Moses, the Redeemer

 -translated and anthologized from Sefer HaLikutim and Likutei Torah by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky in the writings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria

 

Parashat VaEtchanan begins with Moses' description of how he pleaded with G-d to let him enter the land of Israel. G-d denied Moses' request: "And G-d grew angry with me because of you, and did not listen to me. G-d said to me, 'It is enough for you; do not continue to speak to Me anymore about this.'" (Deut. 3:26)

The Arizal discusses the meaning of the words, "It is enough for you" (in Hebrew, "rav lach"), which can also mean "you have a teacher".

This means that Moses was originally the teacher of all other prophets.

Moses, being the first prophet to communicate G-d's words to the people, was the prototype for all following prophets and leaders of the Jewish people. They would all learn from him and aspire to his level. But when he pleaded to enter the Promised Land with the rest of the Jewish people in order to continue to shepherd them, G-d, in a way, did answer his prayer, by assuring him that his soul would return and be vested in the soul of each generation's leader. In these cases, however, he would not initially be the teacher, but the student:

But afterwards, [i.e., when Moses' soul would return] in every generation, he [in the form that generation's next leader] would need a teacher to teach him. [In particular,] the prophet Elijah would come and teach him, and the generation will then begin to shine within him.

 

One of the missions of the prophet Elijah, is to teach the secrets of the Torah to those scholars in every generation who are worthy.

 

Moses' soul, impregnated in each new generation's up-and-coming leader, must begin from scratch and learn the Torah from others. One of the missions of the prophet Elijah, who ascended alive into heaven and became a type of angel, is to teach the secrets of the Torah to those scholars in every generation who are worthy of this. Once an individual begins to learn the inner dimension of the Torah, he begins to identify with the unique psychosocial context of his generation and thus develops his innate leadership qualities.

At first, he will be "dumb, not knowing how to open his mouth". (Psalms 38:14)

He will not have learned the art of articulation and inspiring speech.

In fact, we see that even then [i.e., in Moses' own lifetime] something of this promise was fulfilled. Our sages state (Sotah 13b) in reference to the verse, "I can no longer go and come" (Rashi on Deut. 31:2), that it refers to Torah study, meaning that the fountains of wisdom had closed up for him, and he need to learn [Torah] from Joshua.

On the day of his death, Moses told the people, "I am 120 years old today; I can no longer go and come. G-d told me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan river.' [Instead,] G-d will go before you [i.e., the Jewish people]; He will annihilate these nations before you and drive them out. Joshua will lead you, as G-d has said." (Deut. 31:2-3)

This is an additional meaning of the words "You have a teacher," i.e., that you already have a teacher, namely, Joshua.

Thus, these words, spoken on the first of Shevat in the last years of Moses' life, look ahead 37 days to the 7^th of Adar, the last day of his life, when the divine inspiration necessary to teach the Torah to the Jewish people would be transferred from him to Joshua. This, of course, in addition to their promise that Moses' soul would return to lead the Jewish people in each generation and in so doing would need to be taught first by another teacher.

This is alluded to in the verse, "I will raise a prophet like you for them from amongst their brethren." (Ibid. 18:18) The initials of the words for "I will raise for them from amongst" spell the word for "dumb."

 

The redeemer's exalted state after the Redemption will be commensurate with his dejection during the exile.

 

"I will raise for them from amongst…" in Hebrew is "akim lahem mikerev". The three initial letters are alef-lamed-mem, which spell ileim, the word for "dumb."

The passage from which this verse is taken states that the Jewish people will never have to guess what G-d's will is for them; unlike other nations that need to resort to divination and soothsayers, there will always be prophetic leaders - who are understood to be impregnated with Moses' soul - who will convey G-d's will to the Jewish people. The full verse quoted here reads: "I will raise a prophet like you for them from amongst their brethren, and I will place My words in his mouth, and he will tell them all that I command him."

After [the new leader has passed through the learning stage,] "I will place My words in his mouth", meaning that G-d's words will flow from within him. After this, he will ascend to the next, higher level: ["and he will tell them all that I command him," meaning that] G-d will speak to him openly.

