What happens when a legend disappears? When a leader, a prophet, a figure like MOSES, is simply… gone? The grief, of course, is immense. But beyond that, there's often a desperate, almost frantic, search for answers.
And that brings us to a poignant moment after Moses' death, beautifully rendered in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews. It focuses on two figures especially close to him: JOCHEBED, his mother, and JOSHUA, his devoted disciple. They couldn't accept that he was truly gone.
They weren't sure he was dead, you see. Hope, perhaps, battled with despair. So, they searched. They sought him everywhere.
Imagine Jochebed, the woman who protected him as an infant, now desperately seeking him as a grown man, a leader of a nation. Her search takes her on a heartbreaking journey. First, she goes to Egypt, or Mizraim in Hebrew. “Mizraim, Mizraim, have you seen Moses?” she cries. But Egypt replies, “As truly as you live, Jochebed, I have not seen him since the day he slew all the firstborn here.” Ouch.
Then she turns to the NILE, the river that once carried his basket to safety. "Nile, Nile, have you seen Moses?" But the Nile replies, "As truly as you live, Jochebed, I have not seen Moses since the day he turned my water to blood."
Her search continues, each location a painful reminder of Moses' deeds. She asks the SEA, "Sea, sea, have you seen Moses?" The sea replies, "As truly as you live, Jochebed, I have not seen him since the day when he led the twelve tribes through me." Remember the splitting of the Red Sea, that pivotal moment of freedom?
Next, she pleads with the DESERT: "Desert, desert, have you seen Moses?" The desert replies, "As truly as you live, Jochebed, I have not seen him since the day whereupon he caused manna to rain down upon me." Manna, that miraculous food that sustained them in the wilderness.
The journey takes her to SINAI, the mountain where Moses received the Torah. "Sinai, Sinai, have you seen Moses?" Sinai replies, "As truly as you live, Jochebed, I have not seen him since the day whereon he descended from me with the two tables of the law." The Ten Commandments, the foundation of their covenant.
Finally, she goes to the ROCK, the one he struck to bring forth water. "Rock, rock, have you seen Moses?" The rock replies, "As truly as you live, I have not seen him since the day when with his staff he twice smote me."
Each place, each element, acknowledges Moses’ impact, his presence. But none can offer her comfort, none can tell her where he is. They can only echo his past actions.
What does this relentless searching tell us? Perhaps it speaks to the enduring power of a leader's actions, etched into the very landscape. Or maybe it's a reflection of the agonizing uncertainty of loss, the refusal to accept that someone so significant could simply vanish. Jochebed's quest becomes a powerful metaphor for the struggle to reconcile faith with the unknown, the search for meaning in the face of absence. It reminds us that even in death, the echoes of a great life reverberate through the world.