5785/2024

The Midrash in Parashat VeZot HaBerachah (Devarim Rabbah 11:3) relates a shocking story. The Midrash describes Moshe Rabbeinu leaving this world and going up to Shamayim. When he gets there he meets Adam HaRishon. Adam says “look I am greater than you because I was created BiTzelem Elokim”. Moshe responds that while Adam was created BiTzelem Elokim, he lost his Kavod by eating from the Eitz HaDa’at while Moshe retained the Ziv HaShechinah even after death. 

Next, Moshe Rabbeinu meets Noach and a similar situation occurs. Noach says he is greater than Moshe because he was the only one in his entire generation saved from the Mabul. Moshe replies that while Noach was the only one saved from his generation, Moshe was able to save the entire Jewish people from their actions with the Egel HaZahav, thus making him greater. Moshe gives a Mashal for this and says that while a captain who survives a storm that destroys his ship is great, the captain that kept his ship together in the storm is much greater. 

After talking with Noach, Moshe Rabbeinu moves on to speak with Avraham Avinu who says he is greater than Moshe because he fed people in the desert. Moshe responds that he fed all of Klal Yisrael while Avraham was just helping the passing Goyim. Also, Avraham was established in the desert while Moshe was dealing with a traveling nation. 

Moshe Rabbeinu moves to Yitzchak Avinu who argues that he is greater because he laid himself down on a Mizbei’ach as a Korban to Hashem and saw the face of the Shechinah. Moshe argues that he is greater because he spoke to Hashem Panim El Panim all the time and while Yitzchak lost his eyesight from his encounter with Hashem, Moshe was unaffected. 

Finally, he comes to Yaakov Avinu. Yaakov argues that since he fought with a Malach and won, he must be greater than Moshe. Moshe simply says that while Yaakov did fight and beat a Malach, he did so in this world, while Moshe went up to the world where the Malachim were and they feared him.

There are a number of questions to ask on this shocking Midrash. First, how could Moshe say such things? Do we not know him as the Anav MiKol Adam?! Second, why did Avraham not argue that he is greater than Moshe because he discovered Hashem or went through the ten tests? Without Avraham we wouldn’t be here! Finally, what is Moshe’s great attainment? What's his Mabul? What’s his Akeidah? He explained why he rose above the accomplishments of others, but what was his unique accomplishment?

The answer to our first question is fairly simple. While it is true that Moshe was the Anav MiKol Adam, there is another phrase commonly associated with Moshe: Moshe Emet ViTorato Emet. Moshe’s Middah of honesty overpowered his humility, he wasn’t being haughty, he was being honest. This shows the importance of honesty. Of the two conflicting Middot that Moshe had, his honesty won over and he said what he said.

The second question is more difficult. Is Avraham’s most shining moment really his Hachnassat Orchim and not his discovery of Hashem? Perhaps we can explain this by looking in depth at Avraham Avinu’s Hachnassat Orchim. We know that right after his Brit Milah Avraham still went to sit outside his tent in the hot sun, waiting for guests to pass by. Avraham doing this demonstrates being Moser Nefesh for Mitzvot. He had a valid excuse to stay inside but he still sat in wait for guests. Avraham discovering Hashem was an incredible accomplishment, but in itself it is just an acknowledgement. However, by being Moser Nefesh for one of the Mitzvot of Hashem, Avraham demonstrated not just his belief in Hashem, but also his dedication to him. His Hachnassat Orchim is greater because it is a more real acceptance of Hashem as G-d.

Moshe Rabbeinu has established what raised him above the accomplishments of five of the pillars of our history, but he hasn’t established his great accomplishment. So what is it? I heard two answers to this question from Rabbi Yisrael Lashak. The first answer to this question is that the greatest thing Moshe ever did was break the Luchot when he came down from Har Sinai. In doing so, Moshe Rabbeinu demonstrated that he understood that the relationship between Klal Yisrael and HaKadosh Baruch Hu is more important than the Torah itself. While of course the Torah holds unimaginable value, without a Klal Yisrael the Torah wouldn’t have anyone to follow it, and in destroying the Luchot Moshe Rabbeinu preserved Klal Yisrael. Had he not destroyed the Luchot, Klal Yisrael would have been destroyed for serving the Egel HaZahav when the Luchot arrived. Thus, Moshe’s recognition of this relationship is his greatest accomplishment.

The Ramchal, however, argues that while of course this is a great accomplishment, it is not so impressive. When the Malachim were destroying the Beit HaMikdash, they cooled the fiery stones off before they threw them at Yerushalayim so as not to hurt Klal Yisrael when destroying the Beit HaMikdash. The reason for this is because it is the nature of these Malachim to protect Klal Yisrael so they were unable to harm them. Similarly, it is built into the nature of Moshe Rabbeinu to protect Klal Yisrael, so of course he knew to break the Luchot to protect them! 

