Parshat Shemot

So now, go! I will be with your mouth,

and I will instruct you what you shall speak.

(Shemot 4:12)

 

The midrash states (Yalkut 183):

If it says I will be with your mouth, why does it also say, and I will instruct; and if it says and I will instruct, why does it say I will be with your mouth? Rather, I will be with your mouth refers to the ability to speak, while and I will instruct refers to hidden wisdom revealed to him by the Holy One, blessed be He, all the hidden treasures of wisdom and Torah and science, and the hidden treasures of life. He showed him what would be in the future in the World to Come, and when he saw the retinue of the Holy One, blessed be He, with many groups of scribes and Sanhedrin sitting in the Hewn Chamber [Lishkat Hagazit], expounding upon the Torah with forty-nine aspects tending towards declaring things clean and forty-nine aspects tending towards declaring them unclean, and He showed him Rabbi Akiva expounding upon the crowns of the letters, he said: "I have no business being the messenger of the Omnipresent," for it is said, But he said, "I beseech You, O Lord, send now [Your message] with whom You would send." What did the Holy One blessed be He do? He sent him to the Prince of Wisdom who took hold of Moses and brought him to a certain place and showed him the retinue of the Holy One blessed be He, with tens and tens of thousands of Sanhedrins sitting and expounding, and saying "It is a halakha received by Moses on Sinai." Moses was immediately placated.

According to this midrash, and I will instruct you what you shall speak is interpreted as meaning "I will show you all that will be innovated, uttered, learned, and taught in the future - all in your name." That is the meaning of what you shall speak, and all of this took place so that he [Moses] would not deprecate himself so much.

(Siftei Kohen Shemot 4:11)

 

and I will instruct you [vehoreitikha] - Vehoreitikha does not derive from yoreh, but rather from harah - to absorb a living germ within oneself (as holikh derives from halakh). Horeh, to lay an organic living germ in someone else. It is the noblest expression for teaching, that which is taught is to be laid, as an intellectual or spiritual germ, in the mind of the pupil, taken up by the latter and nursed to grow into an intellectual living organism, even as the germ grows in the mother's womb.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch Shemot 4:11, based on Levi translation)

 

Moshe Rabbenu: The Making of a Leader

Yehonatan Chipman

The Torah does not tell us much about the personal lives of its heroes. This is particularly true of Moshe Rabbenu, "the father of the prophets," a monumental figure, understood by Hazal as standing between heaven and earth. The little that we do know about Moses' private life appears in the present week's Torah portion, Parashat Shemot, in which we learn about his birth, his coming to maturity, and his early life before he became "Moses our Teacher," "the man of God," the vehicle through which the Torah was given to Israel ("The Torah commanded us by Moses is a heritage of the community of Jacob"). However, it seems to me that these chapters, particularly Exodus 2–4, may be read under the heading of "the making of a leader." Through a careful reading of these passages, one may see how Moses developed and was prepared for leadership, through a series of formative events.

We begin with his birth, with the cruel decree of Pharaoh that "every son born shall be cast into the Nile," and his being saved and adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh (albeit, his true mother, Yocheved, arranged to be near him in infancy in the role of wet nurse). The fact of his growing up in the royal palace afforded him a certain degree of leisure: an opportunity to learn, to think, to look at the world around him, without the oppressive burden of slavery that was the lot of his brethren. Indeed, it is interesting to note that many of the revolutionary leaders in world history, even those who lead movements of the most miserable and downtrodden people, grew up in the middle class, in relatively comfortable circumstances, which gave them greater opportunities for intellectual development and breadth of perspective.

The first act by which Moses broke the conventions of the social framework within which he had been raised was the murder of the Egyptian. Here he expressed his anger and moral passion, his understanding of the injustice involved in his own social milieu. But he did so in an impulsive manner, without much thought or consideration of the long-term results - very much in the manner of young people who first discover the injustice in the world and feel the need to act.

In the next verse Moses intervenes in a dispute between "two Hebrew people who were quarreling," saying to "the wicked one" (that is, the aggressor), "Why do you hit your fellow?" He does not use violence in order to turn the aggressor from his actions; rather, he tries to address his feelings of brotherhood, of belonging to the same community. Here too he acts in an intuitive manner, but without understanding how to persuade the other. The latter derides him in a mocking, scornful manner, causing Moses to realize that "Indeed, the matter [i.e., of the murder of the Egyptian] has become known," and that he must flee Egypt. He goes into exile, to the wilderness of Midian, where once again, his natural sense of justice moves him to action - this time, to save a group of maidens, seven sisters, who have come to draw water from the well, from the shepherds who are harassing them. Their father invites him to his home and, in due course, he marries one of the daughters, Zipporah, and becomes a member of the household.

