Tis' the season...
10 views
Skip to first unread message
Ezra Goldschmiedt
Dec 26, 2013, 9:52:41 PM12/26/13
to Ichabura
Do you know the next time X-mas will fall out on the week of Parshat Vaerah? Like the majestic Thanksgivukah, it will be a very rare bird in the coming years (I gave up looking through Chabad's calendar at 2033).
Why is this important you ask? Because on this year more than any, you need to see Rav Hirsch's comments to the seemingly random genealogy of Moshe given in this week's parshah (6:14-30). Pasted below is a version I found that someone else typed up - hope it's solid:
Immediately conspicuous is the interruption of the narrative
by a genealogical register interposing in its midst and concluding
with the words: hu Aaron u'Moshe (v. 26), haim hamedarbrim, hu Moshe
v'Aaron (v. 27) as though these people were complete strangers to us,
with whom we were becoming acquainted here for the first time. Only
in verse 29 does Scripture return to the beginning of the narrative,
repeat it, and continue it! Let us now consider this genealogical
register. It is not limited to the lineage of Moshe and Aharon;
rather, it briefly outlines the two preceding tribes. So, too, in
the tribe of Moshe and Aharon, the register shows not only their
direct lineage, but also the side branches: uncles and cousins,
great uncles and second cousins. Thus, we are shown the relationship
of their tribe with the preceding ones, and the relationship of
their family and house with the families and houses of relatives,
in previous generations and among contemporaries. We are also told
the advanced age reached by their father and their grandfather,
which shows us that not much time separated their demise from the
rise of Moshe and Aharon. Then, pointing to these two in the midst of
this wide circle of family and friends, Scripture repeatedly says:
these were the same Moshe and Aharon on the day that God spoke to
them! (see vv. 2628).
If we further consider the point at which we are given this list of
their lineage and family relations, we can perhaps come to understand
the significance and purpose of all this information.
Until now, the efforts of Moshe and Aharon have been completely
frustrated. Were it not for later events, there would be no need
for such an exact list of their lineage and family relations. Now,
however, begins their triumphal mission, the likes of which no
mortal had ever accomplished before them or will ever accomplish
after them. Now it is of critical importance to present an exact
list of their lineage and relations, so as to attest thereby for all
time to come that their origin was ordinary and human, and that the
nature of their being was ordinary and human.
Right from the earliest times it has happened that men who were
outstanding benefactors to their people were, after their death,
divested of their human image and, because of their godlike feats,
were invested with a Divine origin. We all know of a certain Jew,
in later times, whose genealogical record was not available, and
because it was not available, and because he brought people a few
sparks of light borrowed from the man Moshe, he came to be considered
by the nations as begotten of God; to doubt his divinity became a
capital crime.
Our Moshe was human, remained human, and will never be anything but
human. When his countenance had already become radiant from what
he was allowed to see of God; when he had already brought down the
Torah from Heaven, and had already miraculously led the people through
the wilderness and won for them victories of God, God here commanded
him to present his genealogical record and thereby affirm the fact
that b'yom deber HaShem el Moshe b'eretz Mitzrayim (v. 28), on the
day that God first spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt, everyone
knew his parents and grandparents, his uncles and aunts and all his
cousins. They knew his whole lineage and all his relatives. For eighty
years they had known him as a man of flesh and blood, subject to all
the failings and weaknesses, worries and needs, of human nature, a
man like all the other men among whom he had been born and raised. hu
Aaron u'Moshe (v. 26), haim hamedarbrim, hu Moshe v'Aaron they were
flesh and blood like all other men, and God chose them to be His
instruments in the performance of His great work; they were flesh
and blood like all other men, and they carried out His great work.
This certificate of origin is meant to negate in advance and
forevermore any erroneous deification, any illusion of an incarnation
of Deity in human form. It is meant to uphold this truth: Moshe,
the greatest man of all time, was just a man, and the position he
attained before God was not beyond the reach of mortal human beings.
