Would Moshe Find Employment in Our Era?
There did not arise in Israel another prophet like Moshe to whom Hashem revealed Himself face to face and in respect to all of the signs and wonders that Hashem sent him to perform in Egypt to Paroh and his servants and in respect to the mighty hand and the great awe-inspiring acts that Moshe performed as witnessed by all Israel. (Sefer Devarim 34:10-12)
- Moshe the enigma
These final passages of the Torah are Hashem’s epitaph for Moshe. Two aspects of Moshe’s greatness are identified. First, he achieved a degree of intimacy with Hashem that no other prophet attained. Second, the wonders and signs performed by Moshe were greater than those performed by previous prophets. Our Sages explain that no prior prophet was Moshe’s equal and no prophet who will follow Moshe will rise to his level.[1]
Moshe is the most important and central personality of the Torah. The narrative of the Torah focuses upon the ancient roots of Bnai Yisrael. It introduces the patriarchs and recounts some significant events of their lives. The Torah describes the covenant that Hashem made with the avot – the patriarchs. This material is introductory to the account of the redemption from Egypt, the Sinai revelation, the sojourn in the wilderness, and the Torah’s presentation of the mitzvot. Moshe is at the center of the account of the redemption. He is selected by Hashem to perform the wonders that secure the people’s freedom. He receives the Torah at Sinai – the Written and Oral Law. He transmits the content to Bnai Yisrael.
However, despite Moshe’s central role in the Torah’s narrative, very little is communicated of his personal history. Moshe fled Egypt as a very young man and returned as an old man. The Torah reveals virtually nothing of the events during the intervening years. These were the most formative years of Moshe’s life!
Moshe’s personality is also hidden from the Torah’s reader. The Torah provides some insight into the personalities of the patriarchs. Yet, the personality of Moshe – the most central character of the Torah – is obscured from the reader. Why is Moshe’s development and personality not given more attention? Before responding to this question, let us consider a related issue.
In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. (Sefer Beresheit 1:1)
- Why not begin with creation?
The Torah begins with its account of the creation of the universe. Many of the commentators assert that the inclusion of this material in the Torah requires explanation. Rashi famously quotes Ribbi Yitzchak, “The Torah should have opened with ‘This month shall be for you the first of the months…’. This is the first commandment with which Bnai Yisrael was charged. Why does the Torah open with ‘In the beginning…?’”[2] Rashi presents Ribbi Yitzchak’s response. Other commentators raise the same question and either elaborate on Ribbi Yitzchak’s response or offer alternative responses.
Rather than focus on these various responses, let us consider the question. Why did these Sages and commentators regard the Torah’s opening as problematic? Why did they feel that the inclusion of the account of creation in the Torah requires explanation? Does not every religion strive to provide an explanation for human existence and for the existence of our universe? Is it so surprising that the Torah should offer its response to these mysteries?
The answer to this question reveals one of the most fundamental aspects of the Torah. A religion that is the invention of human imagination will inevitably address the needs of its inventors. Primitive man did not understand his existence or his universe. His environment was beyond his control. He could not protect himself from the vagaries of his climate. He could not ward-off disease or protect himself from a more powerful enemy. The religions that he invented were responses to both the mysteries with which he was confronted and a palliative for his fears and insecurities. The gods he invented were the creators and the offerings that man gave to these deities appeased their anger and secured their protection.
The Torah is a revealed truth. Because it is a revealed truth it is radically different from the primitive religions that preceded it. Hashem cannot be placated by sacrifices or offerings. Only personal development – repentance – can secure atonement. Hashem demands that we earn His benevolence through charity and kindness toward our peers. The Torah reveals a G-d concerned with our treatment of one another and not our servility to Him!
The Torah’s unique character as a revealed truth is evidenced in other revolutionary aspects of the Torah. The Torah does not presume to provide answers to our questions. Instead, the Torah encourages us to embark upon the quest for knowledge but to understand that our finite intelligences cannot grasp all of the mysteries of the infinite Creator. We can improve our understanding but some mysteries will remain beyond the ken of human wisdom.
