3:5 “ויאמר אל תקרב הלם של נעליך מעל רגליך כי המקום אשר אתה עומד עליו אדמת קודש הוא” “He said: Do not come closer to here, take off your shoes from your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy ground.” Why does the Posuk say that Moshe was to take off his shoes “from his feet”? Shouldn’t it have been enough to say that he should remove his shoes, and he would have known that it meant from his feet? The following Divrei Torah will expound on this topic and support the P’shat offered in the closing paragraph.
פנים יפות
3:4 “וירא ד' כי סר לראות, ויקרא אליו אלקים מתוך הסנה ויאמר משה משה, ויאמר הנני” – “And Hashem saw that he turned aside to see, and Hashem called to out to him from amid the bush and said: Moshe Moshe, and he replied: I am here.” The Arizal says that the word, “סר” is the same Gematria as the Shem Havayah ten times (26x10=260). What is the significance of this word being ten times the Gematria of the Shem Havayah? Moshe Rabbeinu elevated himself to such a level, that he completely removed the Gashmiyos from himself, like Eliyahu Hanavi did, who was a Bechina of ten times the Shem Havayah, as it says in the Yalkut Shimoni 771. פינחס is eight times the Shem Havayah (26x8=208), and אליהו is two times the Shem Havayah (26x2=52), and Pinchos was Eliyahu, so together the two names equals ten times the Shem Havayah, and we know that Eliyahu Hanavi totally removed himself from Gashmiyos. The Yalkut says in Shemos 171, “שלח נא ביד” – that it will be through the hands of Eliyahu Hanavi that the final Geulah will come. Moshe Rabbeinu also had this attribute of the ten Sheimos of Havayah, and in addition, Moshe also had the Shem Elokim, as that was his physical cloak. It was for this reason that Moshe Rabbeinu was called an “איש אלקים”. The Gematria of משה is ten times the Shem Havayah, (26x10=260) plus the Shem Elokim (86) minus one – משה is 345, while ten times the Shem Havayah, and one time the Shem Elokim is equal to 346. Dovid Hamelech says in Tehillim 8:6 “ותחסרהו מעט מאלקים” – saying that Moshe was slightly lacking from the Shem Elokim, namely that he was short one – as his Gematria is only 345, for he thought that it was impossible for him to be a messenger for Hashem, and to take Klal Yisroel out of Mitzrayim until he completely removed his Gashmiyos, and become a real איש אלקים – but he was minimally short of it. Hakodosh Boruch Hu responded to Moshe, “ויאמר אל תקרב הלם ” – there is no need for you to come closer, for even while you are in a Guf now, you are completely removed from Gashmiyos, and you will be the redeemer of Klal Yisroel. The Zohar Hakodosh says that when the Posuk continues and Hashem says to Moshe, “של נעליך מעל רגליך ” – that it is referring the removal of Gashmiyos. The Torah tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu purified himself so much so, more than all other Nevi’im, up to the point that he literally became, “אדמת קודש” – holy ground. Just as the burning thornbush had the Shechina residing on it, and was not destroying it, so too the Shechina could reside within a person and not destroy him. Hakodosh Boruch Hu rested His Shechinah on Har Sinai, which is earth, so too Hakodosh Boruch Hu can rest His Shechina on people who make themselves pure so that they are אדמת קודש, like Moshe Rabbeinu.
ר' יצחק אייזיק חבר
3:4 “וירא ד' כי סר לראות, ויקרא אליו אלקים מתוך הסנה ויאמר משה משה, ויאמר הנני” – Every Neshama has two parts: one is rooted above, while the other part is clothed by man below, in Olam Hazeh. Thus, we find by Tzaddikim that their names are doubled, as the Torah says, “אברהם אברהם” – the Torah is telling us that the two parts of the Neshama have both reached exalted levels of Chochma and Bina, and these Tzaddikim are Zoche to have the Chochma and Bina combined in both parts of their Neshama. The same is with Moshe Rabbeinu, as we see here the Posuk says, “משה משה”.
קול רם
3:4 “וירא ד' כי סר לראות, ויקרא אליו אלקים מתוך הסנה ויאמר משה משה, ויאמר הנני” – It says in Shemos Rabbah 2:6 that Hakodosh Boruch Hu repeated the name Moshe to indicate that it is he (Moshe) who taught the Torah in this world, and it is he who is destined to teach it in Olam Habah. In the future, Klal Yisroel will go to Avrohom Avinu and say to him, “Teach us Torah” and he will say, go to Yitzchok who learned more than me. Yitzchok will say that they should go to Yaakov for he learned more than him, and Yaakov will tell them to go learn from Moshe Rabbeinu, for he learned the Torah directly from Hakodosh Boruch Hu. We see from this Midrash the great importance of learning Torah from the Talmidei Chachomim of the generation. It is not enough for a wise person to learn himself, rather even he must discuss the Torah with the Chachomim of the generation to see how they understand the Torah. This was the great thing that Klal Yisroel did when they said, “נעשה ונשמע ” and not only “נעשה ”. Klal Yisroel were saying that they will perform the Mitzvos of the Torah, and they will listen to the words of Chazal. It says in Meseches Sanhedrin 102a that Achav had Kovod HaTorah, for we saw that when Ben Hadad wanted to take all the precious items from the house of Achav, like his silver and gold, Achav conceded for him to take them. However, when he wanted to take Achav’s Sefer Torah, Achav did not allow it. How are we to understand what Achav did? He did not keep the Torah and its Mitzvos, thus, why did he care to have the Sefer Torah remain with him? The reason that Ben Hadad wanted to take the Torah was to distort the Torah and to put in that which was false. As we know, the world was dark for three days when Talmei translated the Torah Hakdosha – for he placed within it falsehoods and distortions, as it says in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580. Achav said that while he was a Rasha and did not heed the Torah and its Mitzvos, however he still doesn’t want to remove himself from the Torah completely. While he knew that he did that which was prohibited from the Torah, the reason that he did them was because he was unable to overpower his Yetzer Hara. However, just because he transgressed those sins, does not mean that he wants to Chas V’sholom take the Torah and pervert it, and change it – to change what is prohibited and incorrectly say that it is permitted. Achav was prepared to risk his life to keep the Torah true to what it is. We must always seek to find the truth in the Torah, and not just be content to think that based on our own intellect we can understand the depth of the Torah. It will be Moshe Rabbeinu who will teach us Torah Le’asid Lavo, as from him it is completely unadulterated – and is the Amitah Shel Torah – משה אמת ותורתו אמת.
