Diaspora Yeshiva Toras Yisrael | Mount Zion, Jerusalem
Torah From Zion
Rav and Talmid – One
September 29th, 2024 / 26th of Elul, 5784
A Jew can reach a higher level than Moshe Rabbeinu
A Jew can reach the heights of Moshe [Moses] Rabbeinu. This is stated openly in Tehillim (Psalms) 84:12: “He withholds no goodness from those who walk b’tmimus [in perfect innocence].”
Hashem always bestows good upon us, but when a person does not go b’tmimus, Hashem, as it were, withholds His good from him. When one goes b’tmimus, however, Hashem does not withhold His good.
I saw that “not withholding good” applies not only to material good, but also to the true good, which is Torah. Since Torah is the true good, it must be that it is intended in this verse. It follows that a Jew is capable of reaching very great levels in Torah, even greater than Moshe Rabbeinu’s, because Hashem will not hold back good from those who go b’tmimus with Him, and included in this are all the levels of Torah.
When it comes to prophecy, however, it states that no navi has ever arisen who will be like Moshe (Devarim / Deuteronomy 34:10), and the Sefer Ha’Ikarim (3:20) adds that there will never be a navi like Moshe in the future. But aside from prophecy, there are definitely ways in which we can reach Moshe Rabbeinu’s level and even higher.
Proof of this is found in Maseches Menachos on page 29b, that when Moshe ascended to the heavens, he saw Hashem tying crows to letters and asked Him: “Who is holding You back?” Rashi explains that Moshe asked: Why do you need to add crowns to the letters? Why aren’t the letters of the Torah enough on their own?
Hashem answered: there is a man who in the future will expound upon each and every one of these crowns heaps and heaps of halachos. We see that Rabbi Akiva reached a level greater than Moshe, because, as said above, Hashem will not hold back His good.
It seems that Moshe Rabbeinu was hurt. If not, why should it bother him that Rabbi Akiva reached a higher level than he?
This was not jealousy, however. Rather, Moshe saw that HaShem is mashpia such good that it was possible for him to reach this level as well. Moshe was troubled: Why didn’t I reach this potential and achieve what Rabbi Akiva did? Why did I leave this behind? Why didn’t I merit it?
Through this we can also understand why Aharon [Aaron] was sad that he did not merit to bring korbanos together with the nessi’im [princes]. Otherwise, why should it bother him that others reached higher levels of closeness to Hashem than he? Rather, he saw that Hashem is mashpia such goodness, and they reach such a high level — why didn’t I reach this, too?
Can a talmid reach a higher level than his rebbe?
Even if we have demonstrated that Rabbi Akiva reached a higher level than Moshe Rabbeinu, and that the nessi’im merited more than Aharon Hakohen, can a talmid reach a higher level than his rebbe? There is still room to inquire if this is still true today? Can a talmid of our times reach a higher level than his rebbe?
Let’s study another case where such a thing happened — Eliyahu Hanavi [Elijah the prophet] and his talmid [student], Elisha. When Eliyahu was about to take leave of this world, he told Elisha: “Request what I should do for you before I am taken away from you.”
“May twice as much of your spirit be mine,” Elisha replied.
Eliyahu said: “You have made a difficult request. If you see me taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not, then it will not happen” (2 Melachim / Kings 2:9-10).
This was an opportunitiy for Elisha to make a request of his rebbe, and he asked to get two times as much of his rebbe’s spirit of Hashem. He wanted a higher madreiga [level] than Eliyahu’s.
Eliyahu answered that this was a difficult thing to ask, but if Elisha would see him being taken away he would achieve this. Elisha indeed merited to see Eliyahu ascend to heaven, and then he received what he requested.
We therefore have an example of a talmid reaching a higher level than his rebbe—or do we? When Eliyahu said that Elisha would receive this if he witnessed his being taken to the heavens, did this mean he would receive more than Eliyahu had in his lifetime (in his human form), or did it mean that as Eliyahu was ascending, Eliyahu himself would receive much more of the heavenly shefa [abundance] than he had in his lifetime, and perhaps Elisha could draw some of this shefa to himself? If it’s the latter, this means that again, Elisha the talmid did not reach a higher level than his rebbe.
This whole episode needs explanation. If the reason Elisha’s request was deemed difficult is because a talmid cannot reach a higher madreiga, why did Eliyahu answer that if he would see his ascent to heaven he would reach this? Why should that change anything? On the other hand, if it is possible for talmid to reach a higher level than his rebbe, why did Eliyahu say that Elisha had made a difficult request?
The Drashos HaRan (8) explains: Eliyahu told Elisha that this was a difficult request because since you reached your level in prophecy from me, and your shefa comes from me, it is impossible for you to reach higher than me. … However, if you see me being taken from you, and you’ll be there at the time when the shefa is reaching me much more than right now, when I’ll be taken away — and there is no question that at such a time Eliyahu reached a much higher level than before, until both his body and soul became like those of the heavenly angels — if you’ll see me at this time and shefa will come to you through me, you’ll have what you’re asking; you’ll get double what I have today, via the level that I will reach at that time. But if not, you will not receive this, because it is impossible that you become elevated through me to a greater level than my own.”
In this world one can reach only the 49th gate of wisdom. The 50th gate is reachable only in the next world. This is what Eliyahu meant.
Similarly, the Arizal told his talmid, Harav Chaim Vital: If you merit to see me when I receive a revelation of Eliyahu in a dream, you too will merit that same madreiga.
