Moshe Rabbeinu’s Gadlus, the Ben Chochom

זמן המקרא הזה הוא בליל חמישה עשר בתחילת הלילה כפי דעתו של אדם וכפי דעתו של בן הוא מלמדו כיצד אם היה קטן או טיפש

Omer lo beni

כולנו היינו עבדים כגון שפחה זו או עבד זה במצרים ובלילה הזה פדה אותנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ויוציאנו לחירות ואם היה הבן גדול וחכם מודיעו מה שאירע לנו במצרים וניסים שנעשו לנו על ידי משה רבנו הכל לפי דעתו של בן.

So clearly the Rambam here gives just the most general and basic guidelines for what for what one tells the ben gadol vechacham. And as minimal as as sparing as he is with his words, so he tells us that the ben gadol vechacham is supposed to be told about the role of Moshe Rabbeinu. So given that that's clearly something which is of major, major importance, so why can't you tell it to the ben katan ve'tipesh? Does it require such such sophistication and intellectual maturity to understand that that Moshe Rabbeinu played a role? Let's look further for a moment. Hakadosh Baruch Hu in Parshas Shmos is charging Moshe Rabbeinu with the mission of taking Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. So Moshe Rabbeinu says

מי אנכי כי אלך אל פרעה וכי אוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים.

Hakadosh Baruch Hu answers him

כי אהיה עמך וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה.

Rashi says basically ki eheyeh imach is you don't have to worry about your own credentials, you don't have to worry about what you what you bring to this mission. Ki eheyeh imach I'm going to be with you. Vezeh lecha ha'os and what you just saw in the sneh where והנה הסנה בוער באש והסנה איננו אוכל. Vezeh lecha ha'os that when I when I send a shaliach, so the shaliach is able to carry out the shlichus and is not nizok. That's how how Rashi says pshat in the pasuk. The Ramban points out that that the Rambam in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah

פרק ח' הלכה א' וב' ידע משה רבנו שהמאמין על פי האותות יש בלבו דופי ומהרהר ומחשב.

Moshe Rabbeinu understood very well that when people believe based on miracles there's always an nagging element of doubt. Legitimately so. Maybe maybe it was kishuf, maybe maybe it wasn't what it really seemed to be.

והיה נשמר מללכת ואמר לא יאמינו לי עד שהודיעו הקדוש ברוך הוא שאלו האותות אינן אלא עד שיצאו ממצרים ואחר שיצאו ויעמדו על ההר הזה יסתלק ההרהור שהם מהרהרים אחריך שאני נותן לך כאן אות שידעו שאני שלחתיך באמת מתחלה ולא ישאר בלבם הרהור.

And Moshe Rabbeinu's concern was legitimate. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu addressed it and says you're right, ein hachi nami, but ultimately their belief in you, their conviction that that you acted as as my shaliach will be based... authentically authentic

בלא שיהא בו הרהור. הוא שהכתוב אומר: וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה.

So, ke-pshat, forgetting about context for a moment, so what the pasuk

וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה

means, this what will be the os that that you are my shaliach will be Ma'amad Har Sinai because at Ma'amad Har Sinai, so kol Yisrael experiences that Hakadosh Baruch Hu calls out to Moshe and having Moshe act as His intermediary, as His go-between. But says HaRav, so how does that exactly plug in context? Moshe Rabbeinu says מי אנכי כי אלך אל פרעה. Who am I? And Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the answer seems to be a non-sequitur if that's what the pasuk means. The pasuk means

וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה,

it's not relevant in context to the question that Moshe Rabbeinu asked. Moshe Rabbeinu asked who am I? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says there's going to be an os that you're my shaliach. Moshe Rabbeinu asked who am I to be your shaliach? So how does that answer his question?

ויש לומר לפי פירוש זה ששאלת משה מי אנכי וגומר היתה משום דביציאת מצרים היתה צריכה להיות על ידי הקדוש ברוך הוא בעצמו כדדרשינן ויוציאנו ה' ממצרים לא על ידי מלאך ולא על ידי שרף ולא על ידי שליח אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו וזהו ששאל מי אנכי וגומר וכן הוא להדיא במדרש רבה פרשת טו אלא אמר משה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא מי אנכי וכי כך הבטחת לאבותם שביד בשר ודם אתה מוציא בניהם?