What was Yitro's role in Moses' development? The Torah tells us very little about him; however, I would like to suggest that he served as a kind of father figure in Moses' life. He did not at all know his natural father, Amram, as his parents were forced to place him in the basket in the bulrushes while he was still an infant, simply to save his life. It also seems reasonable to assume that Pharaoh, the cruel tyrant in whose home he grew up, was not exactly a positive educational model (to rather understate the case). Thus, Yitro may well have served as a significant educator and moral guide. (This is possibly expressed in the great honor shown him by Moses when the latter came to visit him in the wilderness; see Exodus 18).

Moses' lengthy stay in Midian also served as a period of preparation for the central task of his life which he was to fulfill in the future. Again, in the biographies of great leaders we often read of a period of exile - whether in prison, in remote places such as Siberia, or simple periods of "gestation," spent studying, reading, thinking about the world - before they emerged onto the stage of public life. Thus, the Midrash relates that Moses' work as a shepherd served as a kind of preparation, or testing, for his future function as a leader:

"And Moses was a shepherd" (Exodus 3:1). The blessed Holy One does not give greatness to a man until he tests him in a small thing, and thereafter raises him up to greatness. Thus, two great figures were examined by the blessed Holy One in a small matter and found trustworthy, and were then raised to greatness. David was examined in shepherding the flock... as was Moses.

Our Rabbis said: When Moses our Teacher, of blessed memory, was shepherding the flock of Yitro in the wilderness, a kid ran away, and he ran after him until he arrived at a bulbous plant (allium). When he came to the plant he saw a pool of water where the kid was standing and drinking. Moses came up to him and said, "I did not know that you were running because you were thirsty. You must be tired." So he placed him on his shoulder and carried him back. The blessed Holy One said to him: You have shown compassion to shepherd the flock of flesh and blood; by your life, you shall shepherd my flock Israel. This is: "And Moses was a shepherd" (Exodus Rabbah 2.3; 2.2)

However, the decisive turning point in Moses' life was his direct encounter with God at Mount Horeb, at the bush that "burned but was not consumed." I would like to read this entire chapter as a kind of "lesson" which God gave Moses on the meaning of being a leader.

What is symbolized by God calling to him from within the bush? Was this a mere "curiosity," something contrary to the laws of nature, or something deeper? I find it reminiscent of the fire in the Temple, which burned constantly upon the altar without being extinguished. According to Hasidic teaching, this symbolizes the inner fire with which the heart of the true servant of God is constantly aflame; all the more so that the heart of a leader must burn like that bush with a constant passion and desire to fulfill his historical task of leading the people towards its destiny.

A leader has two basic functions: on the one hand, to represent the people before external factors (such as Pharaoh), to serve as a kind of "foreign minister," as a spokesman to the one who controls their lives; and, on the other hand, to lead the people, to educate them, to explain to them what they need to do, to encourage them, and comfort them in times of distress and trouble so that they not lose hope.

Thus, Moses' encounter with God began with a call for him to go to Pharaoh and to "take out My people, the children of Israel, from Egypt" - in the most literal sense. Thereafter Moses asks: "When the people ask me, ‘What is the name of this God' [who commands me to confront Pharaoh, the strong, frightening, omnipotent ruler of Egypt; to placed both myself and the people in a situation of new danger], what shall I tell them?" A leader must know how to speak to the people, how to overcome their doubts and hesitations and fears, and how to give them an answer (and it may well be that these same questions and misgivings reside in his own heart). God answers him with a rather laconic statement - possibly an answer, possibly a kind of vague promise: Ehyeh asher Ehyeh - "I will be that which I shall be." But immediately thereafter, He adds: "The Lord God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob has sent me to you; this is my name for ever, and this is my remembrance for every generation."

In the third stage, Moses asks what signs and proof he may bring the people in order to prove the truth of his words. At this stage he is given a series of signs and miracles to display to the people: the staff which turns into a serpent and back again; Moses' hand, which he places in his breast and becomes leprous, white as snow, and then returns to be living flesh; and the transformation of the water into blood - that is, an anticipation of the series of ten plagues. The idea here is that a true leader must know how to speak to the people on a level that they understand, even if on what seems the low, corporeal level of concretization, of miracles - and not only through abstract ideas about a transcendent God, understood by only a few.

Finally, in the fourth stage, God forces Moses to confront his own lack of self-confidence. Moses already expressed this at the beginning ("Who am I that I shall go to Pharaoh"), but at the end he returns to the same feeling: "for I am a man heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue." It is important that a leader believe in his own power to lead others; without that, he is lost from the outset. This is both the power and the danger involved in charisma: a charismatic person can generally convince others to follow him, whether he is an upright, ethical person who speaks words of truth and holiness, or whether he is a charlatan, a liar and an evil man (and we have experienced too many sad examples of the latter) - and the opposite is also the case. An honest and holy person, but lacking in this power, will influence, if at all, only a small, select group of people. This, unfortunately, is human nature.

