In Bereshit Rabbah we are told the following story, chapter 8:-

G-d dictated the verse “Let us make man” to Moses, Moses objected and said “Why should you give the heretics an occasion for error?” And Hashem said “Write as I dictate and if anyone desires to err, let him do so”.

Lets break it down in simple terms:-

1. A thing which is good ought to exist.
2. A thing which is bad ought not to exist.
3. Something which is both good and bad should or should not exist depending on which trait predominates.

“let us make man” – it is better for some to err (in G-d’s “view”) as the great moral lesson of – the great should not disdain from the advice of the small, predominates, as G-d “consulted” with His own creations of heaven and earth though He had no need to do so.

Rabbi Joseph Albo goes onto to state that in his opinion the words “let us make man” are used in order to make allusion to another point more profound and at the same essential.

The existence of the heavenly creatures (the celestial beings) have individual continuity – this indicates that there is a being with power to endow individual things with permanent existence as in the case of celestial beings – we shall call this Specific Permanence

At the same time there is a power that has caused the existence of us terrestrial beings to exist as a species and for that species to perpetuate but not to allow individuals to have permanent existence – we shall call this Species Permanence.

The above analysis leads to the erroneous opinion that there are “two creative Powers” – God forbid.

So why make man? To disprove the concept of “two powers” – how so?

This is achieved by uniting the “two powers” in Man namely that the general power that gives Species Permanence and the particular power that gives Specific Permanence.

Man shows from his combined and complex nature that all existences both celestial and terrestrial are the product of ONE being that possesses ALL POWERS.  Man has general qualities (Species Permanence) due to his matter and Man has permanence due to his SOUL. (Specific Permanence).

“And God said let us make man” God (Elokim) has all powers both general and particular – uniting the two in agreement and made Man in whom is combined these two seemingly contradictory qualities.

Thus, the creation of Man points to a single Being in whom all powers are united absolutely and shows that the Maker of man as a species and the Maker of man as an individual are one and the same.

We can therefore go onto surmise that Gods knowledge embraces particular things as well as general things.

Why does Hashem say “Moses Moses!  – his name is mentioned twice by God to show He knows Moses the individual in in his individuality and secondly as part of a species.

Just as God calls out Moses the individual we too should call out to God both when we are alone and as part of a congregation – in either case we can reach out to God without the need for any agent or prophet to intercede on our behalf – in fact this is what God wants more than anything for us to unite in Achdus and to call His name –  and to call His name even when we are completely alone – at both moments God is there for us – we must not be afraid of what the other people think.

From where do we see that we must not be afraid to heed the call of God but embrace the situation and adapt – as adaptation is the key to survival – the answer is found in this week’s Torah portion where we learn about the birth of Moses, his survival as an infant and escape from Egypt, within a few sentences Moses is now in Midian, married and settled into the life of shepherd tending to the flocks of his father-in-law  THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN EVERYTHING CHANGES AGAIN and Moses sees the burning bush and decides to go and investigate– within the space of just three short chapters – Moses transforms from a Prince of Egypt to a wanted man, to a shepherd and finally a prophet.

At each stage, at each decisive moment, God is with Moses on his journey to complete the Divine Plan – Moses had the unique quality of knowing when to react and make a change something which we today are deaf to and afraid of – we are stuck in our ways not prepared to change – we love our houses, our cars and so forth.

When God calls out “Moses Moses” – meaning I know you Moses I know your qualities and your flaws – Moses replies “Heneni” – “Here I am”  meaning  “ I am ready” – he was telling God I was ready from day one from birth.

The Rambam asks:

What is the difference between Moses’ prophecy and that of all the other prophets?

The Rambam proceeds to give several examples of Moses’s prophetic superiority such as:

1. Divine insight is bestowed upon all the other prophets in a dream or vision. Moses, our teacher, would prophesy while standing awake, as [Numbers 7:89] states: “When Moses came into the Tent of Meeting to speak to Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him.”

• Divine insight is bestowed upon all the other prophets through the medium of an angel. Therefore, they perceive only metaphoric imagery and allegories. Moses, our teacher, would prophesy without the medium of an angel, as [Numbers 12:8] states: “Mouth to mouth I speak to him,” and [Numbers 12:8] states: “He gazes upon the image of God” – i.e., there was no metaphor. Rather, he would perceive the matter in its fullness, without metaphor or allegory.

Moses’s appreciation of prophecy would not be through metaphor, but through open revelation, appreciating the matter in its fullness.

• All the [other] prophets are overawed, terrified, and confounded [by the revelations they experience], but Moses, our teacher, would not [respond in this manner], as [Exodus 33:11] relates: “[God spoke to Moses…] as a man speaks to a friend” – i.e., just as a person will not be awe-struck from hearing his friend’s words.

• So too, Moses’ mental power was sufficient to comprehend the words of prophecy while he was standing in a composed state.

• All the [other] prophets cannot prophesy whenever they desire. Moses, our teacher, was different. Whenever he desired, the holy spirit would envelop him, and prophecy would rest upon him. He did not have to concentrate his attention to prepare himself [for prophecy], because his [mind] was always concentrated, prepared, and ready [to appreciate spiritual truth] as the angels [are]. Therefore, he would prophesy at all times, as [Numbers 9:8] states: “Stand and hear what God will command you.”
  
  

He was promised this by God, as [implied by Deuteronomy 5:27-28]: “Go and tell them: `Return to your tents,’ but you stand here together with Me.”

•  This should be interpreted to mean: When prophecy departs from all the [other] prophets, they return to their “tents” – i.e., the needs of the body like other people.

Therefore, they do not separate themselves from their wives. Moses, our teacher, never returned to his original “tent.”

Moses separated himself from women and everything of that nature forever. He bound his mind to the Eternal Rock. [Accordingly,] the glory never left him forever. The flesh of his countenance shone, [for] he became holy like the angels.

The Rambam on prophecy that it is one of the foundations of the Jewish faith that God conveys prophecy to man.

Prophecy is bestowed only upon a very wise sage of a strong character, who is never overcome by his natural inclinations in any regard. Instead, with his mind, he overcomes his natural inclinations at all times…..

Further the Rambam writes in relation to such a person that “becomes” a prophet that

“He will advance and separate himself from the masses who proceed in the darkness of the time…..his mind should constantly be directed upward, bound beneath God’s throne of Glory, striving to comprehend the holy and pure forms and gazing at the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He….. ultimately this person will merit that:

“the divine spirit will immediately rest upon him.

Further, when the spirit rests upon him, his soul becomes intermingled with the angels called ishim, and he will be transformed into a different person and will understand with a knowledge different from what it was previously.

He will rise above the level of other wise men, as the prophet, Samuel told Saul [I Samuel 10:6]:

“The spirit of God will descend upon you and you shall prophesy with them. And you will be transformed into a different person”.

I believe what the Rambam is teaching us is that in order for us to change we need to work hard on ourselves unlike Moses (The Father of all prophets) to whom change/transformation came naturally and without hesitation. The latter though should not dishearten us but to the contrary the Rambam provides us with the formula for success and it is upon us to follow his words of advice.