The Arizal now finds allusion to this process in the verse, "I became dumb, silent; I was quiet of good; and my hurt intensified." (Psalms 39:3)

This is the mystical meaning of the verse "I became dumb, silent…." The word for "silent" [in  Hebrew "domiah"] can be read as if to mean "silenced by G-d" ["dom Y-ah"], meaning, "He decreed that I should be dumb."

Domiah: dalet-vav-mem-yud-hei, can be split into two words, "silent" (in Hebrew "dom", spelled dalet-vav-mem) and the divine name Y-ah (spelled yud-hei).

"I was quiet of good" [means "I did not teach Torah", for] "there is no 'good' but Torah." (Avodah Zarah 19b)

The sages state that the word "good", wherever it appears in the Bible, refers to the Torah, the ultimate good.

"My hurt intensified" refers to the suffering that he will endure.

To explain this, the Arizal turns to the sages' explanation of the verse, "Behold, My servant will prosper; he will ascend, be lifted up, and be very high. Just as many were astonished over you, [saying,] 'He looks too disfigured to be human…so will the many nations exclaim about him…." (Isaiah 52:13-15) This implies that the redeemer's (or Israel's, or Moses' as we will see) exalted state after the Redemption will be commensurate with his dejection during the exile.

As it is stated in the Talmud (Berachot 5a) Moses will first be "desolate".

 

Whatever pertains to the first redeemer pertains to the final redeemer.

 

The name "Moses" (in Hebrew "Moshe", spelled mem-shin-hei) may be permuted to spell the word for "desolate" (in Hebrew "shamah", spelled shin-mem-hei). In Hebrew, the words for "desolation" and "astonishment" are related, since desolation astonishes the beholder and astonishment puts the person undergoing it in a state of temporary "desolation", i.e., incapacitation. Thus, the phrase "Just as many were astonished (in Hebrew, "shamemu") over you" in the verse quoted above describes Moses' initial, pre-grandeur state.

Only afterwards, "My servant will prosper." This refers to Moses.

Since G-d elsewhere calls Moses "My servant."[1]

This [prophecy] also refers to the Mashiach. [This is not a contradiction, since] the numerical value of "Shilo" is the same as that of Moses' name [Moshe].

Shilo: shin-yud-lamed-hei = 300 + 10 + 30 + 5 = 345.

Moshe: mem-shin-hei = 40 + 300 + 5 = 345.

Shilo was the town where Joshua put the Tabernacle, i.e., its first location in the Promised Land. (Later, in the days of Samuel, it moved to Nov and later Givon, and remained there until King Solomon built the first Temple.) Being the first resting place of the house of G-d when the Jews entered the Promised Land, it represents the idea of the return of the people to their land with the messianic Redemption. It specifically refers to the Mashiach, as in the verse "…until Shiloh arrives…." (Gen. 49:10)

Furthermore, our sages stated that whatever pertains to the first redeemer [i.e., Moses] pertains to the final redeemer [i.e., the Mashiach][2] and that the generation that passes [away] is [the same] as the generation that is to come [i.e., be resurrected]. (Kohelet Rabba 1:4)

The second statement means that "If a person dies lame, he will be resurrected lame; if he dies blind, he will be resurrected blind. This is so people won't say that those that G-d let die are different from those He resurrected  'I will raise them with their defects…and then I will heal them.'" (Ibid.)

These two statements of our sages indicate that the verse quoted ("Behold, My servant will prosper…") can apply equally to Moses and to the final redeemer.

This is also the meaning of the verse, "As in the days when you went out of Egypt, I will show him wonders." (Micah 7:15) We would have expected this verse to read, "…I will show you wonders" and "As in the days when he went out of Egypt…."

In this case, the verse would read, "As in the days when he [i.e., Moses, or the generation of the exodus] went out of Egypt, I will show you [the Mashiach, or the generation of the final redemption] wonders."

[The verse is instead written the way it is] to indicate that you [i.e., the final generation] yourself went out of Egypt, and that you yourself are that generation [which G-d will now show new wonders].

Thus, the verse "Behold, My servant will prosper…" can again apply equally to Moses and to the final redeemer.

