Towards the end of the Torah portion of Beha’alotcha, Miriam and Aaron seem to complain about their brother Moses:
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses regarding the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, “Has God spoken only to Moses? Has He not spoken to us too?” And God heard. Now this man Moses was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth. God suddenly said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Go out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting!” And all three went out.[1]
God then explains the difference between them and Moses and in fact, Moses and all other prophets:
Listen to my words: When there is a prophet among you, I, God, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees what God sees.[2]
Before discussing several major differences between Moses and all other prophets as God makes clear above, we will first address Miriam and Aaron’s complaint. Their claim was that Moses had separated from engaging in marital relations with his wife and they felt this was inappropriate. In fact, because of the frequency of God’s appearances to Moses, he decided to cease from having intimate relations with his wife. In fact, after receiving the Torah at Sinai, God told Moses to tell the people to return to their tents, but then told Moses to stand there with Him.[3] From this, Moses understood that the people could now return to normal life, which included marital relations, but that he should continue to “stand with God,” meaning be prepared to receive prophecy at any moment; this required always being ritually pure and therefore precluded being able to be with his wife intimately.
This was not the case with the other prophets, as asceticism is not a common value of traditional Jewish thought and practice. In fact, in this matter we do not follow Moses as a model of spirituality. Moses was in a unique category.
About Moses it is stated: He is the first redeemer and he is the last redeemer.[4] The soul of Mashiach will contain certain aspects of both David and Moses.[5] Yet it is understood that it will be an essential aspect of Mashiach that he will be married and thus it will be a rectification of Moses’ original act of separating from his wife which at that time was warranted.[6]
A Clear Pane
One of the main differences between Moses and other prophets is that the prophecy of Moses was compared to seeing through a transparent pane of glass, while all other prophets saw through an opaque lens. The last part of the description of Moses’ unique mode of prophecy—“and not in riddles; he sees what God sees”—is interpreted in Kabbalah and Chasidut to indicate that Moses was able to see, as it were, through God’s eyes, i.e., through an elevated Divine perspective.[7]
Another difference pointed out by the sages between Moses and all other prophets is based on the words they use to introduce their prophecies: Other prophets express their prophetic experience with an introduction that implies resemblance or approximation, most commonly with the words, “So says God” (כֹּה אָמַר י-הוה). But Moses begins his prophecies more often than not with words that imply precision and realism, “This is what God commanded” (זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה י-הוה).[8] Other prophets imply that the quality of their prophecy requires them to seek an interpretation or translation of the riddle, dream, or experience of revelation. Moses’ ability to express his prophetic using the definitive word, “this,” connotes the direct, exact and unambiguous nature of his prophecy.
Prophecy From the Highest State
A profound insight regarding the difference between Moses’ prophecy and the prophecy of all other prophets can be gleaned by looking at the numerical value of these two words, “so” (כֹּה) and “this” (זֶה), 25 and 12, respectively. From the Torah’s beginning, the 25th word is “light” (אוֹר), appearing in the verse, “God said, ‘Let there be light.’”[9] The Torah’s 12th word is “darkness” (חֹשֶׁךְ) in the second verse, “And the earth was astonishingly empty with darkness on the face of the deep….”[10] Surprisingly, darkness precedes light, but there are different meanings to darkness. Sometimes, darkness is not a lack of light, but a lack of vessels to absorb the light properly and contain it. Spiritually, intellectually, and even prophetically, the primordial darkness described in the Torah’s second verse can allude to an earlier state that is seen as darkness by most but reveals the greatest insight to the few. In this regard, the state of Divine reality before the Creation is referred to as the “infinite Divine light” (אוֹר אֵין סוֹף), i.e., a limitless revelation of Godliness. The word “infinite” in Hebrew (like in English), is a compound between two concepts: “no” (אֵין) and “limit” (סוֹף). The word “no,” pronounced ayin (אָיִן) or, in this particular case, ain, on its own literally means “nothing,” and thus, the “infinite” can be conceived of as an infinite “womb-like” dark essence existing before the revelation of light in our reality. Thus, it is not darkness at all, but actually the opposite: a darkness that itself illuminates but for which we normally lack the vessels to appreciate. This darkness is the “womb-like” state from within which the light of Creation can emerge. The process of creation, as described in the Torah and understood by Kabbalah, would then be a movement from an infinite illuminating darkness to a perceptible more finite type of light (which still remains relatively infinite, compared to the physical light our eyes see in this world).
