Do the Coals Ever Touch Moshe’s Lips
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5778
One of the first things that you learn about Moshe Rabbeinu as a child is that he had a speech impediment because he burned his mouth as a child. The story is well known. He is sitting on Pharaoh’s lap and playing with his crown when he places the crown on his head. That makes the wise men nervous. Is he planning a coupe? So, they devise a test. They place a piece of gold and a hot coal before him to see if he has the mental capacity to make a real decision. If he chooses the gold, he is smart, intended to take the crown and must die. If he takes the coal, he is mentally incompetent and didn’t know what he was doing with the crown and can live. Moshe is going for the gold when an angel directs his hands towards the coal which he picks up and places in his mouth!
We learn it at 4 years old and it seeps into our consciousness. It therefore must be true!
Not so fast! Why is the title of this speech “Did the coals ever touch Moshe’s lips?”
ONE – there are 3 times in the Torah that Moshe trying to turn down God’s generous offer of leadership invokes his trouble with speech.
שמות פרק ד
י) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־יְקֹוָק֘ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָי֒ לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי … כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי
שמות פרק ו
יב) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְקֹוָ֖ק לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵ֤ן בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹֽא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵיךְ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֣נִי פַרְעֹ֔ה וַאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם:
ל) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֖ה לִפְנֵ֣י יְקֹוָ֑ק הֵ֤ן אֲנִי֙ עֲרַ֣ל שְׂפָתַ֔יִם וְאֵ֕יךְ יִשְׁמַ֥ע אֵלַ֖י פַּרְעֹֽה:
Moshe is not a man of words, he has a heavy tongue and mouth, he has uncircumcised lips. You would expect all of the commentators to explain that these issues are caused by the coal incident. Out of 25 some commentators I only found two who address it and one of them is pretty parenthetically. Even Rashi, quoted of all things Midrash, does not quote this one. They all offer different interpretations. That is very telling.
TWO – Moshe Rabbeinu spends a lot of his time in the Torah speaking. Nearly all of Sefer Devarim is Moshe speaking! He does not seem to have any trouble getting the words out!
THREE- When you stop to think about this Midrash it is not as simple as you think.
a. He is 2 years old, why does a child that age playing with a crown bother the chartumim?
b. What kind of test is that? What two-year old won’t choose the shiny object? It doesn’t really tell us anything!
c. Why does Moshe place the hot coal in his mouth? Any normal child after touching hot coals drops it!
FOUR- There are competing versions of this Midrash. There is a version in Shmot Rabbah 1/26 where Moshe is putting on the crown and a version in the Pesikta Zutrata where he throws the crown on the floor. There is another version in the Tanchuma where he throws the crown on the floor and there is no mention of the coal or test. In the Shmot Rabbah version Yitro suggests the test while in the Pesikta it is the chartumim in general. Different versions usually testify to the fact that the details tell us more about the author of the Midrash than the veracity of the story itself. What then is the message of the story? What is the relevance for us today?
I think there are two answers and two messages.
A. The value of substance over form.
The Rishonim suggest that when Moshe describes himself as heavy of mouth or speech and possessing uncircumcised lips it means that: I don’t speak eloquently; I don’t speak with Charisma or I am not fluent in Egyptian after being away for so many years.
Nevertheless Hashem, clearly knowing this, chooses Moshe anyways because he is the right man for the job. He is the spiritual being that can lead the people, can teach the people, and receive the Torah. Substance over form!
In this approach the Midrash suggests that it is God via the angel who causes the defect, makes him an Aral Sefataim, in order to then choose Moshe and make this point!
This is the approach of the Pesikta. I know this because the story is short; the point is really about the coals, and the Midrash is commenting on the verse which describes Moshe’s heavy mouth.
B. Separating Moshe from his Egyptian and Midyanite influences.
This Midrash is reminiscent of a Biblical episode in the book of Isaiah Chapter 6.
Isaiah sees God and says:
5. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
6. Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
7. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.
There the placing of a coal on the lips is a manner of purging sin.
Why would Moshe need that? Possibly because he grew up in the palace of Pharaoh! And he hung out with Yitro in Midyan! How can Moshe become Moshe from that background? That Moshe requires a cleansing with the coal!
This is the approach of the Midrash in Shmot Rabbah. How do I know this?
The beginning of the Midrash relates to Moshe’s beauty and the fact that he lived exclusively in the palace. Yitro is included specifically as one of Pharaoh’s advisors.
The kicker is – the giveaway is – this Midrash is not commenting on any of the verses discussing a speech issue. Rather it is appended to Shmot 2/10:
שמות פרק ב
י) וַיִּגְדַּ֣ל הַיֶּ֗לֶד וַתְּבִאֵ֙הוּ֙ לְבַת־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וַֽיְהִי־לָ֖הּ לְבֵ֑ן וַתִּקְרָ֤א שְׁמוֹ֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַתֹּ֕אמֶר כִּ֥י מִן־ הַמַּ֖יִם מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ
This Midrash is a response to Moshe being brought back to Bat Pharaoh and the palace. It is there to explain that he was different and destined from the outset to be Moshe!
These two messages are actually critical for us today.
1. Substance of style. The key to meaningful Jewish existence is substance, understanding and depth.
2. We are at times enamored with shiny things in this world. Purity and spiritual are the path for Moshe and us, and it is best when they are instilled at an early age.
That, I believe, is what the Midrash is teaching us.
