Prophets must have two characteristics, courage and intuition. These are strengthened when they imbued with the power of the Divine aspect of the Active Intellect. Moshe, with only a staff in his hand, dared to address a great king in his desire to deliver a nation from slavery. He was not frightened or terrified, because Hashem had told him, "I will be with you" (Shemot 3:12) (Rambam, Guide for the Perplexed 229).
Shemot
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
The Light Of Tohu - The Soul Of Moshe Rabeinu
The Baal HaTanya gives a kabbalistic description of the spiritual origins of Moshe Rabeinu's soul. To begin to understand this I want to give a very brief background. According to the Kabbalah the primordial stages of creation begin with undiluted spiritual light. Because this light is not yet defined by the multitude of garments and vessels that will come later, this exalted level is referred to as Tohu, life force without definition, or as it is awkwardly translated, chaos. As we descend through the worlds of creation, the pure light of Tohu is given more and more definition through the vessels that contain it.
The world we live in is the wondrous result of a fabric of interconnected vessels that hold the light of holy life force. But this is not yet the greatest tikkun or realized harmony, where vessels are created that can suitably express the pure light that comes from the level of Tohu. In order to aptly manifest vessels of tikkun (literally, fixing, repairing the gap between the splendorous spiritual light and its expression in the lowest worlds), human beings, who are uniquely endowed with free choice, must create the final vessels of tikkun. This repair is the ultimate task of the Jewish people. Through our simple acts of kindness, together with the fiery depths of learning, we bring merit to the world that it should have adequate vessels to hold the most exalted light.
The problems that we have in conducting ourselves in this world are twofold, stemming from the twofold model I've just presented. On the one hand we have great light with no vessels. On the other hand we have many vessels with little light. While the goal is to make vessels, we can only create the real vessels of tikkun if we are inspired by the highest light.
The Baal HaTanya explains that the soul of Moshe has its origin in these realms of the highest light - the world of Tohu (undiluted light), in the aspect of Chochmah which has to do with vision, seeing. But Moshe had a problem. He did not have the vessels to express the exalted light of his vision. He had the potential for the greatest insight without the tools of expression. This is why Moshe says about himself that he is "koved peh" - he has difficulty speaking. Like the creation itself, there is, within Moshe, a gap between the high origin of his soul and his tools of expression. It is difficult for him to confine or constrict his spiritual power within the limits of his history. It is even difficult for him to see his vision in a world of actual seeing. And this is why Moshe asks Hashem to send someone to give him a hand, to act as his spokesman, Aharon, the one who will be entrusted with the many vessels of the Mishkan. Together they form a whole. This is why Moshe, by himself, even while he contains the greatest potential, feels himself to be utterly lacking and this causes him to be humble in the extreme. (See Torah Ohr, parashat Shemot, and Tanya, English Edition, Introduction to Kabbalah. Also see, Innerspace, R. Ar'yeh Kaplan, ed. Avraham Sutton.)
In this way Moshe wrestled with a gap that is felt by every Jew in his own way. If Moshe was reluctant to take on the task of bringing his own light down, so too it is hard for each of us to bring ourselves in the deepest way to the Torah that was given through Moshe at Mount Sinai. Moshe Rabeinu's struggle offers advice to each of us. Moshe entered himself into the impossible task of manifesting the greatest spiritual light in vessels of expression, and in the end, after preparing himself, through his life's efforts, Hashem gave him entry into the length and breadth of the Torah. So too, we, who have inherited the exalted vessel of the Torah which is filled with the highest light must extend ourselves to the Torah building within ourselves the vessels of light which are uniquely ours.
Facing Ourselves
Let's now look at a startling midrash that speaks in very different terms but essentially carries on the same point. The Ohr P'nie Moshe in parashat Hukat (quoted in the Baal Shem Tov on the Torah parashat Korach, see notes there) says that a certain king who heard about the wonders that Moshe had done, sent an artist to paint a picture of Moshe's face. When he received the portrait he couldn't believe what he saw - the face was filled with bad characteristics: murder, adultery, etc. A second artist was sent and beheld exactly the same face. In fear for his life, lest he too disappoint the king, the artist asked Moshe why he looked like that. Moshe responded, "Sometimes, the one who looks good on the outside is like a simple animal. His goodness is nothing more than the natural goodness he was given and that's fine. But sometimes when a person has a very 'bad' face it's because he has wrestled to radically overcome his physical nature to turn it to the good. This is an enormous battle and the scars from it are left on his face, but the good he reaches is the real good because it is achieved through the inner struggle of free choice."
Moshe Rabeinu was a person of many contradictions and transformations: He was a Jew raised in the house of Paroh; a babe among strangers, he was nursed by his mother, Yocheved. He was a prince of Egypt but he felt in the deepest way the suffering of his people. While his people were enslaved, Moshe experienced the greatest measure of freedom and privilege. Whereas a slave is weak, Moshe epitomized strength. A slave cowers from his masters - Moshe was willing to fight and die for his people.
"And Moshe saw their burdens." He wept, saying, "I am stricken by your suffering and only wish that I could die for your sakes," because there is no harder work than toiling in mud and clay. And Moshe, who was prince of Egypt helped his people. Rebbe Elazar son of Rebbe Yosi HaGalili said, Moshe saw a large burden on the back of a small man and a small load carried by a big man. He saw a woman doing the work of a man and a man doing the work of a woman. He saw the burden of an elder carried by one who was young and the load that belongs to youth carried by an elder. And Moshe set aside his station and went and distributed the work as it should be, pretending to be aiding the cause of Paroh. Hashem said, "You put down your business to look after the suffering of Yisrael and acted as a brother, I will set aside the higher and lower realms to speak with you." (Midrash Rabbah)
Moshe began with a straightforward perception. He saw the injustice with which his people were being treated and he took whatever steps he could to remedy the situation. "One day he saw an Egyptian kill one of his fellow Jews. Moshe looked around and when he saw that no one was there, he killed the Egyptian�." (Shemot 2:11-12).
As a young man, Moshe looked with an eye towards simple justice. He had a powerful innate sense of right and wrong and acted on it. This was his basic nature. He also had a natural sense of himself as a leader of his people and he applied himself to helping them, even if it meant doing it in secret. He already sensed that he had a role as redeemer. But as he continued to apply himself to this goal he ran into difficulty. "Moshe went out the next day and saw two Jews fighting. "Why are you beating your brother?" he asked to the one in the wrong. "Who made you our prince and judge?" retorted the Jew. "Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Moshe was frightened. "The incident is known," he said. (Shemot 2:13-14)
Moshe, the man of straightforward morality and judgment - the redeemer - was suddenly in a quandary. The Midrash says, "Moshe was considering in his heart what sin Israel could have done that they should be enslaved more than all the nations. When he heard the words (of Datan criticizing him for judging them) he said, 'They even use their speech to do evil. How can they be ready for salvation?" Thus, the pasuk says 'Surely the thing is known.' 'Now I understand the cause of our bondage.'"(Shemot Rabbah 1:30)
A New Present - "I Will Be" In Order That I Will Be!
It is at this point that Moshe is forced to flee to Midian. Moshe needs to go through a transformation of character so that his highest destiny as redeemer of the Jewish people can find expression. Moshe becomes shepherd of the flocks of Yitro. As with all the shepherds of Yisrael, e.g., Yaakov, David - the real flock is B'nei Yisrael. Moshe takes Yitro's flocks to Chorev - Mt. Sinai and it is there in the outer extreme of the wilderness that Moshe encounters the Burning BuShemot The revelation he receives there is the ultimate purpose of Moshe's being in Midian. At one and the same time he receives a new revelation of Hashem that is the key to taking out the Jews from exile and this new perception is itself the crystallization Moshe's role as redeemer.
What is the new revelation of the Burning Bush? "Ek'yeh asher Ek'yeh." Gd says, "I will be that I will be." Up to this point Moshe had looked upon B'nei Yisrael as they were "now." Are they at this moment in a way that makes them fitting for redemption? Moshe had reached the conclusion that they were not. The hardship of Mitzrayim had given them a mentality of self-hatred. Paroh had successfully corrupted the Jews by making them police themselves for him. By placing impossible burdens on them he forced them to choose between their individual well being within Paroh's system and that of their fellow Jew. As a result some Jews had fallen to despicable levels. It was impossible to see that they were presently fitting to receive the highest spiritual revelation.