The prophecies of all other prophets emerge as it were from the infinite light of God revealed within the finite world. But the prophecy of Moses originates from this higher darkness that is above and beyond reality and reveals the paradoxically “luminous darkness,” which is the source of all subsequent revelations of light.[11]
Face to Face
Another difference the Torah demarcates while describing the prophecy of Moses in distinction to all the other prophets, was that God spoke to Moses, “face to face,” as quoted above and also in another verse “face to face as a man speaks to his friend.”[12] This description is not used for any other prophet.
In fact, entering a prophetic state for all the other prophets was accompanied by varying degrees of disassociation, including some of the following: the body being overcome with trembling, shaking, loss of control of limbs or even fainting, as well as temporarily losing one’s full intellectual faculties. These extreme responses were caused by the sheer energy and power of Divine revelation as it was being encountered by a finite being.
In contrast, Moses spoke with God “face to face, as a man does to his friend.” Moses was always awake and in full control of his intellect and body, therefore his prophecy did not appear in dreams or riddles that needed interpretation like all the other prophets. Instead, they were clear and unmistakable. For this reason, he prophesied with the word “this,” (זֶה) meaning something clear and unambiguous.
The Humility and Self-Nullification of Moses
After having analyzed some of the differences between Moses and other prophets, it is clear that he possessed special qualities that made him stand out from all other prophets before and after him. These were his humility and compassion. Although all other prophets surely possessed these qualities in some measure, the distinguishing factor of Moses’ level of spiritual attainment was one of degree, not of kind.
Of the first quality, humility, the Torah itself attests (as stated above): “Now Moses was a very humble man, humbler than anyone else on the face of the earth.”[13] Immediately following this description, God explains to Aaron and Miriam that the prophecy of Moses is qualitatively different than all other prophets. From the juxtaposition of verses, we see that Moses’ humility was directly connected to his unique status.
When Moses argued with God at the Burning Bush for a week regarding his assumption of the mantle of leadership, he truly felt he was not capable and that others, especially his brother Aaron, would be a much better choice. His was not a false humility, but a reflection of a true existential view of himself.
Twice in response to the people’s murmuring in the desert against Moses and Aaron he exclaims; “…and we are naught, why do you complain against us?”[14] In Chasidut, the expression, “we are naught,” (וְנַחְנוּ מָה) represents a consummate state of self-nullification, a true consciousness of being nothing in and of oneself, only a pure and open vessel in God’s hands. This exclamation of Moses indicates that although he was an incredibly strong leader, he always considered himself as ultimately “nothing,” since he had refined his ego to such an extent that he was the ultimate servant of God, as the Torah attests.[15] To Moses' mind, he had not taken the Israelites out of Egypt, he had not brought them to Mt. Sinai, and it was not he who would lead them into the Promised Land. These were all God’s actions. He himself was nothing but a trusted servant, a vessel for the Divine will. Hence his surprise at the Israelites' complaints, since I and my brother Aaron are nothing, “we are naught,” he explained, why would you address your dissatisfaction to us, why complain to us, address the Almighty alone!
The Compassion of Moses
Although humility was a more essential soul quality of Moses, the second quality Moses excelled in was his innate sense of compassion. We see this characteristic many times in his life, beginning with the giving up of his royal status in Egypt to save a Jewish slave from being beaten.[16] Later, when forced to flee from Pharaoh’s wrath, Moses saves the daughters of Yitro from the local shepherds. In both cases, he risked his life for the sake of others from an innate sense of compassion for the underdog.
