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Mikol Adam: reactions</title><link rel="stylesheet"
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Mikol Adam: reactions</a>'<br>
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<p>My <a href="https://www.aishdas.org/asp/anav-mikol-adam">previous post</a>
engendered a couple of responses and a follow-up thought of my own that I
would like to share.</p>
<p>A quick reminder: In that post, I suggested that maybe
“וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה עָנָ֣ו מְאֹ֑ד
מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י
הָאֲדָמָֽה׃” can be defined not only as “Moshe was a
very humble man, more so than any other human on earth.” But also
“was a very humble man <strong>from</strong> every other human on
earth.” The perhaps the point is that Moshe was an <em>anav</em> not
because of acknowledging his own limitations, but because of his acute
awareness of everyone else’s greatness!</p>
<p>Everything on this blog ends up on Facebook, and two people posted
interesting additions to the original suggestion.</p>
<h2 class="has-text-align-center">I – A Parallel in Shelomo</h2>
<p>R’ Nathan Light commented:</p>
<p>The other time we a similar usage is 1-Kings 5:11:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="has-text-align-right" dir="rtl" style="text-align: justify;"><span
class="he" lang="he">וַיֶּחְכַּם֮ מִכׇּל־הָאָדָם֒
מֵאֵיתָ֣ן הָאֶזְרָחִ֗י וְהֵימָ֧ן
וְכַלְכֹּ֛ל וְדַרְדַּ֖ע בְּנֵ֣י מָח֑וֹל
וַיְהִֽי־שְׁמ֥וֹ בְכׇֽל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם
סָבִֽיב׃</span></p>
<p class="has-text-align-right" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="en"
lang="en">He was the wiser of all men: [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and
Heman, Chalkol, and Darda the sons of Mahol. His fame spread among all the
surrounding nations.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It could very well be that Shlomo was gaining knowledge
<strong>from</strong> all these people. [Rather than “wiser than
all”, “grew wiser from all”. -MB] However, the verse prior
suggests that he was wiser <strong>than</strong> them:</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="rtl"><span class="he" lang="he">וַתֵּ֙רֶב֙ חׇכְמַ֣ת
שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה מֵחׇכְמַ֖ת כׇּל־בְּנֵי־קֶ֑דֶם
וּמִכֹּ֖ל חׇכְמַ֥ת מִצְרָֽיִם׃</span></p>
<p><span class="en" lang="en">Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom
of all the Kedemites and than all the wisdom of the Egyptians.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nevertheless, understanding it as <strong>from</strong> acts as a nice
support for Avot 4:1. [Where Ben Zoma teaches: “Who is a
<em>chakham</em>? One who learns from every person.” -MB]</p>
<p><em>I am thinking that maybe the fact that the previous pasuq says that
Shelomo was wiser than everyone in the two non-Jewish superpowers may make it
<strong>more</strong> likely this pasuq isn’t just elaborating that he
was wiser than all. But perhaps more likely is that the expression </em>מכל
is <em>intentionally ambiguous, used when the pasuq is trying to say or at
least connote both “more than” and “because of”.</em>
– MB</p>
<h2 class="has-text-align-center">II – What is Humility doing here?</h2>
<p>R Steven Weiner opined:</p>
<p>Here’s what I like about your reading. In the conventional read, what
exactly is the point of mentioning Moshe’s extreme humility? Maybe to
explain why he didn’t answer Aharon and Miriam and defend himself? And
even that assumes they criticized him to his face, not the usual assumption of
<em>lashon hara</em> behind his back.</p>
<p>Whereas with your reading, it makes perfect sense. The Torah is saying:
unlike those who looked at Moshe (a towering figure) and found negatives to
criticize, Moshe himself was the opposite and when he looked at others
(presumably of lesser stature) he saw their good points and felt humble.</p>
<h2 class="has-text-align-center">III – More Context</h2>
<p>The RSW’s thought had me look even broader for context.</p>
<p>The story before this is the appointment of 70 elders to share the burden
and also be <em>nevi’im</em>. (<a
href="https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.11.23-30" target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Bamidbar 11:23-20</a>) The number 70 means
picking 6 members of each <em>sheivet</em>, which would yield 72, and two of
those who were found to be capable of becoming <em>nevi’im </em>are lose
by lottery their chance to be one of the 70 — Eldad and Meidad. (<a
href="https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.17a.4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer
noopener nofollow">Sanhedrin 17a</a>) They get prophecy anyway, suddenly
speaking Hashem’s word in the middle of the camp. And a youth and
Yehoshua bin Nun (or a youth who is Yehoshua bin Nun) object. Here is
Moshe’s reaction (v. 27-29):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
<p dir="rtl">וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה
הַֽמְקַנֵּ֥א אַתָּ֖ה לִ֑י וּמִ֨י יִתֵּ֜ן
כׇּל־עַ֤ם ה֙’ נְבִיאִ֔ים כִּי־יִתֵּ֧ן
ה’ אֶת־רוּח֖וֹ עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃</p>
<p>But Moses said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all
of Hashem’s people were <em>nevi’im</em>, that the Hashem put His
‘Spirit’ upon them!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This reaction is consistent with the Moshe who is an <em>anav</em> because
he is aware of everyone else’s potential. By reading our original pasuq
that way, the story of Miriam’s and Aharon’s complaint about Moshe
is a continuation of this theme of treasuring the value of those around
him.</p>
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