So this midrash is a totally new pshat in the pasuk. When Moshe Rabbeinu says מי אנכי כי אלך אל פרעה, Moshe Rabbeinu's question is how can you send me? How can you send anyone? Not how can you send who am I you should send Aharon, you shouldn't be sending me, you should be sending someone else. No. Who am I? Who is anyone to play any kind of role in Yetziat Mitzrayim? Didn't you promise the avos that you would directly take Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim? When you look at this midrash the HaRav is quoting, so the midrash understands that that's what when Hakadosh Baruch Hu says ha-beris bein ha-betarim

וגם את הגוי אשר יעבודו דן אנכי ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול. וגם את הגוי אשר יעבודו דן אנכי.

I, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, directly, לא על ידי בשר ודם, I, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, dan anochi, I, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, will deal with the people who enslaved you, who enslaved you and your children. So that's Moshe Rabbeinu's question. So that's Moshe Rabbeinu's question. So what's Hakadosh Baruch Hu's answer?

הקדוש ברוך הוא השיב בו על זה כי אהיה עמך ורצונו לומר דבכל המעשים שתעשה אהיה אני עמך בזה וכמו שאמרו חז"ל דשכינה היתה מדברת מתוך גרונו של משה ושפיר תהיה הגאולה והיציאה על ידי הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו.

Again,

הקדוש ברוך הוא השיב בו על זה כי אהיה עמך ורצונו לומר דבכל המעשים שתעשה אהיה אני עמך בזה וכמו שאמרו חז"ל דשכינה היתה מדברת מתוך גרונו של משה ושפיר תהיה הגאולה והיציאה על ידי הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו.

So to give a mashal for what he's saying and then I don't know maybe we'll have some of this fuzzy notion of the nimshal. Let's say you have a screen. So you can have a screen, a windowpane which is opaque. And it can have varying degrees of opacity. Or you can have a screen which is 100%, 1000% translucent, transparent. Every other every other human being who ever lived, whoever will live, there's some degree of opaqueness that that person has, and even if he's Yeshayahu HaNavi, even if he's Yechezkel HaNavi, no matter how great, no matter how kadosh, there is some element, there is some degree of opaqueness, and when Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends that person as a shaliach, so then it's not Hakadosh Baruch Hu acting directly. It's not Hakadosh Baruch Hu acting in an unmediated fashion, it's Hakadosh Baruch Hu acting al yedei shaliach. Moshe Rabbeinu achieved, attained, ki eheyeh imach, ki eheyeh imach means that you Moshe Rabbeinu are going to be on such a level of being totally translucent, no opaqueness, by virtue of your hitbatlut, by virtue of to the degree that's humanly possible, nituk min hagashmius, by virtue of your being davek bi, so you're going to be so totally translucent that you're going to go, but I'm going to be taking Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim bichvodi ve'atzmi directly. It's going to be I'm sending Moshe Rabbeinu, but it's going to be ani, it's going to be Hakadosh Baruch Hu bichvodo ve'atzmo. Hakadosh Baruch Hu

השיב לו על זה כי אהיה עמך ורצה לומר שבכל המעשים שתעשה אהיה אני עמך בזה

uchemo she'amru Chazal

השכינה היתה מדברת מתוך גרונו של משה ושפיר תהיה הגאולה והיציאה על ידי הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו

ad kan devarav. The Rambam at the end of פרק א' הלכות עבודה זרה where he describes how in Mitzrayim Bnei Yisrael, with the exception of Shevet Levi, regressed and became mired in Avodah Zarah, so he writes

וכמעט קט היה והעיקר ששתל אברהם נעקר וחזרו בני יעקב לטעות העמים ותעייתם

that Rachmana litzlan we were on the verge of of that foundation of monotheistic belief that Avraham Avinu had planted was going to be uprooted and and we were reverting back to the mistake and to the wandering of all the nations.

ומאהבת השם אותנו ומשמרו את השבועה לאברהם אבינו עשה משה רבינו ורבן של כל הנביאים ושלחו כיון שנתנבא משה רבינו בחר השם ישראל לנחלה והכתירן במצוות והודיעם דרך עבודתו

