The seventh day of the Hebrew month of Adar, this year Feb. 21, is the anniversary of the passing of the greatest leader of all time, Moshe, in the year 1273 B.C.E.
While there was no eulogy at his funeral, as it was a very private service, with only G-d in attendance, the Torah does use the final three verses in the Torah — after describing his passing (at the age of 120, on his birthday) — to talk about his greatness.
The Torah tells us that he was the greatest prophet who ever lived, that he took the Jews out of Egypt, that he received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai directly from G-d, and reminds us of all the miracles that he performed for the Jewish people in the desert. And finally with the last words in the Torah, we are told that he broke the Ten Commandments.
The usual style of giving praise would be to save an individual’s greatest achievement for last. But in this case, the last event that the Torah mentions, and incidentally the Torah’s last words, is a reminder of the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
Even if we could justify and explain why he was right to break the Tablets, it is hardly something you can describe as one of Moshe’s greatest moments. And why would the Torah — which is so careful about not speaking negatively, even about a non-kosher animal — make its final word a critical statement about the greatest leader of the Jewish people?
At a Simchas Torah gathering in 1986, the Lubavitcher Rebbe addressed this issue (printed in Likutei Sichos Vol. 34, pp 217 – 224) and quoted a fascinating midrash (Tanchuma Ki Sissa 30) to explain Moshe’s breaking of the Tablets.
The midrash tells us a parable: There was a king who once traveled to a distant land and left his bride with her maidservants. The maidservants began to spread defamatory rumors about the bride. When the king heard the rumors, he wished to have his wife killed.
A good friend of the bride saw what was going on and immediately tore up her marriage contract. He told the king that he had no reason to be angry with his bride, as there was no marriage contract, so she was not his wife and therefore she did no wrong.
The midrash goes on to explain that this is, in essence, why Moshe broke the tablets. He was telling G-d (the king) that there was no longer was a Ten Commandments (a contract) that forbade for the Jewish people (the bride) to worship other gods, and therefore G-d should not be (as) angry with the Jewish people. And for this, the midrash goes on to explain, G-d actually thanked Moshe for breaking the tablets.
With this midrash, we can now understand that breaking the tablets was indeed Moshe’s final and greatest accomplishment. It truly qualified him as the ultimate leader of the Jewish people.
It takes a true leader to put his people first and to put himself completely aside for them, to sacrifice everything that is important to him for the benefit of his people, even for those who seem insignificant or even rebellious.When Moshe came down from the mountain he was holding the most precious item that could be imagined. Here in his hands were two giant sapphire tablets that were hand crafted by G-d himself. They were priceless
Imagine if you were a passionate artist and you had an original “Garçon à la Pipe” from Pablo Picasso or if you were a dedicated violinist and you had “The Lady Tennant” made by Antonio Stradivari. How much would that mean to you? How hard would it be to give it up?
Moshe, who had an incredible deep love and true understanding of the value of the Torah and its holiness, stood holding the tablets in his hands. Seeing his people sinning with the golden calf, he chose to protect their dignity and their honor.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he broke the tablets — he tore up the “marriage contract.” He gave up the most precious thing in his life for his people.
It must be noted that it was a rather small group of men — those who many might consider the “sinners” of the Jewish people — who worshipped the calf just months after seeing all the miracles in Egypt, at the sea and at Mount Sinai. Some might say, “If G-d wants to destroy them, good-bye and good riddance.”
But to Moshe, the ultimate Jewish leader, there was no such thing as an insignificant Jew, and it was for these Jews that Moshe was ready to give up everything, including his precious tablets.
Moshe understood the value of each and every Jew, regardless of his or her level of observance. And they came first, even before his personal Torah experience.
Rabbi Moshe Rapoport is director of programming of the Peltz Center for Jewish Life.
Loading ...