Moses the Matchmaker

Moses and Moshiach are the matchmakers between G-d and Israel. A matchmaker does not separate between the two parties. Rather he or she brings them together. Moses and Moshiach are the ultimate unifiers.

Do Not Delegate!

One of the rituals associated with the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is the Pidyon Haben-Redemption of the first born. This ceremony, performed when a first-born male child completes his first thirty days of life, involves the father giving the equivalent five silver shekalim to a kohain.

The simple reason for this act is to acknowledge G-d’s saving of the first born Israelite boys from the fate that awaited their Egyptian counterparts.

According to many authorities of Halacha (Jewish law) a father must personally be involved in the ceremony and cannot delegate its execution to a proxy. While Jewish law does allow for various religious obligations—such as tithing one’s produce—through an agent, Pidyon Haben, is an exception to the rule and must be performed by the father directly.

Chasam Sofer, a noted nineteenth century rabbinic authority, states that this rule is based on an explicit verse in this week’s parsha (Exodus 13:13-15):

“…you should redeem every firstborn person among your sons. It will come to pass if your son asks you in the future, saying, “What is this?’ You shall say to him” ‘With a mighty hand G-d took us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to send us out, G-d slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of people and animals. Therefore, I offer to G-d all males that come out of the womb first, and I will redeem every one of my firstborn sons.’”

The concluding words: “I will redeem” is meant to underscore that the father himself must do the redeeming; he cannot delegate the responsibility to another, because G- d too “personally” was involved in the saving of the firstborn Israelites at the time of the Exodus.

Indeed, this theme of G-d’s personal involvement in the Exodus is underscored in the Haggadah that is recited Passover night at the Seder. There we state that G-d did not delegate the responsibility to angels or any other messengers.

Moses Really Absent in the Haggadah

This premise—that G-d Himself was involved in the

Exodus and did not delegate responsibility to others— raises an obvious question: Is not the entire narrative of the Exodus punctuated with the role that Moses played as G-d’s messenger? How can one state that G-d did it without a messenger, considering the numerous references in the Torah to how G-d tells Moses: “Go to Pharaoh” and similar pronouncements?

There are those who point to the absence of Moses’ name in the Haggadah as proof that Moses’ role ought not to be stressed. (In truth, Moses’ name does appear once in the Haggadah in the verse, “And they believed in G-d and in Moses His servant.” It is interesting to note the Midrash’s comment on the comparison of G-d to Moses in this verse: “One who does not believe in Moses is tantamount to not believing in G-d!)

Maimonides certainly repudiates this notion that Moses’ role out to be minimized. In his Mishneh Torah, Maimonides requires that when instructing the more mature son that we emphasize to him the role Moses played at that time. This is in stark contrast to the approach he advocates to the simple minded son. In other words, contrary to those who highlight the absence of Moses’ name in the Haggadah as a sign that we ought to minimize Moses’ role, Maimonides considers the highlighting of Moses to a sign of greater sophistication.

How then do we reconcile Moses’ preeminent role in the

Exodus with the emphasis on G-d doing all by Himself?

Moses’ Non-Role, Role

The answer to this question lies in a better understanding of Moses’ role in this process.

When two parties, who are far apart, want to negotiate an agreement, there are two ways they can do so. They can hire an intermediary, an agent, who shuttles between the two parties, working out some compromise or accommodation that will be to their satisfaction. In all of these dealings, however, the two parties never really meet and form a close bond. And all that they accomplish in terms of their relationship is through the mediation of the agent. This system is known as an “intermediary who separates.”

There is, however, a totally different type of mediation. For example, a Shadchan-matchmaker will bring two strangers together for the ultimate purpose of marriage. Initially, the two parties make no direct contact with one another, but through the initiative of the Shadchan, the two are introduced to each other and may subsequently become husband and wife.

Alternatively, there might be some friction between spouses or two close friends. A counselor or a mutual friend will mediate between them with the express goal of bringing them back together so that they have a direct line of communication. This type of mediation is called an “intermediary that does not separate.” On the contrary, his exclusive function is to bring about the most complete unity between the two sides that were heretofore totally separated.

This was the nature of Moses’ role as an intermediary. His function was not to simply “represent” G-d, given the power of “attorney,” to liberate the Jews and give them the Torah. His role was to bring G-d directly to the people, so that there was nothing that could possibly separate between the two: G-d and Israel enter into a cosmic marriage.

This was Moses’ role as an intermediary. Hi function was to not simply “represent” G-d, given the power of “attorney” to liberate the Jews and give them the Torah. His rolewas to bring G-d directly to the people, so that there was nothing that could possibly separate between the two: G-d and Israel enter into a cosmic marriage.

Moses was able to accomplish this because Moses represented both sides. Moses, more than any other human being was attached to G-d, so much so that he is referred to in the book of Psalms as “Ish Ho’elokim-the Man of G-d.” Moses’ entire being was so transparent that he posed absolutely no barrier between G-d and himself. Yet, at the same time, his soul encompassed and was inextricably bound with every Jew. Moses was therefore able to connect every Jew with G-d because Moses was intimately bound to both.

Therefore, the Mitzvah of redeeming the first born that parallels the Divine act of redeeming the Jewish people from exile, must reflect the lack of any interference, even of a positive nature, between the two “parties.” The father must, therefore, personally redeem his son.

Moshiach: The Jewish View

What is said about Moses’ role was true about every authentic Jewish spiritual leader. Their task was to serve as intermediaries that connect, rather than intermediaries that separate.

The same is certainly true about the Jewish belief in the Moshiach, a human leader whose role it is to be the shadchan that will bring G-d once more “down” to His people and redeem them from exile so that all of Israel enjoys a direct and unobstructed relationship with our Creator and Liberator.

The parallel between Moses and Moshiach is expressed by the Midrash’s statement that “Moses was the first redeemer and Moses will be the final redeemer.” This is understood to mean that Moshiach will possess the soul and character of Moses that empowers him to liberate the Jewish people.

One of the characteristics they have in common is their humility. In order for them to channel the G-dly energy needed for liberation in particular, they need tobe so selfeffacing that they serve as unobstructed conduits for G-d’s light to reach us.

In other theological systems the concept of a Messiah is diametrically opposite that of Judaism. In these systems, the Messiah is an independent entity who actually stands in the way of our relationship with G-d. One can only get to G-d through their intermediary, which sets itself up as a demigod. It is therefore an intermediary that separates and obstructs. To worship an intermediary that sets itself up as a separate entity is a form of idolatry!

In Judaism, by stark contrast, Moshiach—as is true of every great Jewish leader in the past, beginning with Moses— removes all the barriers that may separate us from G-d. His role is to bring G-d’s unity and exclusivity into the world, whereas in other belief systems the Messianic ideal actually imputes a composite nature to G-d. This is in total odds with Judaism’s most important belief expressed in the Shema; it compromises G-d’s oneness.

Moreover, the object of the messianic Age is to make the unity of G-d permeate the entire world. Moshiach, the leader who ushers in that age, must certainly be the most self-effacing non-entity, who is instrumental in revealing that unity in the world.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Bo by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.