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Rabbi Haim Lifshitz

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Moses Increases the Power Wielded by God’s Servants

Translated by Dr. S. Nathan
l'ilui nishmat Esther bat Mordechai
l'ilui nishmat Mayer Hirsh ben Laibel


Moses' words are not intended to overwhelm the Jewish People or to emphasize the threatening prospect awaiting them from the Creator of the universe, as a result of their behavior.  Moses’ words are meant to grant a structure of partnership, between the Creator and the People.  “This great nation is simply a wise and insightful people.”  That is to say that the Creator’s wisdom is bestowed upon the one who serves God, turning the servant into a partner, who wields influence and bears responsibility for the management of the universe. 

Moses pleads to be allowed to enter the Land, in order to take part in the status of partner with the Creator in managing the universe.  The Creator replies: “Ascend the summit of the mountaintop.”  Your portion in the next world is greater than their portion, and you have no need to take part in the status of the people.

Moshe describes, at detailed length, how the nation had missed this rare opportunity of becoming a partner to the Master of the universe – in which each individual is assigned a specific portion and task.  “They are one and the same, the one who does much and the one who does little.”  Similarly upon receiving the Torah at Sinai, when they said, “You speak to us, and let God not speak to us,” they missed the opportunity to attain a level of sanctity that would have been above that of the angels, as depicted by the Ohr HaHaim, who maintains that every word heard directly from the Almighty, transformed the hearer into an angel attaching to Him.

The Sabbath, too, was granted to Israel as a Godly condition, in which the Jew ceases to be limited by and subject to the world of nature, and is transformed into a ruler, who creates a Godly reality within nature.  This is why observance of the Sabbath is given a weight that is equal to all the other commandments, whereas desecration of the Sabbath is given a weight that is equal to transgression of the entire Torah, because on the Sabbath, the Sabbath observer sheds the garb of the material and is transformed into a Godly entity within this world.

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is one.”  “There are three partners in the making of a human being: The Holy One, one’s father and one’s mother.”  These three bestow the various systems that will exist within the individual, in a state of dormant potential.  The individual is required to choose which of these systems to adopt; with which to identify and to which to attach.  The Holy One wishes for the individual to attach to Him, and to be transformed into a representative of the higher spheres, down here in the lower spheres – that is, to become the master of the lower spheres.

The human system (one’s mother) and the mechanistic system (one’s father) exist within the individual as well, each aspiring to become the adoptive parent.   One does not enter this world as an autonomous entity; autonomous being does not exist within a human being at all, at the outset.  One creates oneself, with one’s own hands, through the power of free choice and freely exercised will.  One finds oneself “between the straits,” between two kingdoms – the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth.  From these systems, one draws the raw materials for the construction of one’s own personal edifice.  It is the human being who creates the conditions by which the raw materials receive their essential substance, their shape and their capabilities, to become transformed into a uniquely original entity, through a process that continues throughout one’s lifetime.

The mitzvah of reciting the Shema (“Hear O Israel…”) shapes one’s path, pointing it in the Godly direction,  giving the order to activate all components, to mold them, and to create a perfect entity of them.

This entity takes up space in the tangible world; this entity belongs to oneself alone, yet it is capable of taking its place in either of the paths, whether spiritual or material.  “For not on bread alone shall a man live,” teaches that one will never find satisfaction traveling one track alone, while denying the other track. 

It is incumbent upon one to attempt to belong to, and to be faithful to the cultivation of one’s own uniquely original being, while endowing it with form and shape according to one’s own spiritual potential, “and there is naught else.”  That is to say that human beings do not possess neutral free choice.  Indeed, the human imperative is to make the decision to remain faithful to one’s own Godly quality and to no other, if one wishes to actualize the quality of one’s uniquely original being.  There is no other alternative.  “There is naught else.”  In seeking an alternative to one’s own uniquely original being, one runs the risk of losing both the former and the latter.

“Not because you are more numerous than all the nations…” That is to say, you do not belong to the family of nations.  You have no place among them, because you belong, in a permanent sense, only when you belong to God.  “Not because you are more numerous…did God desire you,” but so that you would be His Own uniquely chosen nation.

