DEUT1744 [What do we learn from the death of Moses?] … Never lose the idealism of youth. The Torah says of Moses that at the age of 120, "his eye was undimmed and his natural energy unabated" [this verse]. I used to think that these were two complementary phrases until I realised that the first is the explanation of the second. That Moses' "eye was undimmed" means that he never lost the passion for justice that he had as a young man. It is there, as vigorous in Deuteronomy as it was in Exodus. We are as young as our ideals. Give away to cynicism and you rapidly age.

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DEUT1745 See [[NUM268]] Numbers 20:29 bewailed AMEMEI 211

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DEUT1747 The Torah states that Moses was the humblest of all people in the world (Numbers 12:3). On this verse, one commentary asks how it could be possible that Moses, who was the greatest prophet, the only one who spoke face-to-face with God [this verse], stood up to Pharaoh, and stayed in heaven for forth days and nights without eating and in order to write the Torah (Exodus 34:28), could think of himself as worthless, with low self-esteem? (Ketav VeKabbalah commentary on Numbers 12:3). One answer he espouses is that indeed Moses recognized his enormous talent and worth and how special he really was. Realizing that all of his talents and greatness were from God, Moses did not think of himself as great, because he himself did not do anything special, but his accomplishments were due only to God's help. Furthermore, Moses tried to use all of his talents and gifts to help others. If we learn from Moses and attribute anything we are good or great at to God and then use our abilities to help others, we will inevitably feel good about ourselves--but in the proper way, with modesty, like Moses. Therefore, Moses had very high self-esteem, while still remaining the most humble man on earth.

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DEUT1746 See [[NUM84]] Numbers 11:22 enough SINAI2 44

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DEUT1748 See [[NUM108]] Numbers 12:3 humble AMEMEI 184-5

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