The list of names is also meant to negate a second illusion, the
opposite of the first and no less dangerous. Thus the genealogical
register is not confined to the direct line of descent of Moshe
and Aharon viz., Yaakov, Levi, Kehas, Amram, Moshe but lists
also the tribes that preceded Levi, with their descendants, and
lists also the other branches of the tribe of Levi. For although
the certificate of origin establishes as a fact the human nature
of Moshe and Aharon, it might also have fostered the belief that
everyone, without exception, is fit to become a prophet. A person
who today is known as a complete idiot could tomorrow proclaim the
Word of God. Gods spirit could suddenly descend upon an ignorant and
uneducated person and teach him to speak in seventy languages. Indeed,
this phenomenon of imagined or pretended prophecy is not uncommon in
other circles. In their view, the more intellectually limited and
empty-minded the prophet of today was yesterday, the more clearly
this sudden transformation attests to a Divine call.
This dangerous illusion, too, is negated by the family register. True,
Moshe and Aharon were men and nothing but men, but they were chosen
men. Had God wished simply to pick the first comer, there were other
tribes, besides Levi, who stood at His disposal; and within Levi,
there were other branches besides Kehas; and within Kehas, there
were other houses besides that of Amram; and among Amrams children,
Aharon was the elder son and, like Moshe, was a worthy candidate.
God, however, chooses the worthiest and most exemplary to be His
emissaries who do His bidding. Before he receives his call, the
human being must attain the heights of human virtue. It was not
Avraham or Yitzchak but Yaakov who became the true founder of the
House of Israel. It was not Reuven or Shimon but Levi who became
the chosen tribe. It was not Aharon or Miryam but Moshe who became
Gods emissary. (This idea is the essence of our Sages comment on the
verse halo kasavti l'cha shalishim [Mishlei 22:20]; see Tanchuma,
Yisro 10.) One is chosen only if he has matured on his own to the
point that he has become worthy of being chosen.
We have already noted (above, 2:1112) that, according to the Jewish
conception, neither weaklings, nor simpletons, nor those who are
dependent on others are chosen to be the bearers of Gods spirit. On
the contrary, even before he is chosen, God's emissary must be gebor
chochom v'asher healthy in body, mind, and social standing. Healthy
in body: so that deluded impostors (whose ill-health affects their
mental outlook) should not disseminate morbid hallucinations which
will be presented and regarded as visions of God. Healthy in mind:
because only a mind that has developed to its full human capacity
can grasp and transmit the Word of God. Healthy in social standing:
because only a person who is independent, who requires nothing for
himself and seeks nothing for himself, can understand people and
assess situations objectively, as befits an emissary of God.
by a genealogical register interposing in its midst and concluding
with the words: hu Aaron u'Moshe (v. 26), haim hamedarbrim, hu Moshe
v'Aaron (v. 27) as though these people were complete strangers to us,
with whom we were becoming acquainted here for the first time. Only
in verse 29 does Scripture return to the beginning of the narrative,
repeat it, and continue it! Let us now consider this genealogical
register. It is not limited to the lineage of Moshe and Aharon;
rather, it briefly outlines the two preceding tribes. So, too, in
the tribe of Moshe and Aharon, the register shows not only their
direct lineage, but also the side branches: uncles and cousins,
great uncles and second cousins. Thus, we are shown the relationship
of their tribe with the preceding ones, and the relationship of
their family and house with the families and houses of relatives,
in previous generations and among contemporaries. We are also told
the advanced age reached by their father and their grandfather,
which shows us that not much time separated their demise from the
rise of Moshe and Aharon. Then, pointing to these two in the midst of
this wide circle of family and friends, Scripture repeatedly says:
these were the same Moshe and Aharon on the day that God spoke to
them! (see vv. 2628).
If we further consider the point at which we are given this list of
their lineage and family relations, we can perhaps come to understand
the significance and purpose of all this information.
Until now, the efforts of Moshe and Aharon have been completely
frustrated. Were it not for later events, there would be no need
for such an exact list of their lineage and family relations. Now,
however, begins their triumphal mission, the likes of which no
mortal had ever accomplished before them or will ever accomplish
after them. Now it is of critical importance to present an exact
list of their lineage and relations, so as to attest thereby for all
time to come that their origin was ordinary and human, and that the
nature of their being was ordinary and human.