“You shall do what is honest and what is good.”  You shall be representatives of the quality of the sacred spirit, which will take on tangible presence through your moral behavior.  Only thus can you become an individual – as well as a national – entity. 

One great mistake could prevent the formation of your uniquely original being: Should you attempt to copy the other nations’ ways of life.  This mistake is incarnated in idolatry.  God did not bring you to the Land so that you would create a poor imitation of an economic power, with “houses filled with all good things, which you did not fill,” etc. because this is no purpose.  These are only means for realizing your own uniquely original purpose.  “Guard yourself, lest you forget…” your own destiny.  “It is God, your Lord, you shall fear, and Him you shall serve.

“But you, [Moses] stand here with me.”  You alone are privileged to represent Me.  The nation that recoiled from Me will not receive a perfect, ready-made Godly essence, as you will, but must instead create its being in tiny increments, very gradually, through harmonizing with nature (“little by litte...lest the beast of the field shall overwhelm you.”)  The individual Jew cannot attach to Me before creating tools – that are compatible with and worthy of each one’s uniquely original personality.

Thus, the individual becomes the focal point, rather than experiencing the feeling of belonging to Me alone – empowered thus to exert influence over the other components [of creation] as well, becoming a beacon of light unto the universe for all the other cultures.

Let all understand that the other religions are not religions of truth, but rather human creations that reflect the weaknesses of human subjection to the forces of nature.  Liberation from these is promised only by the Jewish religion, in that it grants one the powers and the capabilities necessary for molding and shaping one’s own unique originality, in order that it might contain capacities for the expression of one’s Godly being, without succumbing to the forces of ego, as the people of science have done, believing that they have no need of the Lord, and as people of religion have done, who are detached from reality and from themselves, believing they must cancel themselves entirely in order to attach to the Lord.

“ ‘…You began to show Your powerful hand to Your servant…’  Such was the beginning of my prophecy, that You showed me Your glory, as is written: ‘And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God,’ with the greatness and might, and You showed me how to know Who the Lord is, in the heavens and the earth, from Whom great deeds and mighty heroic acts such as Yours come forth.” (Ramban)

This comment by the Ramban revolves around a self-necessitated question: What connection is there between the idea of the supreme glory and might that God bestowed upon Moses, and Moses’ request to enter the Land?  The Ramban’s comment contains no clear answer to this question, unless we can, at the very outset of our discussion, clarify the innovative element that Moses introduced.  It behooves us to delve into his exact words, rather than merely viewing them as persuasive speech designed to strengthen the nation and to prepare them for their entry into the Holy Land.  Within Moses’ words, a fundamental principle lies hidden, upon which all service of God is built.

The obligation of service derives from the power bestowed by the Almighty upon the one who serves.  This turns the servant into a full partner, both with regard to rights and with regard to obligations, bearing responsibility for the creation.  This principle necessitates Moses’ entry into the Land of Israel, in order to participate in its building, and to bear responsibility for it.  The Creator replies: “You have much.”  Rashi: “Much more than this awaits you.  Much good is in store for you.” (From the midrashic source of Sifri on the Torah reading of Pinhas.)

That is to say, your portion does not resemble the portion of every person who serves God, who is in partnership with Me.  Your portion is greater than theirs, for with them, their service prepares them to become spiritually fit, whereas you are sanctified, and stand at My side rather than opposite Me.  Your status does not grant you greater rights, but rather obligations, specifically, due to the greater burden that is placed upon your shoulders.  Yours is a double responsibility, toward the Almighty and toward the nation as well.  It is this responsibility for the nation that Moses is referring to when he says: “God was furious with me for your sake.”  Rashi: “It was for you; you were the cause of what happened to me.” Ohr HaHaim notes that Moses emphasizes his words through repetition: “God was furious with me, and did not listen to me.”  He appears to imply, God did not listen to me because my responsibility toward you is not dependent upon my responsibility toward God, and this responsibility of mine is for your good, “for your sakes,” and no power is worthy to exempt me from you, in that you are dependent upon and in need of it. 

