The Weekly Dvar Torah
Volume 2 Issue #13
Our Teacher Moshe the Humblest of All Men
Shemos
Adapted from the wisdom of Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk from the Meshech Chochmoh and Rav Tzadok HaCohen from Pri Tzadik and other works.
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated Avigail bas Yocheved, may she be blessed.
Moshe our great teacher was the humblest of all men: “Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.†(Bamidbar 12:3) Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk, in the Meshech Chochma, poses an interesting question. How was it possible for Moshe to achieve such humility? Taking into count his remarkable accomplishments: the ten plagues on Egypt, splitting the Red Sea, supplying bread from the heavens and speaking directly to Hashem in the clear vision of the entire Jewish people; how could he remain humble? The nature of man, especially if he accomplishes something that no one else before him had, is to feel a sense of superiority, understandably so. Moshe’s miracles strike wonder and astonishment in the minds of the wisest of men until this day. He wrought havoc and destruction on one of the greatest and most sophisticated civilizations of all times; bringing them down to their knees in surrender. All of this, he accomplished singlehandedly, with no more than the utterance of a few words. Clearly, Moshe was aware of his extraordinary feats. It would have been virtually impossible for Moshe to remain humble in light of his unprecedented accomplishments.
“And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.' And Moses said unto G-d: 'Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?' And He said: 'Certainly I will be with you; and this shall be the sign unto you, that I have sent you: when you bring forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d upon this mountain.' †Moshe, nor any human being for that matter, would have been able to utter anything but the complete sincere truth when speaking face-to-face with the Creator of the universe, whose knowledge penetrates heart and soul. Being so, Moshe’s response to Hashem “Who am I...†is the greatest testimony to his impeccable humility. There is only one plausible explanation to Moshe’s genuine humility despite his towering spiritual powers and accomplishments. Moshe was as close to Hashem as a human being can come. His awareness of Hashem’s awesome oneness is beyond the scope of our perception. When facing the unfathomable splendor and magnificence of Hashem, as Moshe did, the ability to feel self-significance is certain to diminish proportionately to the level of understanding of Hashem’s majesty, glory and closeness to Him. Moshe was so intimately connected to Hashem, so surrounded by His ubiquitous presence, that he was unable to recognize his own self-worth – “whom am I...â€
Our sages teach us that throughout the course of his one hundred and twenty years Moshe remained the humble servant of Hashem. The fame and glory of becoming the most powerful man on the face of the earth did nothing to diminish his amazing humility. It was the same self-effacing Moshe, before and after. The closer he came to Hashem the more he personified humility. This is exactly what qualified him to become the leader of the Jewish people and the prophet of Hashem. Our sages teach us that Hashem brings His presence to rest only upon one who is humble, unassuming and views himself in low stature. Similarly, we find that of all the mountains that Hashem could have chosen to reveal the Torah, He chose Mt. Sinai because it was the lowest of all mountains.
Moshe tried to excuse himself from the holy mission that Hashem requested of him by exclaiming his inadequacy “who am I...†However, Hashem responded that Moshe’s humility is the very reason to chose him “this [your self-effacing response ‘who am I’] shall be the sign unto you, that I have sent you†i.e. the fact that you consider yourself so low in stature is the reason that you are abundantly qualified. The Jewish people will be able to understand and appreciate that only those who are genuinely close to Hashem can attain the humility that Moshe did. Only those who are exquisitely humble can make a genuine claim of closeness to Hashem. Hashem tells Moshe that the people will believe that he is the loyal prophet of Hashem because he is so modest and unassuming. This is why, in the same verse, Hashem informs Moshe: “when you bring forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d upon this mountain†the lowest of all mountains. The low elevation of Mt. Sinai was a sign to Moshe that Hashem chooses those who are low in their own eyes to become the leaders of the Jewish people and the resting place for the Shechinah – “And He said: 'Certainly I will be with youâ€
By Rav Yitzchak Schwartz Rosh Yeshiva Orchos Chaim Jerusalem
yschwartz@orchos.org.
