<b>And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29).</b> He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: <i>I have surely remembered you</i> (Exod. 3:16). This was a sign that was transmitted to them from the days of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob had transmitted it to Joseph when he told him: “Every redeemer who comes and says to you <i>I have surely remembered</i> is a truthful redeemer.” And when Moses came and said <i>I have surely remembered</i>, the people believed him forthwith. Moses and Aaron said to them: “Come with us and we will go unto Pharaoh.” At first the elders of Israel accompanied them, but later they slipped away singly, and then in pairs. When they arrived at Pharaoh’s palace, not a single person who had accompanied them, could be found, as it is written: <i>And afterwards Moses and Aaron came</i> (Exod. 5:1).
What happened to the elders who had accompanied them? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Because you slipped away, be assured, I will exact retribution from you. When did that occur? At the time that Moses and Aaron went up to Mount Sinai with the elders to receive the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be He, kept them away, as it is said: <i>And unto the elders, He said: “Tarry ye here for us until we come back unto you”</i> (ibid. 24:14). In this world, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, you shall not witness the glory of the Torah, but in the world-to-come, I will reveal unto you the light of the glory of the Torah, as it is said: <i>Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed</i> (Isa. 24:23).