Be'Ha'aloscha- Moshe: Modest Man

In Parashas Be’ha’aloscha we encounter the infamous incident of Miriam and Aharon’s little chitchat about Moshe (just to be correct the pasuk doesn’t actually make sense grammatically to mean that both Miriam and Aharon were speaking lashon harah; the pasuk says “ותדבר מרים ואהרן וגו'”, so, Ibn Ezra explains that Aharon’s participation was marked by his silence or agreement- it only says “ויאמרו” in the plural by the second pasuk when they exclaim that both of them were also neviim; see also Da’as Zekeinim Mi’ba’alei Ha’Tosfos).  The Torah tells us that Hashem was well aware of what was taking place, “וישמע ה'”. Following this is the well known verse describing Moshe Rabbeinu as the penultimate emulator of Humility- “והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה”. Now, just to understand what was going on in the story here, it should be noted that the Targum Yonasan [Yerushalmi], Ramban, and the Or Hachaim HaKadosh make note of the fact that Aharon and Miriam were speaking not just about Moshe, which would be pointless gossip, but rather to Moshe as a form of rebuke for his behavior (unlike Ibn Ezra). Ramban brings this down from the Sifri which explains that the pesukim here can be merged to be read as “וישמע ה' והאיש משה וגו'”. And Moshe bore this rebuke in humble silence (Rashi) and did not take heed as to be offended (Targum Yonasan). And it was because of his anivus that Moshe Rabbeinu himself could not respond with the proper refutation to their rebuke: that he was the greatest, the most humble. That is why Hashem Himself said it in the Torah to us (and in different words to Aharon and Miriam- “לא כן עבדי משה בכל ביתי נאמן הוא”) (Or HaChaim HaKadosh). Similarly, the Ramban brings down that the placement of this pasuk here is an explanation of Hashem’s kana’us, so to speak, on Moshe’s behalf. That is to say, since Moshe would not respond on his own, out of great humility, Hashem stepped in directly.

אמר ר' יוחנן אין הקב"ה משרה שכינתו אלא על גבור ועשיר וחכם ועניו וכולן ממשה גבור דכתיב (שמות מ) ויפרוש את האהל על המשכן ואמר מר משה רבינו פרסו וכתיב (שמות כו) עשר אמות ארך הקרש וגו' אימא דאריך וקטין אלא מן הדין קרא דכתיב (דברים ט) ואתפוש בשני הלוחות ואשליכם מעל שתי ידי ואשברם ותניא הלוחות ארכן ששה ורחבן ששה ועביין שלשה עשיר פסל לך פסולתן שלך יהא חכם רב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו חמשים שערי בינה נבראו בעולם וכולם נתנו למשה חסר אחת שנאמר (תהילים ח) ותחסרהו מעט מאלהים עניו דכתיב (במדבר יב) והאיש משה עניו מאד 

The Gemara in Nedarim 38a says as follows (paraphrase): Hashem does not rest His Shechinah on just anyone, but only one is mighty, rich, wise and modest. And from where did R’ Yochanan get these criteria? Why, from Moshe Rabbeinu! And the last one, that one must be an anav, is learned out from the pasuk of “והאיש משה”. Now, both R’ Yaakov Emden and the Torah Temimah write that this Gemara is only referring to one whom Hashem “rests” on bi’kvius, always. But there certainly were many that didn’t posses all these qualities who received nevuah, just that it was in a more irregular manner. On top of that, the Torah Temimah asks a very important question. Granted, on the lists of qualities that Hashem is looking for in someone that He can “rest His Presence on” anavah makes sense. But what do gevurah, ashirus, and chochmah have to do with any of this? On top of this, he cites the Gemara in Shabbos 92b which says almost the same exact lashon as the Gemara in Nedarim except that it substitutes being an anav with being a ba’al komah, “one of measure” (see the Gemara there). Certainly this trait does not exactly align with humility. In fact, Reb Shlomo Eiger in his glosses on the Gemara in Shabbos points out this difference between the two Gemaros, although perhaps not from our angle, but nonetheless does not offer a resolution. However, the Torah Temimah says as follows; one who is poor, weak, and unlearned, and manages to maintain humility (although it is commendable), is not the same as one who is strong, rich, and wise, and who despite all of his ma'alos  still maintains humility. All of these traits listed in the Gemara are really a means by which to evaluate the level of anavah and in essence show that the anavah is of a higher level. That is why Moshe, who possessed gevurah, ashirus, chochmah, and who was a ba'al komah, and on top of that reached a level of self-annulment beyond all other beings on the face of the planet(!), was truly the greatest and was zoche to his level of nevuah- בכל ביתי נאמן הוא.

 It's ok to be awesome, just don't let it go to your head! A gut Shabbos!