2020/5780
which is Miriam’s Tzara’at. In it, she and Aharon are complaining about Moshe Rabbeinu’s ’s wife, specifically about how they are also prophets. Hashem hears, and then reproaches them about how Moshe’s prophecy is on an objectively higher level than theirs. However, before that, the Torah briefly discusses how Moshe was the most humble man on the planet. The question is, what does this mean, and how does this have to do with the incident at hand?
The question can be amplified by factoring in the incident immediately preceding Miriam’s Tzaraat. In it, Bnei Yisrael complain that they miss the meat that they had in Mitzrayim, being unsatisfied with the Mann. Moshe then complains to Hashem that he is being overworked, that he is being treated like a nursing maid carrying a crying baby. He exclaims that if this is how Hashem is treating him, He should just kill him now, so that he doesn’t have to see what is clearly the result of his own imperfections in Bnei Yisrael.
This lies in stark contrast with the humility by which Moshe is described in the following Perek. Can Moshe’s claim of single-handedly bringing the Jewish nation to the promised land co-exist with his professed humility? How about him wanting death “Veal Ere Bereiati,” “so I should not see my own wickedness?” Moshe is saying that all the problems within Bnei Yisrael are his fault. How is that humble?
Perhaps the answer lies in what humility truly is. Humility is not denying reality. It is acknowledging who you are and what you have done. The reason Moshe is complaining about being treated like Bnei Yisrael’s nurse-maid is that he is genuinely overworked, with all the responsibility on his shoulders. With such responsibility, it makes sense why he would feel that all of Bnei Yisrael’s failures are his own. Whose else could they be? Moshe has been their sole leader since Yetziat Mitzrayim.
This returns us to our original question: If humility is not acting like you are less than you really are, what is it? Humility is not mentioning your successes unless it is warranted. Moshe is laying out all his responsibilities not to the people, where it would be bragging and lacking humility, but to God, in what is quite possibly the first recorded labor-management dispute. Moshe list all of his responsibilities for a single reason: He wants fewer of them. He is not bragging, he is on a mission, and stating his responsibilities and achievements is the quickest way to succeed. And Moshe does succeed; Hashem has him appoint a council of seventy elders, who were already accustomed to leadership in the judicial system created by Yitro, to shoulder the burden of leading the people. But in any other circumstance, Moshe never would have brought up his responsibilities at all, because that is what it means to be humble.
This also answers our original question, namely, why Moshe’s humility was even brought up. Aharon and Miriam were protesting that they, like Moshe, were Nevi’im. However, shouldn’t they have known about Moshe’s status as the greatest Navi of all time? After all, he was their brother. Even if they did not know all the details, they should have known that he was at least somewhat better than them. But they did not, and because of that, they thought they could speak Lashon Hara about him. So why didn’t they know? That is the question the Torah is answering when discussing Moshe’s humility. Moshe never even hinted to them that his level of Nevuah was higher than theirs, even after he came down from Har Sinai with a face glowing so brightly he had to wear a mask. This is the best example of humility: Moshe knows what he has done by carrying the people, and will acknowledge it when necessary, but when unnecessary, his own siblings don’t know how high his level of prophecy really is.