Devarim: Moshe’s Transformation into the Voice of Torah

Given my reputation, and the concomitant expectation to live up to it, I initially thought to write about Ibn ʿAzra’s ‘Secret of the Twelve,’ and how the pesuqim at the start of this week’s parasha were written later. But then I considered the fact that people are probably turning to these divrei torah in order to glean some sort of ‘inspiration,’ and not for early Rabbinic prefigurations of source criticism. So instead, let’s talk about Moshe.

Moshe undergoes a profound transformation of character in the last third of his life. At the burning bush (to which we shall return shortly), Moshe declares himself to be לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי, not a man of words, but forty years later, we are presented with אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙, containing some of the most eloquent prose in the Torah! First question: How does Moshe transform himself in this way?

Second question: When Moshe is hired, it is in order to redeem the Israelites from Egypt. Nowhere in the job description does God include the giving of the Torah. In fact, the ḥakhamim comment that ʿEzra HaSofer was fitting to give the Torah to the Israelites, but the timing was wrong. Elsewhere, they even say that Bilʿam thought that he might be the one to give the Israelites the Torah! At the point of the burning bush, it was far from a done deal that Moshe would be the one to give the Israelites the Torah. Yet, ultimately, he is the lawgiver, and the Torah is called by his name – תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה. What changed between the burning bush, when he was simply the goʾel, and after the Exodus, when he is now fit to be the meḥoqeq?

Let us examine exactly what takes place at the burning bush (through the prism of a third question): What prompted God to choose Moshe in the first place? At the burning bush, Moshe observes something incongruous with what he currently knows about the world. Based on his prior knowledge of fire and bushes, he should see the bush being consumed, and yet he does not. Ordinary people would react to this in one of two ways. The first way is to be briefly amazed by the spectacle, perhaps taking a selfie with it, and then moving on with one’s life. The second way is to think, ‘Huh. Must be a trick of the light.’ And then moving on with one’s life. Moshe does not do either of those; אָסֻֽרָה־נָּ֣א וְאֶרְאֶ֔ה אֶת־הַמַּרְאֶ֥ה הַגָּדֹ֖ל הַזֶּ֑ה מַדּ֖וּעַ לֹא־יִבְעַ֥ר הַסְּנֶֽה – he instead is captivated by this incongruity, and he cannot move on without understanding it!

This turning aside is what prompts God to choose Moshe, as the pasuq relates: וַיַּ֥רְא יְ־ה־וָ֖־ה כִּ֣י סָ֣ר לִרְא֑וֹת. Why should this matter to God? Because the way to come to know God is by reciting the Zohar every night until Zois Channuka through studying the world He created; one knows the Artist through His art. The other two responses to the burning bush involve either ignorance of or, more catastrophically, projection onto reality. The first treats reality superficially, while the second assumes that your prior knowledge of reality is complete, and this prior knowledge is projected onto instances of reality that do not fit the model. Moshe engages with reality on its own terms, and does not allow his preconceptions to cloud his judgement. With an attitude like that, of always being ready to absorb new information and incorporate it into your worldview, Moshe has a bright future ahead of him, that God sees the beginnings of at the burning bush.

This attitude, though, is not without its problems. God tells Moshe to go to Pharaoh, but in reply Moshe requests signs of God, that he may perform for the Israelites. God never said anything about going to the Israelites! But, after Moshe responds talking about signs and going to the Israelites, God gives him those signs. He does this in order that Moshe will be able to see for himself that his approach, of convincing the people and showing signs to Pharaoh, will not work. Moshe is the kind of person that needs to see that for himself, but God is willing to humour Moshe in that regard, because He knows that Moshe is someone who observes reality and adapts to it. Once Moshe sees that his approach of going to the Israelites with signs will not work, he will add that to his conscious experience. He will accept the facts as they are, and not come up with excuses or projections that seek to rewrite and redefine reality to suit his subjective, personal desires.

The Torah is the guide to reaching objectivity in relationship with God and the world. It is designed to strip away preconceptions and help human beings break out of their prior conceptions of reality, to view it as it is. From the burning bush onwards, Moshe begins his journey of becoming the most objective a human being has ever been. This enabled him to speak ‘face to face’ with God, and to be the greatest expression of עֲנָוָה. Senior Rabbi Joseph Dweck homiletically connects the word עֲנָוָה to the root עָנָה meaning ‘to answer, respond.’ Humility, which consists of seeing things exactly as they are, without artificial inflation or deflation, means being truly responsive to reality, not simply going through the motions; one must live life, not let life live them. In fact, Moshe became so objective in his perception of the world that God actually invited him to engage in discussion with him. At the golden calf and the sin of the spies, God values Moshe’s input and is willing to discuss the matter with him (theological quandaries notwithstanding) precisely because Moshe’s assessment of the situation is fully accurate.

With this in mind, it becomes clear why Moshe is the natural choice to give the Torah. Moshe’s objectivity, and his continuing quest to understand the world better and thereby understand God better, place him perfectly at the apex of the purpose of the Torah. He is able to give over the Torah, the document that enables people to see reality clearly (emetand sheqer) and not through projection (tov and raʿ), because he himself has undergone this change and development. At the end of his life, he has observed, learnt and developed enough to deliver an articulate speech before thousands. The man of slow speech and slow tongue has finally realised what God said all along – מִ֣י שָׂ֣ם פֶּה֮ לָֽאָדָם֒ א֚וֹ מִֽי־יָשׂ֣וּם אִלֵּ֔ם א֣וֹ חֵרֵ֔שׁ א֥וֹ פִקֵּ֖חַ א֣וֹ עִוֵּ֑ר הֲלֹ֥א אָנֹכִ֖י יְ־ה־וָֽ־ה. God is the one who controls eloquence and, with that knowledge, Moshe is confident to deliver the speech beginning in Parashat Devarim.