Right from the earliest times it has happened that men who were
outstanding benefactors to their people were, after their death,
divested of their human image and, because of their godlike feats,
were invested with a Divine origin. We all know of a certain Jew,
in later times, whose genealogical record was not available, and
because it was not available, and because he brought people a few
sparks of light borrowed from the man Moshe, he came to be considered
by the nations as begotten of God; to doubt his divinity became a
capital crime.
Our Moshe was human, remained human, and will never be anything but
human. When his countenance had already become radiant from what
he was allowed to see of God; when he had already brought down the
Torah from Heaven, and had already miraculously led the people through
the wilderness and won for them victories of God, God here commanded
him to present his genealogical record and thereby affirm the fact
that b'yom deber HaShem el Moshe b'eretz Mitzrayim (v. 28), on the
day that God first spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt, everyone
knew his parents and grandparents, his uncles and aunts and all his
cousins. They knew his whole lineage and all his relatives. For eighty
years they had known him as a man of flesh and blood, subject to all
the failings and weaknesses, worries and needs, of human nature, a
man like all the other men among whom he had been born and raised. hu
Aaron u'Moshe (v. 26), haim hamedarbrim, hu Moshe v'Aaron they were
flesh and blood like all other men, and God chose them to be His
instruments in the performance of His great work; they were flesh
and blood like all other men, and they carried out His great work.
This certificate of origin is meant to negate in advance and
forevermore any erroneous deification, any illusion of an incarnation
of Deity in human form. It is meant to uphold this truth: Moshe,
the greatest man of all time, was just a man, and the position he
attained before God was not beyond the reach of mortal human beings.
The list of names is also meant to negate a second illusion, the
opposite of the first and no less dangerous. Thus the genealogical
register is not confined to the direct line of descent of Moshe
and Aharon viz., Yaakov, Levi, Kehas, Amram, Moshe but lists
also the tribes that preceded Levi, with their descendants, and
lists also the other branches of the tribe of Levi. For although
the certificate of origin establishes as a fact the human nature
of Moshe and Aharon, it might also have fostered the belief that
everyone, without exception, is fit to become a prophet. A person
who today is known as a complete idiot could tomorrow proclaim the
Word of God. Gods spirit could suddenly descend upon an ignorant and
uneducated person and teach him to speak in seventy languages. Indeed,
this phenomenon of imagined or pretended prophecy is not uncommon in
other circles. In their view, the more intellectually limited and
empty-minded the prophet of today was yesterday, the more clearly
this sudden transformation attests to a Divine call.
This dangerous illusion, too, is negated by the family register. True,
Moshe and Aharon were men and nothing but men, but they were chosen
men. Had God wished simply to pick the first comer, there were other
tribes, besides Levi, who stood at His disposal; and within Levi,
there were other branches besides Kehas; and within Kehas, there
were other houses besides that of Amram; and among Amrams children,
Aharon was the elder son and, like Moshe, was a worthy candidate.
God, however, chooses the worthiest and most exemplary to be His
emissaries who do His bidding. Before he receives his call, the
human being must attain the heights of human virtue. It was not
Avraham or Yitzchak but Yaakov who became the true founder of the
House of Israel. It was not Reuven or Shimon but Levi who became
the chosen tribe. It was not Aharon or Miryam but Moshe who became
Gods emissary. (This idea is the essence of our Sages comment on the
verse halo kasavti l'cha shalishim [Mishlei 22:20]; see Tanchuma,
Yisro 10.) One is chosen only if he has matured on his own to the
point that he has become worthy of being chosen.
We have already noted (above, 2:1112) that, according to the Jewish
conception, neither weaklings, nor simpletons, nor those who are
dependent on others are chosen to be the bearers of Gods spirit. On
the contrary, even before he is chosen, God's emissary must be gebor
chochom v'asher healthy in body, mind, and social standing. Healthy
in body: so that deluded impostors (whose ill-health affects their
mental outlook) should not disseminate morbid hallucinations which
will be presented and regarded as visions of God. Healthy in mind:
because only a mind that has developed to its full human capacity
can grasp and transmit the Word of God. Healthy in social standing:
because only a person who is independent, who requires nothing for
himself and seeks nothing for himself, can understand people and
assess situations objectively, as befits an emissary of God.
- Ezra
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages