Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 4

There is a great difficulty in connection with the subject of prayer. There was no greater man than Moses, the chief of all prophets, and yet though he prayed to God that he might be allowed to enter the land of Israel, he was not answered. Thus we read: “And I besought the Lord … Let me go over, I pray Thee … and the Lord said unto me: ‘Let it suffice thee …’ ” This would seem to indicate that a thing decreed by God can not be changed by prayer. This being so, one may very well say that it is in vain to serve God and that there is no advantage in praying to Him, since that which has been decreed can not be annulled.

The solution of this problem is that prayer does avail, at any rate before the matter in question has been finally decreed, and it avails also after the decision if the latter is not accompanied by an oath. Our Rabbis also say: “Prayer is good for a man both before the decision and after,” as we infer from the case of Hezekiah, who was told: “Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die and not live.” And shortly after we read: “I have heard thy prayer … behold, I will add unto thy days …” This was a change after the decision, as our Rabbis say. In the case of Moses, however, the decree was accompanied by an oath, for we read: “Therefore ye shall not bring …”, and our Rabbis say that the expression, “therefore” (laken), indicates an oath, inferring this from the words, “And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli …” This is the reason why the prayer of Moses was of no avail.

There is a difference, however, between an individual and a community. A decree announced concerning an individual can not be reversed if it was accompanied by an oath, whereas a decree concerning a community may be reversed by prayer. This will be seen to follow from the sequence of thought in the text.

Accordingly, in order to make the matter clear, I will explain the language used in the prayer of Moses to make clear the connection of thought. In the beginning he says: “And I besought (vaëthanan) the Lord.” Now the Rabbis say that the word hanan (to beseech) denotes asking a favor gratis (hinnam); their reason being because the word hinnam (gratis) is derived from the root hanan. The idea is that one should not, in praying to God, support his claim by his good deeds or his own merit, for, as Eliphaz said: “What is man that he should be clean? And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” The talmudic sages find fault with Hezekiah who based his prayer on his own merit, and they say that because he based his request on his own merit, God granted his request for the merit of others, and he was told: “I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.” Moses, accordingly, did not support his prayer on his own merit, but requested a favor gratuitously. Hence he said: “O Lord God, Thou hast begun …” i. e. it has always been Thy way to show me kindness gratis. Thou hast in the beginning, of Thy own accord, at the burning bush, shed Thy prophetic influence upon me, though I was neither worthy nor prepared.

Our Rabbis in Sifre explain it in the same way: “Thou hast begun to show Thy servant wonders and strength,” as it is said: “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight.” It is clear, therefore, that the Rabbis refer the expression: “Thou hast begun,” to the beginning of Moses’ prophetic call. Moses said in effect, O Lord, Thou needest not hesitate to show me a kindness even though I do not deserve it, or to do me a favor gratis, for it has been Thy way with me. Thou of Thy own accord, didst begin at the burning bush to show Thy servant, etc. Since, therefore, this has been Thy way with me, do me this kindness also which I ask: “Let me go over, I pray Thee, and see the good land …” (This attitude is well expressed in the words: “Save us, O God of our salvation”). What is there to keep Thee from doing this kindness to me? The decree of death that has been made concerning me can only be due to one of three causes. It is either in the nature of punishment from Thee for my sins, or it is my fate as determined by the stars, or my time has come to die. These are the three fixed causes determining a person’s death. Thus David said concerning Saul: “Nay, but the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle, and be swept away,” indicating that there are three kinds of death, penal, natural and accidental. “The Lord shall smite him,” denotes penal death, death as a punishment for a sin. “Or his day shall come to die,” denotes natural death, when the time has come for a man to die by reason of his temperament (mixture of humors). “Or he shall go down into battle, and be swept away,” denoted accidental death, which comes to a man prematurely and not for any sin, but through the indication of the stars, or by reason of a universal decree or law that every one going into a particular battle shall die. If he had not gone into the battle, he would not have died; if he does go he will die by reason of this general indication, though he is not guilty of having committed any sin. He did not mention voluntary death, because no man prefers death to life. But he made a mistake, for Saul’s death was voluntary, as we read: “Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.” Moses too did not mention voluntary death, for he did not prefer death to life. Therefore he mentioned these three only.

