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THE SPIRITUAL SHINES THROUGH THE PHYSICAL
This facial glow is something unique to mankind. Indeed, it's a very important part of what it means to be a human being.
The Maharal (d. 1609) teaches that this light is the neshoma, the soul of the human being, becoming physically manifest by shining through the face.
The proof of this, says the Maharal, is that when a person has passed away, when the soul leaves and only the dead body remains, the face of a corpse is ashen and there is no longer any light on the person's face.
The difference between a corpse and a living person is that light, the facial glow. The light that emanates from a person's face is the physical manifestation of the soul. It's the spiritual reality visible physically.
Animals don't have such a light shining from their face. Whether an animal is alive or dead is only visible by other signs -- for example, lack of movement -- not by any glow or lack thereof.
Animals have a life force but they don't have a soul like the human being. As the Book of Genesis teaches, human beings were created b'tzelem Elokim, in the Divine image. This refers to the soul that He has placed within us.
This is how we can understand the Talmud which warns: "One who shames another publicly is as if he has committed murder."
The Talmud explains this comparison to murder by saying that blood drains from the shamed person's face. The Maharal explains that there are different levels of embarrassment. To embarrass a person on any level is a terrible sin and regarded as one of the worst sins; to embarrass them publicly, where they actually go ashen with shame, is akin to murder.
The Maharal says it's not just a vague, symbolic comparison but actually very real because when somebody goes ashen, that glow is temporarily gone from one's face. At that moment of embarrassment, it's as if their very soul was knocked out of them because their face is no longer glowing. So when the Talmud compares it to murder, it's not just vague symbolism or hyperbole but actually a form of murder, albeit a temporary one.
This is why we have to be extremely careful in the way we treat others. The glow on the face represents the soul. All of Torah ethics regarding how to engage with people -- with kindness and sensitivity -- are founded on the principle that every person is created in His image, with a Divine part within, and therefore should be treated with utmost respect. The glow on the face reflects the essence of the Divine spark within each person, and is a constant reminder that we are not just physical beings but rather spiritual beings with a divinely-given soul.
Given Moses' greatness, his glow was no ordinary glow. The rays of light shining from his face were so awe-inspiring that the people were too intimidated to approach him. The Netziv (d. 1893) explains that Moses' face was glowing because he had just come down from Mount Sinai after having spent forty days learning the Oral Torah with the Almighty in order to be able to transmit it to the nation. Moses' face was beaming from the spirituality that comes from the connection with the Divine through the power of learning Torah.
THE GREATER THE EFFORT EXERTED, THE GREATER THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY
The late dean of Cleveland's Telshe yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Gifter (d.2001), says that Moses was glowing because of all the effort he had put in to bringing down the second set of Tablets. Earlier in the reading, when Moses comes down the mountain with the first set of Tablets containing the Ten Commandments and he sees the people worshipping the Golden Calf, he has to break the Tablets, help the people repent and beg the Lord for forgiveness.
Moses then goes through this entire process and exerts so much effort that when he comes down with the second set of Tablets, which represented the Lord's forgiveness, his face was aglow from the effort he exerted. We know that the more effort one invests in fulfilling a religious duty (mitzvah), the greater its value. Moses brought the nation to repentance and helped them overcome the terrible crises of the sin of the Golden Calf and therefore his face was glowing with a supernatural spiritual energy.
BRINGING POSITIVE ENERGY INTO OUR LIVES
The foremost commentator, Rashi (d. 1105), focuses not so much on the glow of Moses' face but rather on the people's reaction to it; they couldn't cope with it.
The nation was intimidated and so they backed off. Rashi contrasts this reaction to just a short while before this incident, when the people were at the foot of Mount Sinai and actually saw His presence descend on the mountain. Of course, the Almighty is above the physical world but a physical representation of the light and the energy of His presence descended on Mount Sinai, and the people, according to Scripture, saw this and were not afraid.
Why were they able to witness the revelation of G-d's glory at Mount Sinai earlier found viewing Moses' face aglow with Godliness an impossibility? What changed?
Between the two was the sin of the Golden Calf, after which the people's spiritual level fell. Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz of Mir (d. 1936) explains that when the people worshipped the Golden Calf, they brought upon themselves a terrible spiritual weakness, whereas before, they had been on a spiritual high --- they had just come out of Egypt and had seen all of the miracles. They were able to see His presence and bask in it, and be further uplifted. But now, after they had sinned, they fell spiritually and couldn't cope with such glory. Conventional wisdom says that sin and failure are born from weakness, but it's actually the reverse: sin and wrongdoing create weakness.
A key part of growth in life is momentum. When we do the right thing, we are strengthened; when we do the wrong thing, we become weakened. Strength and weakness are the result of how we live our lives, not merely the cause.
