Chasidut zu Dewarim 5:26
מִֽי־יִתֵּ֡ן וְהָיָה֩ לְבָבָ֨ם זֶ֜ה לָהֶ֗ם לְיִרְאָ֥ה אֹתִ֛י וְלִשְׁמֹ֥ר אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺתַ֖י כָּל־הַיָּמִ֑ים לְמַ֨עַן יִיטַ֥ב לָהֶ֛ם וְלִבְנֵיהֶ֖ם לְעֹלָֽם׃
Oh, dass sie immer so ein Herz hatten, um mich zu fürchten und alle meine Gebote zu halten, damit es ihnen und ihren Kindern für immer gut geht!
Kedushat Levi
Another possible way of explaining the opening line of our Parshah is based on a statement in the Talmud B’rachot 9 according to which although we have a rule that there must not be an interruption of any kind between the conclusion of the b’rachah “concluding with the words גאל ישראל, and the Amidah which follows, the words א-דוני שפתי תפתח, “Lord, open my lips” (in prayer), do not constitute an interruption. The reason is that the sages declared the Amidah as a “long prayer,” i.e. the line beginning with “Lord open my lips,” are considered an integral part of the Amidah rather than merely an introduction. Although the members of the “Great Assembly” who composed the Amidah prayer had not included these words in their formula, subsequent religious authorities decided to add this line. Apparently during the era of the “great Assembly,” a period beginning with the coming of Ezra to Eretz Yisrael, there was no need for people to ask for Divine assistance before they could concentrate on saying their prayers. By the time of the Mishnah 200-250 years later approx., in line with the principle of ירידת הדורות, “the gradual but constant decline of the spiritual level of the Jewish people,” it had become necessary to ask for assistance from heaven to enable us to pray with the mental concentration without which our prayers are not a compliment for G’d, but G’d forbid, an insult.
From the above it follows that our prayers must be viewed as consisting of two separate components. One consists of the actual prayer, as composed by the members of the Great Assembly, and the second consists of a plea to enable us to pray in such a way that our prayers may find the desired response from G’d.
There can be no question that Moses did not require these “artificial” assists not only to formulate his prayers but to pray with the appropriate mental concentration. His prayers on behalf of his people had always found a receptive ear, but now when for the first time his prayer had not been accepted, it is clear that the reason must have been that the prayer itself was somehow defective, did not flow from his mouth as it had been on all other occasions. He therefore found it necessary to ask G’d to assist him in formulating his prayer appropriately. The word לאמור in the verse quoted above reflects this need of Moses to ask for assistance to his entreaty to be allowed to enter the Holy Land. The word לאמור on this occasion in connection with Moses’ prayer shows us that this was the only time in his career as the leader of the nation that he felt the need for assistance in this.
Moreover, as a rule, when the Torah reports Moses as speaking, it reports merely that G’d’s voice was speaking through his throat.
This also helps us answer the question of why Moses, during the revelation at Mount Sinai was angry at the people who had heard G’d speak to them directly when they requested that instead of having to listen to His voice they preferred to listen to it as relayed to them through Moses as His interpreter. At that time (Deuteronomy 5,24) the Israelites had addressed Moses as if he were a female by using the feminine pronoun את, for “and you,” instead of the masculine ואתה. Our sages, quoted by Rashi, commenting on this, observe that Moses felt that he personally had been weakened by the people, because they had failed to display the ability to serve the Lord from love, else they would not have had to be afraid of G’d’s voice causing them to die, as they claimed.
In light of what we said i.e. that generally G’d’s voice spoke out of the throat of Moses, we could have understood Moses’ reaction very well, as hearing Torah from the Rabbi’s student cannot be compared to hearing it from the Rabbi himself. But If G’d was indeed speaking through the throat of Moses, there should have been no difference to hearing it that way or hearing it without Moses as the intermediary. Why then would Moses have been displeased at their request, especially as G’d Himself told him (Deut. 5,26) that the people had done well in requesting a change of venue by asking that Moses be their intermediary? We must therefore fall back on a statement by our sages that there were three things that Moses had done without having consulted G’d.
From the above it follows that our prayers must be viewed as consisting of two separate components. One consists of the actual prayer, as composed by the members of the Great Assembly, and the second consists of a plea to enable us to pray in such a way that our prayers may find the desired response from G’d.
There can be no question that Moses did not require these “artificial” assists not only to formulate his prayers but to pray with the appropriate mental concentration. His prayers on behalf of his people had always found a receptive ear, but now when for the first time his prayer had not been accepted, it is clear that the reason must have been that the prayer itself was somehow defective, did not flow from his mouth as it had been on all other occasions. He therefore found it necessary to ask G’d to assist him in formulating his prayer appropriately. The word לאמור in the verse quoted above reflects this need of Moses to ask for assistance to his entreaty to be allowed to enter the Holy Land. The word לאמור on this occasion in connection with Moses’ prayer shows us that this was the only time in his career as the leader of the nation that he felt the need for assistance in this.
Moreover, as a rule, when the Torah reports Moses as speaking, it reports merely that G’d’s voice was speaking through his throat.
This also helps us answer the question of why Moses, during the revelation at Mount Sinai was angry at the people who had heard G’d speak to them directly when they requested that instead of having to listen to His voice they preferred to listen to it as relayed to them through Moses as His interpreter. At that time (Deuteronomy 5,24) the Israelites had addressed Moses as if he were a female by using the feminine pronoun את, for “and you,” instead of the masculine ואתה. Our sages, quoted by Rashi, commenting on this, observe that Moses felt that he personally had been weakened by the people, because they had failed to display the ability to serve the Lord from love, else they would not have had to be afraid of G’d’s voice causing them to die, as they claimed.
In light of what we said i.e. that generally G’d’s voice spoke out of the throat of Moses, we could have understood Moses’ reaction very well, as hearing Torah from the Rabbi’s student cannot be compared to hearing it from the Rabbi himself. But If G’d was indeed speaking through the throat of Moses, there should have been no difference to hearing it that way or hearing it without Moses as the intermediary. Why then would Moses have been displeased at their request, especially as G’d Himself told him (Deut. 5,26) that the people had done well in requesting a change of venue by asking that Moses be their intermediary? We must therefore fall back on a statement by our sages that there were three things that Moses had done without having consulted G’d.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy