ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף שמות 34:1

There is certainly room for the question, then, if the Blessed One conferred this supernatural perfection upon Moses, why should He have allowed him to lack from that perfection something [i.e., glibness of speech] which most men possess in great perfection within the framework of nature itself! And if you would contend that the conditions for the prophetic eminence consist only in the virtues of intellect and not in the perfection of all other qualities connected with the physical faculties — this is not so! For our sages state (Nedarim 38a): "R. Yonathan said: 'The Holy One Blessed be He causes His Shechinah to come to rest only upon one who is wise, strong, wealthy, and humble, Moses serving as the prototype for all of these criteria.'" Now strength and wealth are neither virtues of intellect nor virtues of character, in spite of which they are conditions for prophecy. And though there are some who understand "strong" in this connection as suppressing one's evil inclination, and "wealthy" as possessing the quality of contentment and rejoicing in one's lot, they are obviously mistaken. For in Nedarim, in reference to Moses' serving as the prototype for all the criteria, "strong" is corroborated by (Deuteronomy 9:17): "And I took hold of the two tablets," and "wealthy" by (Exodus 34:1): "Hew for yourself two tablets of stone — both of which have no connection whatsoever with virtues of intellect or of character. But the fact of the matter is that a prophet must possess all of the perfections which gain him esteem in the eyes of the populace, so that they will more readily heed his words and he will more readily secure for them the betterment for which purpose he was sent. If this be so, how could Moses our teacher, may peace be upon him, have been lacking the perfection of speech? There is no doubt that after the virtues of intellect and those of character, there is no quality more appropriate for a prophet than this, having always to speak, as he does, before large populations — so much so that the very word "navi" [prophet] derives from his constant speaking, tracing itself to "niv sefataim" [the expression of the lips]. And we find Moses himself expressing amazement over this, how it could be, after he had been chosen as a prophet that his speech impediment was not removed, viz. (Exodus 4:10): "I am not a man of words; neither yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant." There is no question that this is an expression of wonder — How is it that since You have spoken to Your servant his speech impediment was not removed? And the only answer he received from the Blessed One was (Ibid 11): "Who makes a man's mouth…," which, seemingly does not dispel the wonder at all!

And there is no doubt that these qualities [wisdom and humility] perfect the soul and free it from the terrestrial, causing it to cleave to the celestial until it is ready for prophecy. And if one deviates from wisdom and humility — the virtues of intellect and character — the bodily faculties within him will grow strong (his material element appertaining to the animal in him and not to the man) and will create a great gulf between him and the Blessed One. As the prophet has said (Isaiah 59:2): "Your transgressions have made a separation between you and your G-d…" Therefore, the prophet must divest himself of lowliness and embody the true perfections, wisdom and humility. Also posing a difficulty to their interpretation is the fact that "strong" is derived (Nedarim 38a) from its being written (Exodus 40:19): "And he spread the tent over the tabernacle," concerning which Rav said (Shabbath 92a): "Moses our teacher, may peace be upon him, did so," and it is written (Exodus 26:16): "The length of the beam shall be ten ells." And it is asked there (Nedarim, Ibid): "Perhaps he was tall and small [in strength]!" and it is answered: "[We know that he was strong] from the verse (Deuteronomy 9:17): 'And I took hold of the two tablets…,' and we learned that the tablets were six ells long, six ells broad, and three ells wide. We know that he was wealthy from the verse (Exodus 34:1): 'Hew for yourself two tablets of stone' — you may keep the chippings for yourself." And they also derived this from Jonah, as it is written (Jonah 1:3): "And he paid its hire," concerning which R. Yochanan said: "The hire of the whole ship." And R. Romnos said: "The hire of the whole ship was four thousand golden dinars." It is clear, then, that "strong" and "wealthy" are to be taken literally. Also posing a difficulty to their interpretation is (Shabbath 92a): "…Let us derive it from Moses Perhaps Moses is different, for the master said: 'The Shechinah comes to rest only upon one who is wise, strong, wealthy, and tall.'" Now there is no eminence of character or of intellect in being tall! It is obvious, then, that "strong" and "wealthy" are to be taken literally.