Had Moses entered the Land, this would have cut him off from them, for he would have been utterly immersed in fulfilling his duty toward heaven, in connecting the earth to the heavens, as is fitting and proper for the Holy Land, for it is the reflection of the kingdom of heaven.  Moses would have bound it to heaven with a permanent, inseparable bonding that would have not left any living space for the human being upon it.  It would have become a reflection of the kingdom of heaven to such an extent that the sanctity of the Land would have passed from the side of the earth to the heavenly side, as it says: “Ascend Mount Avarim (the Mountain of Sides) and see the Land,” etc. in the reading of Pinhas.  Or, according to the commentary of Ohr HaHaim: “Let God perform a miracle for him, and let him see by means of his eyes alone, without walking, everything he would have wished to see after he had crossed over,” meaning that he would see from on high, from the source of connection between heaven and earth, prior to their separation into two sides.  Hence our interpretation of the meaning of the name, “Mountain of Sides.” 

Here we find the resolution of a problem:  Why is Moses called to stand upon the “Mountain of Sides,” in the Book of Numbers, and on the “top of the summit,” in this week’s reading?  It seems that “top of the summit” is intended as an explanation for the name Mountain of Sides.  Ibn Ezra as well is sensitive to the different names for the same place, and explains it by geographical means.

Here Moses crosses over to attend to the other side of the equation of partnership between the Creator and the one who serves God.  He is dealing with the contingency that one who serves God might come to identify with the side that attaches to the Creator from the side of the Creator – and thus cross the boundaries, beyond what is permitted to mortals.  For “has such a great thing ever been?  Was its like ever heard?”  That a mortal is given a Godly dimension as partner to the Creator of the universe?  Since no precedent  exists for an equation of this type, the risk is that one might exploit one’s Godly power to innovate an independent path in the service of God, a path outside the track given by Moses from the Almighty. 

For this reason, a grave prohibition is presented: “Do not add.”  Adding to the Torah is able to render the value of all that one has done – null and void, including even what one has not added.  The rule of ‘the more the better’ does not apply to Torah observance.  “It is your own eyes that are seeing” the damage and the utter destruction that result from inventing commandments, which are the product of human imagination.  This turns immediately into the gravest prohibition of them all – the prohibition against idolatry.  The most serious of these is “Ba’al Pe’or,” which turns worship on its head, deifying the repulsive rather than the sacred.

In contrast, an individual who accepts the yoke of heaven, and attaches to God, enters the category: “You who attach to God, your Lord – you are all alive today.”  Meaning, if one fulfills God’s word within one’s own allotted portion and task, then one automatically merits the Godly aspect: “You are all alive today” means that one exchanges ephemeral time for the privilege of eternal life.

The laws designed to imbue the Land with the Godly factor – “to do so in the midst of the land” – will connect the two sides of the equation, and will constitute an opportunity for human beings to uphold both sides, unlike the religious perception held by the nations, who view service of God as the canceling of existence within the Godly dimension.  According to the Jewish perception, one who serves God is privileged to fulfill both sides, meaning to sanctify physical matter and to tangibly actualize the spirit.  The result is that one deviates from the limitations of physical matter without being compelled to renounce it, meriting the endless ascent of the spirit and granting the spirit a place in the world of physical matter.

This revelation leaves the non-Jews open-mouthed, to the point that the cry bursts from their lips, even against their own will: “They will say: ‘This great nation is simply a wise and insightful people.”  Yet if you will not strictly uphold both sides of the equation, you will cause, God forbid, a desecration of the name of God, and you will thereby delay the non-Jews’ acceptance of Godly truth upon themselves to a later stage, and you will thereby bring the hatred of the non-Jews upon yourselves.

In the words of Sforno: “If the nations consider you fools, it will be a desecration of the name of God, for they will say of you, ‘these are God’s people.’”  We see from this that sanctifying the name of God means revealing the Godliness buried in human beings, and the way to arrive at this revelation is by strict obedience to the way of Torah.

