The literary characters we most fall in love with are those who are flawed, imperfect, human, all-too-human. This tendency is one-thousand times more true with people in real life than with literary figures. Nobody wants to hang out with someone who is "perfect." And yet, society pressures us to wear a mask of innocence and perfection to the world. Ironically, it is "innocence" which threatens our popularity far more than our raw and dark sides. Franz Kafka's 1912 story "The Judgment" would elegantly demonstrate this idea. We want imperfection, not just with people, but also in art, particularly in music. Beethoven brilliantly discerned this. Moshe had been the image of perfection before God for decades. Yet, how did the Hebrews feel about him? When Moshe struck the rock, two times, he may have upset God, but he became much more popular with his people. Was God doing Moshe a favor?

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Music: Franz Schubert - "Auf dem Wasser zu Singen"