Moshe’s K'vad Peh – Reminder of a Miracle

Torah Thoughts on Parshas Devarim by Howard Karesh

"אֵלֶה הַדְבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִבֶּר מֹשֶׁה" דְבָרִים א':א'

“These are the words that Moshe spoke.” Devarim 1:1

The Midrash on the first pasuk of Sefer Devarim teaches that Moshe, until Matan Torah, was not an "אִישׁ דְבָרִים" – “a man of words” (Shemos 4:10). However, once Moshe merited to receive the Torah from Hashem, his speech impediment was healed, hence our pasuk: “These are the words that Moshe spoke.”

Ramban, however, seems to contradict this Midrash when he comments in Shemos that Moshe wanted his blemish to remain as a visible reminder of Hashem’s salvation in the palace of the king. According to Chazal, an angel forced the child-Moshe’s hand to reach for hot coals instead of gold and jewels, saving Moshe’s life from a threatened Pharaoh but scarring him for life. If, as the Midrash says, Moshe was healed from his resulting speech impediment, how do we understand this Ramban?

Rav Yosef Yehuda Leib Sorotzkin, who raises this question in his sefer Meged Yosef, answers that we need to distinguish between "כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן" mentioned in Shemos 4:10, where Moshe describes himself as “slow of speech and slow of tongue”. These are not, says Rav Sorotzkin, synonymous, redundant phrases.

Rav Sorotzkin explains that while the tongue (לָשׁוֹן) is the internal mechanism that enables speech, the mouth (פֶּה) is purely external and visible to others, and does not impact clarity of speech. Ramban specifies that Moshe wished to preserve his "כְבַד פֶּה" – the visible reminder of Hashem’s miracle. The Midrash, however, was discussing Moshe’s clarity of speech, which was healed completely when Klal Yisrael received the Torah, enabling the clear, lengthy address by Moshe Rabbeinu that begins in our parashah.

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Howard Karesh, an alumnus of FYHS (1991), learned in Yeshivat Sha’alvim as well as the HTC Beis Midrash and Bellows Kollel. He earned his degree in Communications from Loyola University of Chicago, and works in corporate communications. He serves in various leadership capacities for Jewish organizations in Chicago and Israel, including Hillel Torah, YU Torah Mitzion Kollel, RZC, and Lema’an Achai.