נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ: (א כו) "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (1:26) When Hashem dictated the Torah to Moshe, every word was received with precision. But when they reached the account of Creation in Parshas Bereshis, Moshe paused and concerned for the spiritual integrity of future generations, turned to Hashem with an agonizing plea recorded in the Midrash (Bereshis Rabbah 8:8): "Master of the Universe! Why do You express Creation in the plural נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם—'Let us make'? You are giving an opening to the misbelievers to claim that there are multiple divine powers in the universe! Why create room for error?"
Hashem's answer to Moshe was: כְּתֹב! וְהָרוֹצֶה לִטְעוֹת יִטְעֶה "Write! And whoever wishes to err, let them err." At first glance, this response seems astonishing. Is Hashem indifferent to spiritual error? Does He not care if people misinterpret His holy word?
In his classic work Hoel Moshe, Rabbi Moshe Teumim Rav of Horodenka unlocks the depth of the Divine reply. There are two fundamentally different ways a person approaches reality. One who possesses authentic Emunah, a soul that truly searches for Hashem and truth, approaches the world asking: What is real? Where is the Truth? Such a person reads "Let us make man" and immediately understands that the Singular Creator is teaching a lesson in humility, consulting with His heavenly court before performing a great act.
But a person who is not looking for truth, who approaches life with self justification, will find fault anywhere. For a person actively seeking an excuse to stumble, Hashem Himself says: Even I cannot save someone who insists on seeing falsehood. Hashem was teaching Moshe a fundamental rule of existence: Truth cannot hold itself hostage to the misinterpretations of bad-faith actors.
The Talmud teaches that "The seal of Hashem is Truth Emes" (Sanhedrin 64a). Our Sages explain that the very reason Hashem used the plural phrasing—"Let us make"—was to model ultimate humility (Anavah).
Although Hashem needs no partners, He consulted the angels to teach us that a leader must consult others, regardless of stature. Humility and Truth are inseparable. A person living in absolute truth recognizes that status and pride vanish. The truth is equal for everyone. Therefore, a person of truth possesses profound humility. Moshe, whom the Torah crowns as "the humblest man on the face of the earth" (Bamidbar 12:3), represented this ideal. As the Talmud says, "Moshe is truth and his Torah is truth" (Bava Basra 74a). Because Moshe lived entirely with Emes, he came to understand Hashem's lesson: when you act out of pure truth, you do not calculate how the audience will spin it. You simply do what is right.
We see this exact principle play out later in Moshe's life during one of his most vulnerable moments. When his sister Miriam was struck with Tzara'at (leprosy) after speaking Lashon Hara, Moshe immediately stood in prayer on her behalf. The Torah records his famously brief five-word prayer: אֵל נָא רְפָא נָא לָהּ "Hashem, please heal her, please!" (Bamidbar 12:13) Rashi, citing the Sages, asks a striking question: Why did Moshe make his prayer so brief? So that the Jewish people would not say, "His own sister is in distress, yet he lingers in long, poetic prayers!" This explanation raises a natural question. Was Moshe really making a public relations calculation while his sister was suffering? The Eison HaEzrachi (Rabbi Avraham Rapaport) offers a brilliant insight. Moshe knew that his prayer would be answered instantly; as her brother and leader, his forgiveness and simple cry would heal her. But he realized he was trapped: If he offered a lengthy prayer, critics would scoff: "Look at him lingering in prayer while his sister suffers in agony!" If he offered a brief prayer, critics would accuse: "Look at how fast he prays! He doesn't even care—he's taking revenge on her for criticizing him!" Moshe realized that no matter what he did, faultfinders would attribute bad motives to him.
Therefore, he [chose] pure Truth. Since a short prayer was all that was needed for Hashem to heal her, he prayed concisely, ignored the noise, and left the judgment to Heaven.
We constantly measure our actions by how they will be interpreted, or criticized by others. We hesitate to do the right thing because we fear someone might misunderstand our motives. We stay silent when we should speak, and we perform when we should be genuine all out of fear of the audience. The Torah comes to tell us: Stop living for the critics. When you know your intentions are pure, when your path is aligned with Hashem and His Torah, you do not need to spend your life managing the misinterpretations of others. Those who love truth will see your truth. Those who seek fault will find fault regardless of what you do.