Vayikra Rabbah, a classical midrashic text – meaning, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Torah – offers a fascinating perspective. It begins by exploring the verse in Psalms (89:20): “You then spoke in a vision to Your pious ones, saying: I aided the mighty one; I raised the one chosen from the people.” Who are these "pious ones"? And how were they aided?
Rabbi Avin, quoting Rabbi Berekhya the Elder, suggests this verse refers to Abraham, a man who conversed with God directly through visions. We see this echoed in Genesis 15:1: “After these matters, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying.” The verse in Micah (7:20) links laḥasidekha, "to Your pious ones," with the qualities of truth given to Jacob and ḥesed, loving-kindness, given to Abraham.
And "I aided the mighty one?" This, the midrash explains, refers to Abraham's victory over four kings in a single night! Genesis 14:15 describes how "He deployed against them at night…and smote them and pursued them until Ḥova.” Rabbi Yitzḥak raises a pointed question: who chases after the dead? His answer is striking: God was the one doing the killing, and Abraham was simply pursuing. What an image! And the last part of the verse, "I raised the one chosen from the people," is also Abraham, as Nehemiah 9:7 says explicitly: "Who has chosen Abram."
But the midrash doesn't stop there. It then proposes that the same verse from Psalms (89:20) also applies to David. God spoke to David through visions, as we see in II Samuel 7:17: “In accordance with all these matters, and in accordance with this entire vision, so Natan spoke to David.” David, the "pious one," as he himself proclaims in Psalms 86:2: "Protect my soul, for I am pious [ḥasid]."
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana notes that David waged either thirteen or eighteen wars. The difference in opinion boils down to whether the wars were for the needs of Israel, or for David's personal needs. Either way, David was aided, and he was chosen, as Psalms 78:70 says: "He chose David His servant…”
Finally, the midrash applies the verse to Moses. God spoke to Moses "mouth to mouth," in vision, as Numbers 12:8 tells us. Moses, the "pious one," because he was from the tribe of Levi, as Deuteronomy 33:8 states: "Your Tummim and Your Urim for Your pious one" – the Tummim and Urim being sacred objects used for divination by the Levites.
Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai offers a powerful analogy: a burden that's difficult for one is easier for two, and easier still for four. But could a burden difficult for six hundred thousand people be easy for one? At Mount Sinai, the Israelites cried out, "If we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we will die!" (Deuteronomy 5:22). Yet Moses heard the divine voice directly and lived. The divine speech called only to Moses, as the Torah states simply, "He called to Moses." And Moses, the chosen one, as Psalms 106:23 reminds us: "Were it not for Moses His chosen one…"
So, what does all this tell us? The Vayikra Rabbah isn't just giving us historical trivia. It's suggesting a profound connection between divine aid, being chosen, and acts of piety. It's implying that these heroes – Abraham, David, and Moses – weren't simply born mighty. They were chosen, they were pious, and through that, they were aided in ways that defy human understanding. Maybe, just maybe, there's a lesson there for us all.