Dedicated in loving memory of Naomi Bat Chorshid, a”h. A modest person, may her Neshamah have aliyah after aliyah and may she be a meilitz yoshar for all of Klal Yisroel especially at this time of need of the Jewish people. Shimon and Channah Kedar
THE END OF the Torah also means the end of Moshe Rabbeinu’s life. Everyone knows that he was a great person, but it is worth adding a few more words about just how great he was.
Everything about Moshe Rabbeinu since birth pointed to a special relationship with the Ohr HaGanuz, with which all miracles and redemptions occur. That was the supernal light that God created on Day One of Creation and then hid for the righteous in the future. The Gemora says:
It is written here [regarding the birth of Moshe], “She saw that he was good” (Shemos 2:2), and it is written there [regarding the creation of the Ohr HaGanuz], “God saw the light, that it was good” (Bereishis 1:4). (Sotah 12a)
As the Gemora says:
The Chachamim say that when Moshe was born the entire house filled with light. (Sotah 12a)
Kabbalah goes into more detail:
The level of Moshe Rabbeinu was…from the Ohr HaGanuz itself. (Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 5, Siman 2, Anaf 12, Os 2)
This means that from birth Moshe was a conduit for the original light of Creation. Physically born to Amram, the Torah leader of his generation, and Yocheved his wife, his soul was from a very high level in the sefiros. This made him unique from the start:
Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world, and all of them were given to Moshe except for one. (Rosh Hashanah 21b)
Not surprisingly, Moshe Rabbeinu was born exactly thirty-six years after the slavery in Egypt began. His very life was a revelation of this hidden light, something that is always represented by the number thirty-six. And being the channel for the Ohr HaGanuz:
The Torah was given through him, as well as all Torah insights for all time. (Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 5, Siman 2, Anaf 12, Os 2)
It is very difficult to comprehend how a person can know so much, especially knowledge that will only be revealed in the future. Then again, Moshe Rabbeinu had been able to enter Heaven while still alive and, speak with God and angels without dying. He was the greatest prophet to have ever lived.
“Happy is the nation with such a portion” (Tehillim 144:15). [The word for “portion” is spelled] Shin-Chof-Chof-Heh [and] is equal in gematria to “Moshe.” (Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 5, Siman 2, Anaf 12, Os 2)
On a simple level, Dovid HaMelech refers to God and the special relationship the Jewish people have with Him. On a deeper level, it refers to Moshe Rabbeinu who helped build and maintain that special relationship, in his generation and for the rest of time:
Rebi Yosi son of Rebi Chanina said that Torah was only given to Moshe and his descendants, as it says, “Write for yourself” (Shemos 34:27), and “Hew for yourself” (Shemos 34:1). [It is as if to say,] “Just as the [leftover] shavings [from the hewing of the second tablets] are yours [Moshe], so too is the writing yours.” Moshe however acted generously and gave it to the Jewish people… (Nedarim 38a)
The purpose of Creation is the ultimate pleasure in the World to Come. But the pleasure of the World to Come can only be earned through the learning of Torah and the performance of mitzvos, regarding which it says:
For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, nor is it far away. It is not in Heaven, that you can say, “Who shall go up to the Heaven and bring it to us, and let us hear it that we can do it?” (Devarim 30:11)
But once it was. Once the Torah was very far away from us, while the obligation to keep it remained. It was Moshe Rabbeinu who changed that when he went up to Heaven and brought the Torah down for us. We owe our access to the World to Come to him. Had we not abused him, then we would have owed the final redemption to him as well:
Had the Jewish people not sinned Moshe would have entered the land and would have returned the world to the level of perfection of before the sin [of Adam HaRishon, the level of the Garden of Eden]. (Drushei Olam HaTohu, Chelek 2, Drush 5, Siman 2, Anaf 12, Os 2)
Thus, though Moshe Rabbeinu’s body was of a humbler origin, his soul came from the loftiest of spiritual heights. This made him like no other man on earth, as God Himself testified:
The humblest of all men on the face of the earth. (Bamidbar 12:3)
Furthermore, unlike other prophets, Moshe was able to speak to God face-to-face, and while conscious. God also spoke to Moshe clearly, and not in a riddle like He did with the rest of the prophets. That may sound simple, but the same amount of exposure to God’s light would have immediately killed anyone else.
Moshe Rabbeinu is called Ish Elokim—Man of God. Others have earned this title, but only because they reached a certain level of righteousness. With respect to Moshe Rabbeinu, it meant more:
If Elohim, then why ish; if ish then why Elohim? Rebi Avin said: From halfway down, [he was an] ish, but from halfway up, [he was an] Elohim. (Devarim Rabbah 11:14).
In fact, if Moshe had erred, it was in being too zealous to complete God’s purpose for Creation. But it led to one of the most catastrophic decisions ever made, the addition of the Erev Rav. For this reason, Moshe Rabbeinu has to reincarnate in every generation to rectify them. Moshiach only does his thing once Moshe has done his. In fact, they will be, in the end, one and the same person. Chazak!
Pinchas Winston
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