The Book of Proverbs teaches us “The fool believes everything.”
The Midrash identifies this verse as referring to none other than….Moses.
Shocked? So was I.
Moses was intellect personified, a heavenly chosen conduit for Divine wisdom. So how could our Sages attribute this verse to him?
Chassidic thought reframes the ‘fool’ concept to help us understand the depth of this teaching. Moses saw the Jews’ pain during their slavery in Egypt, and how Pharaoh only increased his cruelty in response to Moses’s demands (at G-d’s behest) for freedom. Moses had difficulty reconciling the reality before his eyes with his understanding of a loving, Omnipotent G-d.
So he lashes out: “G-d! Why have You mistreated this people? And why have You sent me? Since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has made things worse for the people, and You still have not liberated them!”
G-d’s answers Moses without directly resolving the question. He says: You can do better than that. Have faith in Me, just like your ancestors did.
In other words: Moses’s struggle stemmed from the challenges his experiences were posing to his well reasoned and considered appreciation of G-d.
So G-d says: Let’s use this appreciation differently. You - because you have an outstanding capacity to comprehend Me - need to have faith. You’ve used your reason to become comfortable with Me; now trust me and surrender your intellectual tools. It will be difficult, but you need to be the ‘believing fool’ for this one.
When my children were very young, and I had occasion to discipline them, I assumed – desperately hoped – that they realized that I deeply love them, notwithstanding my need to address their misbehavior. But I realized they may very well not have had the maturity to have faith in me.
I expected more of my older children, hoping they could respect and accept my decisions, even when they couldn’t fully appreciate them.
Moses’ deep perception of G-d’s goodness was precisely what allowed him to have faith in G-d’s Wisdom and Will. The more we work to understand G-d and life, the better equipped and more secure we will be to ‘play the fool’ when the need arises.
With Moses, we’ll be in good company.