NEVER STOP WALKING

One of the greatest early Chassidic Masters was an individual of outstanding piety and humility, Reb Zusha of Hanipol (1718–1800). He wrote no books, yet his contribution to our spiritual history has been immense through his store of teachings and stories. He once said that he was not worried that on the Day of Judgement they would ask him:

“Zusha, why weren’t you like Moses? Zusha, why weren’t you like King David?”

“I will reply: ‘I’m not a Moses. I’m not a David.’ But I am worried that they will say to me: ‘Zusha, why were you not Zusha? Why were you not the Zusha you could have been?’”

Zusha reminds us that each of us has different talents and different limitations. Each of us has been placed in this world with a unique set of skills, abilities, personalities, and drives. Our mission is to be the best version of ourselves.

At first glance, Maimonides (1135–1204) seems to challenge this idea. In a famous passage in his Laws of Repentance (5:2), he writes:

“Do not even contemplate the notion held by fools… that G-d decides at birth whether a person will be righteous or wicked. This is not true. Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam.”

How can Maimonides claim that each of us is “fit to be righteous like Moses”? Moses was unique — the greatest prophet who ever lived. How can we begin to compare ourselves to him?

If we look more carefully, we see that Maimonides is not speaking about prophecy or holiness, which were Moses’ unique gifts. He is speaking about choice. Each one of us, through the gift of free will, has the capacity to pursue righteousness to the very limits of our potential. Moses reached his fullest greatness not only because of his extraordinary gifts, but because he never stopped working on himself. It is in this sense that Moses is an example for us all. None of us can be as holy as Moses, but all of us can strive to be as righteous as Moses — to use our freedom to become the best version of ourselves.

This week’s parasha begins with the words, Vayelech Moshe — “And Moses went.” Even on the very last day of his life, Moses kept moving forward. He never stood still, never said “enough is enough.” He kept walking, kept growing.

Like Reb Zusha, we must strive to be our truest selves. Like Maimonides, we must never underestimate our capacity for righteousness. And like Moses, we must keep walking — always going, always growing.