Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
After the disaster of the מְרַגְּלִים (meraglim, spies), Moshe asks God to forgive the people. Here’s how Moshe calls on God:
ה׳ אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד נֹשֵׂא עָוֺן וָפָשַׁע
God, slow to anger, full of love, forgiving sin and mistakes
You might remember that Moshe used similar language to ask for God’s forgiveness after חֵטְא הָעֵגֶל (heit ha-eigel, the sin of the golden calf). Look it up in Shemot 34:6-7!
In both stories, why does Moshe describe God as אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם (erekh apayim, slow to anger)? What can we learn from that?
כְּשֶׁעָלָה מֹשֶׁה לַמָּרוֹם, מְצָאוֹ שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב וְכוֹתֵב "אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם."
אָמַר לוֹ: לַצַּדִּיקִים?
אָמַר לוֹ: אַף לָרְשָׁעִים.
אָמַר לוֹ: "רְשָׁעִים יֹאבֵדוּ!"
אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: חַיֶּיךָ שֶׁתִּצְטָרֵךְ בַּדָּבָר.
כְּשֶׁחָטְאוּ בּוֹ בָּעֵגֶל וּבַמְּרַגְּלִים וְנִתְפַּלֵּל לְפָנָיו בְּאֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: הֲלֹא אָמַרְתָּ לַצַּדִּיקִים?!
אָמַר: וַהֲלֹא אָמַרְתָּ לִי אַף לָרְשָׁעִים?! יִגְדַּל נָא כֹּחַ לַעֲשׂוֹת דִּבּוּרְךָ.
When Moshe went up on Har Sinai, he found God sitting and writing “slow to anger.”
Moshe said to God: For righteous people?
God said to Moshe: Even for sinners.
Moshe said to God: “The sinners should be destroyed!” (Tehillim 37:20)
God said to Moshe: Trust Me, you will need this one day.
Then when Benei Yisrael sinned with the eigel and with the meraglim, and Moshe prayed to God with the words “slow to anger,” God said to Moshe: Didn’t you say this should only apply to righteous people?!
Moshe said: But didn’t You say to me, ‘also for sinners’?! ‘Let Your strength be great to do what You said’ (Bemidbar 14:17).
According to this midrash, God teaches Moshe a lesson through the words “erekh apayim.” The lesson is that everyone makes mistakes, so everyone could be considered a sinner sometimes, but still God offers mercy to everyone. Moshe absorbs this lesson, and, like God predicted, eventually asks God to forgive the people even though they had sinned!
- At first, why might it have been so clear to Moshe that sinful people don’t deserve mercy? What changed his mind?
- How does it feel to know that God is ready to show mercy even when people deserve to be punished? How can this impact the way you treat others, especially people who fall short of your expectations?
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