Proper Motivation

God said to Moses, “Put Aaron's staff back there before the (Ark of) Testimony as a keepsake. Let it be a sign for anyone who wants to rebel. This should put an end to their complaints to Me, and then they will not die.” Moses did exactly as God had instructed him, thus did Moses.                          Numbers 17:25-26

            The wording of verse 25: “Moses did exactly as God had instructed him, thus did Moses” seems redundant. Apparently, it would have sufficed for the Torah to write either “Moses did exactly as God had instructed him” or “thus did Moses.”

            My saintly teacher, Rabbi Mordechai Rogov, explained that with the extra phrase, the Torah teaches the greatness of Moses. Returning Aaron’s staff to the Tabernacle indicated that Moses had acted exclusively on God’s command, and that “Moses is true and his Torah is true.” [Midrash Tanḥuma, Koraḥ 11] Thus, Moses had a personal interest in performing God’s bidding in this matter. Therefore, the Torah stresses that Moses acted solely in accordance with the Divine instruction, without any concern for the personal aspect. The wording of the verse declares that in the controversy of Korah, Moses, the Master of all prophets acted with no personal motivation whatsoever, but exclusively on behalf of the nation of Israel, in accordance with God’s word.