From G-d’s Mouth to Your Ears

Rabbi Maury Grebenau

When Hashem instructs Moshe to give the Torah to the Jewish people He uses an
interesting phrase (Shemos 19:3): „Ko Tomar L’Beis Yaakov‟ – „so shall you say to the
house of Jacob.‟ Rashi quotes the Midrash that Hashem was very particular that Moshe
say the precise language that Hashem told him. Why was this necessary?

R‟ Yaakov Kaminetzsky (Emes LeYaakov Lech Lecha 19:3) has an interest

approach that also explains another very puzzling Parsha. In Parshas Chukas we have the
famous story of Mei Meriva where Moshe hits the rock and is subsequently told he may
not enter Eretz Yisroel with the Jewish people. This seems like a particularly harsh
punishment considering that Moshe had faithfully led the people for over 40 years and his
life‟s work was to lead them in to the Promised Land. The Rishonim all deal with what
exactly Moshe did wrong. Rashi seems to be of the opinion that Moshe‟s mistake was
that he hit the rock instead of speaking to it as Hashem had asked. This seems difficult;
Why did such a small deviation from Hashem‟s instruction warrant such a strong
punishment?

Rav Kaminetzsky explains that Moshe‟s level of prophecy was very special.
Moshe was a “Shliach Neeman”, a faithful messenger, of Hashem. Moshe‟s job was to be
a conduit for Hashem‟s word. This was a very difficult task. All other prophets injected
some of their own personality into the message that they carried from Hashem. This is
what the Gemara (Sanhedrin 89a) means when it says that each Navi had their own
“Signon” or style. In fact The Rambam (Hakdoma L‟Peruch Mish) explains that the
Neviim didn‟t receive a message in words, they were shown a vision that they were able
to interpret. Moshe was a completely different level of prophet; He actually received the
“word” of G-d. The Torah itself had to be given to the Jews without any adulteration or
change from the exact formulation Hashem had made. It wasn‟t enough for the Torah to
be the sentiment of Hashem, it had to be the precise word of Hashem.

It was for this reason that Moshe‟s deviation at Mei Meriva was so dire. If Moshe
did not follow Hashem‟s command exactly then the veracity of the entire Torah was at
stake. Once Bnei Yisroel saw that Moshe might change slightly what Hashem told him
how could they be sure that Moshe didn‟t change other things in the Torah. Therefore
Hashem had to punish Moshe harshly to show that this was the one and only time Moshe
deviated from the Devine initiative.

This also explains why Hashem was so particular that Moshe give over the
Mitzvos exactly as Hashem formulated them. It was necessary for Moshe to control
himself and be a conduit for Hashem‟s word1. Sometimes we lose sight of this reality
when we learn the Torah. At times it may seem overly picky to learn things from every
letter and tense change in the Torah. However, when we recall that the Torah is the
unadulterated word of Hashem, we understand very well why we must examine it so

1
This is also the idea that the Shechina spoke from Moshe‟s throat
carefully. May we all be granted the wisdom to glean as much as possible from these
divine words.