Nachmanides suggests that this premise is the root of the Sages’ question. Ultimately, the creation account leaves the reader with more questions than answers. The Torah’s description is so perplexing and mystifying, what purpose is served by its inclusion?[3]
In summary, the Sages were disturbed by the inclusion of the creation narrative. This is because the Torah is not the invention of a primitive society seeking simplistic explanations for the mysteries of the universe and the capriciousness of fate. It is a revealed truth. Because it is a revealed truth, it teaches humanity that we cannot expect to fathom all of the universe’s secrets. We should seek truth and knowledge with humility. This understanding of the Torah, as a revealed truth, led the Sages and commentators to wonder at the Torah’s objective in presenting the creation narrative.
- The Torah is not a book of answers
This discussion reveals an important characteristic of the Torah’s narrative style. The Torah is not designed to answer the questions that most trouble or interest us. Instead, it is designed to teach those messages and lessons most necessary in order to achieve self-fulfillment. Issues are selected for inclusion in the narrative based upon the Torah’s pedagogic objective.
This provides the beginning of an explanation for the absence of biographical material and the paucity of insight into Moshe’s personality in the Torah’s narrative. Apparently, this material – although of interest to the reader – is extraneous to the Torah’s narrative or pedagogic objective. Because this material does not contribute to this objective it is excluded from the narrative. However, there is another reason for the exclusion of this material that emerges from an important insight of Rabbaynu Nissim.
And Moshe said to Hashem: Please my master, I am not a man of words – also yesterday and the day before – even from when You spoke to Your servant. Rather, I am one with a heavy mouth and a heavy tongue. (Sefer Shemot 4:10)
- Moshe the unlikely prophet
As noted above, the closing passages of the Torah describe the unique prophetic status of Moshe. No other prophet achieved his degree of intimacy with Hashem or performed wonders that equaled Moshe’s. Our Sages explain that the Torah’s comment is not only a historical assessment comparing Moshe to prior prophets. It is also an assurance regarding future prophets. No prophet will arise who will equal Moshe.
Rabbaynu Nissim notes that in one regard Moshe would seem to have been a fundamentally flawed prophet. He was a poor orator. The Sages dispute the nature of his failing. Some commentators suggest that Moshe was afflicted with a physical defect that produced a speech disorder. Others suggest that he did not have a physical defect but simply lacked the capacity to effectively communicate his thoughts with words. Regardless of its cause, this defect rendered Moshe unsuitable for his mission. He was to address Paroh and convince him to release Bnai Yisrael from bondage. He was to assert himself as leader of his people. He would be both their political leader and their teacher. How could a person with limited communications ability be placed in role largely dependant upon effective communication?
According to Rabbaynu Nissim this is the issue raised by Moshe in the above passages. He protests to Hashem that his ineffective speech renders him unfit for the role assigned to him. He further protests that Hashem has not corrected this defect. Instead, Hashem expects Moshe to succeed in his mission without the essential tool of clear, effective speech!
Although Hashem rejects Moshe’s protest, Moshe’s deduction that Hashem would not correct his defect was correct. Hashem did not cure Moshe of his speech disorder. Nonetheless, Moshe became the teacher of the entire nation. Why did Hashem not assist Moshe in his tasks by relieving him of this handicap?
- Moshe inspired through his message and not his oratory
Rabbaynu Nissim responds that for Moshe’s unique role a speech disorder was not a defect; it contributed to Moshe’s suitability for his mission. The history of humanity is replete with tragic instances of despotic or deranged leaders seducing whole societies through the power of their oratory. Their success in bewitching their followers is not a consequence of the credibility or compelling logic of their message. Instead, these madmen beguile their followers by combining two potent tools. First, they craft messages that appeal to the fantasies, fears, or hatreds of their followers. Second, they employ their charismatic personalities and forceful oratory to communicate their messages. These woeful instances demonstrate that otherwise reasonable people can be transformed into a mob of hate-mongers and murderers through the charismatic aura and seductive oratory of their leader.