etc. So when the Rambam presents Moshe Rabbeinu being sent to Mitzrayim, so he identifies him as not only Moshe Rabbeinu, but רבן של כל הנביאים which is avada true, but why is it necessary to underscore in this context? So my brother sheyichye in Keren HaChaim says a pshat based on this Nefesh HaChaim, that the Rambam is saying again, how could Moshe Rabbeinu have been sent in such a shlichus? That Moshe Rabbeinu, you have to understand, was רבן של כל הנביאים. And what that represents, what that represents is his supremacy as a navi, his uniqueness as a navi, again, was also due to that same madreiga which allowed within Yetzias Mitzrayim there to be a Moshe Rabbeinu, but simultaneously that again with the mashal, think about that mashal of that the light is on the one hand it is going through the screen, on the other hand because it's so translucent, so then you're getting you're getting at least for purposes of our nimshal so you're getting the light unmediated. If you take a look, if you take a look, it's actually interesting but the Rambam used this phrase earlier about the רבן של כל הנביאים. He uses it in Perek Zayin of Yesodei HaTorah, Perek Zayin of Yesodei HaTorah. So the Rambam says

כל הדברים שאמרנו הם דרך הנבואה לכל הנביאים הראשונים והאחרונים חוץ ממשה רבנו ורבן של כל הנביאים,

right? The same, the same phrase. Everything which I've been describing about nevuah, says the Rambam, is true for every other navi. But Moshe Rabbeinu's nevuah was sui generis. Moshe Rabbeinu as a navi and his nevuah was sui generis. And then the Rambam lists four differences. It's very, very remarkable when you take a look in the Perush Hamishnayot in Yud Gimmel Ikkarim, so most of the ikkarim are very, very short, just a few lines. Anochi Hashem Elokecha, metziut Hashem, it's a few lines. Hashem Echad, it's a few lines. Each of the first five ikkarim are a few lines. The longest one is the yesod hashevi'i. The yesod hashevi'i is about nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu. The yesod hashishi being nevuah, the yesod hashevi'i being nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu. And there the Rambam is ma'arich. And one of the things, primarily what accounts for the arichut, is that even too within the ikkar he tells us these four differences between nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu and the nevuah of all other nevi'im. Like this, the Rambam doesn't tell us all the details of what Hashem Echad really means. He doesn't tell us, there's so much obviously that he doesn't tell us, and yet this he sees fit to present within the Yud Gimmel Ikkarim themselves. What are the four? So al kol panim before we segue to see the four differences, so that's the pshat there in Perek Aleph of Hilchot Avodah Zarah, right? He's cross-referencing this that Moshe Rabbeinu already when Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent him down to Mitzrayim, already then he's רבן של כל הנביאים. We might have thought that maybe he doesn't attain that madreigah until later, maybe not until Ma'amad Har Sinai. No, the Rambam says no, you have to know, you have to understand that when Moshe Rabbeinu was dispatched to Mitzrayim, he was Moshe Rabbeinu, רבן של כל הנביאים. Why? Because that's the pasuk hashelishi of that it's not going to be על ידי בשר ודם. And yet Moshe Rabbeinu said כי אהיה עמך וזה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך, that's when everyone will realize that you're on such a madreigah. Now I'd rather add, lema'aseh it's a meforash pasuk at the end of Chumash:

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים.

So what's the pasuk describing? Again, that unique supreme level and quality of nevuah that Moshe Rabbeinu had:

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים.

What's the next pasuk?

לכל האתות והמופתים אשר שלח ה' לעשות בארץ מצרים לפרעה ולכל עבדיו ולכל ארצו.

How does one pasuk connect to the previous pasuk? Hein hein hadevarim, right? Nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu, that unique supreme level, madreigah of nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu was manifest not just on Har Sinai. It was manifest in the האותות והמופתים ששלח ה' לעשות בארץ מצרים. Hein hein hadevarim, right? Nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu, that unique supreme level, madreigah of nevuat Moshe Rabbeinu was manifest not just on Har Sinai. It was manifest in the

האותות והמופתים ששלח ה' לעשות בארץ מצרים. ממש ממש הן הן הדברים.

What are the four differences here? ומה הפרש יש בין נבואת משה לשאר כל הנביאים? If you have the Rambam we're reading in Zayin Vav in Yesodei HaTorah.

שכל הנביאים בחלום או במראה ומשה רבנו הוא ער ועומד.

Moshe Rabbeinu is fully awake. It's not some kind of it's not it's not in a dream, it's not some kind of... trance, a vision. Moshe Rabbeinu is fully awake, fully alert.

שנאמר ובבא משה אל אהל מועד לדבר אתו וישמע את הקול.

That was difference number one. Difference number two,

כל הנביאים על ידי מלאך, לפיכך הם רואים מה שהם רואים במשל וחידה.