But Hashem showed Moshe an infinitely higher perspective: that the Jewish people are connected in their essence to the root of teshuvah and that they have the ability to reach beyond their present attachments to fallen things. This lifts them above the degradations of the present. The Torah that they will accept makes them precious even now. This is the revelation of Ek'yeh (see Rebbe Nachman, lesson six, Lekutei Maharan).
This was the essential transformation of Moshe in Midian. He learned to use his power of judgment to fight for the future - who the Jews will be instead of who they appear to be now. I think we can pinpoint in this change of perspective something that characterizes Moshe as leader of the Jewish people throughout the next forty years of his life - and something that characterizes every outstanding personality in Jewish history. Moshe from this point forward becomes a wrestler with Hashem - using his desire for justice in the present to power his vision in seeking paths towards Hashem in the future.
Justice Demands Great Vision But Also Great Patience
I think we can see this even in Moshe's inability to speak. Why was it that Moshe had such a hard time? I think that Moshe was so filled with righteous anger that he was afraid of his own power. As we all know on our own small level anger can wind us up in a lot of trouble. Imagine standing before Gd and being told that you are appointed to carry the mantle of leadership and you are so close to Hashem that you are speaking to Him face to face. On the one hand you are carrying the burden of the entire Jewish people on your shoulders. Their fate depends on you. On the other hand you are standing before Hashem Who shapes and fashions our very being and destiny.
Moshe is dumbstruck by the impossibility of his dual responsibility. He is literally between The Rock (Hashem) and the hard-heartedness of Paroh, the taskmaster par excellence of his people. While Moshe has learned the secret that Hashem is long suffering, looking to the future, not judging just by the present, Moshe feels the immediate burdens of his people.
When he goes to Paroh with the message that Paroh should let the Jews go and worship Hashem in the wilderness, Paroh feels nothing, "Who is this Hashem? I don't know about any power like that. Why should I fear your silliness?" And Paroh afflicts the Jews even worse than before Moshe came. Now Moshe, the man of courage and might turns towards Hashem, Himself, in a frightening moment of confrontation. "Hashem, why do You mistreat Your people? Why did You send me? As soon as I came to Paroh to speak in Your name, he made things worse for these people. You have done nothing to help Your people" (Shemot 5:22).
Moshe will pay for his lack of fear in confronting Hashem. But there is no doubt that in some sense Hashem wants this kind of strength from His prophet. Moshe over and over tried to duck out of taking on the role of redeemer before Hashem because of his "inability to speak." I think we can see in this an allusion to Moshe's righteous anger that comes from an unwillingness to tolerate injustice against the Jewish people. This steadfastness is precisely what Hashem values so deeply in Moshe. And it extends even to Moshe's identifying his own fate with that of his people. As we see later on Moshe says to Hashem, "The people have committed a terrible sin by making a golden idol. Now if You will, please forgive their sin. If not, then blot me out from the book that You have written" (Shemot 32:31-32).
Moshe's power lies in his being uncompromising in his commitment to the Jewish people even when it puts him in conflict with Hashem. It seems that Gd would prefer that we err to the side of respecting our fellow man and treading on His honor rather than the other way around.
The Midrash says, (Moshe said to Hashem,) "You have not delivered Your people" (Shemot 5:23). R. Akiva said that Moshe argued thus: 'I know that You will one day deliver them, but what about those who have already been buried under the buildings?' At this point the attribute of justice sought to harm Moshe, but the Holy One Blessed Be He saw that Moshe argued only because of Klal Yisrael and he did not allow the attribute of justice to harm him. Nevertheless this is why Moshe was not allowed to enter the Holy Land" (Midrash Rabbah 5:22-23).
We can see in this a similarity between David HaMelech and Moshe. David epitomized the love and service of Hashem. He used his natural "Gd-given" power to fight the wars of B'nei Yisrael. And precisely because he fulfilled this destiny with the greatest self sacrifice, he was prevented from building the Temple - he simply had too much blood on his hands. So too, Moshe was raised by Hashem to confront Him face to face. Yet we see that as a result of his utter commitment to his task - representing to the end the well being of the Jewish people - he forfeited the opportunity to enter the Holy Land. Perhaps, this is an inextricable part of greatness - the willingness to surrender everything, even "spiritual well-being" for the sake of others. And in the end what looks like a punishment for wrongdoing - whether it be blood on one's hands or overstepping the bounds - may turn out to be infinitely greater even in Hashem's eyes, than towing the line. David merits an eternal lineage of Jewish kings. The light of Moshe's Torah continues even in the final redemption.
The Cities Of Paroh - Storehouses Of Scarcity
"The Israelites are becoming too numerous and strong for us. We must deal wisely with them. Otherwise they may increase so much that if there is war they will join our enemies and fight against us, driving us from the land." Therefore the Egyptians appointed officers over the Israelites to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites were to build up the cities of Pitom and Raamses as supply centers for Paroh (Shemot 1:9-11).
The Gemora says that Pitom is a contraction of Peh T'hom, "The Mouth of the Depths" over which the Jews were forced to labor and which swallowed up the building as it is being built. Ra'amses, the second location, refers to the fact that the bricks of the building were "mitrasess" - they disintegrated - as the building was being built. The Maharal (Gevurat Hashem, ch. 15) explains that these names express the essence of the "ar'eh miskanot," or store cities: they were places that endangered (misaken) their Jewish builders. By forcing the Jews to give their life's energy, laboring on something that was meaningless, the Jews were yoked to directionlessness. For as they built, the structures sank into the depths - the foundation on which they built had no grounding. And this, explains the Maharal, was a labor constructed so as to destroy the morale of the Jews. For the essential drive of the Jewish people is to work only for the fulfillment of Hashem's holy rulership in this world where all acts should be purposeful.
Another form of this kind of sinister and destructive labor was used by the Nazis, whose name should be blotted out from existence. Over the entrance of the death camps the sign read, "Work makes free." With mocking cruelty they made the Jews manufacture wealth from their very bodies so as to aid the Nazis in their nihilistic goal of wiping out the Jews. Thus, our people who value life to the utmost, were degraded mercilessly - we were forced to become part of a working system whose whole design was in order to destroy us.
If we look closely at what Paroh did we can see the key to dictatorial control and manipulation of a people. The cities that Paroh ordered the Jews to build were "store cities," or, alternatively, "cities of scarcity." Like Orwell's "fire department" in his book "1984" (that was used to burn undesirable books), these cities sound like they have one purpose while they really serve the opposite. Putting away the wealth that the nation manufactures may not be saving it for a rainy day. Rather, it may be creating a controlled scarcity that enslaves, making the population dependent on the overseers' "beneficence" or the "fairness" of a wage-earner economy.
Ironically, this is something that Paroh learned from Yosef who gathered the wealth of the prosperous years to tide over Mitzrayim in the years of famine. And this enabled Yosef to enslave all of Mitzrayim to Paroh. While Yosef did this in order to concentrate the wealth of Mitzrayim for the time when the Jews would leave Egypt, Paroh adapted this idea to create an artificial scarcity in order to bind the Jewish soul in endless toil.
In our own days we have seen a similar if unique kind of misappropriation of Jewish know-how whether in an Einstein or a Freud, a Kissinger or a Clinton cabinet. The systems that artificially create scarcity and wealth, that preach defense while preparing weapons of annihilation, that yoke our creative desire to nothingness by making us endless consumers - ultimately these systems, by all but destroying us, are producing a spiritual discontent and emptiness that is preparing the way for the great revelation in the times of Mashiach (see Kagan, the Jewish Self).
Look at Mitzrayim. When Moshe came to the people they believed him at first and expected immediate redemption. Naturally, they lost heart when their burdens were intensified. When they finally went out of Mitzrayim they had been corrupted by the Egyptian system to the depths of their being. Who could have imagined that all of this was moving them ever closer to the revelation of Torah at Sinai? Who could have foreseen that all of this created the foundation on which could be built an eternal nation? But there was a vision that was guiding them. The vision of the great soul and prophecy of Moshe Rabeinu: Ek'yeh asher Ek'yeh - "I will be" that I will be!
At A Glance