At this stage, when Moses is on the verge of refusing God's mission, saying "Send with whom you shall send," God gives him an interesting answer: that he, God, has chosen him to be His messenger, and that even if there is a certain arbitrary element in this choice, He will be with him. (See on this Rambam's Hilkhot Yesodei ha-Torah 7.5; after Maimonides explains the preparations a person must undergo in preparing himself to be a prophet, he concludes that "it is possible that the Shekhinah may rest upon him, and it is possible that it will not do so"). Any person with certain talents can become a messenger of God; at a certain stage, God will give him the needed power. These things are particularly true if he is motivated by a sense of justice and of inner conviction of the rightness of the goal. The classic example of this is Gideon who, despite being from "the poorest clan in Manasseh, and the youngest in my father's house" was so deeply pained and upset by the suffering of the people under the yoke of the Midianites, that the angel said to him, "Go with this power of yours" - that is, his anger in itself transformed him into a potential leader.

But, in the final analysis, what strikes me here, in light of our contemporary experience, is what is not found here: there is no talking here of the leader's desire to himself be an "important person," to receive personal benefit from his position, to be wealthy or a "celebrity." Moses did not have a fancy office, nor a personal driver, nor a high salary; he did not enjoy first-class plane tickets or luxury suites in hotels. "Do not make them a spade with which to dig." A true leader thinks exclusively, his entire life, only of the benefit of the people and its needs, and not of the greatness which he can derive from being a leader. Once there were such leaders in Israel, who lived modest lives and moved among the people - and I refer here, not to the distant past, to biblical antiquity, but to leaders within the memory of people living today. Would that we might again merit to have such leaders.

Rabbi Jonathan Chipman is a translator by profession, and a scholar in Jewish studies. He writes a weekly sheet (in English) on the portion of the week and the Haftara, titled "Hitsei Yehonatan". (Anyone interested in ordering a sample of subscription can write via email to: yonarand@internet-zahav.net.

 

Even While on the Run, Moses Does not Desist from Fighting for Justice

But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a well... but the shepherds came and drove them off. Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock (Shemot 2: 15-17). Moses came and sat by the well but the shepherds came and drove them off. Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock. Moses came and sat in judgment upon them, he told them: "Usually, men draw the water and women water the flocks, here women draw the water while the men water the flocks; there is a perversion of justice here."

(Avot DeRabbi Natan 20:1)

 

"Come and note Moses' humility; even though he was fleeing like a commoner, and he saw the daughters of Yitro in distress, and he was not too proud to stand up and draw for them, but his soul was that of a son of the daughter of the king". This is to say that the awareness of his coming from the palace of the great Pharaoh did not prevent Moses our Teacher from standing by those unfortunate women who were robbed by the shepherds of Midian and acting on their behalf in their distress. From his first steps in approaching his brothers, upon seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he decided that the proper course of action is to intervene, to attack the attacker and to kill him. These events are testimony to his sensitivity to the suffering of people and to the quality of his leadership; from here we learn that he is qualified to be the faithful shepherd of his people.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Pashiyot haShavua, pp. 195-196)

 

The Place On Which You Stand - It Is Holy Ground! - What is Place?

Originally the Hebrew term makom (place) applied both to a particular spot and to space in general subsequently it received a wider signification and denoted "position," or "degree," as regards the perfection of man in certain things. We say, e.g., this man occupies a certain place in such and such a subject. In this sense this term, as is well known, is frequently used by authors, e.g., "He fills his ancestors' place (makom) in point of wisdom and piety"; "the dispute still remains in its place" (makom), i.e., in status quo [ante]. In the verse, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place (mekomo) (Ezekiel 3:12), makom has this figurative meaning, and the verse may be paraphrased "Blessed be the Lord according to the exalted nature of His existence," and wherever makom is applied to God, it expresses the same idea, namely, the distinguished position of His existence, to which nothing is equal or comparable, as will be shown below.

(RaMBaM: Guide for the Perplexed 31:8, Friedländer translation)

 

The word HaMakkom - "The place" is be understood figuratively, its application being that Moses' value was very high, as is written, Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who will rise in His holy place? One of clean hands and pure heart.

(Ha'amek Davar, Shemot 3:5)

 

And Abraham returned to his place - to his humanness; he did not continue to seclude himself and pray, even though it is possible to be alone and pray even without revelation of the Divine Presence; he nonetheless discontinued his contemplation of the Divinity once he understood the will of God, and returned to his place.

(Ha'amek Davar, Bereishit 18:33)

 

And I will go to my place and to my land - to my value, that I will not be a servant to others, and thus is its interpretation in Bereishit Rabbah on the verse And Laban returned to his place - to his bad habits.

(Ha'amek Davar Bereishit 30:25)

 

 

 

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