March 15, 2026
Vaeira
Are You an Angel?
The excitement of imminent redemption was enormous. Soon Moshe would act as Hashem’s messenger to redeem the people and soon after bring them the Torah. Yet, before the Torah describes the redemption the Torah tells us the lineage of Moshe. Why was it so important for us to know who Moshe’s father, mother, brother, and cousins were?
The role of Moshe in Jewish tradition is much more than a hero or mentor. Moshe’s very success is intended to be an inspiration for us. As the Rambam writes: Every person can be a Tzaddik like Moshe. Certainly, one cannot become a prophet like Moshe. That was a gift. But we are all given free choice and challenges set by Hashem, uniquely suited for us. By living life correctly, a person can become righteous like Moshe.
Rav Hirsch suggests that this is why the Torah finds it so necessary to digress from the story of the redemption to the lineage of Moshe. If we are to view Moshe as an inspiration in our lives we need to establish that he started off as a human being, just like you and me. He had parents, and he had cousins. He was mortal. Although he would ascend to great heights, he wasn’t born that way. Like you and me he had to find his way. He too had to grapple with the human challenges of life, both in thought and in action.
Rav Hirsch contrasts this with religions that emphasize divine status for their founders. The mentor is angelic, and a motto for the people is, “You are born in sin, you will die in sin, and you can only be saved by the grace of G-d.”
Not so in Judaism. Our hero was human. He was born of parents. He too had free choice. He too made mistakes. He too wondered plenty about G-d’s world and even asked the question, “Why does suffering happen to good people?” We know his origins, his mission and his challenges. We can see ourselves and our life’s journey in his.
The temptation to turn heroes into angels is a common one. Sometimes when people write biographies about great Jews, they try to finesse the challenging times. For example, when Rabbi Aharon Kotler was starting out in the field of Jewish education he would knock on people’s doors and plead with parents to send their children to yeshiva. To me that is a sign of human challenge and greatness. But when a biography was being written about this great Jew, some people objected to including that story. They felt it was not honorable for the founder of the yeshiva in Lakewood – today home to thousands of students –to be perceived as a person who had to go door to door soliciting students.
Unfortunately, if we deprive people of such stories we rob them of the humanness of this great person.
The temptation to turn heroes into angels is a common one. Sometimes when people write biographies about great Jews, they try to finesse the challenging times.
A similar image exists of the Chofetz Chayim who ascended to almost mystical, legend-like status. People know the Chofetz Chayim as he was as a grown man: a Tzaddik and great scholar.
What is often overlooked is that the Chofetz Chayim was orphaned when he was a young child. At the time of his father’s passing, young Yisroel Meir had only studied forty pages of Talmud. And when his father passed away, he reviewed endlessly the same forty pages that his father had taught him. One day he gathered the fortitude to turn the page and try to learn further on his own. It was at that moment that he became the “Chofetz Chayim.” But few people know of his challenges that made him the great person that he was.
A few years ago, I was mentoring a gentleman who had a very limited background in Hebrew studies. Our sessions were predictable. I would recite the words with their translations, and he would dutifully repeat what I had said.
One day, after we had learned a few verses together using the style he was used to, I said, “Okay, Mark, now go ahead and do the next verse on your own.”
He looked at me with astonishment and said, “Oh, but I can’t do that, Rabbi.”
I said, “Hey, why not Mark? Are you an angel?”
He looked at me quizzically. “No, Rabbi, I’m not an angel…”
I proceeded to tell him the story of the Chofetz Chayim turning the page on his own. And I told him the lesson of Moshe’s humanness and how we can learn from his challenges. And then I said, “Well then, Mark, if you are not an angel, then you are just like them. Just give it your best shot and I’m sure you will succeed.”
Mark did succeed, going on to learn on his own and even teach. His success illustrated for me how our heroes’ humanity can be a source of our inspiration. From Moshe to Rav Ahron to the Chofetz Chayim, their very humanity – their challenges and triumphs – becomes the source of their power to inspire us.
For Family Discussion
- Who is someone you look up to — a family member, historical figure, or Jewish leader? What makes them inspiring to you?
- Some people wanted to leave out the story of Rabbi Aharon Kotler going door-to-door begging for students. Do you think that story makes him seem less great or more great? Why?
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