Moses vs. the Angels: Bite-Sized Infinity
Tech Tribe Dispatch #303
💡 Think:
The Talmud1 shares a fascinating conversation between Moses and G-d when he ascended on High to receive the Torah.
There he saw the sublime letters of the Torah, how G-d, as it were, tied the crowns that sit atop each letter.
“Moses said before G-d: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions?
G-d said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah.”
Moses said before G-d: Master of the Universe, show him to me. G-d said to him: Return behind you. Moses went and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.”
Moses had discovered the inherent tension that exists in the Torah. On one hand, the Torah is part of the timeless chain that begins at Sinai and stretches to this very day. It’s a system of continuous revelation that uniquely allows us to mentally grasp the very thoughts of the Creator…
And yet Torah is also innovative. We apply the Torah to our modern lives, we seek to not just repeat its concepts but uniquely discover something new, a chidush, a novel insight never before shared with the world.
As the Sages put it2:
”Everything that a diligent student is destined to innovate was given to Moses on Sinai.”
What put Moses at ease? When he understood that he was being given the Divine data set - a bastion of knowledge and a set of rules that allow us to compress the infinite potential of the Torah and unpack it… and apply it to whatever scenarios that may come.
The fidelity to that tradition allows the Torah to transcend the limitations of time and space. We can both explore discussions that were never before possible from the soul to AI and beyond, and at the same time, know that we are pearls on that transcendent chain, illuminating the cosmos from Sinai.
There is another conversation that Moses had on High. The Talmud relates3 that the ministering angels took issue with decision to give the Torah to the Jewish people.”Master of the Universe,” the cried out. “what is one born of a woman doing here among us?”
”The Torah is a hidden treasure that was concealed by You 974 generations before the creation of the world, and You seek to give it to flesh and blood?.“What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You think of him?” (Psalms 8:5). Rather, “God our Lord, how glorious is Your name in all the earth that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” (Psalms 8:2). The rightful place of G-d’s majesty, the Torah, is in the heavens.”
G-d challenged Moses to answer the angels.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Provide them with an answer as to why the Torah should be given to the people.
Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, the Torah that You are giving me, what is written in it?”
G-d said to him: “I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of Egypt from the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).
Moses said to the angels: Did you descend to Egypt? Were you enslaved to Pharaoh? Why should the Torah be yours?
Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? G-d said to him: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).
Moses said to the angels: Do you dwell among the nations who worship idols that you require this special warning?”
Moses asked the angels: Is there jealousy among you, or is there an evil inclination within you that would render these commandments relevant? Immediately they agreed with the Holy One, Blessed be He, that He made the right decision to give the Torah to the people.
Moses was able to express the fundamental truth of the Torah: Its sublime essence can only truly be experienced down here - in the physical world and through physical deed.
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Jerusalem Talmud, Pe’ah 2:4; Cf. Talmud, Megillah 19b: