The Torah of My Servant Moses

This is the story that Reb Joshua ben Levi tells concerning the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah to Moses, peace to his memory.

As Moses was descending again from Heaven, Satan came to the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, “Lord of the Universe, where have You hidden the Torah?”

The Holy One, blessed be He, replied, “I gave it to the Earth.”

Satan went to the Earth and said, “Earth, where did you hide God’s Torah?”

The Earth replied, “God knows everything. But as for me, I don’t have the Torah.”

So Satan went to the Sea and said, “Sea, where have you hidden the Torah?”

The Sea replied, “I don’t have it.”

So Satan went to the Abyss and said, “Where have you hidden the Torah that God gave you?”

The Abyss replied, “It’s not in my depths.”

Then Satan went to the dead and to those who are lost and asked them, “Where have you hidden the Torah?”

They replied, “It’s true that we have heard of it, but we don’t know where it is.”

So Satan went to God and said, “I’ve searched the entire world over and have not found the Torah.”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Go to Ben Amram—to Moses, son of Amram. I gave it to him.”

So Satan went to Moses and said, “Moses, where is the Torah that God gave you?”

Moses replied, “Who or what am I that the Holy One, blessed be He, should have given the Torah to me?”

When God heard about this, He said, “Moses, why did you deny that I gave you the Torah?”

Moses replied, “Lord of the Universe, how can I take it upon myself to boast that it is I who have received the Torah, an instrument which produces such joy that studying it makes all humankind happy every day?”

God said, “Moses, Moses, it is not well to belittle oneself. Still, because you would not boast of having the Torah, let your reward be that it will henceforth be named after you.”

And so it is written, “Remember the Torah of My servant, Moses …”

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Glossary

Reb: The traditional title prefixed to a man’s name; comparable to “Mister” in English.
Torah: (Yid. “toyre”) The Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses; the scroll on which these first five books of the Bible are written. The term refers also to Jewish law in general and to the traditional study of sacred Jewish texts.

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Annotations

SOURCE: V.A. 27:3.
COMMENTS: This tale is a close retelling of a Talmudic tale (*Shabbat* 89a); cf. the Midrash quoted by Tosafot. Louis Ginzberg (1909-1938) vol. III, p. 118, gives an English translation of the Talmudic tale, and in vol. VI, p. 49, n. 257, he provides other explanations, as given in various midrashic tales, for why the Scriptures speak of “the Torah of Moses.”