Our Teacher Moshe

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

The dramatic moments leading up to the Exodus had arrived. Finally, the mighty Egyptian empire would be judged for its crimes. Suddenly, the Torah’s momentum in describing the events slows, and the Torah pauses to describe Moshe’s lineage. An entire section of verses is devoted to describing his father, grandfather, siblings, and cousins. Why is the Torah suddenly so busy with genealogy?

The role of Moshe in Judaism is much more than the redeemer of the Jews. Moshe ascended to the level of “Our Teacher” or, in Hebrew, “Rabbeinu.” Moshe is the role model of what every Jew can aspire to be.

For example, Maimonides writes that although no person can attain the level of prophecy that Moshe had, “anyone can be a Tzaddik like Moshe.” Moshe is the paradigm of righteousness, and being “righteous like Moshe” is attainable by every person.

In light of this, Rav Hirsch writes, it is critical that we know the genealogy of Moshe, so that we view him as a human being, and not raise him to the level of some other-worldly being whom we cannot hope to emulate. “Our Moshe was a man, remained a man, and is to remain a man” in our consciousness. “He was subject to all the failings and weaknesses,” and to all the challenges of all other human beings. Our struggles were his as well. His ascent to greatness is something that we should strive to emulate.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the Torah magnifies events in which Moshe fell short of what Hashem expected of him. In last week’s portion, he was criticized for delaying the circumcision of his son, despite the many responsibilities that were upon him. He is criticized for not having sufficient faith that Hashem would rescue the Jews from slavery. Later, he will be called to task for hitting the rock instead of speaking to it to make it give its miraculous water.

True, our Sages say that the house was filled with light when Moshe was born. Even so, the Torah does not want us to see Moshe as one who was born “heavenly,” and therefore merited greatness. Instead he is described to us as a human who worked very hard to become who he became. He struggled as we do, balancing his communal responsibilities with those to his family. He struggled in pain as he watched the suffering of the Jews, and complained about Hashem’s unfulfilled promise to redeem them. And yes, there was a time when- in the heat of the moment- he did not fulfill Hashem’s words perfectly, and was sorely punished for his shortcoming.

Moshe is a human being who attained great heights.  Therein, lies his greatness.

Sometimes when we view great people of more recent times, we raise them to levels of otherworldliness. Perhaps it is a way for us to protect ourselves from a sense of shame that we don’t also do what they did. But to deprive them of their humanity is to rob ourselves of the inspirational lesson that their lives can be for us.

For example, the Chofetz Chayim (d. 1933) ascended in the Jewish world to the status of a almost mythical hero of the Jewish people. By the time he was in his eighties and nineties he had achieved legend-like status in the Jewish world and beyond.  But to really appreciate the Chofetz Chayim is not just to appreciate the kindness and compassion that he showed for others. One does not do justice to his accomplishments or his scholarship unless one appreciates his humanness.

It is said that in his youth, the Choftez Chayim watched as a group of boys knocked over a peddler’s basket of apples.  Seeing the apples roll on the floor, and watching as the rowdy boys grabbed the apples and ran, created a most tempting environment. He took an apple and ate it.

Later when he realized that what he had done was stealing, he asked his mother for a coin to buy a treat. Rarely did he ever ask for anything, so his mother granted his request. He proceeded to seek the peddler, purchased a few apples for the coin, and promptly dropped the apples back in the basket as his method of repayment.

It is the profound awareness that the Chofetz Chayim struggled with the same struggles as all children and persevered that makes his life so meaningful and so emulateable.

Another example: The Chofetz Chayim was known for his enormous and profound scholarship, but that wasn’t the way it always was. Actually, his father died when the Chofetz Chayim was still quite young, and he had only studied 40 pages of the Talmud with his father before his father died. For many days after the shiva, the Chofetz Chayim spent his time reviewing the 40 pages that his father had taught him. He could not fathom proceeding to the next page without his father, until one day he just decided to try. I believe that it was at that moment that he “became” the Chofetz Chayim. But one can only appreciate that moment and savor it, if one appreciates the humanness and greatness of what it meant to turn that page all on his own.

As Rav Hirsch explains, we dare not turn our leaders and heroes into “godlike” figures. Moshe’s lineage as a human being is given because the Torah wants his life to be compelling. As the Talmud tells us, a Jew is obligated to aspire to greatness, and to say, “When will my actions be as great as those of the heroes of the Jewish people.”

With best wishes for a wonderful Shabbos and a Good Chodesh!

© 2017 by TEACH613™