KiTisa 5759

"Shelo Asani Goy"

Rabbi Ari Kahn
Note: This week's Parsha is dedicated to the memory of both of my
Grandmothers, whose Yahrziets are Shushan Purim. It is also the
Yahrziet of my great-grandfather, Harav Yair Halevi Chamudot
(Chamedes) Zatz"al, Rav of Riminiv, and later of the Lower East Side
of Manhattan. I will quote from his words of Torah, which I had never
heard until my father recently began to decipher his grandfather's
old notebooks, assisted by my brother Rav Yair (Kahn). Holding
these old tattered notebooks is a connection to Torah and the
mesorah which every Jew should feel when he learns, but was
understandably stronger for we knew it was the Torah of our own
family. The personal excitement was incredible for all of us to read
words written over 80 years ago. Today, on Rav Yair's 50th Yahrziet, I
will share an idea from his notebook, written 81 years ago. The
Yerushalmi teaches that we do not build monuments in the memory
of Tzaddikim - their words and teachings are monumental.

At the foot of the mountain lay the shattered Tablets of Stone,

written by the Hand of G-d. These stones, which were meant to
symbolize the mutual fidelity between G-d and man, had now
become a symbol of broken vows. The Talmud elegantly describes
the scene:

Ulla said: 'Shameless is the bride that plays the harlot under
her bridal canopy.' (Shabbat 88b)

Instead of her moment of glory, the Community of Israel had already

found another beau. Her bridal canopy had become the scene of an
orgiastic, cultic insurrection. The very future of the people hangs in
the balance as the Divine Court meets to consider the sentence.

G-d turns to Moshe and enjoins him to let G-d wipe away the people:

And the Lord said to Moshe, 'Go down; for your people,
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted
themselves. They have turned aside quickly from the way
which I commanded them; they have made them a molten
calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and
said, "These are your gods, O Israel, which have brought you
out of the land of Egypt".' And the Lord said to Moshe, 'I have
seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now
therefore let me alone, that my anger may burn hot against
them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you
a great nation.' (32 :7-10)

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On the one hand, G-d wishes to rid Himself of this stiff-necked
people; on the other hand, man will not frustrate G-d's overall plan.
The Torah will be taught, the Word of G-d will spread, Moshe - or
perhaps the entire tribe of Levi -can continue the Divine mandate
and fulfill the destiny of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov and the
promise made to them years before.

Moshe refuses to be part of such a plan:

And Moshe pleaded with the Lord his G-d, and said, 'Lord,
why does your anger burn hot against your people, whom
you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power,
and with a mighty hand? Therefore should the Egyptians
speak, and say, "For an evil intent did he bring them out, to
slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the
face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger, and repent of
this evil against your people. Remember Avraham, Yitzchak,
and Yisrael, your servants, to whom you swore by Your own
Self, and said to them, "I will multiply your seed as the stars
of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to
your seed, and they shall inherit it forever". And the Lord
repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.
(32, 11-14).

Moshe ably and swiftly disarms the threat against his People, yet on
the way down Moshe is threatened by a celestial retinue:

"And the People sat down to eat, etc." The Holy One, blessed
be He, said to Moshe: 'They have arisen to make merry with
the idols, and you sit here? Go, get down.’ When Moshe was
about to go down, he encountered the angels of destruction,
of whom he was so afraid that he would not go down, as it
says, "For I was in dread of the anger (af) and hot
displeasure (hemah)" (Devarim 9, 19). What did Moshe do?
He went and seized hold of the Throne, as it says, "He seized
the face of His throne, and spread His cloud upon it" (Iyov
26, 9); namely, G-d spread out His cloud to protect Moshe.
Said He to him: 'Arise, get down quickly from hence’
(Devarim 9, 12), but he replied: 'I am afraid.’ Come and see
how great [is the harmful power of] sin. But yesterday he
despised them, and now he fears them, as it says, ’For I was
in dread of Af (the Anger) and Hemah (Hot Displeasure).
(Midrash Rabbah - Sh'mot 41:7)

The Midrash notes the irony: when Moshe went to receive the Torah
he was challenged by the angels, who felt that the Torah should not
be given to man. Evidently they felt that the Torah was Divine and
would be sullied if brought to earth. Moreover, they felt that it was
fundamentally inappropriate for the Torah to be given to humans:

