה תאמר THUS SHALT THOU SAY etc.… Ehyeh, “I am” — without the addition of אשר אהיה which has reference to future sorrows — has sent me unto you”.

(25) So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.”

(3) ברא אלהים GOD [AS JUDGE] CREATED — It does not state 'ברא ה “The Lord (the Merciful One) created, because at first God intended to create it (the world) to be placed under the attribute (rule) of strict justice, but He realised that the world could not thus endure and therefore gave precedence to Divine Mercy allying it with Divine Justice. It is to this that what is written in (Genesis 2:4) alludes — “In the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”.

(13) The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites

(14) the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly^-c they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

(22) Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

(2) וימת מלך מצרים THE KING OF EGYPT DIED — he became stricken with leprosy (and therefore may be spoken of as dead; cf. Numbers 12:12), and he used to slaughter Israelitish children and bathe in their blood as a cure for his disease (cf. Targum Jonathan and Exodus Rabbah 1:34).

(7) And the LORD continued, “I have marked well the plight of My people in Egypt and have heeded their outcry because of their taskmasters; yes, I am mindful of their sufferings.

(15) When he calls on Me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress;
I will rescue him and make him honored;

(9) In all their troubles He was troubled,
And the angel of His Presence delivered them.^-h
In His love and pity
He Himself redeemed them,
Raised them, and exalted them
All the days of old.

(1)In all their trouble that He would bring upon them.(2)He did not trouble [them] He did not trouble them according to their deeds, that they deserved to suffer, for the angel of His presencei.e., Michael the prince of the Presence, of those who minister before Him saved them always as an agent of the Omnipresent.

And why do they place burnt ashes on top of the ark?

Rabbi Yehuda ben Pazi said: This is as though to say in God’s name: “I will be with him in trouble” (Psalms 91:15).

Reish Lakish said that the same idea can be derived from a different verse: “In all their affliction, He was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9). By placing burnt ash on the ark, which is the symbol of the Divine Presence, it is as though God Himself joins the Jews in their pain.

Rabbi Zeira said: At first, when I saw the Sages place burnt ashes upon the ark, my entire body trembled from the intensity of the event.

Rava thought to expound upon the correct punctuation and enunciation of the name of God during his public lecture before one of the Festivals. A certain old man said to him: The word forever is written in the verse: “This is My name forever [le’olam]” (Exodus 3:15) without the letter vav, such that it can be read le’alem, to conceal, meaning that the name should be concealed.

וזה זכרי AND THIS IS MY MEMORIAL (the word may signify “the mention of Me”) — He taught him how the Divine Name should be read.

--------

The deeper understanding of the verse:

And God said to Moses, tell them I have not abandoned them. I am with them in their pain and suffering like I will be with them in future exiles.

Moshe asks, should i mention future exiles with additional pain and suffering?

Hashem says your correct, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘G-d who has been with us during our suffering has sent me.

And God said further to Moses, “Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you:
My name of mercy is hidden. I am holding your hand in Pain and suffering, I am with you but you don’t see it. However, teach them that during the dark moments and while there is concealment and you are able to reach me and connect to the Merciful Father in heaven through the name of A-donai.

(5) Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you.

(6) It is now two years that there has been famine in the land, and there are still five years to come in which there shall be no yield from tilling.

And accordingly, how do I realize the meaning of that which is stated: “There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there,” which, according to the opinion of Rabbi Meir, teaches that something else was in the Ark besides the tablets themselves? It serves to include

the broken pieces of the first set of tablets, which were placed in the Ark. Having cited the baraita, the Gemara now presents its objection to what was taught earlier with regard to the dimensions of a Torah scroll: And if it should enter your mind to say, as Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi held, that the circumference of a Torah scroll is six handbreadths, now since any cylindrical object having a circumference of three handbreadths has a diameter of one handbreadth, a Torah scroll with a circumference of six handbreadths has a diameter of two handbreadths. And since a Torah scroll is wound to the middle, since it is rolled from both sides, it must take up more than two handbreadths due to the space between the sheets of parchment and the double rolling. According to Rabbi Meir, who says that the Torah scroll was placed inside the ark, how did the scroll fit in the remaining two handbreadths [pushkei] of space in the Ark?

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: The scroll of the Temple courtyard, which was kept in the Ark, was wound to its beginning, i.e., it had only a single pole, so that its circumference was only two handbreadths. The Gemara asks: But still, how does an item that is two handbreadths wide fit into a space that is precisely two handbreadths? It would be impossible to fit it in. Rav Ashi said: A small section of the scroll was wound separately and then placed on top of the scroll.

Having concluded its current discussion, the Gemara now addresses the details of the aforementioned baraita and asks: And according to Rabbi Yehuda, who says that the Torah scroll rested on the chest that came from the Philistines, where was the Torah scroll placed before the chest arrived? The Gemara answers: A shelf protruded from the Ark and the Torah scroll rested on it. The Gemara asks: And according to Rabbi Meir, who says that the Torah scroll rested inside the Ark, what does he do with this verse: “Take this Torah scroll and put it at the side of the Ark” (Deuteronomy 31:26)? The Gemara answers: He requires that verse to teach that the Torah scroll was placed at the side of the tablets, and that it was not placed between the two tablets, but it was actually placed inside the Ark at the side of the tablets.

The Gemara asks: And according to Rabbi Meir, where were the silver columns placed? The Gemara answers: Outside the Ark. The Gemara further asks: And from where does Rabbi Meir derive that the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark, as the verse from which Rabbi Yehuda learns this: “There was nothing in the Ark except” (I Kings 8:9), is needed by Rabbi Meir to teach that the Torah scroll was placed there? The Gemara answers: He derives this point from what Rav Huna expounded, as Rav Huna says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The Ark of God, whereupon is called the Name, the name of the Lord of hosts that sits upon the cherubs” (II Samuel 6:2)? The phrase “the name, the name of the Lord” teaches that both the second tablets and the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark.