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Orchard of Delights
£Moses in Every GenerationMoses in Every Generation
££Moses in Every Generation
After Moses tells the people that he pleaded with God to let him
enter the Promised Land, he rebukes the people saying, “But God
became angry with me because of you and He did not listen to me”
(Deuteronomy 3:26). The Arizal derived a remarkable concept from
this verse. The words “became angry with me” (vayitaber be) could be
read as “he caused an ibbur of me.” The concept of ibbur, which literally
means an “impregnation,” is important to the Arizal’s teaching of
reincarnation. According to the Arizal a soul does not necessarily
need to incarnate itself in a new body for an entire lifetime, the soul
can also “impregnate” another body for a limited time during which
it either completes its own rectification or assists its host in his or her
life’s mission. There is a sod, a Kabbalistic tradition, recorded in the
Zohar that a portion of Moses’ soul is present in every generation;
according to the Arizal, our verse, is one of this tradition’s sources.
Rashi explains that the phrase “because of you” means literally
“for your sake.” Because the people made Moses angry causing him
to hit the rock (instead of speaking to it as God had commanded
him), God refused to let Moses enter the Land for their sake. In a
sense, God’s anger with Moses and his subsequent punishment can
be understood as God’s “measure for measure” response to Moses’
anger at the people.
The Arizal, aware of Rashi’s interpretation, seems to give it
a mystical twist. According to the Arizal, not only was Moses’
request rejected “because of you” but also in a positive sense, “for
your sake”: the soul of Moses is present in every generation for the
Jewish people’s sake. This verse teaches us that the soul of Moses,
the greatest leader and teacher the Jewish people has ever known,
returns in every generation to assist the Jews, further revealing their
mission and teaching them Torah.
The notion of Moses’ soul returning to help his people also fits in
well with our suggestion earlier in this portion that Moses’ longing
to enter the Promised Land was deeply implanted in the Jewish
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month of Elul and start preparing for the Days of Awe we must do so
fully aware of what is at stake.
The next portion, Shoftim, begins with the following words: “Judges
and officers you shall appoint in all your gates” (Deuteronomy 16:18).
Although this injunction clearly applies to society at large, Chassidic
thought relates it to the private realm as well. At this time of year
when introspection is called for, the Torah is reminding us to appoint
internal judges and officers and to begin judging our own thoughts,
speech, and action by appointing internal officers to enforce discipline
and undertake pragmatic change when necessary. The “judges” are
the soul forces within us that recognize the truth and provide us with
a plan to change ourselves for the better, while the “officers” enforce
discipline and spur us on, providing us with the fortitude necessary
to truly improve ourselves.
In order to bring about change we need to be ready to go to “war,”
to confront those internal stumbling blocks preventing us from
advancing spiritually. Fundamental change does not come easily
and only great determination will enable us to attain our personal
goals. Therefore the next portion Ki Teitzei begins with the following 18
injunction: “When you go forth in war against your enemy and God,
your God, has delivered them into your hands….” (Deuteronomy
21:10). Here again, Chassidic thought transfers the commandment
from the sociopolitical realm to the private one, emphasizing that
on an individual level the enemy is the “evil inclination” and those
character traits in need of rectification. When we make a real effort
to confront our enemy, the evil inclination, then God comes to our
aid.
Ki Teitzei, continues by discussing how to treat a beautiful woman,
captured in the course of a war, whom one is strongly attracted to.
The Torah explains how to deal with this situation and how a man can
successfully control his physical desires in a holy way, and likewise,
the possible consequences if he does not handle the situation in the
purest of ways possible. On a personal level when we break the spell
of complacency and confront our inner shortcomings there is always
the possibility of success or failure. War is war, not fun and games.
We must be aware and careful when capturing our internal enemies
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