Parashat HaShavua - Yitro
Who has more decision making authority, Moshe or Bnei Yisrael? One might think Moshe, of course, as the greatest leader of our people. A closer look at Parashat Yitro, however, causes one to think again. According to Shadal (Samuel David Luzzato, Italy, 1800-1865), Bnei Yisrael is presented with the Torah in a way that they had a choice whether to accept it. “Moshe came and called the elders of the people and put before them all that the Lord had commanded him / וַיָּבֹ֣א מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּקְרָ֖א לְזִקְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיָּ֣שֶׂם לִפְנֵיהֶ֗ם אֵ֚ת ל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוָּ֖הוּ יְהֹוָֽה׃” (Ex. 19:7) Comments Shadal on the word “before them / לִפְנֵיהֶ֗ם”: “whatever is in front of a person, is at their disposal and under their control to enjoy as they wish and do with it as they see fit /ומה שהוא לפני האדם, הוא ברשותו ותחת ידו ליהנות בו כחפצו ולעשות בו כטוב בעיניו, והבא לעכב על ידו יקחהו תחלה מלפניו; ולפיכך הושאלה מלת לִפְנֵי להורות שהדבר הוא ברשות פלוני ליהנות בו כרצונו.”
At that moment, Bnei Yisrael had a choice. As Shadal continues: “When Moshe told Israel the words of God, he left it up to them whether to accept or not to accept, because the beginning of the giving of the Torah to Israel was not by way of command or compulsion, but according to their will, and with a desire in their hearts, they entered into a covenant with the Lord their God / כי משה הגיד לישראל את דברי ה', והניח הענין ברשותם לקבל ושלא לקבל, כי תחלת נתינת התורה לישראל לא היתה דרך צווי והכרח, אלא ברצונם ובנפש חפצה באו בברית את ה' אלהיהם.”
And Moshe? He, meanwhile, has nowhere near the same degree of choice as Bnei Yisrael! In Chapter 19 verse 3, “the Lord called to [Moshe] from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus shall you say to the house of Yaakov and declare to the children of Israel’ / וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֵלָ֤יו יְהֹוָה֙ מִן־הָהָ֣ר לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לְבֵ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְתַגֵּ֖יד לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃.” (Ex. 19) Moshe dutifully goes to the elders, as described in verse 7 quoted above, and puts God’s words before them. Bnei Yisrael made their choice: “All those assembled answered as one, saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” / וַיַּעֲנ֨וּ ל־הָעָ֤ם יַחְדָּו֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֑ה,” after which “Moshe brought back the people’s words to the Lord / וַיָּ֧שֶׁב מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י הָעָ֖ם אֶל־יְהֹוָֽה.” (Ex. 19:8)
Moshe, to say the least, is not in this for himself. This is even echoed in the context of one of the most glorious moment’s of Moshe’s leadership, after the splitting of the sea last week in. Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, based on the teaching of Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin in his book Tzidkat HaTzedek, observes as much when the Torah tells us that Bnei Yisrael “believed in the Lord and in Moshe his servant / וַיַּֽאֲמִ֙ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהֹוָ֔ה וּבְמֹשֶׁ֖ה עַבְדּֽוֹ.” (Ex. 14:31) You might think the statement that Bnei Yisrael believes directly in Moshe is very much about Moshe, even as he is also described as God’s servant. However, according to Tzidkat HaTzedek, says Rabbi Shapira, this wasn’t only – or maybe even primarily – about Moshe (https://mercazharav.org.il):
“The meaning is that they also believed in themselves. They believed that the Holy Blessed One who sits in heaven wants to see what the people here on earth are doing. They believed that just as the Holy Blessed One cares about our Moshe our teacher – who is indeed a prophet, but after all he is flesh and blood – is a sign that the Holy Blessed One is also interested in what we do. Says Rabbi Tzadok, this is also included in “and they believed in the Lord and in Moshe his servant,” that Bnei Yisrael at this moment understood that they were important to God.
"הכוונה היא שהם האמינו גם בעצמם. הם האמינו שהקב"ה היושב בשמים רוצה לראות מה עושות הבריות שנמצאות פה בארץ. הם האמינו שכמו שאכפת לקב"ה ממשה רבינו שאמנם הוא נביא, אבל אחרי הכל הוא בשר ודם, סימן שלקב"ה יש עניין גם במה שאנחנו עושים. אומר ר" צדוק, גם זה כלול ב"ויאמינו בה" ובמשה עבדו" – שלבני ישראל התברר שהם חשובים לפני המקום."
This expectation of leadership is of course challenging for anyone, including Moshe. It is not surprising that Moshe himself does not fully own the biggest mistake he made, in light of his limited personal agency. In Bemidbar we read that after Moshe hits a rock for water at Mei Merivah, rather than speaking to it as God instructed, God informs Moshe and Aharon that they “shall not bring this assembly to the Land which I have given them / לֹ֤א תָבִ֨יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם.” (Nu. 20:12) However, in Devarim when Moshe is later recounting some of what has happened over the years in the wilderness, he attributes his exclusion from Israel to the Sin of the Spies: “The Lord was also angry with me because of you, saying, ‘Neither will you go there…’ / גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף יְהֹוָ֔ה בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹֽא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם.” (Deut. 1:37) Perhaps it is his limited personal sense of agency that leads him to say that he is a victim of bad choices by Bnei Yisrael.
Nevertheless, Moshe remains our paradigm of leadership, closer than anyone else to perfection. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains (The Leader as Servant):
“In Judaism leadership is not a matter of status but of function. A leader is not one who holds himself higher than those he or she leads. That, in Judaism, is a moral failing not a mark of stature. The absence of hierarchy does not mean the absence of leadership. An orchestra still needs a conductor. A play still needs a director. A team still needs a captain.
“A leader need not be a better instrumentalist, actor or player than those he leads. His role is different. He must coordinate, give structure and shape to the enterprise, make sure that everyone is following the same script, traveling in the same direction, acting as an ensemble rather than a group of prima donnas. He has to have a vision and communicate it. At times he has to impose discipline. Without leadership even the most glittering array of talents produces, not music but noise. That is not unknown in Jewish life, then and now.”
May we see a time soon when more of our leaders heed this call, when they recognize their obligation to serve the people they lead.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor