Living in Both Worlds

Living in one world is easy. Straddling the fence between two worlds by compromising each is precarious. The ability to live fully in both worlds is Divine.

Hearing or Seeing?

Moses has been delivering an impassioned soliloquy to the Jewish people weeks before his passing And repeatedly, he invokes the expression: “Shema Yisroel”-”Hear o Israel.”

But when we begin reading this week’s parsha, R’ei, Moses changes his approach and his use of language. Instead of saying “hear” or “listen,” he says “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.”

Several questions arise:

First, why did Moses decide to change his mode of expression from Shema-Hear to R’eisee?

Second, what did Moses want them to see?

Third, what did Moses mean when he said, “See, I place before you.” Did Moses mean to suggest that it was he who gave them blessings and curses? Do they not all come from G-d? Why then does Moses attribute the blessings and the curses to himself?

Certainly, one can say that Moses was simply quoting G-d. One could also explain that, moreover, Moses was so devoted to G-d that G-d spoke through him. Nevertheless, it would have been perfectly fine if Moses would have simply stated: “See, G-d gives you a blessing and a curse.”

Moses Changed Gears

One answer to these questions is based on the commentary Or Hachaim (authored by Rabbi Chaim ben Atar, the great Sephardic Sage, a contemporary of the Ba’al Shem Tov) that Moses was actually pointing to himself. When he said, “See, I give you today a blessing and a curse.” he actually meant, “Look at me, because I am qualified to speak to you about the things in life that are truly blessed and those that are actually curses.

To explain: When Moses saw how all of his efforts to convey the Divine message to the Jewish people were not penetrating, he realized that it may have been because they looked at the messenger and felt that he was speaking from a different place.

Moses, to the Jewish people was on a higher perch and came from a different world, a world in which there were only spiritual blessings. Moses could not fathom, they imagined, the struggles of the average person, who cannot always know which is the curse and which is the blessing. And even if one does know right from wrong, it is not always easy to control oneself and avoid the curses.

Moses sensed their skepticism. Moses sensed their doubts about their ability to hear and internalize the messages he was delivering to them.

Moses, therefore, changed gears and resorted to “plan B.” Rather than just preach what was the right way, he would show them that he also was exposed to both worlds. He was raised in the palace of Pharaoh, exposed to all of the wealth and culture of Egypt and could have very easily chosen for himself that kind of a lifestyle. Nevertheless, despite his comfortable existence, he left that environment and even risked his life to save a fellow Jew. And the rest is history.

Moses was well aware of the two competing influences in life and knew how to make the right choices. Moses was therefore eminently qualified to impress upon the people that they too have the ability to shun the curses that may appear initially as blessings. So Moses says to them, “Look at how I have been capable of knowing right from wrong. And this awareness I am imparting to you.

Was the Humility?

Now, one might think that by Moses pointing to his own role was a contradiction to the way the Torah characterizes him as the humblest man that ever lived. How do we reconcile his humility with the way he asked the people to look at him and his choices?

The answer is that this too was a part of Moses’ self-sacrifice. If the needs of the people dictated that he show them his own example, so be it.

In truth, not only did he not compromise his humility it was an affirmation of it, for when a person is capable of doing that which goes against one’s nature to help others, that is the sign of true self-effacing behavior.

Moshiach’s Call for Humility

The Midrash relates that Moshiach will make the announcement to the Jewish people upon his arrival: “Humble ones, the time of your redemption has arrived.” Why is it necessary for him to address the Jewish people as “humble ones?” Why couldn’t he use some other praise?

One answer is that calling us humble is not intended simply as praise but an integral part of the process of bringing the Redemption. True humility is not putting ourselves down. Genuine humility is when we put aside our own material interests, and even our own spiritual interest, to assist another.

That is the sign that we are indeed ready for the true and complete Redemption.

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