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R. Yehoshua b. Levi also said: When Moshe ascended on
high, the ministering angels spoke before the Holy One,
blessed be He: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! What business
has one born of woman amongst us?’ ‘He has come to
receive the Torah,’ answered He to them. Said they to Him,
‘That secret treasure, which has been hidden by You for nine
hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was
created, You desire to give to flesh and blood ?! What is man,
that you art mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit
him? O Lord our G-d, how excellent is Your Name in all the
earth, who has set your glory [the Torah] upon the Heavens!’
‘Return them an answer,’ the Holy One, blessed be He, said
to Moshe. ‘Sovereign of the Universe’ replied he, ‘I fear lest
they consume me with the [fiery] breath of their mouths.’
‘Hold on to the Throne of Glory,’ said He to him, ‘and return
them an answer, as it is said, "He makes him to hold on to
the face of His Throne, and spreads [Parshez] His cloud over
him'. Whereon R. Nahman observed: This teaches that the
Almighty [SHaddai] spread [Pirash] the lustre [Ziw] of His
Shechinah and cast it as a protection over him. Moshe [then]
spoke before Him: 'Sovereign of the Universe! The Torah
which You give me, what is written therein? "I am the Lord
thy G-d, whoh brought you out of the Land of Egypt." Said he
to them [the angels], ‘Did you go down to Egypt? Were you
enslaved to Pharaoh? Why, then, should the Torah be yours?
Again, What is written therein? "You shall have no other
gods". Do you dwell among peoples that engage in idol
worship? Again what is written therein? "Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Do you perform work, that you
need to rest? Again what is written therein? "You shall not
take [tissa] [the name ... in vain]" Are there any business
[massa] dealings among you? Again what is written therein,
"Honor your father and your mother." Have you fathers and
mothers? Again what is written therein? "Thou shall not
murder. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou Shall not
steal." Is there jealousy among you? Is the Evil Tempter
among you? Straightway they conceded to the Holy One,
blessed be He, for it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, How excellent
is thy name," whereas ‘Who has set thy glory upon the
heavens" is not written. Immediately each one was moved to
love him [Moshe] and transmitted something to him, for it is
said, "You have ascended on high, you have taken spoils [the
Torah]; You have received gifts" on account of man: as a
recompense for their calling you man [Adam] you received
gifts. The Angel of Death, too, confided his secret to him, for
it is said, "and he put on the incense, and made atonement
for the people"; and it is said, "and he stood between the

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 dead and the living, etc." Had [the Angel of Death] not told it
to him, how would he have known it? (Shabbath 88b- 89a)

So when the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to give the

Torah to Israel, the ministering angels tried to thrust Israel
away, and they thrust themselves before the Holy One,
blessed be He, and said: 'Sovereign of the Universe, it is Your
happiness, Your majesty, Your honour that Your law should be
in heaven.’ He replied to them: 'You have no concern with it.
It is written therein, "And if a woman has an issue of her
blood many days" (Vayikra 15, 25). Is there any woman
among you? So you have no concern with it. Further it is
written therein, "When a man dies in a tent" (Bamidbar 19,
14). Is there death among you? So you have no concern with
it.’ And so the Scripture praises him [Moshe] with the words,
"You have ascended on high, you have taken thy captive
(Tehilim 68, 19), on which R. Aha said: T'his refers to the
rules which apply to human beings, such as those relating to
men and women with an issue, unclean women, and women
in childbirth. So ‘you have no concern with it’. (Midrash
Rabbah - The Song of Songs 8:15)

In retrospect, the argument of the angels seems valid: How can

man, so imperfect, receive the Torah which predates the creation of
the world? Moshe needed to be protected by the Shechina, by the
very Throne of G-d, in order to receive the Torah. Now, in the
aftermath of the insidious rebellion, Moshe must once again grab
hold of the Heavenly Throne. But it is interesting to note that G-d did
offer Divine protection - "He seized the face of His throne, and
spreads His cloud upon it (Iyov 26, 9); namely, G-d spread out His
cloud to protect Moshe." G-d embraced Moshe, despite the crimes of
the people whom he represented. The two passages actually seem
to mirror one another: Torah is too ethereal to be in the possession
of man, yet there is no alternative to man, no other creature who
can take possession of Torah and for whom Torah is appropriate. It is
interesting that the angels did not have similar objections to the
patriarchal covenant formed with the forefathers. Quite the
opposite: on the merit of the Avraham the Torah was given.

At that moment, the angels wished to attack Moshe, but G-d

made the features of Moshe resemble those of Avraham and
said to the angels: ‘Are you not ashamed to touch this man
to whom you descended [from heaven] and in whose house
you ate?’ G-d said to Moshe: ‘It is only for the sake of
Avraham that the Torah is given to you,’ as it says, 'You have
received gifts among men’ (be-adam). The word ’adam’ in
this verse refers to Avraham, for it says, "Arba was the
greatest man among the Anakim" (Yehoshua 14, 15). Hence,
"And Moshe went up to G-d." (Midrash Rabbah - Sh'mot 28:1)

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Perhaps the Avot could be described as righteous gentiles, people
who were obligated to the Noachide Covenant. Certainly they
transcended that level, but the objections of the angels begin with
the attempt to bring the Torah/Divinity to earth. The Torah was seen
as existing on a completely different plane, a spiritual plane which
man cannot sustain. The angels' assumption seems to be that the
Torah necessitates angelic discipline and obedience. Moshe
responds that the Torah must be for humans, and G-d agrees. He
protects Moshe and shows him the way down. The Midrash
describes this scene with even more irony: As the people sin below,
G-d prepares the Torah above!

