(from Ketoret Samim quoted in Mayana Shel Torah)
Moshe, the Wealthy Tzaddik
After G-d forgave the people for the sin of the golden calf, he told Moshe to fashion two new tablets, “Pesal lekha shnei luchot avanim.” The Sages, building on the verb “pesal” (fashion, carve out), say (Midrash Rabbah 46), “The remnants (pesolet) of the [precious] stones are yours. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Moshe has the right to the stones. When all of Israel was busy asking their Egyptian neighbors for silver and gold, Moshe was involved with taking the bones of Yosef out of Egypt. Moshe remained poor, but now I will give him the remnants of the precious stones and he will become rich.”
Asked the Ketoret Samim, “Why did G-d not give Moshe his wealth immediately when the Jews left Egypt? Why did he wait four months until the breaking of the tablets to make Moshe wealthy?
He answers: it only became important for Moshe to become wealthy after the sin of the golden calf.
When Moshe interceded on behalf of the people of Israel, his defense was that Israel was not able to withstand the temptation of the silver and gold they were loaded with. He said to G-d, “A lion does not roar from a container of straw but from a container of meat (= Israel would not have sinned if You had not brought them so much wealth).
However, in his position as the teacher of Israel he was obligated to rebuke the people for their misuse of the gold that G-d gave them. However, if Moshe had remained poor, they could have retorted, “Who are you to criticize us for misusing the gold? You never had such a temptation. Had you been rich, perhaps you also might have sinned.” Moshe himself had no interest in wealth, but when there was a need for him to be in a position to be able to give rebuke to the people of Israel, G-d gave him the reward that was coming to him from four months earlier. That way the people saw that Moshe was the same tzaddik that he was before despite his immense wealth and his rebuke was powerful because he was also a role model for a wealthy tzaddik.
[prepared by Eliezer Kwass]
