The Middot We Learn From Moshe Rabbenu

Parshat Vayikra

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the context of talking about “Daas Torah” and what it means for rabbis heavily embedded in Torah study to have a keener sense and understanding of the world, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein shared an incredible anecdote, which has troubled me since the first time I read it. 

“Many years ago, I travelled to Bnei Brak to console my rabbi and teacher, Rav Yitzchak Hutner zt'l, in his mourning, when his wife had passed away. 

“When I went to see him, I found him sitting alone. We had a private conversation, and this was conducted in a very open and honest fashion, from one heart to another. Rav Hutner told me that one of the talmidei chachamim who came to console him, tried to convince him and to 'explain' to him how his wife's passing was 'positive', inasmuch as she was now in the world of truth, a world which is entirely positive and other such nonsense. 

“And indeed, it is not uncommon to hear such things when one goes to console a mourner, especially when the deceased passed away while being involved in a mitzva or has fallen in battle, in sanctification of Hashem's name. 

 “It is superfluous to state that saying such things is totally unsuitable. I remember that when Rav Hutner told me this, he raised his voice and he applied the following severe words of the Midrash to that talmid chacham (Vayikra Rabba 1): "Any talmid chacham who lacks 'da’at' is worse than a putrid animal carcass (נבלה)!" 

[This quote is direct from the unauthorized translation linked in the next paragraph. The actual line is כָּל תַּלְמִיד חָכָם שֶׁאֵין בּוֹ דַעַת, נְבֵלָה טוֹבָה הֵימֶנּוּ, which is better translated literally using the word ‘better’ than ‘worse’ as in, “A Torah scholar who does not have da’at – a carcass is better than him.” The Hebrew word נבלה refers to an animal that has died of natural causes or killed in a manner which was not proper Shechitah, rendering it unfit for Kosher consumption. Perhaps the word ‘putrid’ is unnecessary, and has been inserted by the translator for emphasis and effect, here and in the following paragraph as well. On the other hand, if left alone for not too long a period, it will certainly become putrid! – AB] 

“Rav Hutner added in his thunderous voice: "Did you hear this? 'Any talmid chacham who lacks 'da’at''. Consider this - we are not discussing an ignoramus who lacks 'da’at', but rather specifically a talmid chacham. A talmid chacham, who has 'filled his belly' with Talmud and the responsa literature, who is an expert in the 'Ketzot HaChoshen' and 'Netivot HaMishpat'. But if he lacks 'da’at', which can direct and guide him so that he will act with understanding towards others, and interact with them in a civil fashion, he is worse than a putrid animal carcass.” [See Rav Lichtenstein’s article here, and this story on pages 8 and 9): https://www.aishdas.org/avodah/faxes/daatTorahLichtenstein.pdf] 

As noted above, that phrase from the Midrash appears in the beginning of Vayikra Rabba (1:15) and is a comment on “ויקרא אל משה - Vayikra El Moshe” – the opening line of Sefer and Parshat Vayikra. The example the Midrash gives is Moshe Rabbenu, who even after having accomplished so much including the plagues, the Exodus, splitting of the sea, going into a heavenly realm to receive the Torah, presiding over the construction of the Mishkan, as well as countless miracles throughout, he still did not enter the Mishkan until “ויקרא אל משה” God called him to enter. 

Commentaries on the Midrash describe having “Da’at” as having derekh eretz, humility, not being haughty on account of one’s knowledge, or on account of one’s closeness with God (חידושי הרד"ל). The commentary מתנת כהונה suggests that instead of נבלה, perhaps it’s a typo and should have said נמלה, meaning that an ant is better than the Talmid Chacham who is without דעת, based on the verse in Mishlei 6:6 of how we can learn wisdom from the ant, who is always preparing for tomorrow. (Yalkut Shimoni notes this is a parable for the life in this world which is always meant to be focused on preparing for the next world, just as we prepare on Friday for Shabbos, for without that preparation we would not have special food for Shabbos.) 

 Another commentary (יפה תואר) explains the passage rather clearly noting that the carcass, even if it becomes putrid over time, doesn’t go where it is unwanted and doesn’t say the wrong thing. In that sense, perhaps it is a model of derekh eretz. From the other perspective, though, the more rancid it becomes, the more people will want to stay away from it. 

In Avos D’Rabi Nosson, Rabbi Akiva is quoted as saying that a Talmid Chacham who raises himself up on account of his achievements in Torah study is compared to a neveilah – people walk around it and cover their nose as they distance themselves from it. So too people want to run from an arrogant Torah scholar. 

Of course, true da’at achieved in the way Mishlei (1:7) depicts it comes from Yirat Hashem (Reverence of God/ Fear of Heaven) -יִרְאַ֣ת ה' רֵאשִׁ֣ית דָּ֑עַת . 

Rabbi Eliezer of Krakow would explain our Midrashic statement based on a Talmudic passage (Arachin 16) that suggests 7 reasons for how tzara’at comes, one of which is haughtiness, and as one of the levels of Tumah described in Mesechet Ohalot is the tumah from tzara’at which is “worse than the tumah of a carcass (נבלה),” he concluded that a defining feature of not having da’at is being haughty. 

In the 1780s, the Austrian government shut down “cheders” (small Jewish schools) and opened government sponsored schools. One leader of the community used our Midrashic statement to exalt the move suggesting that the da’at (knowledge) the children would learn in these schools – information they would not have learned in the cheder - would make them better than a carcass. A number of the rabbis of that time, including Rabbi Yechezkel Landau (Noda B’Yehuda) turned the comment back on that individual, noting that da’at (based on the verse in Mishlei) refers to having fear of heaven. They argued, “A talmid chacham who does not have da’at – namely fear of heaven – the neveilah is better than him. People know to avoid the neveilah because of its stench! But a talmid chacham who does not have fear of heaven, people don’t know to stay away from him and they learn from him things which are deleterious to their souls.” Their fear was that his embracing these schools was to be the detriment of the genuine Torah study and instruction the children would no longer be receiving without the cheder. 

Essentially, the Midrash is teaching us to learn the greatest Middos from Moshe Rabbenu. Patience, humility, fear of heaven, being submissive, knowing one’s place – especially in deference to the Almighty, this is the model that Moshe gave us in his own exemplary fashion. 

And, of course, as Rav Hutner unabashedly and rightly told Rav Lichtenstein, having and displaying da’at means to exercise common sense and to choose our words carefully, especially at sensitive times in our collective life experiences. 

The Book of Vayikra is called Leviticus (תורת כהנים) because it largely describes the roles of the Kohanim and tribe of Levi in the service of God and in servicing the Jewish people through helping all of us serve God. All of the ingredients perfected in Moshe Rabbenu can serve as a model for us in our relationship with God, and in our relationships with one another.