בעלתי ההרה לקחת לוחת האבנים לוחת הברית אשר כרת ה' עמכם ואשב בהר ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה לחם לא אכלתי ומים לא ש תיתי.
“When I ascended the mountain to receive the Tablets of stone, the Tablets of the covenant that Hashem sealed with you, and I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights; bread I did not eat, and water I did not drink.” (Devorim 9:9)
The Medrash (Tanchuma Beshalach 10) points out that when Moshe remained on Har Sinai for forty days and nights without eating or drinking, he was displaying mesirus nefesh for Torah. On account of this self-sacrifice, Moshe merited that the Torah is referred to by his name: “Toras Moshe avdi — the Torah of Moshe, My servant” (Malachi 3:22). This would also fit with the directive in Pirkei Avos (6:4): “Kach hi darkah shel Torah: Pas ba’melach tocheil u’mayim bamesurah tishteh — This is the way of Torah: Eat bread with salt, drink water in small measure...” To acquire Torah, one must be ready to refrain from indulging in worldly pleasures.
Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi (Birkas Mordechai, Eikev) presents another angle with which to view the mesirus nefesh of Moshe. Why did Moshe have to go without any food while in Heaven? Even if malachim don’t eat, couldn’t Hashem have provided Moshe with some nourishment during his stay?
The answer is our version of: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The Yalkut Shimoni (852; also Bava Metzia 86b) says that when you come to a city, you must follow its rules of etiquette. Since there is no eating or drinking in Heaven, when Moshe went there, he did what everyone else did. Before a diplomatic envoy takes up a new post, he undergoes thorough training from a protocol officer; local customs must be followed. It is common courtesy, or, as we say, derech eretz. When Moshe was in the Heavenly realm, he, as well, had to follow the local custom. It would have shown a lack of derech eretz to act human amid angels.
Rav Ezrachi contends that the mesirus nefesh of Moshe on behalf of Torah, which earned him a kinyan, an acquisition in Torah — to the extent that Toras Hashem is called Toras Moshe — is this commitment to derech eretz. For proper behavior comes before Torah. In Sha’arei Kedushah (1:2), Rav Chaim Vital explains why the Torah includes so few mitzvos that involve improving one’s middos. Because good middos must be there from the beginning. They are a prerequisite for absorbing and learning the Torah.
In his famous letter to his wife (Iggeres HaGra), the Vilna Gaon tells her to study Pirkei Avos and Avos De’Rabbi Nassan (which discuss proper middos and behavior), and to teach her children proper derech eretz, because: “Derech eretz kadmah laTorah.” For Torah to be acquired, one must first acquire common courtesy and manners.
The Medrash (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3) cites Rav Yishmael bar Rav Nachman, who taught that derech eretz preceded the Torah by twenty-six generations (ten from Adam to Noach, ten from Noach to Avraham, six from Avraham to Moshe), at which point Moshe went up to Shomayim to receive it. We learn this from the pasuk in Bereishis (3:24), “Lishmor es derech Eitz HaChaim — To guard the way to the Tree of Life.” The word “derech” is an allusion to derech eretz, which precedes the phrase “Eitz HaChaim,” an allusion to Torah. So yes, derech eretz preceded the Torah.
Rav Dessler (Michtav Me’Eliyohu, Vol. 4: Hachanah LeTorah) posits that one who doesn’t appreciate the obligation to respect others lacks the attributes required for success in Torah. This is as it says in Pirkei Avos (3:21), “Im ein derech eretz ein Torah — If there is no derech eretz, there is no Torah.” Rabbeinu Yonah (ad loc.) expounds: One must first improve his character traits so that the Torah can dwell within him. Torah cannot dwell within a person who is not a ba’al middos. And it is impossible to learn Torah first and to do mitzvos and acquire good middos afterward.
Before creating Adam, Hashem “consulted” the malachim on the matter, as it says (Bereishis 1:26), “Na’aseh adam — Let us make Man.” The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 8:8) tells us that when Moshe wrote out the Torah and came up to this pasuk, he asked Hashem, “How can You write this? It makes it sound as if there are two Creators, which can give people an opening to deny Your Oneness.” Hashem responded, “Those who want to err will err. However, I want people to learn proper middos and derech eretz — that a greater person asks permission of those beneath him.” Hashem felt it worthwhile to take the chance of having people question Him and His Oneness, just to instill in us this lesson of derech eretz.
Rav Ezrachi concludes that included in Moshe’s mesirus nefesh for Torah was mesirus nefesh for derech eretz and common decency. Yes, he was a model of self-sacrifice in terms of asceticism, but this was all in the service of derech eretz, which must be in place for Torah to follow.
“Derech eretz kadmah laTorah.”
