Q&A: How Could Moses Our Teacher Go Without Eating and Drinking for Forty Days
How Could Moses Our Teacher Go Without Eating and Drinking for Forty Days
Question
Hello Rabbi,
When Moses ascended on high 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: how can such a thing be possible? After all, according to Jewish law, it is impossible to live without eating and drinking for more than seven days, to the point that if a person swears not to eat anything for seven days, that is a vain oath. Even according to science, I have seen that somewhere between half a week and a week is the human limit for the body without water.
I have seen three explanations for this:
First explanation: even during the days Moses our Teacher was on high, he retained the normal nature of a human being in this world. His body required food, drink, and sleep. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a constant daily miracle, so that despite the body’s natural needs Moses was able to remain alive and fully functional without eating or drinking. (As explained by Maimonides in Guide for the Perplexed, part 3, chapter 51.)
And this explanation is difficult, because if the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a miracle, what is so remarkable about Moses not eating and drinking for 40 days? The Holy One, blessed be He, simply performed a miracle so that he would not need to eat, and it is as though he had eaten, so there is nothing especially remarkable here. Also, Scripture does not state that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed such a miracle.
Second explanation: no miracle occurred here, but rather an unusual natural event. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, he was immersed on the one hand in tremendous joy and on the other in great concentration, for the purpose of receiving the Torah. Because of his preoccupation and joy, his intellect and spiritual powers were strengthened until they overcame his material needs. The body was indeed hungry and tired, but Moses did not feel the body’s demands at all, because of his enthusiasm for the Torah.
And this explanation is also difficult, because tremendous joy or enthusiasm cannot change the laws of physics that cause water to evaporate and sweat from the human body. In other words, without a miracle, I do not see how this is possible.
Third explanation: when he ascended Mount Sinai, his physical nature changed into the nature of angels. Just as angels do not require eating and drinking, so too Moses our Teacher did not require these physical needs, since his body was elevated until it became like the bodies of the ministering angels. According to this explanation, he felt no hunger, thirst, or fatigue at all, because he had been elevated to a spiritual level where such concepts do not exist. (This also seems to be implied by Ecclesiastes Rabbah 3:14.)
This explanation too is difficult, like the first one. If Moses became an angel and no longer needed to eat and drink, what is so remarkable about it that it deserves mention in the verses? When Scripture notes that Moses did not eat or drink, it seems to be saying that he exerted himself greatly and afflicted himself in order to receive the Torah. If he became an angel, then there was no exertion or self-denial here, since he had no bodily needs to begin with.
I thought to suggest that the verse should not be taken literally. In other words, Moses did not fast for 40 days, but rather fasted for a long time, represented by the number 40, which is a typological number in Scripture representing a significant period. At this link there is a list of appearances of the number 40 in the Hebrew Bible and in rabbinic literature: http://ftp.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23991. For example, regarding Elijah the prophet too it says: "And he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights" (I Kings 19:8). It seems that the number "forty" is a special number in Scripture that should not necessarily be understood literally.
I would be glad to hear your opinion.
Best regards,
Answer
That is possible. But the earlier explanations are possible too, since even if he was elevated to the level of an angel, that itself is the remarkable point and the special greatness being described about him. True, an angel does not need to eat and drink, but a human being who becomes like an angel—that is an elevation worthy of admiration.
Discussion on Answer
Here is a person who fasted a week without effort as a spiritual practice.
According to the breatharians, it’s not inconceivable that as a spiritual method human beings could subsist on zero food (scientifically?).
As for the Buddha too, it is told that he fasted forty days until his enlightenment (or so I heard). B. Moses could have been nourished by the manna that descended on the mountain. C. Maybe drinking alone would have sufficed. He could have drunk and absorbed moisture from the vapor of the cloud attached to the mountain. Also, grains from the sneh bush and the like could have sustained him. And in general, it says he ate no bread and drank no water, which does not rule out cornflakes with milk (just kidding). D. And the typological explanation seems the most convincing. Likewise regarding the three days in the belly of the fish. If I remember correctly, Ibn Kaspi, or one of the medieval Maimonidean authorities, explained it that way. I’ll look it up.
With the blessing of “Come, eat of my bread”
Obviously, if Moses our Teacher went up from Mount Sinai to the heavens and back at the speed of light, then while 40 days passed here, for Moses only one day passed. And on that day he fasted and wrote the Ten Statements, and from the radiation he absorbed on the way, the skin of his face shone.
See Or HaChaim on the whole verse, where he explains that he ate fruits and vegetables—only "bread" he did not eat and "water" he did not drink.
As far as the number forty is concerned, to the best of my knowledge two books have been published that cover this topic—maybe more.