In the Sefer HaKuzari there are many discussions between the king of the Kuzar nation and various religions. Most of it is dedicated to the discussions that he had with a rabbi who eventually caused him to convert to Judaism.
He discusses the fact that it seems that the Dor Hamidbar/the generation that left Mitzrayim was actually on a higher level than the Avot, because open miracles happened to the generation that got out of Mitzrayim whereas the Torah doesn’t discuss any open miracles with Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov. As an example, he says that the commentaries say that when Sara was abducted, they were plagued with constipation. That is not an open miracle. In the war against the kings, they used regular tactics. There were no open miracles. We don’t have any mention of open miracles with the Avot. Does that mean that they were any less? He explains that it’s actually the opposite. He says that Klal Yisrael needed to have a new creation- the ten Makkot, Keriyat Yam Suf, the Mann, the cloud etc…in his words, “It wasn’t because they were greater. They were the masses, and they had doubts. But our Avot were at the ultimate level of faith, with clear hearts, and even if their entire lives they had only met up with evil, their Emunah in God would not be weakened. Therefore, they didn’t need these miracles.”
Needing miracles indicates a weakness. Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov were strong believers. And he says that at the end of Shemot, Moshe Rabbenu went and pleaded with Paroah to let the Jewish people go, but Paroah made it even more difficult for them, so the people started complaining.
Moshe even said, “Why did You make things worse?”
Then in the beginning of Parashat Ve’ara, where it talks about the first of the plagues. it says, “I appeared to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov, in the name of El Shad-dai.”
This meant that they would go through life in a protected way, but without open miracles. As it says, “God did not allow anyone to take advantage of them, and He rebuked the kings.”
And he says, “There were no miracles like with Moshe.” That’s what it means when Hashem said, “I didn’t let them know about My name of Hashem,” which is an indication of things that happen in a direct way.
Hashem was explaining to Moshe that Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov didn’t need miracles. They didn’t complain like the people were complaining in the desert.
The miracles of Yetziat Mitzrayim were a reaction to the Jewish people complaining at the end of Parashat Shemot. Hashem didn’t want them to have doubts. He wanted them to have clear Emunah. He wanted to do it in a way that there would be no doubts.
The Avot were called Bar Levav. They had no doubts. Their hearts were clear. That’s what we have to realize. Of course, we will repeat the miracles, but the purpose of the miracles is that we shouldn’t need open miracles. The higher level is that of the Avot, who didn’t have miracles. When you complain, you need miracles. Sometimes we see people that don’t have miracles happening, and it’s not necessarily a weakness. The Kuzari calls it the opposite. He says that weakness causes a need for miracles.
We have to be able to go though life in a natural way and see Hashem. And more than that, even if things don’t go the way that we want, that should not cause our belief in God to be weakened at all. As it says about Avraham, “His heart was loyal and trustworthy.” Trust is a key factor in relationships We have to trust God.. We should not need to have any open miracles. And when we finish with the Seder, the next thing we do is count Sefirat HaOmer, which is about the natural events of the wheat. That is what we have to focus on as well. Miracles are great, but we have to be able to survive without miracles, and still keep our Emuna strong.