The Baffling Medrash
This week’s parsha opens with Moshe Rabbeinu’s desperate plea to enter Eretz Yisrael — and Hashem’s refusal. Moshe relates that Hashem told him: ויאמר ה' אלי, רב לך, אל תוסף דבר אלי עוד בדבר הזה - “Hashem said to me: Enough — do not speak to Me further about this matter.”
The Medrash (Devorim Rabbah, Parshas V’zos HaBrachah 11:10) reveals the full exchange preceding this ruling:
אמר משה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, ריבונו של עולם, אם אין אתה מכניס אותי לארץ ישראל, לכל הפחות, הניח אותי כחיות השדה שהן אוכלין עשבים, ושותין מים וחיים, ורואין את העולם. כך תהא נפשי כאחת מהם. אמר לו: רב לוך. אמר לפניו, ריבונו של עולם, ואם לאו, אז לכל הפחות הניח אותי בעולם הזה כעוף זה שהוא פורח בכל ארבע רוחות העולם, ומלקט מזונו בכל יום, ולעת ערב חוזר לקינו. כך תהא נפשי כאחת מהם. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא: רב לוך. אומר המדרש, מה הוא רב לוך? אמר לו, רב לך אשר דיברת. כיוון שראה משה שאין בריה יכולה להצילו מדרך המוות, באותה שעה אמר: הצור תמים פועלו, כי כל דרכיו משפט, קל אמונה ואין עוול, צדיק וישר הוא.
Moshe pleaded: Ribbono Shel Olam — if You will not bring me to Eretz Yisrael, at least leave me in this world as one of the animals of the field, eating grass, drinking water, living, and seeing the world. Let my soul be as one of them. Hashem replied: Enough. Moshe tried again: Ribbono Shel Olam — then at least leave me in this world like a bird that soars in all four directions, gathers its food each day, and returns to its nest each evening. Let my soul be as one of them. Again: Enough. When Moshe finally saw that no creature could rescue him from death, he declared: “The Rock — His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a faithful G-d with no iniquity, righteous and upright is He.”
The Question
Moshe Rabbeinu’s requests seem absolutely baffling. Moshe had ascended to Shomayim to receive the Torah. He had seen the World of Truth with his own eyes — he knew what awaited him: genuine life, in the proximity of the Creator. Why, then, would he prefer to persist in this world as an animal? What could a dog wandering a field or a bird flitting through the air offer compared to eternity in the Oilam HaNeshomas [World of Souls]?
Every Creation in the World Brings Kavod Shomayim
Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein shlita writes in Shiurei Torah L’Rofim (Vol. 3, siman 184) that he posed this question to Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt”l, and he explained it with a peshat he heard from his own rebbe, Rav Yerucham of Mir zt”l.
The key lies in some familiar pasukim (Tehillim 148): הללוי-ה הללו את ה' מן השמים הללוהו במרומים הללוהו כל מלאכיו הללוהו כל צבאו הללוהו שמש וירח הללוהו כל כוכבי אור וכו'
Rav Yerucham explained: Peshat in these pasukim is not that we praise Hashem upon observing these great celestial beings. Rather, the peshat is that the creatures themselves — by their very existence — are the praise. Every created being, simply by living and functioning as it was designed, offers praise to its Creator. Not the way humans offer praise, but in the mode unique to each creature’s own nature. Because everything Hashem creates serves a purpose, every existing thing is intrinsically a glorification of Hashem.
But what about existence that seems purposeless or even painful? The Yalkut Shimoni (Shmuel Aleph, 131) records Dovid HaMelech’s challenge before Hashem: Ribbono Shel Olam — everything You created in Your world, You created beautifully; wisdom is most beautiful of all. But the shoteh — what purpose does he serve? A man walks through the marketplace tearing his clothes while children mock him. What pleasure does this bring You? Hashem replied: Dovid — do you challenge the madness? You will yet need it. (Indeed, Dovid later feigned madness before a Philistine king to save his life.) Chazal do not reveal to us the full purpose behind every facet of creation — but they tell us not to ask questions, as there is kavod shomayim even in those creatures whose role we cannot fathom.
Rav Zilberstein summarizes the words of Rav Wolbe: Kavod shomayim is not generated only through speech, intellect, or conscious mitzvah observance. The very fact of a being’s existence is praise to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We may not understand the mechanism — but that changes nothing. A man standing before an architecturally magnificent building who cannot decipher what is going on in one of the corners does not conclude there is an error. He understands that the same genius that produced everything else produced that corner too. The same applies to the world and everything that is created within it.
Answering Our Question
With this idea, we can now answer the question we started with. Moshe Rabbeinu understood that every created being, by fulfilling its role in creation, generates kavod shomayim. He therefore preferred — even as an animal, even as a bird — to contribute kavod shomayim in this world rather than receive reward in Olam HaBah. As the Torah itself declares: כל הנברא לכבודי בראתיו — “All that I created, I created for My glory.” We must learn from here that every creation in the world must aspire to do what it has been created for, and when a creation fulfils its purpose, it creates kavod shomayim.
Rav Aryeh Finkel zt”l, the Mashgiach of Mir Brachfeld, used to say that a person must be vigilant that every movement, every action, every word and every thought be directed to increase in kavod shomayim. Acting like this is a true fulfillment of one’s mission in this world.
The Story of R’ Ben Tzion Felman zt”l and the Mezuzos
Rav Ben Tzion Felman zt”l was a shining example of someone who made sure that every movement that he did was to help increase kavod shomayim.
Every year during the bein hazmanim of Av, Rav Felman would travel for a few days to a moshav [settlement] near Yerushalayim. His version of rest meant sitting from morning until evening in the local beis medrash, reviewing his kesovim [manuscripts] and clarifying difficult sugyos. One year he arrived and discovered that the house he was supposed to stay at had no mezuzos — renovations had been done, and the old mezuzos had been removed due to a doubt in their kashrus, and the new ones that had been ordered had not yet arrived.
Rav Felman stated immediately: It is forbidden to stay in a house without mezuzos. The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 286:22) rules that one who rents a house in Eretz Yisrael is obligated in mezuzah from the very first day due to yishuv Eretz Yisrael. The Rema adds that a borrower carries the same obligation, hence, he was unable to stay even for a single day.
The were now two options: Obtain mezuzos through a gemach, or simply return home and miss out on the vacation. Obviously, Rav Felman’s family preferred the first option, especially as they had made the effort of traveling so far. However, maintaining mezuzos from a gemach and getting them sent to their holiday location wasn’t that simple either.
In the meantime, Rav Felman walked into the local shul and approached an avreich sitting there. He explained the situation. The avreich replied: “I happen to have several mezuzos with me right now — I brought them today but won’t need them for two weeks. I’d be glad to lend them.” A solution was reached in an instant, hafleh vofelah! [unbelievable]. (Rav Felman made sure to borrow rather acquire the mezuzos, so that he could take them down when he left.)
But the real crunch of the story is about what happened next. Rav Felman zt”l who understood that everything that happens to a person is a message from Shomayim began to reflect: In all his years coming to this place, he had never once arrived to a house without mezuzos. And now that it had happened, hashgachah had arranged — in a way that defied coincidence — that the precise solution was waiting in the very next room. This was a signal from Above. He thought and thought until the conclusion crystallized: this entire episode was about mezuzos. He was being directed from Heaven to learn Hilchos Mezuzah.
That bein hazmanim, Rav Felman sat and learned Hilchos Mezuzah starting from the sugyos in Gemara straight through to the Shulchan Aruch with all its commentaries. Many chiddushim emerged. He later delivered numerous shiurim on these topics.
Why did he do this? Because in every event and situation one must seek out kavod shomayim. Every movement, every word, every thought — direct it all toward Hashem and make sure to create kavod shomayim. That is our mission in this world, and that is why we were created. (Adapted from a shmooze given by Rav Yisrael Roth)
