Illustration Credit: Noa Kelner
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Moshe is commanded to tell Benei Yisrael that God chose him to lead them out of slavery. But Moshe worries that they won’t believe him:
(א) וַיַּ֤עַן מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֹּ֔אמֶר וְהֵן֙ לֹֽא־יַאֲמִ֣ינוּ לִ֔י וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמְע֖וּ בְּקֹלִ֑י כִּ֣י יֹֽאמְר֔וּ לֹֽא־נִרְאָ֥ה אֵלֶ֖יךָ יהוה׃
“They will not believe me and will not listen to me. They will say: ‘God did not appear to you.’”
Reish Lakish says that Moshe accused Benei Yisrael of something before even giving them a chance. That’s called חוֹשֵׁד בִּכְשֵׁרִים (hoshed b’khesheirim), which means suspecting innocent people of doing something wrong.
According to Reish Lakish, a person who unfairly blames others of doing something wrong usually ends up doing the very same thing! He explains that this is what happens to Moshe.
אָמַר לוֹ: הֵן מַאֲמִינִים בְּנֵי מַאֲמִינִים, וְאַתָּה אֵין סוֹפְךָ לְהַאֲמִין.
הֵן מַאֲמִינִים – דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם״ (שמות ד:לא).
בְּנֵי מַאֲמִינִים — ״וְהֶאֱמִין בַּה'״ (בראשית טו:ו).
אַתָּה אֵין סוֹפְךָ לְהַאֲמִין – שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי״ (במדבר כ:יב).
God said to Moshe: “In fact, they are believers, the children of believers. But you will eventually not believe.”
They are believers – as it is written: “The people believed” (Shemot 4:31).
The children of believers – “And he (Avraham) believed in God” (Bereishit 15:6).
But you will eventually not believe – as it says: “Because you did not believe in Me” (Bemidbar 20:12).
In this midrash, God quotes three pesukim to Moshe which prove to him that (1) Benei Yisrael actually do end up believing him that God would save them from slavery, (2) they have a long tradition of faith that began with their ancestor Avraham, and (3) that, later on, Moshe is the one who would not show faith.
- Have you ever wrongly suspected someone before knowing if it was true? Has anyone ever wrongly suspected you? How did that feel? Why do you think people do that so often?
- What can you do to make sure that you don’t suspect innocent people?
- What could it mean for Benei Yisrael to be “believers, the children of believers”? How does it feel to have faith run in your family?
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