His plea was then as follows: O Lord, if the death decreed upon me is a punishment for my sin, is my iniquity so great that it can not be forgiven? As Cain said: “Is my iniquity too great to bear?” which the Rabbis explain as follows: Cain said to God, O Lord, Thou bearest heaven and earth, and canst not bear my sin! What they mean is this: Cain said to God: If my sin is so great that it can not be forgiven, then my power to sin is greater than God’s power to forgive; but this is impossible, for God’s power is infinite. This was the doubt he expresses in the words: “Is my iniquity too great to bear?” And Moses expressed precisely the same idea when he said: “Thy greatness …” What he meant to say was: I know that Thy greatness is infinite, and that my iniquity can not be so great that Thy infinite greatness is not sufficient to forgive it. Then he said, “And Thy strong hand …,” meaning to say: If my death is due to the stars, Thou hast shown me miracles and wonders which prove that Thy hand is strong enough to overcome the stars. Then he said: “For what god is there …,” referring to natural death, such as the righteous die of. Thus the Rabbis say: “God counts the years of the righteous …” The meaning is, God counts their years to see that they should not be shortened either by punishment or by accident, but that they should live as many years as they are capable of living in accordance with their nature, the composition of their humors, and the fundamental vigor which they possess from the time of their creation. This is the reason why the Bible, referring to Sarah, uses the expression: “The years of the life of Sarah,” having just said: “And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years.” The Bible desires to indicate that the hundred and twenty-seven years that she lived was the number of years of her life, i. e. the number of years which her nature and fundamental and original vigor determined that she should live. Her days were not shortened as were those of Abraham, who, as the Rabbis say, should have lived a hundred and eighty years, like Isaac, but lived only a hundred and seventy-five, his years having been shortened by five, so that he should not see the evil life of Esau. In order to indicate this the expression used in his case is: “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived,” i. e. these are the years which he actually lived, but not those which, according to the nature of his temperament and his original vigor, he should have lived, as was the case with Sarah.

Accordingly, Moses said: If my death is natural, that is, if there is no power in the composition of my temperament to enable me to live longer, Thou canst renew my youth like an eagle, and give me power to be restored like a green fir tree so as to be strong, for there is no other god in the world beside Thee who can do what Thou doest, namely who can create living things and endow them with new natural strength. If, therefore, Thou shouldest give me new life and make me a new creature, there would be none to say Thee nay, for there is no one in the world who can do what Thou doest, or who has Thy strength. All this being so, and there being none to prevent Thee, “Let me go over, I pray Thee, and see …”

But God replied: “Let it suffice thee … But charge Joshua … for he shall go over …” To such an extent, continues Moses, was the divine decree fixed against me, that when we reached the valley opposite Beth-peor, we dwelt there and He did not allow me to go further: “So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor,” i. e. we could not go on further, because I was to be buried there, as is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor.”

To this statement Moses adds the exhortation: “And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes … that ye may live, and go in and possess the land …” He says in effect: I took all this trouble in order to enter the land, but was not given the privilege. You are given the privilege to enter the land, therefore be strong in observing the commandment of God that you may be worthy to enter.

You might perhaps say: if my prayer was not heard, it is possible that to-day or to-morrow you may sin and your prayers will not be heard either; my answer is: “Your eyes have seen what the Lord did in Baal-peor … But ye that did cleave unto the Lord … For what great nation is there, that hath God so nigh unto them …” The meaning is, do not think that an individual and a congregation are equal in this matter, for it is not so. With all my worth, my prayer in my own behalf was not accepted, because I am an individual; whereas though you worshipped idols and bowed down to Peor—and there is no one the Lord hates as much as the one who worships idols—my prayer in your behalf was accepted. When I prayed for you on the occasion of the golden calf and of Peor, my prayer was accepted, and God forgave you, though my own prayer for myself was not accepted.

It appears also from the language of the Rabbis in Sifre that the reason Moses speaks of the sin of Baal-peor in this place is in order to indicate the difference between the prayer of an individual for an individual and his prayer for a congregation. Although the two prayers may be equal and of the same kind, yet the prayer for the congregation is more likely to be heard than the prayer for the individual. Therefore he adds the words: “As the Lord our God is whensoever we call upon Him,” the meaning being that no matter what the content of the prayer is, if it is for the congregation, it is accepted. Hence the Rabbis say: “God does not reject the prayers of the congregation, as is said: ‘Behold, God despiseth not the many.’ ” They also say: “A person should always join a congregation,” thus indicating that the prayer of a congregation is always accepted, while that of an individual is not accepted when it concerns a matter that has been decided under oath, as was the case with the prayer of Moses to be allowed to enter the land of Israel. It was not accepted because the matter had already been decided under oath.