B'nei Israel are finally leaving Egypt, their terrible house of bondage. They are distancing themselves from there to the direction of the Land of Israel. Suddenly, several days into the journey, HaShem commands Moshe to instruct B'nei Israel to turn around and go back in the direction of Egypt, and to camp by the sea before Ba'al Tzafon. This article will not explain the reason for this surprising command (see HaRaSha"R Hirsch for his interpretation) but will focus on a drasha of Chazal which raises many questions.
 

After Moshe passed on HaShem's command to the nation, the Torah points out and praises the loyalty of Israel, who followed this difficult demand: "and thus they did." And Rashi explains: "And thus they did – to tell their praise that they listened to Moshe, and that they did not say: 'how can we approach our pursuers, we must escape them' – but instead they said: 'we have nothing (no instruction) except the words of Ben Amram.'"

But we know that as a rule, when one calls another by the name of his father ('the son of' and not his own name), the intention is to humiliate and belittle him. On the verse "Sons of man, how long will my honor be disgraced?" (Tehillim 4:3) Rashi wrote: "How long will you continue humiliating me (by saying) 'I saw the son of Yishai' 'Who is David and who is the son of Yishai' 'By my son's making a covenant with the son of Yishai' 'For you have chosen the son of Yishai' – don't I have a name?!"

Similarly the Radak says in several places, among others 1 Shmuel 22:8: "The son of Yishai – he didn't remember his name out of contempt."  

So say Chazal regarding the dialogue between Chizkiyahu and Yishayahu, when Chizkiyahu rebukes Yishayahu and says: "Son of Amotz, finish your prophecy and leave! I have a tradition from the house of my father: even if a sharp sword is put to a man's neck, he must not despair of (divine) mercy."

The author of the Torah Temima expounds on this at length in Tosefet Bracha (a book of remarkable chidushim on the order of the parshiot) on parshat Sh'lach. There he brings an abundance of sources and proofs for this principle, and in this spirit he explains the words of Chazal on the verse: "And Calev silenced the people toward Moshe" – here Chazal explained that he opened by saying "And is this the only thing that the son of Amram did to us?" (See there further.)

Therefore it is surprising: if the verse speaks of the praise of Israel, why does Rashi have them using the expression "the son of Amram" regarding Moshe Rabbenu?

In actuality, Rashi's source is the Mechilta, which appears to mention two conflicting opinions: "And thus they did – to praise the wisdom of Israel, who didn't say: 'how can we go back' in order to not break the hearts of the women and children who were with them. Additionally: And thus they did – they said: whether we want to or not, we have nothing except the words of the son of Amram." However, Rashi (as in many other places) does not see the opinions as conflicting, and, figuratively speaking, they became as one in his hand. And now, the expression "the son of Amram" demands explanation – how is this term appropriate?

Indeed there are some instances where one is called by his father's name in the positive sense, and here too this could be the case. But this is almost never true except when one is called a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik by HaShem, who remembers kindness to thousands (of generations). However, when Chazal quote other people as using this phrase, the speaker's intention is to rebuke and humiliate. So the claim can be made that Amram was universally renowned while Moshe was comparatively a newcomer, and therefore it was a compliment for Moshe to be called "the son of Amram."  But this explanation is far from convincing: after all the great miracles which were performed by Moshe and witnessed by all of Israel, it was clear that HaShem chose him to be His emissary to deliver His nation. And after HaShem began to give Torah and mitzvoth through Moshe (the many mitzvoth we saw in parshat Bo), could it still be a greater praise to call him by his father's name than by own name?

And we can suggest an explanation based on the Gemara in Sotah (12a): "And a man from the house of Levi went" – where did he go?  Rav Yehuda Bar Zevina said: He went according to his daughter's advice. It is brought down: Amram was the leader of the generation, because the wicked Pharaoh decreed that all the boys who are born will be cast into the river, he said: we are toiling (bringing children into the world) in vain! He went and divorced his wife, and (following his example) all the men went and divorced their wives.  His daughter said to him: Father, your decrees are harsher than those of Pharaoh! Pharaoh only decreed against the males, and you decreed against the males and the females! Pharaoh only passed sentence in this world, and you passed sentence in this world and the world to come (Rashi: those who are not born in this world will not be revived in the world to come). It is doubtful whether the decrees of the wicked Pharaoh will come to pass, but you are a tzaddik and your decrees will certainly come to pass, as it says (Iyov 22:28): "And you will declare a decree and it will come to pass!" He went and remarried his wife, and all the men went and remarried their wives."

B'nei Israel, at the time of their exodus from Egypt, were in a state of great confusion. Moshe Rabbenu gave them an order which everyone understood perfectly – to get out of Egypt, which had been struck by the ten plagues – and to go in the direction of the Promised Land. But only a few days later, this same leader, Moshe himself, gives them a command which entirely contradicts the previous one and also seems completely illogical – to go back in the direction of Egypt. Here Israel was faced with a great test – to obey the word of Moshe in the name of HaShem, the alternative being denying his prophecy under the pretext that his second command was illogical and contradicts his own previous instruction.

How did Israel withstand this test? The answer may be explained by the Midrash: After hearing the command to turn around, B'nei Israel said to themselves:  Did not Moshe's father Amram give a clear and logical command, and shortly afterwards changed his mind and gave a contradictory and pointless command? And what was the result of this reversal? The savior of Israel was born, along with tens of thousands of Jews who lived on and were redeemed and taken out of Egypt. Therefore, B'nei Israel reasoned, now that Moshe is giving an order which contradicts the one he gave before, we will remember the lesson from the experience with his father, and we will obey him this time as well.

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