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Today's show is dedicated to the Birthday of Moses. Let’s continue with selections from the “Midrash Tanhuma” in the book “The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume 4: Medieval Hebrew.” The Midrash shows how both our actions and intentions shape our spiritual connection with God and our responsibility to the community, guiding a life rooted in compassion and Divine purpose. THE MIDRASH “There is no death to the righteous. The righteous bless their offspring before they depart hence. David was descended from Judah. ‘Look how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together’-- or in unity (Psalm 133.). ‘O that thou wert as my brother’ (Songs 8). There are brothers and brothers. Cain and Abel were brothers, but the former killed the latter. Ishmael and Isaac were brothers, but there was no love lost between them. Jacob and Esau had no brotherly love for one another, nor did Joseph and his brothers show much love between them. David and Solomon had in their minds Moses and Aaron as typical brothers. One of the reasons Moses so persistently hesitated to be the messenger to Pharaoh was his consideration for his brother Aaron, who was older and more eloquent than he, so he hesitated to usurp what he considered should be Aaron's function. God, who knows the innermost thoughts of man, knew the real motive of Moses's refusal to accept the mission. […]The righteous lives by his faith (Habakkuk 2.). The last redemption of Israel will only be accomplished through faith. See how King David values faith (Psalm 105.). Concerning faith, David says, ‘This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter therein.’ The lifting up of Moses's hands did not defeat Amalek, nor did the copper serpent stay the biting of the burning serpents. It was the directing by these of the hearts of the Israelites, with their prayers heavenward, that defeated Amalek and caused the fiery serpents to cease. If you have acquired knowledge, do not simultaneously acquire a haughty spirit on account of your knowledge; and if you intend to expound God's word, recite to yourself two or three times what you intend saying. Even so great a man as Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, when once called upon in the assembly to get up and preach, declined to do so, on the ground that he never preached unless he rehearsed his intended speech two or three times to himself. While man is not to seek public notoriety and distinction, he is not to err on the side of modesty and seclusion, and refuse to give his services in communal matters. […]With idol-worshipers it is the habit to treat their gods according to the circumstances in which they find themselves, which they attribute to the actions of their gods. If their condition is favorable, they pay tribute to their god. ‘Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag, because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous,’ says the prophet (Habakkuk 1.). If, on the other hand, adversities overtake them, they vent their anger on their gods. ‘And it shall come to pass,’ the prophet tells us, ‘that when they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their god’ (Isaiah 8.).”
