Wednesday, October 19, 2016

A Thought on Parshas V'zos Habracha

"...v'lo kam navi od b'Yisroel k'Moshe..." (34:10) "...and no one else had arisen as a prophet of Israel as Moshe..." In this final parsha of the Torah, ibn Shu'aib turns again to a deeper analysis of the meaning of the verses. He ponders the message whereby the Torah tells us that no one was like Moshe. The verse says, literally, that "no prophet had arisen like Moshe" which is in the past tense. That is a bit mysterious. There were many prophets in the centuries which followed the era of Moshe. Does our verse mean to imply that after Moshe, there arose someone greater than him? Surely one of our 13 Ani Maamin principles is that Moshe was the superior prophet. ibn Shu'aib shares that there are different ways to understand the verse. He cites the Rambam, who writes that Moshe's superiority was that when he forecast miraculous events, they happened just as he had described and they were revealed to believers and heretics alike. An example of this is verse 12 which says that the signs and wonders occurred "in the presence of Pharaoh, his servants and the Jewish nation." Everyone around witnessed the miracles, even evil people. In contrast, other prophets' revelations had a selective "audience". Not everyone was able to perceive or witness the signs which they forecast. An example of this is Melachim 2, 8:4, where Elisha's servant is asked to explain to the king what miracles Elisha had generated. In contrast, the Ramban views the contrast between Moshe and other prophets as a matter of range and intensity of the wonders which they facilitated. Moshe was there for the spectacular giving of the Torah, which was unparalleled before or after him. Moshe was there for the Mon, the Clouds of Glory, and the Pillars of Fire, which endured for forty years. The Well, the Quail, the travel through wilderness without fears of snakes, scorpions and beasts, lasted for forty years. None of the other prophets were involved in miracles of such a range, and for such sustained intervals. Ramban also writes that to Moshe were revealed all of the visions and prophecies which would ever be given over throughout history, whereas other prophets only knew the prophecies which they experienced personally. As for ibn Shu'aib, our master contends that the literal wording of the verse - the past tense - teaches an important lesson: everything was predestined before the creation of the world. Everyone who would ever have any Divine prophecy was predesignated from that "time before there was time." Therefore, all prophecy which would ever surface on Earth was bound to be manifest, so that when the Torah writes that "no prophet arose such as Moshe", this was because all of the prophets were already "there" (to back this up, he cites Yeshaya 48:16 "m'es heyosa sham Ani" - "from the time it came into being, I was there.") In parshas VaEra, HaShem told Moshe of his superior prophetic visions; in parshas BeHalosecha, we see Moshe's ascendancy above others who had visions; finally, in our parsha, this verse hints at how all the prophecies and prophets which had been planned from before existence were unequal to Moshe's. This ends our year of learning the Torah with Rabbeinu Yehoshua ibn Shu'aib. His style was rather versatile and he thinks and writes differently than the French and Italian Rishonim whose works we have studied. Many of his lessons and views are memorable and unique. I gained considerably from this scholar's work, and hope to refer to him in the years to come. And now - the time has come to begin a new Rishon on the Torah. We have merited study with Rashi, Ibn Ezra (short and long versions), Rav Saadia Gaon, Chezkuni, Rabbeinu Bachya, Rabbeinu Yona, Rabbeinu Avraham ben Rambam, Recanati, Radak, Seforno, Rashbam, Rabbeinu Efraim, Ralbag, Rosh, Rambam, Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, Bechor Shor, Rabbeinu Avigdor, Panae'ach Raza, Sefer HaGan, ibn Shu'aib... Let us see what parshas Bereishis brings to our weekly parsha emails, with the loving help of HaShem. Owing to my travels, I am sending this one out early, and it will be followed shortly well in advance, by the new Rishon on Bereishis. Good Shabbos and good Yom Tov! D Fox

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