Leadership Lessons

Shalom,

This Shabbat we will be reading the first portion of the fifth book of Torah – Devarim – דברים  (words). 

This book is also called משנה תורה ‘MISHNEH TORAH’ – ‘Repetition of Torah‘.

It is called so, because in this book Moses appeals to People of Israel with the review (repetition) of the events that occurred and the laws that were given in the course of their forty-year journey from Egypt to Sinai to the Promised Land. 

In his appeal Moses rebukes the people for their failings and iniquities, enjoins them to keep the Torah and observe its commandments in the land that G‑d is giving them as an eternal heritage, into which they shall cross after his death..

Moses also recounts some more recent events:

• The refusal of the nations of Moab and Ammon to allow the Israelites to pass through their countries
• The wars against the Emorite kings Sichon and Og
   
• The settlement of their lands by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and part of the tribe of Manasseh
   
• Moses’ message to his successor, Joshua, who will take the people into the Land and lead them in the battles for its conquest: “Fear them not, for the L‑rd your G‑d, He shall fight for you.”

The Torah tells us when Moses spoke and rebuked the People of Israel:

וַיְהִי בְּאַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה בְּעַשְׁתֵּי עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה’ אֹתוֹ אֲלֵהֶם אַחֲרֵי הַכֹּתוֹ אֵת סִיחֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר יוֹשֵׁב בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן וְאֵת עוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן אֲשֶׁר יוֹשֵׁב בְּעַשְׁתָּרֹת בְּאֶדְרֶעִי

“It was in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, Moshe spoke to the Children of Israel like all God had commanded him about them, after his smiting Sichon the king of the Emori that live in Cheshbon and Og the king of the Bashan that live in Ashtarot in Edre’i.” (1:3-4)

QUESTIONS

Our Sages ask:

·       Why does the Torah tell that Moses spoke harshly to the nation after the victory over the kings Og and Sichon? 

·       What is the importance of this?

The Sages answer that from the way the Torah describes Moses’ words of rebuke, one should learn two things about the way a leader needs to go.

1.    The leader needs first of all to complete his actions to protect his people and only after that speak words of rebuke.   

Therefore, the Torah notes that Moses smote the enemies of Israel before he spoke to the nation of Israel.

2.   The leader should not speak words of rebuke at a time of danger.  He first of all needs to protect the nation from the enemies from the outside and only after the danger from the outside passes he can start to deal with the problems within the nation and the state.

One of the words in Hebrew for ‘Leader’ is  נָשִׂיא  – NASSEE

It comes from the root נשא meaning ‘to raise’. Therefore, נשיא means someone raised above other people.

It is interesting to mention that the same Hebrew word נשיא is also ‘Cloud’, which is also raised above earth.

The essence of clouds is to collect the water vapor originated in the earth, be raised above earth and then return the collected water back to the earth in the form of rain. 

So, their main function is to be raised above earth in order to make the earth benefit from their “high status’.  

Similarly, this is the main function of a true leader – to be raised above his people, not for his own sake, but only to make his people benefit from his higher position by getting back from him the good he had received from his people.   

Let us hope that our leaders learn and apply the above lessons.

Shabbat Shalom,

Orly & Yoel