Q:
I hear people saying that the Gedolei Yisroel have ruach hakodesh. Can you explain that to us?
A:
Well, it’s not the same ruach hakodesh that’s said about Megillas Esther for example. There’s absolutely no comparison! אסתר ברוח הקודש נאמרה – The Megillas Esther was said with ruach hakodesh means that it was inspired, it was a form of nevuah, of prophecy. And that form of ruach hakodesh no longer existed after the beginning of the second Beis Hamikdash.
The term ruach hakodesh as applied to our great men, means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives them inspiration. He gives them siyata dishmaya. He gives them help from Heaven so that they should be able to arrive at conclusions much more rapidly and much more correctly than ordinary people.
But it does not mean that they cannot make mistakes. Absolutely not! They can make mistakes with this form of ruach hakodesh. The Rambam says that when Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave His spirit to the Shoftim, like Shimshon, it says ותחל רוח ה׳ לפעמו בקרבו – The spirit of Hashem began to beat in him. That doesn’t mean the spirit of prophecy. It means a spirit of siyata dishmaya. It means that Hashem helped him. The Rambam says that Daniel had that as well. And yet, the Gemara says that Daniel made a mistake. And it’s written in the Gemara the mistake that Daniel made. So you can have siyata dishmaya and still make a mistake.
The truth is that Moshe Rabeinu also made a mistake. He made more than one mistake. And it’s openly mentioned in the Gemara, הודה ולא בוש – He was big enough to admit his mistake. He said, “I was wrong.” Now that’s something! Isn’t that a tremendous statement to make? The Gemara could have concealed that. The Gemara didn’t have to mention that. The Gemara could have said that Moshe Rabeinu was infallible. But instead the Gemara says that he erred. So what’s the story? The truth is this: When Hashem spoke to Moshe, that’s תורת ה׳. No mistakes in the תורת ה׳! But when Moshe spoke on his own – and Moshe no doubt had plenty of ruach hakodesh of his own, more than Rashi had – then he could make mistakes.
Moshe was הודה ולא בוש. He admitted his error. Because our Torah is a Torah of אמת, of truth. It’s not a Torah of propaganda chas v’shalom. And that’s why it says about our greatest leader הודה ולא בוש. Those are glorious words. These words are the honor of our nation. Moshe Rabeinu made a mistake. We want a Torah of אמת, truth. That’s the greatness of the Jewish people.
(March 1976)