Moshe Rabbeinu משה רבנו לא על ידי מלאך. All of the nevi'im so they experience nevuah via a malach, the Rambam says. Ma she'ein kein and and concomitant with that, vehah betalyah is that what they see is presented to them in mashal vechidah in some some kind of metaphorical vision that that they see.

משה רבנו לא על ידי מלאך שנאמר פה אל פה אדבר בו. ונאמר ודיבר השם אל משה פנים אל פנים. ונאמר ותמונת השם יביט. כלומר שאין שם משל אלא רואה הדבר על בוריו בלא חידה ובלא משל. הוא שהתורה מעידה עליו

umareh velo vechidot שלא נתנבא בחידה אלא במראה שרואה הדבר על בוריו. So number two, number one Moshe Rabbeinu is er ve'omed fully awake, fully alert in in complete control of of his senses, ma she'ein kein all other nevi'im. And number two Moshe Rabbeinu experiences nevuah directly from Hakadosh Baruch Hu hence there's no mashal vechidah involved. All other nevi'im are al yedei malach hence there is mashal vechidah. Difference number three, כל הנביאים יראים ונבהלים ומתמוגגים. They are overcome with with fear, they're terrified, they they're shaking.

ומשה רבנו אינו כן. הוא שהכתוב אומר כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו כמו שאין אדם נבהל לשמוע דברי חברו כך היה בכוחו של משה רבנו להבין דברי הנבואה והוא עומד על עומדו בשלום.

Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't an overwhelming terrifying experience. Finally, number four, כל הנביאים אין מתנבאים בכל עת שירצו. No other nabi could could be mitnabe at will. No other nabi could at any point initiate nevuah invite or initiate nevuah.

משה רבנו אינו כן אלא כל זמן שיחפוץ רוח הקודש לובשתו ונבואה שורה עליו. ואינו צריך לכוין דעתו ולהזדמן לה.

He doesn't have to engage in any special preparations or preliminaries

שהרי הוא מכוון ומזומן ועומד כמלאכי השרת. לפיכך מתנבא בכל עת. שנאמר עמדו ואשמעה מה יצוה השם לכם.

So the fourth difference is that Moshe could could be mitnabe at any point. That's how he can say imdu ve'eshma'ah שנאמר עמדו ואשמעה מה יצוה השם לכם. Right now I'm going to I'm going to pose the question to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and and I'll hear and I'll hear the answer.

ובזה הבטיחו האל שנאמר לך אמור להם שובו לכם לאהליכם ואתה פה עמוד עמדי. ואתה פה עמוד עמדי

means you'll remain with me on that on that level. Nevuah for Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't a spike. For every other nabi so if you were plotting it on on some kind of graph so the nevuah is a spike and and at all other times again as indescribably great and and holy as the nevi'im were but even so the moment of the nevuah represents a spike. And Moshe Rabbeinu is always he's mechavan mezuman ve'omed on that level.

הא למדת שכל הנביאים כשהנבואה מסתלקת חוזרים לאהליהם שהוא צרכי הגוף כולם כשאר העם. לפיכך אינם פורשים מנשותיהם. ומשה רבנו לא חזר לאהלו הראשון לפיכך פירש מן האשה לעולם ומכל הדומה לו ונקשרה דעתו בצור העולמים ולא נסתלק ההוד מעליו לעולם

vekaran or panav venitkadash kemalachim. The fourth difference seems to be of a totally different type than the previous three. I'm not even clear why why one would give it the same significance. The first three are clearly speaking about the capacity for nevuah the quality of nevuah. The fact that Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't have to enter a a state of slumber where where all his physical senses are suppressed as it were in order to to receive nevuah but he can be fully awake, fully alert. The fact that Moshe Rabbeinu doesn't have to enter a state of slumber where all his physical senses are suppressed as it were in order to receive nevuah, but he can be fully awake, fully alert. The fact that Moshe Rabbeinu is misnabei directly from Hakadosh Baruch Hu not through a malach, the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu isn't overwhelmed isn't terrified, so that all speaks to the the capacity, the quality, the the the level of nevuah. The other thing just speaks to the frequency, it speaks to the... why is that in the same list bakhada makhta, why is it of the same significance? So clearly, clearly the the pshat is, it's different than before, which accounts for the previous three differences. It's the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu is on that level of נקשר דעתו בצור העולמים. Because of that kesher that that was that was forged of נקשר דעתו בצור העולמים, that's what was reflected in the previous three differences of not just the question of timing, it's not just the question of frequency, it's not even 'in quotes' just the question of being able to to initiate it, but it it speaks to to who Moshe Rabbeinu was as a person, as a navi, which is responsible for the previous three, previous three differences. Al kol panim, so so na'aseh l'inyaneinu, so we asked here in zayin bet of Chametz U'Matzah, so clearly it's an important feature of Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim to talk about the fact that it was על ידי משה רבינו. Abeizoy, the taltal fun pashuten also, every preschool kid learns about Moshe Rabbeinu and and and Paroh. So why does the Rambam include it only in the syllabus for the Ben Godol? So the emes is, the pshat is is hafli v'felleh. When you tell the Ben Godol v'chacham that it was על ידי משה רבינו, you tell him the b'chinas ki ehyeh imach, not stam that that that Moshe Rabbeinu was was the shaliach of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. You tell him, no, it was