“I have sworn in, as witnesses for you – the heavens and the earth.”  To what purpose does Moses require such witnesses, specifically?  Apparently a Godly human being is considered of equal weight as the heavens and the earth, in that this human being constitutes a Godly presence uniting the heavens and the earth.  These two components of the equation thus constitute a clear-cut, natural testimony, with the capacity for validating the cancellation of the reason for your existence, since unification of heaven and earth is the entire purpose of your existence, as opposed to fulfillment of one side at the expense of the other.

“From there, you will search for the Lord, your God, and you will find, if you seek Him with all your heart…” The Biblical commentators offer no explanation as to what will cause you to seek God with all your heart at a time when you are immersed in the vanities of the non-Jews and even serving idolatry.  However, according to our exegetic methodology, the connection is clear.  A connection to the vanities of this world is incapable of nourishing the human experience of existence, which is comprised of the qualitative needs of the spirit that resides in the human soul.  It is needless to add that the vanities of this world are incapable of connecting one to one’s Possessor. 

The ability to relate to this world was created only and solely for the purpose of granting human beings the sensations that are experienced through tangible actualization of the Godly connection, in order to create Godly presence in this world.  The needs of physical matter per se` are inadequate to grant a sensation of existence, other than for the temporary needs of the ephemeral moment.  The Torah’s warning must be understood in the category of a promise, that excess materialism will open one’s eyes and awaken one’s spiritual thirst.  “In your stress” – and when you experience existential distress, from the vast lack of spirituality, then materialism shall cease to constitute a stumbling block for you, and the road to truth will be opened before you: “For the Lord, your God, is a compassionate Power,” and His intention is not to punish but rather to educate, to draw nearer to you and to make a partner of you, with regard to obligations and with regard to rights.  This will come after he has exposed you to the Godly reality, and you have realized that “there is nothing else, other than Him.  The secret of existence: I and Thou in union through attachment and partnership.

“You will know this day, and you will place it firmly into your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and in the earth below.”  Here lies the mystery of human existence, and the special place occupied by human beings.  One is capable of building the world from the beginning, mainly by actualizing one’s own dormant potential.  Let all understand that no person is comprised of factors that do not belong to that person specifically, though things appear quite different from the outside.   It appears as if one is pressed between dire straits, with the Godly reality on one side and the material reality on the other side, and oneself in the middle, lacking any being of one’s own.  All of human ability is reduced to the ability to respond to stimuli – at times to the Godly side, and at times to the material side.  The truth of the matter is that the situation is exactly reversed.

The realities in which a human being is found occupy the category of potential only.  The individual alone bears the ability – as in the example of a genetic code, within which exists an ability that is unique to that individual alone, as a uniquely original and special individual who is different from every other creature.   One has the capacity to create one’s own personality, out of one’s own original uniqueness; one’s personality rests solely and exclusively in one’s own hands.  One has the power to make one’s own uniquely original potential take on flesh and sinew, to turn its given properties into a living and creative personality, rather one that merely responds – despite the fact that one cannot, nor is one permitted to ignore the given properties of the environment and its stimuli, just as one may not and cannot ignore one’s own uniquely original potential.

Ignoring oneself, as in “the nullification of the self,” turns one into a robot, devoid of personality – an instrument in the hands of the environment.  The Holy One has no need of robots.  He rather has need of unique human beings who determine their own fates, through their own will and the power of their choice.  These are the servants of God, in the sense that “they are My slaves, not other slaves’ slaves.”  God’s servant possesses a self-created personality, created and formed through the uniquely original quality of that person’s Godly soul, molded by the human being and actualized by the human being alone, despite the fact that it has already pre-existed as a Godly quality, and cannot be considered “being out of non-being.”

This is the meaning of the Biblical imperative: “You shall know this day and place it firmly into your hearts.”  Know the truth as it was revealed to you by the Holy One at Sinai.  “Place it firmly into your hearts,” You will not know it truly until you have internalized, consolidated and shaped this truth according to your own personality traits and your own uniquely original character. 

To be continued.