Parshat Matos Masei 5783
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the beginning of the first of this week’s parshiyot (Chapter 30, Pasuk 2), וידבר משה אל ראשי המטות לבני ישראל לאמר זה הדבר אשר צוה ד'. Rashi comments that the prophesy of Moshe was unique, as compared to the other prophets. They prophesied with the words כה אמר ד'. Moshe Rabbeinu had an additional level of prophesy. Besides prophesying with the words כה אמר ד', Moshe also was able to prophesy with the words זה הדבר as illustrated in this pasuk. What is the significance of this additional level of prophesy attained by Moshe Rabbeinu of זה הדבר?
The Sfas Emes teaches in parshat Vaera, in the name of his grandfather the Chidushei Harim, that the עשרה מאמרות, through which the world was created, evolved with the עשר מכות into the עשרת הדברות. He explains that the word אמירה means a soft, gentle manner of speaking, as the pasuk states in parshat Toldos (Chapter 27, Pasuk 41), ויאמר עשו בלבו; Eisav said to himself. When Hashem created the world, His presence wasn’t obvious; one has to look carefully to see the Yad Hashem. But when Bnei Yisrael were in Mitzrayim and Hashem performed the miracles of the ten plagues, the change in the laws of nature created an awareness of the presence of Hashem in the world. This culminated in the עשרת הדברות when Hashem revealed Himself at Har Sinai. And the word דבור indicates a clear manner of speaking, as the pasuk says by the brothers of Yosef (Chapter 42, Pasuk 30), דבר איש אדוני הארץ אתנו קשות; the ruling person spoke to us harshly.
The Sfas Emes in our parsha continues the distinction between these two terms and applies it to our parsha and the distinction between these two prophesies. The word מאמר is the outward expression of the will of Hashem, as we read in creation, יהי אור, יהי רקיע וכו'. But it doesn’t express the actual “speaking” of Hashem. Similarly, the prophets who used the term כה אמר ד' were describing to the best of their ability the prophesy they had experienced. The word כה goes together with the word אמר; it means like this. The Navi is describing the prophetic experience he had to the best of his ability.
The word דיבור, on the other hand, is the actual process of speaking itself. It is דיבור בעצם. Hence the experience of hearing the commands from Hashem is referred to as עשרת הדברות. At Har Sinai, the דיבור ד' was experienced by Clal Yisrael. And this is why the prophesy of Moshe Rabbeinu, which was on a much higher level than the other prophets, was expressed as זה הדבר. And the word זה goes together with the word דבר. The word זה indicates pointing at something and seeing a precise image of something. As Chazal teach by the mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh (Shemos, Chapter 12, Pasuk 2), החודש הזה לכם; Moshe had difficulty understanding the image of the moon and Hashem “pointed” at the moon and showed him. And at Keriyas Yam Suf when Bnei Yisrael sang (Shemos, Chapter 15, Pasuk 2), זה קלי ואנוהו, Chazal teach that even a simple maidservant had a high level of prophesy unattained by the prophets and were “pointing” at Hashem. זה הדבר was the prophesy of Moshe Rabbeinu; the direct word of Hashem “speaking”.
Rav Tzadok teaches that this is the meaning of the words of the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 21B לא קם נביא בישראל כמשה אבל באומות העולם קם ומנו בלעם. There was never a prophet in Israel like Moshe, but among the nations there were, and that was Bilam. How could it be that Bilam is like Moshe? Bilam said to Balak (Chapter 23, Pasuk 15), ואנכי אקרה כה. Bilam wanted to interpret the words of Hashem in his own manner and curse Bnei Yisrael. He wanted his own version of כה אמר ד'. But Hashem didn’t allow him and put His words directly into his mouth, as we read in the next pasuk וישם דבר בפיו. He ended up prophesying a form of זה הדבר. And it was in this manner that Chazal teach that there was no prophet like Moshe except Bilam; they both prophesied with זה הדבר. Moshe did so as an expression of his closeness to Hashem and as a loyal servant of Gd. Bilam did so as an animal with a bit forced into his mouth.
The prophesy of זה הדבר is used in the beginning of our parsha specifically in the parsha of Nedarim. The uniqueness of man is his ability to speak. And this ability of man is referred to as מדבר. As we explained, דיבור is the actual speaking itself; we don’t say that man is an אומר. And the ability of the דיבור of man is expressed in his ability to make vows and in the prohibition not to violate his words, as the second pasuk of our parsha states, לא יחל דברו. Rashi comments that we learn from here that he should not make his words חולין implying that the words of man are holy. The word דיבור also means to lead. Man needs to be led by his words; he must follow and keep his words. Just as man is commanded to keep the דברות of Hashem, man can make his own prohibitions upon himself, and when he does, he must keep them. This is because man is a מדבר with the ability to build and create new prohibitions for himself when he views them as essential to his personal growth as a follower of דבר ד'.
Good Shabbos
Print this article