Moses Separates From His Wife

[Dover]

B'ha'alot'cha: The Unique Prophecy of Moses
by Chanan Morrison
Jun 16, '05 / 9 Sivan 5765


Moses Separates From His Wife

"Miriam and Aaron began speaking against Moses regarding the dark-skinned woman he had married." (Numbers 12:1)

What exactly was their complaint against Moses? According to Targum Onkelus and Rashi, they were upset that Moses had separated from his wife Tzipporah, the dark-skinned Midianite daughter of Jethro. Miriam and Aaron were able to receive prophecy without resorting to celibacy. Why did Moses feel it was necessary to separate from his wife?

In fact, the separation was Moses' idea. He was not commanded to do this. The Talmud writes that Moses came to this conclusion when God revealed Himself at Mount Sinai: "The Shechina only spoke with the Jewish people on one occasion and at a predetermined hour; nevertheless, the Torah warned them, 'Do not come near a woman.' Certainly I, with whom the Shechina speaks at all times and with no set hour, must do the same." (Shabbat 87a)

The sages noted that Moses was correct in his reasoning, and God approved of his action. After the revelation at Sinai, God told the people, "Return to your tents" (i.e., your families). But to Moses, God commanded, "You, however, stay here with Me." (Deuteronomy 5:27-28)

Why was this separation something that Moses had to figure out for himself? And why did only Moses need to leave his wife, and not other prophets? ...cont'd

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5210

[opihimoimoi]

1. The Levites wrote this Book....Deut....Anything they wrote is suspect...

They being exploitors of the worst degree....

[havocmom]

2. Maybe some prophets, like the general population, have mid-life crisis?

Perhaps Moses 'needed some space'? Some men just can't be honest about their feelings and will concoct some odd excuses.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Moses appears to have taken the Yogi path

in that being apart from the affairs of mankind was essential to enlightenment. Here's another paragraph from the article:

The same applies to spiritual enlightenment. One cannot recognize the elevated realm, the light of holiness and pure morality, the rule of uprightness and the flow of the sublime without a continual illumination of prophecy.

Moses, according to the article, felt that in order to stay in the Light (Shechina)he had to stay apart. This was his path, and he is honored for it. Others have different paths, however, and have achieved their illumination while having families. I think both ways have their place, for the One is ALL.

[Igel]

4. Wouldn't the second clause of Num. 12:1

be a hint? I've always wondered about some lines of reasoning, and typically rejected them as being motivated by temporal or regional concerns.

Wouldn't an equally plausible line of exegesis be anti-racist? From the text we get that Moses married someone clearly outside his tribe, and presumably this information is necessary for what follows: complaints. And the response is that Moses was faithful; God's dealing with him face to face is evidence of that. And Miriam was zapped.

Isn't there an injunction that Israelites should marry Israelites (or am I misremembering it?); wouldn't Moses have been violating this sort of injunction?

However, having Moses declared "faithful" in spite of marrying outside of Israel would have been a problem for rabbis who were trying to preserve their group's distinctiveness.