""I have appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 6:3). The preceding section ends with Moses' question: "Why have You dealt evil with this people?" It is understood from this that the beginning of our Parashah is God's answer to this question. Our sages explain that with His answer, "I have appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," God was saying to Moses, "Pity those who have disappeared and are no more—the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were subjected to many trials, yet they had no doubts about My way of proceeding.".
Everything written in the Torah aims to guide the Jew in his life and in his service to the Creator. The Torah generally refrains from speaking of anything shameful or degrading about any creature, even an animal, and here it appears to recount an episode that, at first glance, is not complimentary of Moses. Undoubtedly, this is necessary in order to teach us proper conduct in life.
Moses, who had the privilege of receiving Divine revelation, certainly knew how the Patriarchs acted. There is no doubt that he knew the Patriarchs did not doubt God's ways. He himself was on a higher spiritual level than the Patriarchs and clearly possessed absolute faith in the Most High and in the justice of His actions. Nevertheless, he cried out, "Why have You dealt evil with this people?!".
Hasidic teachings explain that Moses' spiritual level was Chokhmah—wisdom—while the Patriarchs were at the level of emotional qualities: Chesed (kindness), Gevurah (rigidity), and Tiferet (mercy). In the realm of feelings, there is room for resignation and acceptance, while only the intellect aspires to understanding. This is why the Patriarchs did not doubt God's ways, while Moses questioned and sought to understand.
We can learn a double lesson from this:
On one hand, we have the answer from the Most High, which is that even in times of suffering of this magnitude, we must adopt the character of the Patriarchs and not question. When we are on the path to final redemption, which is directly managed by Hashem, we should not ask questions, even if the situation seems unbearable.
On the other hand, Moses's complaint was recorded in the Torah, and this too offers an eternal lesson. When a Jew finds himself in the Galut, the diasporic exile, and especially in the final days of the Galut, in the time of the Messiah's heels—the Ikveta of Meshicha—to the point of total confusion between light and darkness, good and evil, two inner attitudes must be simultaneously maintained: on the one hand, one must remain firm in faith in Hashem, that everything is for the good and that this darkness is merely the prelude to redemption; but on the other hand, the cry of "Why? How long will this Galut last?" must burst forth from the lips of every Jew.
The outcry does not contradict faith. From the intellect, which analyzes everything around it, and according to its own capacity, a tremendous cry must arise: "Why have You done evil to this people?!" This is what Hashem wants: for the intellect to react according to what is acceptable to logic, according to its understanding. But together with this, the characteristic of the Patriarchs must prevail: not doubting the actions of the Most High, a consequence of Faith.
The Jew is required to live with these two attitudes - on the one hand, with an absolute and unwavering faith, and on the other, with a cry from the depths of the soul: "We want the Messiah now!""
Adapted from www.jabad.org.ar