Devarim

The midrash describes the reaction of the Jews when Hashem speaks to them. ‎ When the Jews heard the first two utterances from Hashem, the evil inclination was removed from their hearts but once they asked Moshe to be the one to speak to them, the evil inclination returned.  Moshe, therefore, was upset with them that they didn't want to hear directly from Hashem but rather wanted to hear from him. 

A similar incident occurs in our parsha.  Moshe proposed the idea that he appoint others to assist in judging & teaching them; the people eagerly jumped at the idea, so Moshe was upset at them that they wanted to learn from his students rather than from him. He felt that they were taking a step down by learning from the students & not from Moshe himself. 

This seems to be an opposite reaction. Moshe gets angry because they didn't want him to lead & didn't want to learn from him, yet by the ten utterances, he got angry because they did want him to lead and wanted to learn from him. What was the difference?

In our parsha, what would be the benefit of hearing from Moshe directly? Simply understood, we would say that there is benefit in receiving information from a primary source rather than a secondary one. Since Moshe heard directly from Hashem, he would give it over much more clearly. 
Rashi, however, explains differently & says that the reason the Jews should have insisted on learning from Moshe was that he suffered to acquire his Torah. Torah acquired through toil is of a much higher quality. When a student knows that his teacher worked hard to acquire the knowledge, the student develops a greater appreciation for the teacher’s words and will exert himself to the utmost to understand his teachings. 

The story is told of Reb Shimon Shkop who studied in the Yeshiva of Volozhin under the Netziv. However, Reb Shimon did not usually attend the Netziv's classes. One night, when Reb Shimon was studying late at night, he was having a very hard time understanding the commentary of the Rashbam. As he was grappling with it, the Netziv walked into the Bais Medrash so Reb Shimon asked him to help understand the Rashbam. The Netziv replied "this Rashbam"? My dear child, in order to understand this Rashbam, I more than once went to the graves of my forefathers to pray to Hashem that he help me understand His Torah. Such was the awe with which Reb Shimon received this pronouncement, that, from that day on, he attended all the Netziv's classes, for someone to work so hard & to go pray that he understand his learning was someone to learn from.   

Returning to our two incidents, the difference might be this point of working for it. By the judges, Moshe wanted them to learn from him because he worked so hard to get it; he toiled and went without food or sleep for forty days & nights. With all the effort he put in, he felt they should learn from him. However, when they ‎wanted to learn from him & not straight from Hashem, it was for the opposite reason. They didn't want to put in the extra effort that it took to learn directly from Hashem.

What we have to learn from this is not to take the easy way out. We should not give up because something is difficult. We have to learn from Moshe that it's the effort, the work, the toil that pays off.  That's what counts & is what he was trying to impress upon the people. Put in the effort; the more toil one has to put in,  is, the more one will gain!‎
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