R. Levi said: While Israel were standing below engraving idols

to provoke their Creator to anger,--as it says, "And he
received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving
tool", (Sh'mot 32:4),--G-d sat on High engraving for them
tablets which would give them life, as it says, "And He gave
Moshe… the two Tablets of Testimony." Is this not a proof
that ’Unto You, O Lord, belongs righteousness’? (Midrash
Rabbah - Sh'mot 41:2)

Man's human inconsistencies do not "surprise" G-d. He knows our

limitations, and yet is willing to give us the Torah.

The Torah, despite its unfathomable holiness, does have a unique

human dimension to it. It is this facet which allows lowly man to
become a partner with G-d. Moshe understood this idea when he
heard the very first phrase emerge from heaven during the
Revelation at Sinai. My great grandfather, Rav Yair Chamedes, in an
essay written for Parshat Yitro 5678 (1918) explained this concept
as follows:

In a Midrash cited in the Holy Books it says that at the

moment G-d uttered the First Commandment, "I am the Lord
your G-d, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery", Moshe responded with the blessing
"Blessed is G-d who did not make me a heathen (goy)."

The simple meaning of this teaching is that as the Jews receive the
Torah they lose the status of non-Jews. Furthermore, one could posit
that each and every Commandment has a holiness to it, and this
would have been an appropriate response to each of the Ten
Commandments: As man receives Torah he becomes holier, and
separate from the heathen. Rav Yair continued:

The commentaries have already posed the question "Why

does it not say "I am the G-d who created heaven and
Earth"? It seems clear to me that the intention of the Divine

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 was that man's heart not become squashed within him if, G-d
forbid, he finds himself unable to fulfill the entire Torah, and
repentance would not be efficacious if man sinned against
the King of Kings the Holy One Blessed be He. This could, G-d
forbid, lead to hopelessness, which is the most dangerous of
sins. Therefore G-d said "I am the Lord your G-d, who have
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery," meaning, I know where you have come from, from a
corrupt land, and I know that you are susceptible to sin.

Rav Yair explains that had G-d introduced Himself as Creator of

heaven and Earth, the relationship would have been based on
objectivity. By introducing Himself as the G-d who took us from the
Egyptian depravity, the starting point of the relationship is
subjective and situational. Repentance is possible; sin, while horrific,
is not completely unexpected, and can be explained. In fact, this is
precisely the argument Moshe makes:

And Moshe pleaded with the Lord his G-d, and said, "Lord,
why does your anger burn hot against your people, whom
you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power,
and with a mighty hand?"

Moshe's argument could easily have backfired: Precisely because G-

d took us from Egypt, our actions may be seen as all the more
extreme. But Moshe heard in the First Commandment this
subjective, and therefore forgiving aspect of the relationship which
G-d would have with man. Thus, even as man sins below, G-d can
calmly write the words of Torah above. And as Moshe makes his way
down, the Shechina will indeed protect Moshe.

Rav Yair then brilliantly explained the words of the Midrash,

describing Moshe's response, the blessing "Blessed is G-d who did
not make me a heathen (goy)". When G-d tells Moshe that He will
destroy Israel because of their sin, the exact words are:

And the Lord said to Moshe, "I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me
alone, that my anger may burn hot against them, and that I
may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation
(goy gadol).

In the aftermath of the sin, G-d offered to make Moshe into a new,
great nation -goy gadol. Had our relationship with G-d and Torah
been based on utter objectivity, the sin of the Golden Calf should
have caused the disappearance of the Jewish people. But G-d had
introduced Himself as the G-d who took us from Egypt. Moshe knew,
as soon as he heard that utterance, that when the people sin he will
have an answer. He will not be forced to become a nation (goy). This

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is the meaning of Moshe's response upon hearing the First
Commandment: "Blessed is G-d who did not make me a
heathen/nation (goy)"!

The angels were correct: The Torah is made of Divine stuff. But so is
man. G-d understands the failings of man, and the Torah contains
allowances for human inconsistencies and failings. These failings are
not grounds to deprive us of Torah; quite the opposite--they are the
very reason that we need the Torah. The Torah helps us reveal the
divine within ourselves. Sin is inevitable; this should not be a cause
of depression, or of a sense of helplessness. Rather, we should be
inspired to redouble our efforts and take up the divine gauntlet
thrown at us long ago at the foot of the mountain.

Blessed is G-d who did not make me a goy!

© 1999 Rabbi Ari Kahn, All Rights Reserved