Grasping greatness --- and its limitations

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A biblical analysis warning believers to be on guard against the dangers of cultism

Many commentaries note that from the birth of Moses onward, there is not one portion of the Torah in which Moses' name is not mentioned, with the exception of this week's, Tetzaveh.

Baal HaTurim says that this is because, when pleading for forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses said to G od that if He will not forgive the Israelites, ''erase me now from the book that You have written'' (Exodus 32:32). Although G od did forgive them, Moses' words were nevertheless effective, because, teaches the Talmud, ''the curse of a righteous person is fulfilled even if uttered on a conditional basis'' (Berachos 56a).

Other commentaries have offered other explanations.

The explanation of Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin (d. 1966) is impressive. The readings of the Torah are so arranged that the portion of Tezaveh almost invariable occurs in the week of Adar 7, the birth date and day of death of Moses. One might have thought that this day would have special significance in Judaism. In order to de-emphasize the birth date and date of death of Moses, the sages arranged the readings so that the portion of Torah in which his name is not mentioned is read that week.

This is a far-reaching observation, and calls for a delicate balance. Moses was the greatest of all prophets, the lawgiver who transmitted G od's word to us. Moses was a teacher: Known in the Holy Tongue as Moshe Rabbeinu. But he was only the agent of G od, not the principal.

There is a tendency among people to deify their leaders. The Roman emperors became gods. In my writings on self-esteem (Let Us Make Man, "Angels Don't Leave Footprints", "Life's Too Short") I pointed out a number of mechanisms whereby a person with low-self esteem may try to gain a feeling of worthiness. One of these is a form of hero worship, whereby a person sets someone up as the ultimate in greatness, and by identifying with him and becoming his devotee, one participates in the greatness which one has imparted to his totem.

The ultimate in this defense mechanism is to elevate someone to godhood and identify with him. This is essentially the dynamics of cults.

The Talmud says that it was the eirev rav, a group of Egyptians who had joined the Israelites in the Exodus, who were responsible for the Golden Calf. This is borne out by the statement that the worshippers of the Golden Calf said, ''This is your god, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt'' (Exodus 32:1-4), which indicates that it was a group of outsiders who were addressing the Israelites. Although the eirev rav had witnessed the dividing of the waters of the Reed Sea and the revelation at Sinai, they were unable to grasp the concept of an abstract G od.

They developed a ''Moses cult,'' and when they thought that Moses had died, they said to Aaron, ''Make for us gods that will go before us.''

Unfortunately, during their enslavement in Egypt and exposure to the Egyptian culture, some of the Israelites had become vulnerable to Egyptian thought, and they did not subdue the eirev rav.

Under Moses' continued tutelage and admonitions against all forms of idolatry, they developed a firm faith in G od rather than in man or a totem. When Bilam sought to cast an evil spell upon Israel, he found himself unable to do so and exclaimed, ''It is G od Who brought them out of Egypt'' (Numbers 23:22).

With a firm faith in G od, Israel is immune to curses.

Rabbi Sorotzkin's insight enables us to understand why the central text of the Seder, the Passover Haggadah, which is a detailed account of the Exodus, omits the central character of the story: Moses. It is because we must remember that, ''It is G od Who brought them out of Egypt.''

Humans have their frailties, and one of these weaknesses is to deify great leaders. We must be cautious not to succumb to this tendency. We must honor our great leaders, revere them and most of all, learn from them, but we do not worship them or pray to them.

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Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. is a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment. An Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is a prolific author, with some 70 books to his credit, including, "Twerski on Chumash" (Bible), from which this was excerpted (Sales of this book help fund JWR).