The verse "Behold, My servant will prosper " describes the ascent [the redeemer] will undergo. At first, "he will prosper". Then, "he will ascend". Then, "he will be lifted up". Then, "he will be high". Then, "very much so".

The two words for "and be very high" (in Hebrew, "vegavah me'od") are taken to refer to two separate stages.

The word for "very much so" [in Hebrew, "me'od"] is a permutation of the name "Adam", indicating that [the Mashiach] will be on the spiritual level that Adam was before the primordial sin.

Me'od: mem-alef-dalet; Adam: alef-dalet-mem.

He will then rectify everything [that was flawed by the primordial sin], and thus "the final action [will restore reality to the way it was] first intended".

 

The final action, the redemption, will bring the world to its originally intended state.

 

This phrase is found in the Lecha Dodi poem and describes the Shabbat, the last day created but the first thought of, since it embodies the perfection of reality the preceding days lead up to. On the cosmic scale, the phrase means that the final action, the redemption, will bring the world to its originally intended state.

This is the highest level; [the following verses] inform us what will happen in the intervening generations, in order that [we realize that] it is worth ascending all those levels.

It therefore states [in the following verse,] "Just as many were astonished over you, [saying,] 'His appearance  is too disfigured to be that of a man.'" The words "a man" refer to Moses.

For Moses is on occasion referred to as "this man, Moses" or "the man, Moses (such as in Exodus 11:3, 32:1,23; Numbers 12:3), which is an unusual idiom in the Bible.

"His appearance" refers to Moses' [unique] appearance, namely, the fact that his face shone. (See Ex. 34:29)

But in subsequent generations, when Moses reappears [initially] as a regular person, [his condition is] described by the following verses.

Following are the verses the Arizal addresses specifically:

Behold, My servant shall prosper, ascend and be lifted and be very high.

Just as the many were appalled at him - so marred was his appearance, unlike that of man,

his form, beyond human semblance - just so he shall startle many nations….Who would believe what we have heard? Upon whom has the arm of G-d been revealed?...And his grave was set among the wicked....I will give him the many as his portion; he shall receive the multitude as his spoil. For he exposed himself to death and was numbered among the sinners, whereas he bore the guilt of the many and made intercession for sinners.

 - Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Translation adapted from Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, Philadelphia, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society, 1985)

Thus:

"Who would believe what we have heard? Upon whom has the arm of G-d been revealed?" (Ibid.) This evidently refers to the revelation of G-d's arm upon Moses, as it is written, "…and for all the strong arm [and awesome power that Moses demonstrated before all Israel."] (Deut. 34:12)

 

Moses will achieve complete forgiveness for the sin of Adam and Eve.

 

"And his grave was set among the wicked." (Ibid.) Allegorically, this means that [Moses'] soul descended to be impregnated into the bodies [of individuals] in these [later] generations, who, [no matter how righteous,] are considered wicked relative to him. Therefore…

"I will give him the many as his portion," (Ibid.) meaning that he will receive the reward for [leading] all these [generations], since he brought all these generations to merit. We know that Moses[' merits] "weigh" as much as [those of the rest of] Israel,[3] and as our sages said, "Moses attained merit and brought all Israel to merit; therefore the merits of the many are accounted as his." (Avot 5:18)

"He shall receive the multitude as his spoil" (Ibid.) means that he received his portion directly from G-d, while the other righteous people will receive theirs [indirectly,] through him. This is "because he exposed himself to death" (Ibid.) in each generation.

This is the mystical meaning of why, [in the repetition of his name,] it is written "Moses Moses," (Exodus 3:4)[4] without a dividing punctuation mark, indicated that in each generation, he himself appears.

When G-d called to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He also repeated his name (Gen. 22:11), but there is a cantillation mark telling the reader to pause between the two times his name is mentioned. The same is true when G-d called Jacob before he went to Egypt. (Ibid. 46:2) The fact that Moses' name is repeated without any intervening punctuation indicates that the two appearances of Moses - as himself and impregnated into the leader of each generation - are the same.

"And he was numbered among the sinners and he bore the guilt of the many" (Ibid.) means that through [his final reappearance, as the Mashiach,] he will achieve complete forgiveness for the sins of the generations, including the sin of Adam and Eve, who were "many" and great.