Then what does the Ramchal define as Moshe’s greatest moment? The Ramchal explains that Moshe’s greatest accomplishment was taking the Atzmot Yosef out of Egypt. What? Why is that great? The Ramchal says that while everyone was plundering the Egyptians during Makkat Choshech, Moshe Rabbeinu was getting the Atzmot Yosef. Nobody would have noticed if Moshe had waited, nobody would have noticed if he plundered with them, but it didn't matter, Moshe had a job to do. Moshe was being Metaken the actions of his great-grandfather: Levi. The Sifrei states that Shimon and Levi were specifically the ones who wanted to kill Yosef when they threw him into the pit. Levi sent Yosef out of Mitzrayim, Moshe is bringing him back into Eretz Yisrael. Also, not only did Moshe take Yosef out of Mitzrayim, he made sure to take the bones all the way to Eretz Yisrael. Why? To end the cycle of brother vs. brother. Kayin and Hevel fought. Yitzchak and Yishmael fought. Yaakov and Esav fought. Yosef and his brothers fought. Had Moshe not taken care of Yosef’s bones, Ephraim and Menasheh would have fought about who had the right to take their fathers’ bones to Eretz Yisrael, continuing this deadly cycle.

It’s not just Moshe Rabbeinu who displays this Middah, but his siblings Aharon HaKohen and Miriam HaNeviah as well. Aharon HaKohen was the peacemaker. He would tell people that the person they were arguing with wanted to make peace and the argument would stop. Aharon’s Takanah was a Tikkun of friendships. Miriam HaNeviah’s Takanah was about the decision her father made. When it was decreed in Egypt that all baby boys born would be thrown into the Nile River, her father, Amram, told all the Jewish men to separate from their wives so as not to have children just to see them killed. It was Miriam who spoke up and told them to stop. Miriam's Takanah was a Tikkun of relationships. Maybe we can use this Middah of Takanah to explain the sins of each of these three siblings.

Miriam’s sin was Lashon Hara. When Moshe separated from his wife, Tzipporah, so as not to become Tamei and unfit for Nevuah, Miriam spoke Lashon Hara to Aharon about it. Perhaps we can justify Miriam's actions because she was trying to protect Tzipporah. Miriam had seen separation before and dealt with it properly, so too here she was using her Middah of Takanah to try to fix the relationship between her brother and his wife.

Aharon’s sin was the Egel HaZahav. The Da’at Zekeinim (Shemot 32:2) explains that Aharon had zero intention of doing any Aveirah. However, he saw that his only other option was to appoint Kalev Ben Yefuneh or Nachshon Ben Aminadav as a leader. The problem with that is he was worried that once Moshe came back and the new “leader” had to step down there would be a civil war. Also, Aharon was worried that if he didn’t appoint a new leader, Klal Yisrael would do it themselves. Therefore, Aharon saw he had no choice but to help create the Egel to stall for time hoping the women wouldn’t be willing to part from their gold. It is clear that Aharon’s motivation goes back to his Takanah- the Takanah between friends. By doing what he did Aharon was preventing a potential civil war.

Finally we come to Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it, leading to him not being allowed into Eretz Yisrael. But how was that a demonstration of Takanah? The Ibn Ezra (BeMidbar 20:10) quotes Rav Moshe HaKohen that Moshe Rabbeinu was punished for saying ׳׳הֲמִן⁠־הַסֶּ֣לַע הַזֶּ֔ה נוֹצִ֥יא לָכֶ֖ם מָֽיִם׳׳ (ibid.). He explains that Moshe meant this phrase as a way of saying “I can’t bring water from this rock, but Hashem certainly can!”, but he was punished because Klal Yisrael understood this to mean that Moshe was saying that even Hashem couldn’t do it! We can explain Moshe’s action as an attempt to show Klal Yisrael- “Look, Hashem can do anything!” and be Metaken the ever fluctuating relationship between Hashem and Klal Yisrael. However, Moshe is held to a higher standard as a Tzaddik and was punished for what he did. This also makes sense with the first answer to our original questions about Moshe’s biggest moment. At Chet HaEgel, Moshe broke the Luchot to keep this relationship intact, yet Mei Merivah was another demonstration of Moshe’s Takanah of the Klal Yisrael-Hashem relationship.

We can learn from these three variations of the Middah of Takanah so many lessons about how we should act. From Miriam’s Takanah of family relationships we learn how essential it is for us to make sure our families don’t fight. From Aharon we learn that we have to make peace with our friends, the Takanah of Bein Adam LeChaveiro. And from Moshe we learn perhaps the most important Takanah of them all: the Takanah of our relationship with Hashem. Yom Kippur just passed, but that doesn’t mean there isn't Teshuvah until next year. How many times already have we said something to a sibling or friend that we regret? How many Aveirot Bein Adam LiMakom have we already committed? Let’s learn from Moshe Rabbeinu, Aharon and Miriam that we need to be Metaken these things, not just on Yom Kippur, but year round as well.