In this posuk, Moshe
Rabbenu set before the Jewish People the categories of human growth and
accomplishments:
What does HASHEM ask
of you? Only:
1.
To fear HASHEM
2.
To go in all of His ways.
3.
To love HASHEM.
4.
To serve HASHEM with all of you heart and your soul.
Each category is a
world in and of itself, and would take man a lifetime to accomplish.
Together these four groupings comprise all of service to HASHEM and are the
measure of the perfection of the human.
Yet amazingly, when
Moshe introduces these concepts to the Jewish Nation, he begins with an
expression of, “What does HASHEM ask from you but this?” as if to
imply that it is but a small request.
The Gemara in
Brachos is bothered by this and asks: “Is fear of HASHEM a small
thing?” The Gemara answers: “Yes, to Moshe it is a small thing. To a poor
man, even small items seem valuable. However, to a wealthy man even vast
sums seem small.” Since Moshe had attained such spiritual perfection, these
things seemed simple to him; hence he used the expression: “What does HASHEM
want from you but this?”
Why would Moshe Rabbenu
compare himself to the average person?
The difficulty with
this Gemara is that it implies that Moshe was using himself as the standard
of measurement for the average person. It’s as if he were implying, “If I
could reach this, then so can you.” Yet we know that Moshe towered over
every other human ever created. He reached dizzying heights of perfection
that no other human before or after will attain. After 80 years unparalleled
growth, he spent 40 days without food, drink, or sleep, and was taught the
entire Torah by HASHEM. For the next forty years he was engaged in teaching
that Torah to the Jewish people. At this point in his life he is a giant of
a man, and in no way can he be compared to the typical person. Why would
Moshe use his own experiences as the measuring rod against which the average
person should compare himself?
The answer to this
question is based on a different perspective on human capacity. To gain that
viewpoint, let us take a look at an interesting phenomena.
Being tied to a peg in the ground
In parts of Asia, the
elephant remains the beast of choice for lugging heavy loads. As part of its
work day, an adult elephant will pull logs weighing thousands of pounds
through long stretches of forest undergrowth. Yet at night, that same
elephant will be contained by being tied to a small peg in the ground.
While it would be
clear to you and me that a 14,000 pound creature can easily break away from
the light ropes holding it, the reality is that it cannot. It cannot escape
— not because it isn’t motivated, and not because it doesn’t want to, but
because in the elephant’s understanding, it just can’t be done.
Shortly after birth,
the baby elephant in this part of the world is tied to a peg in the ground.
At this stage in its development, it might weigh 250 pounds and in fact
isn’t strong enough to break the rope that holds it. From that point
forward, every day of its life, the elephant will be tied to that peg in the
ground. Even when the animal has reached maturity and will be called upon to
lug felled trees weighing over 4,000 pounds, it will remained tied to a
small peg. The understanding is firmly fixed in its mind: it can’t possibly
escape.
Limiting beliefs
Many times we are tied to pegs in the ground.
There are many situations where we don’t reach up for greatness because we
are contained — not by ropes, but by limiting beliefs that prevent us from
breaking away from the habits and lifestyle choices that stunt our growth.
Moshe Rabbeinu was providing an invaluable
lesson to us. He was demonstrating the capacity of the human. He was showing
us how great a person can be. At the end of the day, Moshe was made of the
same substance as you and I. He was a person with drives, desires, and
inclinations. He overcame them. He made himself great. He took the natural
strengths and weaknesses that he was given, and by constantly making the
right choices, he changed his inner nature. Finally, he reached the point
that he could look at the absolute heights of perfection and say, “So what?
This isn’t a big deal. It can easily be done.”
The lesson to us is that we too have that
capacity. All of life is but an opportunity to make choices. If from this
moment forward, every decision that I made were the proper one, if I were to
put away all of my self-interests and ask myself, “What do I think is the
right way to act? What do I think HASHEM wants me to do in this situation?
Not what do I want, not what do I desire, but what is the proper way?,” I
have the intuitive sense to be able to answer correctly and find the right
path.
That process of making the right choices
shapes me into a different person. It starts the process of change. Once
that process is engaged, if I continue on it and consistently chose what is
right and proper, step by step I will become a different person and view
life itself from a different vantage point.
While it is true that serving HASHEM requires
work, there is a part of each person that naturally yearns to do that which
is right. There is a part of me that deeply desires a relationship with
HASHEM. By attuning myself to that part, and by using role models who
reached such plateaus, I too can reach the heights of greatness for which I
was created.
For more on this topic please listen to Shmuz #73 – Self Respect- The Basis
for it All
