Mitzvah d'var

If Moses was so great - why don’t Jews worship him?

Other religions revere often through prayer their most important prophets. So why don’t us Jews honor our most important prophet, Moses in the same way? 

Before I talk about that, let me tell you something about my Torah portion. 

My Torah portion - Va'etchanan- is the second parsha of the book of Deuteronomy and like the rest of the book, is devoted to speeches made by Moses to the children of Israel as they are preparing to enter the promised land. In the previous portion Moses divides the land among the tribes. But in this portion Moses instructs the people about how to understand and follow G-d’s commandments as written in the Torah. My parsha contains some of our greatest hits- The 10 Commandments, the Sh’ma and the V’ahavta where the children of Israel are reminded on a regular basis that G-d is one, that we should teach Torah to our children and that we should love G-d with all our heart, our soul and our might.

G-d has already refused Moses’ request to be let into the promised land multiple times before in the Torah because of the some things Moses has done that displeased G-d. But that’s a devar for my third bar mitzvah. This is Moses' last chance to be let in. G-d is not taken in by the pleading and flatley rejects Moses' attempt to change G-d’s mind. G-d is pretty emphatic about it and warns Moses not to ask again.  God says “Enough! Never speak to me about this matter again.”  

Now I have been in Moses’ position before where my parents have flatly rejected my request to do or get something despite all the ways I try to use my charm to convince them. Who hasn’t tried to flatter someone else to get something they want?! In this way the Torah and Moses are very relatable. It failed for Moses and it often fails for me.

Sometimes G-d can be hard on Moses - Moses served G-d for over 40 years. He freed the Israelites from slavery and out of Egypt. And led the children of Israel through the desert. He received the 10 commandments and let the people know what G-d expects of them. He even listened to all of their complaints. Still, G-d refuses to allow Moses to enter the promised land. I could be asking about why G-d is so mean. In this portion, G-d not only tells Moses he won’t be entering the promised land and to not ask again, but G-d tells Moses to climb Mt Pisgah and look out in every direction to see the land where he won’t be allowed to go. That feels like a mean thing to do! It would be like if my parents tell me that I can’t watch television but then order me to stand in the hallway and watch Hersh and Yonah watching television when I can’t. And if that’s not bad enough, G-d commands Moses to support Joshua as he takes over Moses’ leadership position. And Moses puts aside his feelings and goes up to the mountain and helps Joshua despite him not being able to go into the promised land himself.

So, back to my original question about why Moses is never considered anything other than human. In Deuteronomy and in many other places in the Torah, G-d makes it very clear that there should only be one G-d. Even after all the great things Moses has done for the Israelites on behalf of G-d he is not considered anywhere close to a G-d himself. Despite his incredible talents and being the only person who G-d relies on to get messages to the people- Moses is prevented from being seen as anything more than a messenger and not actually seen as a G-d himself. We refer to him as Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses our teacher never Moshe Elohaiynu- Moses our G-d or Lord. We can learn from Moses the teacher, and see ourselves in him as a role model. 

In many ways, Judaism treats him as just another Israelite- We don’t know where he is buried, we never pray to him, and the Rabbis went out of their way to make sure that Moses is mentioned only once in the traditional Haggadah, which tells the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. According to Naftali Silberberg from the Jewish Learning Institute, “Jews don’t have intermediaries between them and G-d.” End of quote. Even though Moses played an important role in the story of the liberation, mentioning him multiple times in the Haggadah might be confusing and give us the impression that Moses was as powerful as G-d.  He states that while Moses liberated the people of Israel physically, the Exodus was more importantly a spiritual liberation that G-d is responsible for. This is why when we retell the story every year, we make sure that Moses' role is minimal as compared to G-d’s.

I feel a special connection to Moses. He has qualities that I admire and some that we share. When G-d asks Moses to lead the slaves to freedom, he has patience and compassion and when he convinces G-d not to destroy the Israelites when they have done something wrong, like create the golden calf, or say they want to go back to Egypt or complain about the food- Manna, he shows courage and commitment to protect his people. Moses asks for the things he wants- like to go into the promised land even though he knows he won’t get what he wants. 

The positive traits we share include- we both feel comfortable taking leadership positions, we both have a deep respect for G-d, and we both stand up for what is right. On the more challenging side- We both have some speech problems- he stuttered as we learn in Exodus Chapter 4 verse 10 where Moses says “I am a man with a speech impediment”: whereas I have a slight lisp. Moses had periods of self-doubt like when he first refused G-d’s command to free the children of Israel in Exodus chapter 3:verse 11 when he said “I do not have the ability.” I too have self-doubts like in moments when I am not performing as well as I had hoped to in sports. He got angry in a big way, like when he broke the Ten Commandments when the Israelites made the golden calf. I also get angry at times and do things that I regret. No details necessary.

But the most important thing Moses and I have in common is we share a birthday- both of us were born on the 7th of Adar. What could be a more special connection than that?