Unaware of what was occurring both within him and without. Zipporah, his wife, was aware. Miriam was aware.

A wife provides her husband with a bridge to the outside world—helping him become externally aware—and helping him express the awareness deep inside himself. Eve took Adam out of himself by feeding him the forbidden fruit, uprooting him from his internal state of perfectly cleaving to Hashem, exposing him to awareness.

The Bible attributes prophecy to three individuals: David, Avraham and Moses. David said: "But I am a worm, not a man"(Psalms 22:7). Avraham said: "But I am dust and ashes"(Gen 18:27). Moses said: "for what are we …"(Ex 16:8)

Ranking Moses in terms of his humility, the Torah writes: "And the man, Moses, was the humblest of any person on the face of the earth"(Numbers 12:3). The different types of humility reflect fundamentally different levels in humility's definition. The perfectly humble individual is completely oblivious to the Ego, external and internal to himself. A humble individual by definition is unaware of his humility, and those around him also fail to recognize it. He does not possess an awareness of himself and his environment as objective realities, characterized by their own laws and rules of behavior. For him, all of reality is a divine phenomenon arrived at solely via an awakening from above. He fails to realize that the human initiative required to awaken this divine effluence is to be found in awareness and recognition, and is expressed by questions probing the fundamental nature of existence; this is the positive face of Descartes' question—a question otherwise manifesting the ugly apex of humanity's pride, suggesting that anything which does not pass the test of human awareness, does not exist.

Moses embodies the opposite approach. For Moses reality is only an opportunity to formulate and bestir man's awareness of the need to question and search for the kernel of divine presence that, ultimately, appears irrespective of man's quest; man's aid is not really necessary. When Moses built the Mishkan, Hashem had to show him figures made out of fire; models of the Mishkan's instruments created by Hashem which Moses only seems to bring to life. Thus, Moses viewed reality exclusively as raw material. Man must simply endow it with meaning and using his own talents shape it, in the presence of the Divine.

For this reason, we pray to the G-d of Avraham, not the G-d of Moses, because it is difficult for man to relate to reality as an absolute presence. Avraham asked for the bare necessities: "And I am childless…"(Gen 15:2); "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"(Gen 15:8) Yaakov's requests that his basic, physical needs be met were even more detailed: "And He will give me bread to eat …"(Gen 28:20) Judaism adopts the approach of sanctifying matter by recognizing man's physical needs. For this reason, we mention the forefathers. David makes all sorts of requests concerning his continued physical existence, ones covering the entire range of human needs. An approach geared toward every level of ability in relating to Hashem, one suitable for everyone. This approach promises to sustain man's relationship with Hashem for an infinite number of years. David, the king of Israel, is alive and well.

Moses knows that he does not need Yitro's tutelage; the explicit miracles of the Ark and the pillar of cloud provided Moses with enough guidance. Moses requests "and you shall be as eyes for us"(Num 10:31); he wants Yitro to tell the world about a life style based upon a sanctified reality, one requiring absolutely no aid from the natural order. Yitro refuses for he finds it difficult to comprehend such an artificial existence, divorced completely from the world of matter.

"The people took to seeking complaints"(Num 11:1): the people also had difficulty relating to reality on Moses' level. The first time they complained, Hashem was angry and punished them: "and it [the fire] consumed at the edge of the encampment"(11:1). This first time, Moses did not express an opinion, for he had not fully understood the people. He did not realize that their complaining stemmed from their doubts regarding the very possibility of taking this path, doubts regarding the very principle itself. When the people complained about the manna—a form of sustenance entirely in keeping with Moses' approach, a perfect exemplar of it—they asked: Man hu? (Ex 16:15), literally, What is this?

Relating to even the most fundamental element of reality—eating—as beyond the natural order of things, as connected to the question of "What does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you?"

"Man hu ?" A situation that can only become reality when man endows reality with his internal quality. A situation in which the food has no intrinsic characteristics. Human beings who were not on Moses' level, even the simplest among them, could relate to this foodstuff within the scope of their own realities, as onions and garlic gloves.

Moses complains, "Where shall I find meat for them?"(13:11), and has difficulty carrying them in his arms. Moses refuses to pass up on this opportunity and forsake what he perceives to be the absolute, divine reality. He finds himself incapable of relating to a reality that runs according to the natural laws of existence, inherently inferior to the Divine existential rules. Moses does not have the capability to educate the people, step- by-step, like children. He can only lead those who have already achieved a significant level of Divine worship, who do not need to relate to Hashem via their natural, physical needs.

Moses is unaware of his level. He believes his path is eminently suitable for any human being on any level. Aharon and Miriam also fail to recognize Moses' level, until Hashem, Himself, in all His glory, reveals to them that only Moses is allowed to be on this level ; he is not having delusions of grandeur. However, in the parsha, Hashem taught that Judaism can relate to and sanctify any reality, no matter what level it may be on; Moses prefers to lead a nation of prophets: "Would that the entire people of Hashem could be prophets"(11:29).

The story of the seventy elders who achieve prophecy through Moses' beneficence comes to teach that Moses must descend to the level of the people—even if this means giving up on his unique level—in order to benefit levels of Divine reality lower than his own.