Moses of Clean Hands and the King Who Makes Peace

Tanna Debei Eliyahu Rabbah 17:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Scripture says, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not taken My soul in vain and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation" (Psalms 24). "Clean hands" - this was Moses our teacher, father of the sages and father of the prophets, whose hands were clean of robbery, as it is said, "Moses was very angry and said to the LORD... I have not taken one donkey of theirs" (Numbers 16). "A pure heart" - this is Moses, whose heart was clear in the fear of God. "Who has not taken My soul in vain" - the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "The breath, spirit, and soul that I placed in you never made a vain claim, never saying what I had not written in My Torah." "And has not sworn deceitfully" - he did not deceive in the oath he swore to Jethro, as it is said, "Moses consented [vayo'el] to dwell with the man" (Exodus 2); "vayo'el" means nothing but an expression of oath, as it is said, "Saul adjured [vayo'el] the people" (1 Samuel 14). And what was Moses' reward? That he received a blessing from the mouth of his God, as it is said, "He shall receive a blessing from the LORD." My Father in Heaven, may Your great Name be blessed forever and ever. And may You have contentment from Israel. I passed through all the places where Israel dwells and saw all the ugly and unfit things that Israel did, yet You held no jealousy or vengeance against them, nor did You exalt Yourself over them, nor withhold the words of Your Torah from their mouths. Rather You recalled the good they did before You and not the evil, and You said to them through Isaiah, "The former things shall not be remembered or come to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever" (Isaiah 65). When our ancestors stood at Mount Sinai to take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven willingly, He too came down from the highest heavens, from the place of His glory and splendor and holiness, and made His great Name dwell among them willingly, as it is said, "The generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand" (Isaiah 32). Happy is the person whose deeds exceed his wisdom. To what may this be compared? To a foot set in a shoe, protected from all pain and grief, as it is said, "How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O noble daughter; the curves of your thighs" (Song of Songs 7). Just as the thigh is concealed, so every good deed a person does, let him do it in concealment: charity in concealment, modesty with his wife in concealment. If he does so, he will be beloved before the Omnipresent. "Go out, daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon" (Song of Songs 3) - this is the King who is the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, to whom peace belongs. Another interpretation: He intends and makes peace among the four hundred ninety-six myriads of ministering angels who stand before Him and sanctify His great Name daily, from sunrise to sunset saying "Holy, holy, holy," and from sunset to sunrise saying "Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place," as it is said, "He makes peace in His heights" (Job 25). Another interpretation: Solomon and David sat upon thrones, and their servants and household and countrymen brought before them food and drink and all manner of provisions. But the Holy One, blessed be He - may His great Name be blessed forever - is not so. He sits upon His throne of glory: a third of the day He reads and studies, a third of the day He judges, and a third of the day He performs charity and feeds and sustains all who come into the world and all the works of His hands, as it is said, "He gives bread to all flesh" (Psalms 136). "With the crown that his mother crowned him" - when Israel were in Egypt and came out and were in the wilderness, they did not change their names or their language, and the ministering angels murmured about them, saying, "Surely there are among these the like of the deeds of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, since they did not change their names or their language." "On the day of his wedding and the day of the gladness of his heart" - when Israel stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Holy One, blessed be He, watched and worried in His heart that perhaps Israel would not accept His Torah as the nations had not accepted it, and the decree would be sealed against them. But afterward, once they accepted upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven with joy and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear," the Holy One commanded Moses to tell Israel to make Him a sanctuary, as it is said, "Speak to the children of Israel... and let them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them" (Exodus 25). What Israel gave Him, He returned to them in love.

Themes

MosesHumilityTorah

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