Moses and Elijah

In Parashat Ki Tissa Moses completes his first stay of forty days on the heights of Mount Sinai, “the Mountain of the Lord.”

            Yet, the Master of all Prophets is not the only prophet to spend time on Horeb, as we read in I Kings 19:8:

And he (Elijah) got up, ate and drank, and, on the strength of that meal, traveled forty days and nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

This verse highlights the comparison between Moses at Horeb and Elijah at Horeb. As Moses spent forty days and forty nights [Exodus 24:28] on Mount Horeb, so Elijah “traveled forty days and nights” to reach the mountain of God. And as Moses did not eat or drink during his forty days on Horeb [ibid. 34:28], so Elijah traveled to Horeb forty days and forty nights without eating.

The parallels between Moses and Elijah are so blatant that the Midrash [Tanḥuma, I Kings 209] states: “We find that Moses and Elijah are equal in all things.”

P’sikta Rabbati [Piska 4] presents a list of twenty-six parallels between the two prophets who reached Horeb. Among the parallels is “Moses was a prophet and Elijah was a prophet,” a comment which, of course, can be made concerning any of the forty-eight prophets, and is certainly not a parallel unique to Moses and Elijah. It is clear that the author of the P’skita included this parallel in order to reach the “magic” number of twenty-six, the gematriya of the holy name of God.

A number of the parallels cited by P’sikta Rabbati are directly related to Horeb, among them:

Concerning Moses, the verse [Exodus 34:6] states: “God passed by before him;” and of Elijah, the verse [I Kings 19:11] states: “And behold, God passed by.”

Moses was placed by God “in a crevice in the mountain” [Exodus 33:22], while Elijah “entered a cave there (Horeb) and spent the night.” [I Kings 19:9] And, indeed, our Sages [Babylonian Talmud, Pesaḥim 54a] taught that Moses and Elijah stood in the same cave on Horeb.

Not only are the lives of the two prophets similar, but their deaths are as well, as Don Yitzḥak Abravanel notes: “Moses and Elijah are distinguished from all other prophets in the fact that their deaths involved a miraculous element, while all other prophets died in the same way as all humans.” The Master of all Prophets ascended to Mount Nebo, to be buried by God Himself [Deuteronomy 34:6], and the Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire, and horses of fire. [II Kings 2:11]

P’sikta Rabbati also notes a character trait shared by the two prophets: both were zealous. Moses was zealous for God, when he commanded the Levites “Let each one kill (all those involved in the idolatry of the golden calf), even his own brother, close friend, or relative’” [Exodus 32:27] while Elijah twice described himself as being “zealous for the Lord God of hosts.” [I Kings 19:10, 14]       

Yet, this brings us to the major difference between Moses and Elijah. Though in his zeal for God, Moses ordered the execution of those Israelites who had worshipped the golden calf, the very next morning he pleaded with God to forgive the nation’s sin, even presenting an ultimatum to Him: “Now, if You would, please forgive their sin. If not, You can blot me out from the book that You have written.” [Exodus 32:32] (It is significant that Moses’ ultimatum appears in 32:32 [32 is the gematriya of “lev” = heart], indicating that Moses’ heart was with the People of Israel.) Moses was able to combine zeal with true concern for his flock.

On the other hand, when God asked “Why are you here, Elijah?,” the prophet answered “I have been zealous for the Lord God of hosts.” [I Kings 19:9,10] In response to Elijah’s answer, God instructed him to leave the cave and stand on Mount Horeb, and then:

the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks - but the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. [ibid. 11-12]

Following these spectacles, God again asked “Why are you here, Elijah?,” and the prophet responded word for word as he had the first time God asked: “I have been zealous for the Lord God of hosts.” [ibid. 13-14]

            Malbim comments that the intent of God’s question “Why are you here, Elijah” was not “Why have you come to Horeb?” rather it was a statement: “A prophet must be among the people in order to rebuke them, and not isolated in the desert.” The second time God asked the question of Elijah, the Divine intent was: “Why have you not returned to your prophetic mission to rebuke the people without zealotry.” When Elijah failed to understand God’s message, the Lord instructed him to anoint Elisha ben Shafat as his successor, informed Elijah that he was no longer suited to be a prophet and his prophetic mission had reached its end.

            Unlike Moses, Elijah remained a zealot and was unable to temper his zeal to work from within to bring the nation to repent.

            In explaining Jethro’s advice to his son-in-law Moses: “you are to be the people’s representative before God,” [Exodus 18:19] Netziv presents a parable: there are two ways to mediate between commoners and their monarch; either through a minister appointed by the king to hear the people, or through a wise person who is respected by the king and empowered to appear before the monarch. There is a significant difference between the two mediators. The royal minister has no bond with the commoners and his loyalty is solely to the king; while the latter is the commoners’ advocate, who seeks their best interest. Thus, Jethro’s advice to Moses was to represent the people’s needs before God.

            It is very significant that Netziv uses Elijah as an example of the first approach and Moses as the example of the latter, encapsulating the great difference between the two prophets who stayed on Horeb.

            Yet, despite the difference between Moses and Elijah, perhaps the most important parallel between them lies in the future. Returning to P’sikta Rabbati:

Both redeem Israel as Divine messengers. Moses redeemed Israel from Egypt, as we read God’s command: “Now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” Elijah is destined to redeem Israel, as we read: “Behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of God.”

 P’sikta adds that just as Moses redeemed Israel from Egypt and they never returned to Egyptian subjugation, so too Elijah will herald Israel’s final redemption, which will be eternal.

            May we be privileged to see Elijah fulfill his mission speedily in our days.