After the Sin of the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded with God to forgive the people: “And now if You would forgive their sin – but if not, erase me from Your book that You have written.”[17] Going even further than Abraham in his attempt to save Sodom, Moses risks his very life for the Israelites; being blotted out from the Torah means no longer existing. Through this incredible act of leadership and show of compassion for his people, Moses set an example for all future generations. Throughout the forty years in the wilderness, Moses leads the people despite their continual complaints and rebellions, fueled by his sense of mission and instinctive compassion for his nation.
The Wisdom of Moses
Moses’ humility is intrinsically connected with his self-nullification.[18] Self-nullification, or bitul in Hebrew, is associated with the sefirah of wisdom. What this means is that the more a person acquires true wisdom, the more they experience their own (and all of reality’s) absolute dependence on God, thereby increasing their understanding that all they have, including their very existence is a gift from Above[19] and that the purpose of life is to utilize the gift of life and abilities to best serve the Divine purpose. The Torah Moses brought down for us, is known as Divine wisdom, making it appropriate that Moses’ self-nullification was the human channel through which Torah was revealed to the world. Moses’ self-nullification goes hand in hand with his unrivaled humility (עֲנָוָה).
Moses’ self-nullification also produces his great compassion. Numerically, Moses (מֹשֶׁה) equals 345, which is the sum of the Hebrew words for “self-nullification” (בִּטּוּל) and “compassion” (רַחֲמִים).[20] The compassion Moses exhibited throughout his life was based on his deep and essential love of the Jewish people. The gematria of “love” (אַהֲבָה) is 13 and the gematria of “self-nullification” (בִּטּוּל) is 47. The product of multiplying love with self-nullification is thus 611, the gematria of “Torah” (תּוֹרָה). One might say: What do you get when you cross love of Israel with self-nullification? You get Torah! Without these two crucial inner soul characteristics, one cannot come to any true understanding of Torah. The sages state, “Moses was a lover of Israel.”[21] For his love, compassion, humility, and self-nullification, Moses was the one chosen to transmit God’s infinite wisdom—the Torah.
[1]. Numbers 12:1-4.
[2]. Ibid 12:6-8.
[3]. Deuteronomy 5:27-28.
[4]. Shemot Rabbah 4:2.
[5]. See “The End of Days and Mashiach” on our website: www.inner.org.
[6]. Rucho Shel Mashiach, pp. 103-105.
[7]. Yaiyn Yitzchak, Beha’alotcha 26.
[8]. See Rashi on Numbers 30:2, based on Sifrei, beginning of Matot.
[9]. Genesis 1:3.
[10]. Ibid 1:2.
[11]. [Editor: In an interesting scientific parallel, cosmology today faces a wall of light at the
“edges” of the Universe called the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR), beyond which our instruments cannot see. The CBR is thought to have formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, but the state of the Universe in those few minutes that preceded the CBR are shrouded in darkness, though they are the most luminous moments of the Universe’s formation.]
[12]. Exodus 33:11.
[13]. Numbers 12:3.
[14]. Exodus 16:7-8.
[15]. Anatomy of the Soul, p. 91.
[16]. Exodus 2:11-12.
[17]. Ibid. 32:32.
[18]. Anatomy of the Soul, p. 91. Self-nullification corresponds to wisdom and humility to understanding—the two main intellectual sefirot.
[19]. In fact, true humility depends on the recognition that all I have, including my physical and spiritual abilities, is a gift from Above. Humility is awakened, as in Moses, when I can say to myself, if someone else would have received these gifts, they would do more with them than I.
[20]. Gal Einai: Mashiach and Jewish Leadership: Part 13 – The Power of Compassion.
[21]. Menachot 65a-b.
