Musar do Wyjścia 7:1

In light of what I have have written, the verse in Exodus 7,1: ראה נתתיך אלוקים לפרעה, "Behold I have made you a deity over Pharaoh can be understood. When one speaks of someone who is going to see something (future), the continuation of the verse should have been: "I will make you a deity over Pharaoh (future), instead of the past tense employed here by the Torah. Even though it may be argued that, when matters of prophecy are concerned, the future is often described as if it had occurred already, the expression Re-ay is certainly most inexact, seeing that Moses saw something now and not in the past. Besides, what is the meaning of Moses having become Elohim?

Abravanel disagrees with this contention of Maimonides in the beginning of his work Ma'ayeney HaYeshuah, citing Seder Olam, an ancient history book, which includes Daniel in the list of prophets enumerated. Besides, he reasons "how is it possible to exclude Daniel when we consider the numerous and profound prophecies recorded by him?" He feels that, on the contrary, this is proof of his standing, seeing that his companions did not see any of these visions! He says that when the Talmud calls the companions "prophets," this only means they had been instructed by G–d to transmit certain messages to the Jewish people. The word נביא, "prophet," has its root in the Hebrew expression ניב שפתים, "heartening, comforting words" (Isaiah 57,19). When Aaron is described as Moses' prophet, ואהרון אחיך יהיה נביאך, "and your brother Aaron will be your prophet," the point made is that he will be Moses' mouthpiece (Exodus 7,1). Although Daniel had achieved superior status, he had not been instructed to impart these messages to Israel; this is why the Talmud does not refer to him as a prophet. Should you ask why he was not chosen to convey these messages to the Jewish people, the answer is that the three prophets mentioned returned to the Holy Land with the Israelites who went to settle there again and to build the second Temple. There was a need therefore, to become G–d's messengers, which was not the case with Daniel who did not make עליה. The Torah reports in Genesis 15,1, והנה דבר ה' אל אברהם במחזה לאמור, "here the word of G–d came to Abraham in a vision to say, etc." The meaning seems to be that Abraham was on the level of prophecy. If nonetheless he is not numbered among the prophets, this is only because G–d had not sent him with a message to His people. This is the approach of the Abravanel to our problem. It is my personal view that both Maimonides and Abravanel are on the right track, אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים. Daniel was indeed a prophet, but he belonged to the category that we previously described as סוף נבואה. This was still part of the domain of רשימו.

Aaron also thought that the elevation of Moses to a position of redeemer was not necessary, but only an act of kindness on the part of G–d who imparts some of His own honour to those who fear and revere Him. He did not think that there was any practical significance in this, seeing redemption would be brought about by G–d Himself. Moses himself had thought along similar lines when he declined the mission to become the official leader of the Jewish people. His query: מי אנכי אשר אלך, "Who am I that I should go,” reflected his thinking (Exodus 3,11). The Midrash already re-phrases Moses' question as מי אני, "who am I, seeing that the one called אנכי is going to redeem the Jewish people!" Whereas Moses was correct in his basic assumption, G–d wanted to lend glamour to Moses, as He said later: ראה נתתיך אלהים לפרעה, "See here, I have made you a deity as far as Pharaoh is concerned." The greatness of Moses' honour can be measured by the fact that it was he who was chosen by G–d to hand the Torah to the Jewish people; he was told at the time that his mission would be considered a success when the Jewish people would accept the Torah at Mount Sinai (Chorev) (cf. Exodus 3,12). Aaron was unaware of these details at the time; this is why he thought that he had behaved in an exemplary fashion by not begrudging Moses his new status. The Midrash then was quite correct when it said that had Aaron been aware that he was to receive credit for his attitude, and that it was only Moses who could be the intermediary in accelerating redemption, he would have gone to meet his brother with drums and dances of joy just as we found Miriam doing after the miraculous rescue of the Jewish people (Exodus 15, 20).