What we do creates an atmosphere, either of strength or weakness, which permeates everything. Adam and Eve are the classic example of this: when they sinned they brought the whole world down with them. We, too, create either a positive or negative atmosphere. We can create positive or negative spiritual energy in our lives, in our homes and in our communities, depending on what we do.
QUENCHING A SPIRITUAL THIRST
Rabbi Yerucham quotes in this context, from Deuteronomy (29:18), which describes a person who is leading a life of sin and not doing the right thing, simply following whatever he feels. It describes such a person as bringing thirst upon himself; his desires will take him from being satisfied with life to always being thirsty for more.
The Ramban, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (d. 1270), explains that the more a person gives into the evil inclination, the more it generates thirst. In other words, sins generate negative energy, weaken and bring down, in the same, but opposite, way that good deeds strengthen and uplift.
In his ethical will to his wife and children, the Vilna Gaon (d. 1797 )wrote that they must be careful not to become obsessed with the physical world because it's like drinking salt water --- the more you drink, the thirstier you become. This relates to what Rabbi Yerucham says, that when a person lives a life which is elevated and good and when everything that one does is for the purpose of serving Hashem, there is a positive energy created and we are satisfied.
In contrast, giving in to our baser part does not bring about any satisfaction, but actually brings us down. The Torah tells us to embrace the physical world and everything that we do physically -- from eating to earning a living to whatever physical activities we are involved in -- and use it to serve the Divine.
Torah is not a way of life which seeks to negate the physical; rather, it seeks to make the physical part of a broader value system. But when one pursues the physical world as an end in itself rather than as a means, it fills a person with emptiness. It's like drinking salt water which just creates more thirst.
The beauty of Torah is that it gives us the framework of His values to enjoy the physical world in a way which is truly satisfying. If we blindly pursue the physical, we will not be satisfied but merely thirsty for more. The more obsessed we become solely with the physical, the less satisfied we are. It creates its own thirst. Only when we engage with the physical world in the way that Hashem intended us to -- within a framework of Torah values -- can we quench our thirst and be satisfied.
What all of this means to us in our lives is that we have to put as much positive spiritual energy into our lives, even when we are confronted with a crisis.
Moses attained this aura in the midst of a crisis. He comes down the mountain, the people are worshipping the Golden Calf; he breaks the Tablets, helps the people repent, and begs G-d for forgiveness; then, his face shines. The spiritual energy that he created was in the midst of a crisis. We, too, can do that; the key is dedication to the cause of doing the right thing and not being self-obsessed.
KEEPING THE GREATER GOOD IN MIND
Rabbi Elya Meir Bloch (d. 1954), late dean of Cleveland's Telshe yeshiva, explains that Moses' greatest moment was when he broke the Tablets. Because it was then that he revealed his integrity and his commitment to the cause.
The Divine appointed Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and give them the Torah. When Moses came down the mountain and saw the nation worshipping the Golden Calf, the Talmud teaches that Moses came to the conclusion that people who are worshipping idols at the foot of Mount Sinai cannot receive the Torah and he broke the Tablets, as if to say the whole enterprise of giving the Torah to the Jewish people is over.
Moses had come to the conclusion that this mission for which he had been appointed could not be done. By breaking the Tablets, Moses was actually admitting failure of his mission. And he did so without hesitation because it wasn't about him, but about doing the right thing.
Sometimes, observes Rabbi Elya Meir, we start off a task fully for the cause of the greater good; but then we get personally invested in something and it's not easy to separate our personal interests, even when it's a religious duty (mitzvah).
Moses was able to separate his own interests from his tasks. This is why, teaches Rabbi Elya Meir, Moses' greatest moment was when he was able to say, this mission has failed and cannot be achieved and in the interests of the greater cause it's better to break the Tablets than to give them the Torah.
Afterwards, of course, they repented and did receive it; but at that point he was prepared to give up everything for the greater good. And that's why Moses merited such a great spiritual light.
When we aim to do the right thing and work toward the greater cause, we must set aside our personal interests. The more self-absorbed we are, the less satisfied we are going to be. And the more we are prepared to fulfill His will, to give and to help others without a vested interest, the greater the light and spiritual energy we create in our lives.
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Previously:
• Alternative reality: Why we misunderstand faith
• The Divine's humanism: The real change one can believe in is ourselves
• Purim: Cynicism v Holiness
• Missing the Message
• Prayer: Nagging the All Knowing to man's will?
• Rosh HaShana: The Birth of Freedom
• When economics becomes a disastrous utopian delusion
• The Holistic Healer --- and doctors
• In the army now . . . and always
• Living with ideals --- in reality
• Expansion Of Spirit
• Laughter And Destiny
• Truth Stands the Test of Time
The author is the Chief Rabbi of South Africa and the author of "Defending the Human Spirit: Jewish Law's Vision for a Moral Society," which explores the Torah's legal system compared to Western law. In using real court cases he demonstrate the similarities and differences between Judaism's view of defending the vulnerable and Western legal practice.