The man Moshe was extremely humble (Bamidbar 12:3)

In this week’s parsha, Miriam and Aharon speak Lashon Hara against Moshe. How could it be that Lashon Hara was spoken against Moshe?

Rabbi Frand makes an interesting observation. It was Moshe’s extreme humbleness that caused the Lashon Hara that was spoken against him.

Tzipora, Moshe’s wife, heard about Eldad and Meidad becoming prophets and she stated that she felt sorry for their wives. When Miriam heard this, she wondered what she meant. Tzipora then explained that she needed to separate from her husband when he became a prophet. Miriam wondered why this was so – she was a prophetess and she did not need to separate from her husband. She concluded that Moshe must be conceited and feel he is above having children and taking care of a family.

As we know, the exact opposite is true.

Moshe was commanded by G-d not to be with his wife any longer. So, why did Tzipora not know this? The reason is because Moshe was extremely humble. Moshe realized that Hashem put him in a position that was higher than anyone else. He was so great that Hashem would appear to him at any time – no other prophet was on this level. Therefore, only he was commanded to separate from his wife. Moshe did not tell this reason to his wife though. He did not want to show that he was any greater so he merely told his wife that they needed to separate because he was now a prophet.

What a lesson we can learn from this!

Moshe was seen as being conceited when he was actually being modest. How many times is it that we look at a person and are so sure their behavior is improper? Do we really know the entire story though? Do we know the reason that person is behaving that way? How many times is it that we look at the whole situation the wrong way?

A person can be extremely honest but be looked at as a liar. The Chofetz Chaim was once walking to the yeshiva and a policeman stopped him and asked him, “where are you going?” The Chofetz Chaim responded, “I don’t know.” The policeman felt he could not trust this man and decided to lock him up in jail. The chief of police saw the Chofetz Chaim in jail, and even though the chief was not Jewish he knew that the Chofetz Chaim was a very holy man, and immediately rebuked the policeman who locked him up. The chief, of course, let the Chofetz Chaim go free, but on the way out asked the Chofetz Chaim why he answered, “I don’t know.” The Chofetz Chaim responded, “I thought I was going to the yeshiva, but I ended up in jail. I was just telling the truth; I did not know where I was going…”

Before we judge someone negatively, we should make sure we really understand why they are behaving the way they are.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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