"Miriam and Aaron spoke about Moshe regarding the Cushite woman he hadmarried, for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, 'Was it with Moshe only that Hashem spoke? Did He not speak with us, as well?' And Hashem heard.
Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth!"
I remember when I first started as a Rebbe in Yeshiva. We were praying shacharit and duirng the amidah I looked around the room and noticed that the boys had finished, but the Chazzan did not begin his repetition yet. Immediately, I understood that he was waiting for me to finish. I must admit, when this happened, I felt a sense of pride. After all, I'm only human!
We are currently in the midst of the fourth book of the Torah. Ever since the first mentioning of Moshe Rabbeinu, we haven't stopped hearing what a wonderful, glorious leader he was. The praises that have been sung for him are never-ending. If that is the case, how could he possibly be so humble? Why is it that I feel pride when my talmidim wait for me to finish praying, but Moshe Rabbeinu felt nothing when G-d Himself was praising him? The answer to this question can be found almost an entire chapter before being titled "more humble than any person on the face of the earth."
Exhausted and frustrated, B'nei Yisrael began complaining to Moshe that they were tired of the manna they had been receiving - they longed for meat! Hashem's anger flared up and, unable to handle it anymore, Moshe makes the following plea to Hashem:
"Why have You done evil to your servant; why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You place the burden of this entire people upon me? Did I conceive this entire people or did I give birth to it, that You say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a suckling, to the Land that You swore to its forefathers? Where shall I get meat to give to this entire people when they weep to me, saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat'? I alone cannot carry this entire nation, for it is too heavy for me! And if this is how You deal with me, then kill me now, if I have found favor in Your eyes, and let me not see my evil!"
Within this statement, Moshe expressed two great attributes that afforded him the title which he received...
Imagine you were the starting quarterback for one of the teams playing at the Superbowl. Your team is down by two points with just enough time left for one play - the coach tells you to throw it deep. Clearly, the pressure is all on you. If you didn't feel confident in your ability to make the play - perhaps you feel too exhausted from the rest of the game - would you have the courage to tell your coach to pick someone else? While I cannot speak for others, I know that I would not have that courage. Many of us strive in life for the leadership role and, once we have it, we do not want to give it up - even if we know we aren't right for it. Moshe, however, possessed that courage. He acknowledged that he could not do the job alone - and he expressed that to Hashem. This is one of the things that made him so humble.
Moshe's second attribute is illustrated by Rashi. In the end of the above mentioned pasuk, Moshe states "let me not see my evil" - but what evil did Moshe commit? Rather, Rashi explains that the evil Moshe was referring to was that of B'ne Yisrael. Being the humble man that he was, Moshe did not wish to point fingers at anyone else. For this reason, he called the evil his.
May we all learn from this two amazing traits of Moshe Rabbeinu and may we, too, train ourselves to be as humble as he was. In doing so, may we merit to see the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days!
Shabbat Shalom!!
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