How could Moses not eat or drink for forty days?
Hello Rabbi,
When Moses ascended to receive the Torah, he remained there for forty days and forty nights, and the Torah testifies about him: "He ate no bread and drank no water."
The question is asked, how is such a thing possible? And isn't it true that according to Halacha it is impossible to live without eating and drinking for more than seven days, so a person who swears not to eat anything for seven days – that is a false oath! According to science, I have also seen that between half a week and a week is the human limit of the human body without water.
I saw three explanations for this:
One explanation: Even during the days of Moses' stay in heaven, he remained a normal human being in this world. His body required food, drink, and sleep. But God, the Almighty, performed a daily miracle, so that despite the nature of his body, Moses would manage to remain alive and fully functioning without eating or drinking. (As explained by Maimonides in Moreh Nevuchim, Part 3, Chapter 1)
This explanation is difficult, because if God performed a miracle, what is the significance of Moses not eating or drinking for 40 days? After all, God performed a miracle so that he would not have to eat, and it is as if he had eaten, and there is no significance here. Nor is it stated in the Scriptures that God performed such a miracle.
Second explanation: There was no miracle here, but an unusual natural event. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, he was in a state of immense joy on the one hand and great concentration on the other, for the purpose of receiving the Torah. Due to his great anxiety and joy, his mind and spiritual powers grew stronger until they surpassed his material needs. The body was indeed hungry and tired, but Moses did not feel the demands of the body at all, due to his enthusiasm for the Torah.
And this explanation is also difficult, since immense joy or enthusiasm cannot change the laws of physics that cause water and sweat to evaporate from the human body. In other words, without a miracle, I don't see how this is possible.
Third explanation: When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, his physical nature changed to that of angels. Just as angels do not need to eat and drink, so Moses did not need these physical needs, since his body was elevated until it became like the bodies of the angels of heaven. According to this explanation, he did not feel hunger, thirst, or fatigue at all, because he ascended to a spiritual level where these concepts do not exist. (This is also stated in Ecclesiastes 3:14.)
This explanation is also as difficult as the first explanation. If Moses became an angel and no longer needed to eat and drink, why is there any reason to mention this in the verses? When it is stated that Moses did not eat and drink, it seems that the scripture wants to say that he exerted himself greatly and fasted in order to receive the Torah. If he became an angel, then there is no effort or fasting here because he has no physical needs.
I thought I'd suggest that the Bible be taken out of its simple form. That is, Moses did not fast for 40 days, but rather fasted for a long period of time, represented by the number 40, which is a typological number in the Bible that represents a significant period. This link has a list of occurrences of the number 40 in the Bible and the Sages: http://ftp.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23991For example, it is also said regarding Elijah the prophet: And he went in the strength of that food. forty Friday forty Night (Mt 19:8). It seems that the number "forty" is a special number in the Bible that should not necessarily be taken literally.
I would love to hear what you think,
Best regards,
It could be. But the previous explanations are also possible, because even if he was degraded to the rank of an angel, it is the very greatness and exaltation that are described about him. It is true that an angel does not need to eat and drink, but a person becoming an angel is an ascension that is worthy of appreciation.
Regarding the number forty, two books have been published that cover this subject, to my knowledge, perhaps more.
Here is a man who fasted for a week effortlessly as a spiritual method.
https://youtu.be/FAAkRdYCoD0
According to the Parans, it is not unreasonable that as a spiritual method, humans will be content with zero food (scientifically?)
It is also said of the Buddha that he fasted for forty days until his enlightenment (I heard). B. Moses could have been nourished by the manna that came down from the mountain. C. Perhaps by drinking Sagi. He could have drunk and absorbed liquids from the vapors of the cloud bound on the mountain. C. The grains of the senna plant and its like could also have fed him. In general, it is written that he did not eat bread and did not drink water, and this does not exclude cornflakes with milk (laughing). D. And the typological explanation is the most obvious. And so with regard to the three days in the belly of the fish. This is how I think Even Caspi or one of the early Maimonides explained it. I will look it up.
With the blessing, go and eat of my bread.
It is clear that if Moses ascended Mount Sinai to the heights and returned at the speed of light, then while 40 days passed, only one day passed for Moses, and on that day he fasted and wrote the Ten Commandments, and from the radiation he absorbed along the way, his face glowed.
The light of life is the entire verse that explains that he ate fruits and vegetables.
Only "bread" he did not eat and "water" he did not drink
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