Jan 8/05 — Shabbat Vaera: Two Tasks Entangled

Commentary by Rabbi Larry Pinsker

Last week we read about how the leaders of the Israelite tribes slipped away rather than lend support to Moses and Aaron. (See last week’s reading, Exodus 3:16-18, 29-31 and 5:1). Now things have gone from bad to worse: Moses has asked Pharaoh to permit the Israelites to go and worship God in the wilderness. Instead, Pharaoh punishes them with even more labour.

So it is understandable that the Israelites reject Moses. We know that when people are oppressed for centuries, their spirits are so diminished that even hope may be too great a risk.

Even Moses is at risk in this moment: the Israelites have trusted him, but he has failed them. Then Moses admits to God that he feels inadequate to the task of liberating the Israelites. The classical Midrash offers a remarkable commentary on the nature of leadership, drawn from the text of God’s reply to a Moses wracked with doubts. The midrash expands God’s charge to Moses with breathtaking candor:

My children are obstinate, bad tempered, and troublesome. In assuming leadership over them, you must expect that they will curse you and even stone you.

God advises Moses not to retreat, but rather to associate with the leaders among the people. He must lead them not with anger but rather with gentleness. He must be sovel—patient and tolerant—to them and even to Pharaoh.

Remarkably, our traditional sources convey the message that the true leader, the one who truly represents God, must be respectful toward both the oppressed and the oppressor.

To inspire the Israelites to have faith and to renew their hope, Moses must give them a genuine alternative to Pharaoh. Moses must earn their trust by forging a different relationship, demonstrating that the God of Israel is different from the gods of Egypt. To be an effective leader and take the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses does not need to be a brilliant speaker or the commander of a great army. He needs to serve God with compassion and an open heart. The mission is to lead them out of Egypt but also to repair their spirits. The two tasks are inseparable.