וגם את הגוי אשר יעבדו דן אנכי ואחרי כן יצאו עם רכוש גדול ממצרים לא על ידי מלאך

and it was על ידי משה רבינו. That, not only, so so you don't mention Moshe Rabbeinu to the Ben Katan v'tipeish because if he can't, if the ben can't understand that paradoxical, unprecedented, unequaled reality of that שכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו, so then adaraba you shouldn't mention Moshe Rabbeinu. Because then to mention Moshe Rabbeinu is to detract from the Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim, it's to detract from the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu took us out, took us out of Mitzrayim. So what what then emerges is is something lichora very, very, very unexpected. If you go back to Halacha Aleph here in Perek Zayin of Chametz U'Matzah, so the Rambam has a very, very interesting definition of the mitzvah sippur, again, exactly how to integrate this with other things is more an arichus that we're not going to delve into now. But the Rambam writes in zayin aleph as follows:

מצות עשה של תורה לספר בנסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים בליל חמישה עשר בניסן שנאמר זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים כמו שנאמר זכור את יום השבת.

The mandate of Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim is not really is not really the just is not really the story of leaving Mitzrayim, but as the Rambam emphasizes it here in zayin aleph, again, it's an arichus dvorim to integrate this with other things, but as the Rambam at any rate presents it here in zayin aleph, the mitzvah is to talk about the nisim v'nifla'ot which occurred in the context, in the course of Yetziat Mitzrayim. It's not Yetziat Mitzrayim per se, it's the nisim v'nifla'ot in the context, in the course of Yetziat Mitzrayim.

מצות עשה של תורה לספר בנסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים בליל חמישה עשר.

The Rambam writes, the Rambam writes that this is intended to be mechazek emunah. Again, we spoke once about one crucial difference between the Rambam and the Ramban in terms of the relationship of the nissei Mitzrayim as a source for emunah. But that difference notwithstanding, so the Rambam says no, that's

למען תספר באזני בנך ובן בנך את אשר התעללתי במצרים ואת אתתי אשר שמתי בם

as a source of emunah. So like this, we would have thought that so what yesodos ha-emunah are reinforced through the sippur yetzias Mitzrayim? So we would have said about Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu, about metzius ha-borei, and Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu is kol yachol. And the Ramban says since the nissim ve-ha-nifla'os were predicted al yedei nevuah, it tells you about nevuah, since clearly asher yafleh Hashem that Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu distinguished between Mitzrayim and Yisrael, so you see hashgachah, you see sachar va-onesh, so many yesodos ha-emunah. You wouldn't have thought that sippur yetzias Mitzrayim is mechazek the yesod ha-shevi'i of the uniqueness and supremacy of the נבואת של משה רבנו. No, but kumt ois, no, it does. That's if you, if the father is enough of a chacham and the son is enough of a chacham to eicshahu a little bit relate to this idea, so then kumt ois that when you have that insight into the nissim ve-ha-nifla'os, when you can add that insight into the nissim ve-ha-nifla'os that they're al yedei Moshe Rabbeinu without that detracting an iota, ki hu zeh, from the Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu's הבטחה לא ידי בשר ודם, but Hu bichvodo uvatzmo. So then the yesod ha-shevi'i is also mischazek through the sippur yetzias Mitzrayim. Okay, kashya same'ach. One is, one is the yesod ha-shneim asar, what one is not supposed to, Rachmana litzlan, be misya'esh from Korban Pesach this year either. We're still supposed to hope and look forward to

ונאכל שם מן הזבחים ומן הפסחים אמן כן יהי רצון.