Rabbaynu Nissim explains Moshe was selected to serve as Hashem’s greatest prophet and teacher because of his complete unsuitability as an orator. Moshe was charged with the responsibility of leading Bnai Yisrael out of Egypt. He was to accomplish this task by demonstrating to Bnai Yisrael and to Paroh and the Egyptians that Hashem is omnipotent. His will cannot be defied or resisted. Moshe was tasked with making this case through the presentation of hard, indisputable evidence. He was to provide evidence of Hashem’s sovereignty through the wonders that he would perform. It was not his job to inspire the people to follow him through entrancing them with moving speeches or inflaming the imaginations of the people with masterfully presented images of a wonderful future. He was required to secure the people’s commitment and to break the will of Bnai Yisrael’s adversaries through the presentation of irrefutable evidence of Hashem’s irresistible omnipotence. In order to assure that Moshe fulfilled his assigned tasks through the power of his demonstrations and not the force of his oratory, he was deprived of the capacity to communicate effectively.[4]
Rabbaynu Nissim’s insight can also be applied to Moshe’s role as teacher. Moshe was charged with the responsibility of teaching the nation. He was to influence and mold a people through the power of the content of his message, not through seductive oratory. Moshe was to be the people’s teacher and not a charismatic leader who beguiles his followers with the force of his personality. He was charged with the duty of introducing the ideas of the Torah to a people and inspiring them through these ideas; for him his speech disorder was a virtue.
And He buried him in a depression in the Land of Moav opposite Ba’al Peor. And no man knows the location of his burial site to this day. (Sefer Devarim 34:6)
- No monuments for Moshe
The fundamental issue developed above is that Hashem wanted Moshe to teach the Torah to Bnai Yisrael. His task was to inspire the people as their teacher and not through the power of his oratory or charisma. This also explains the virtual absence of biographical information or discussion of Moshe’s personality from the Torah’s narrative.
The above passage explains that only Moshe and Hashem were present when Moshe departed this world. No other person participated in Moshe’s burial who could reveal to the nation the exact place of his interment. Why was this information concealed? Chizkuni suggests that Hashem was concerned that knowledge of the burial site of the greatest prophet would harm the nation. The people might continue to appeal to Moshe to guide them.[5] He might become a neo-deity. Moshe was so great that the real possibility existed that he might be transformed into an object of worship. The prophet that initiated his people into the service of Hashem might undermine this service.
This explains the paucity of personal detail in the Torah’s treatment of Moshe. We are left with no sense of what Moshe was like as a person. We know little of his life experiences. We are told virtually nothing about his personal life. Moshe is an enigma. He is the key character in the drama of the Torah’s narrative. Yet, he is shrouded in mystery. We are left without an image of Moshe the man. We know Moshe only through his acts and his teachings.
The Torah does not reveal Moshe’s burial site so that we do not worship him. The Torah does not reveal his character or relate his story; rather, he is an abstraction – an actor bereft of personal detail and color. All focus is redirected away from Moshe the man and to his teachings. The message of the Torah is that we must be inspired by its message and not by Moshe.
In short, in his life Moshe was required to inspire through teaching and not oratory or charisma. In death, he was destined to remain a mysterious enigma. We are to continue to draw inspiration from his lessons and not his legend.
- Making space for Moshe
This message is very relevant to our contemporary setting. What should we seek in our Torah leaders and how should they address us? Torah leaders who seek to inspire solely through the power of their charisma or the pedestrian appeal of a universal message; who replace authentic Torah study with personal appeal and oratory skills, depart from the model of the Torah.
Ultimately, a fitting Torah leader must seek to inspire by teaching Torah. This means engaging in authentic Torah study with the members of his community – study of Torah texts and the development of messages from these sacred texts. True, a leader must be accessible and personable. However, he must be much more. Like Moshe, foremost, he must be a teacher of Torah.
[1] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Yesodai HaTorah 7:6.
[2] Rabbaynu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 1:1.
[3] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 1:1.
[4] Rabbaynu Nissim ben Reuven Gerondi (Ran), Derashot HaRan, pp. 35-39.
[5] Rabbaynu Chizkiya ben Manoach (Chizkuni), Commentary on Sefer Devarim, 34:6.