We see from Drashos HaRan that Elisha could not have reached a higher level than Eliyahu. It was only because Elisha saw Eliyahu reach the level of one of the malachei hashareis [ministering angels] that he could achieve twice as much as what Eliyahu was capable of before. If so, it seems that a talmid can never go higher than his rebbe, and it makes sense that a this should be impossible. Since the rebbe is the source, and the talmid is learning from the source, the most he can achieve is the source itself, not more than the source.
The key is preparation
I want to be mechadeish that nevertheless, a talmid can reach more than rebbe, as we find with Rabbi Akiva, and I’m basing this on the Drashos Haran itself, which states (in the same section) that after Aharon and Miriam spoke about their bother, Moshe (Bamidbar / Numbers 12:4), Hashem summoned Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam to the Ohel Mo’ed. When they went in, the pressence of Hashem descended at the entrance of the Ohel Mo’ed and spoke to Aharon and Miriam. The Rishonim ask: Why was Moshe summoned, if Hashem only wanted to address Aharon and Miriam?
Drashos Haran explains: “It was necessary to summon Moshe, because Aharon and Miriam did not have the power to receive prophecy in a sudden manner. They therefore needed Moshe to join them. Once prophecy descended to Moshe, who was able to receive this, this shefa was drawn to Aharon and Miriam, even though at that time they were unworthy of this shefa. This is similar to what Hashem said to Moshe concerning the Seventy Elders (ibid. 11:17): “I will descend and speak with you there, and I will increase some of the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, and you will not bear alone.”
Apparently, these Seventy Elders were not capable of receiving prophecy on their own at this time. However, since prophecy was stemming forth from Moshe, it was drawn to them, too, even though they were not fitting for it.
Meaning, the main reason why a talmid cannot receive more than his rebbe is because the talmid is not fitting for for the outpouring of wisdom and/or prophecy, as he is not a proper receptable for it. Only if the shefa comes first to his rebbe can the talmid take part in it and receive it from him. However, were it possible for a talmid to make himself a fitting receptable for this shefa, he could receive it directly from the source of the shefa and ascend higher than his rebbe.
Tapping into our collective power
Expanding on this idea, Am Yisrael is not just a collection of individuals. Rather, every individual lives within the reality of Klal Yisrael. The Sages explain this with the analogy of a ship full of passengers, and one of the passengers wants to drill a hole under his seat, thinking to himself: “What should the other passengers care what I do with my personal seat?” If he does so, however, he endangers all the passengers’ lives. So too with Klal Yisrael, if one Jew sins, everyone is in danger. On the other hand, one good deed makes its contribution to the Klal as well.
This is why tefilla b’tzibbur [prayer with the community] has special power. When many individuals pray together, each Jew’s prayer affects his fellowman’s, helping it ascend heavenward. So too, every good deed of the individual affects the Klal.
In a different sense, the power of tefilla b’tzibbur is that while an individual may not have the merit of ability to tap into heavenly shefa, when he is with the tzibbur and one person there does merit shefa, he too can tap into it — even though on his own he could not.
This is what Drashos HaRan means about receiving prophecy. There were those who were not fitting to receive prophecy on their own, but when they were in the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu when he was receiving the shefa of prophecy, they too could receive this.
So too with the rebbe and talmid — a talmid who clings to his rebbe can tap into the rebbe’s shefa of wisdom, receiving even what is beyond his own capacity and merit.
Similarly, the Sages state that it is a worthy practice to go to the graves of tzaddikim to daven [pray] (Sotah 34b). HaRan explains (ibid.) “prayer at this place will be more readily accepted, as one is near the bodies of those upon whom the G-dly shefa has already descended.” Meaning, since the body of the tzaddik was worthy of receiving G-dly shefa, those who are around it can tap into that shefa even if on their own they are not worthy of this.
The more one clings to Hashem, the greater the shefa he receives from Him, and the further is is, the less he receives. If so, the obvious way for a talmid to gain in levels via his rebbe is to be with his rebbe, tapping into his rebbe’s shefa of wisdom. His rebbe functions for him like a pipeline, through which wisdom and knowledge of the Shechina [Ruach Hakodesh / Holy Spirit] passes through to the talmid. It goes without saying, though, that in this way a talmid can never receive more than what his rebbe has.
How to tap into Matan Torah
Is it possible for a talmid’s level to transcend his rebbe’s? It is, because there is another way of growing in Torah — Hashem gave the Torah to all of Klal Yisrael, and each one received it to the extent that he was capable.
So too in every generation, when a talmid learns from his rebbe, if he places himself as if he were receiving the Torah from Hashem at Sinai, that’s how it will actually be — that talmid is now receiving Torah from the mouth of Hashem. Now, his rebbe is simply the means by which the voice of the Shechina reaches him, as it states, “For Hashem grants wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Mishlei 2:6), which the Sages explain as meaning that the wisdom comes directly from Hashem (Niddah 70b).
If a talmid learns in this way, of course he can reach a higher level than his rebbe, since is now capaible of receiving directly from Hashem. It turns out that you can have a case of two talmidim hearing a shiur from the same rebbe, but one of the two soars far higher than the other. For him, it’s as if the Shechina is speaking directly to him; the words are simply reverberating through his rebbe’s mouth, but as far as the talmid is concerned, he is standing right there at Har [Mount] Sinai and receiving the Torah from the mouth of Hashem (Shabbos 88b). Such a talmid can transcend the level of his rebbe.
This only applies, however, if the rebbe himself does not prepare himself in the same way as his talmid, and does not bring himself to a state of receiving the Torah from the mouth of Hashem.
Excerpted with permission from Imrei Mordechai, Vol. 2, A Collection of Inspirational Insights from the “Mussar Shmoozes” of HaGaon Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein Ztzvk”l, The Imrei Mordechai Institute, Diaspora Yeshiva Toras Yisrael, Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Kislev 5779.
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