This publication, Zichron Yehoshua, is in memory of Yehoshua Yakov ben Moshe-Jeffrey Nussbaum through a generous grant from Dr. Eric Nussbaum and family.
This issue is dedicated Avigail bas Yocheved, may she be blessed.
Moshe our great teacher was the humblest of all men: “Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.†(Bamidbar 12:3) Rav Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk, in the Meshech Chochma, poses an interesting question. How was it possible for Moshe to achieve such humility? Taking into count his remarkable accomplishments: the ten plagues on Egypt, splitting the Red Sea, supplying bread from the heavens and speaking directly to Hashem in the clear vision of the entire Jewish people; how could he remain humble? The nature of man, especially if he accomplishes something that no one else before him had, is to feel a sense of superiority, understandably so. Moshe’s miracles strike wonder and astonishment in the minds of the wisest of men until this day. He wrought havoc and destruction on one of the greatest and most sophisticated civilizations of all times; bringing them down to their knees in surrender. All of this, he accomplished singlehandedly, with no more than the utterance of a few words. Clearly, Moshe was aware of his extraordinary feats. It would have been virtually impossible for Moshe to remain humble in light of his unprecedented accomplishments.
“And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.' And Moses said unto G-d: 'Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?' And He said: 'Certainly I will be with you; and this shall be the sign unto you, that I have sent you: when you bring forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d upon this mountain.' †Moshe, nor any human being for that matter, would have been able to utter anything but the complete sincere truth when speaking face-to-face with the Creator of the universe, whose knowledge penetrates heart and soul. Being so, Moshe’s response to Hashem “Who am I...†is the greatest testimony to his impeccable humility. There is only one plausible explanation to Moshe’s genuine humility despite his towering spiritual powers and accomplishments. Moshe was as close to Hashem as a human being can come. His awareness of Hashem’s awesome oneness is beyond the scope of our perception. When facing the unfathomable splendor and magnificence of Hashem, as Moshe did, the ability to feel self-significance is certain to diminish proportionately to the level of understanding of Hashem’s majesty, glory and closeness to Him. Moshe was so intimately connected to Hashem, so surrounded by His ubiquitous presence, that he was unable to recognize his own self-worth – “whom am I...â€
Our sages teach us that throughout the course of his one hundred and twenty years Moshe remained the humble servant of Hashem. The fame and glory of becoming the most powerful man on the face of the earth did nothing to diminish his amazing humility. It was the same self-effacing Moshe, before and after. The closer he came to Hashem the more he personified humility. This is exactly what qualified him to become the leader of the Jewish people and the prophet of Hashem. Our sages teach us that Hashem brings His presence to rest only upon one who is humble, unassuming and views himself in low stature. Similarly, we find that of all the mountains that Hashem could have chosen to reveal the Torah, He chose Mt. Sinai because it was the lowest of all mountains.
Moshe tried to excuse himself from the holy mission that Hashem requested of him by exclaiming his inadequacy “who am I...†However, Hashem responded that Moshe’s humility is the very reason to chose him “this [your self-effacing response ‘who am I’] shall be the sign unto you, that I have sent you†i.e. the fact that you consider yourself so low in stature is the reason that you are abundantly qualified. The Jewish people will be able to understand and appreciate that only those who are genuinely close to Hashem can attain the humility that Moshe did. Only those who are exquisitely humble can make a genuine claim of closeness to Hashem. Hashem tells Moshe that the people will believe that he is the loyal prophet of Hashem because he is so modest and unassuming. This is why, in the same verse, Hashem informs Moshe: “when you bring forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d upon this mountain†the lowest of all mountains. The low elevation of Mt. Sinai was a sign to Moshe that Hashem chooses those who are low in their own eyes to become the leaders of the Jewish people and the resting place for the Shechinah – “And He said: 'Certainly I will be with youâ€