Parshas Va’Eschanan July 28, 2023
Eicha & Shabbas Nachamu
Most of us have been in a situation where we have been offered or considered taking a leadership role. Often these opportunities exist in nonprofit work such as schools, shuls, or Yeshivos. What likely goes through our minds when we ponder getting involved is the cost benefit of our participation.
In addition to the typical considerations of time and energy and our conviction as to the importance of the project we likely also contemplate deeper philosophical questions. Are us average people ‘required’ by morality/HaShem to undertake such responsibilities? Additionally, what about the negative components of leadership in terms of how other people may (complain) make demands on our time,energy, and patience? Simply put what does the Torah say about an individual’s OBLIGATION to engage in leadership despite its many pitfalls?
One of the very perplexing topics in the Torah is the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu is barred from entering Eretz Yisrael. The Torah is very clear in several places that the reason Moshe is banned is for the incident of the Waters of Meriva and his “not sanctifying HaShem”.
(B’Midbar 20:12)-
But HaShem said to Moshe and Aharon, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”
Rashi to this sentence-
BECAUSE YE BELIEVED ME NOT —
Scripture discloses the fact that but for this sin alone, Moshe would have entered the land of Canaan, in order that people should not say of them, “Even as the sin of the generation of the Wilderness (a term used of those who left Egypt) on whom it was decreed that they should not enter the Land was the sin of Moshe and Aharon”
Here is another comment from Rashi later in B’Midbar that emphasizes this point even more distinctly.
(B’Midbar 27:13)
[THOU SHALT BE GATHERED TO THY PEOPLE] AS AHARON THY BROTHER WAS GATHERED —
Another explanation: you will die as he died (in the wilderness) because you are no better than he (Midrash Tanchuma, Pinchas 9). —
Such indeed is suggested by (Deuteronomy 32:50. 51): “[and die … as Aharon thy brother died …] because you sanctified me not”. Thus it follows, if ye (both of you) had sanctified me your time would not have yet come to depart this life and you would not have died in the wilderness (Sifrei Bamidbar 137:1).
In every passage where it writes about their death you will find that it writes about their offense. Because a decree had been made against the generation of the wilderness (those who left Egypt) that they should die in the wilderness on account of the sin that they did not have faith in God, therefore Moshe requested that the nature of his offense should be stated in the Torah, so that people might not say, “He, too, was one of those “rebels”.
A parable: It may be compared to the case of two women who were punished by the Court; one was an immoral woman and one had merely eaten unripe figs of the sabbatical year’s growth. The latter, therefore, requested that the nature of her offense might be made public, and they did so by proclamation.
So, too, here: wherever it mentions the deaths of Moshe and Aharon it mentions also their misdeed, in order to make it known that there was only this single sin in them (Tanchuma 4:6:10 on חקת; Yoma 86b; cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 137:2).
From the above sentences and commentary of Rashi we can conclude that the reason Moshe is banned from Eretz Yisrael is because of his not sanctifying HaShem at The Waters of Meriva. The reason this is so astonishing is because both in Parshas D’varim and here in this week’s Parsha, Va’Eschanan the Torah explicitly states that HaShem was angry at Moshe BECAUSE of the Jewish People!
In Parshas D’varim when Moshe recounts the Sin of the Spies we find the following (D’varim 1:35-38)-
Not one of those involved, this evil generation, shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers—
none except Calev son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his descendants will I give the land on which he set foot, because he remained loyal to HaShem—
Because of you, HaShem was incensed with me too, saying: You shall not enter it either.
Yehoshua son of Nun, who attends you, he shall enter it. Imbue him with strength, for he shall apportion it to Israel.
In Parshas Va’Eschanan when Moshe is pleading for permission to cross into Eretz Yisrael he says (D’varim 3:25-26)-
“Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and Lebanon.”
But HaShem was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me. HaShem said to me, “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again!”
Rashi 3:26
ON ACCOUNT OF YOU —
You caused this for me (that G-d was wroth with me);
similarly, it states, (Psalms 106:32) “And they provoked Him at the waters of Meriva, and He did evil to Moshe on their account".
The upshot of these passages from D’varim and Va’Eschanan is that it is seemingly because of HaShem’s anger at the Jewish People that Moshe is constrained from entering Eretz Yisrael NOT because he failed at The Waters of Meriva!
Q- How can we reconcile the idea of Moshe’s culpability as based on his not sanctifying HaShem at The Waters of Meriva versus the concept that Moshe is banned from Eretz Yisrael because of HaShem’s anger at the Jewish Nation?
We know that leadership of the Jewish People is a perilous undertaking based on several verses and rabbinical commentary. (See B’.Midbar 11:28 with Rashi)
Perhaps the most pertinent source for today’s discussion as to the dangers of being a leader of the Jewish People is from Parshas D’varim. This verse is actually directly related to Tish’a B’Av in that it is a lamentation that Moshe declares regarding his inability to properly lead the Jewish People by himself.
(D’varim 1:12)-
How (Eicha) can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!
Indeed, according to Rashi (D’varim 1:9) this truth is told to Moshe by HaShem!
AND I SPAKE UNTO YOU AT THAT TIME, SAYING —
What is the force of לאמר, (lit., to say. i.e. being bidden to say)?
Moses, in effect, said unto them: Not of myself do I tell you that I am not able to bear you, but by the bidding of the Holy One, blessed be He.
(Sifrei Devarim 9:1)
Also, the Rabbis teach us that 3 prophets prophesied with the word Eicha; Moshe (in this upcoming verse) Yeshaya (Yeshaya 1:21) and Yirmiyah in the opening verse of Eicha (Lamentations 1:1).
Here is the overall context to this narrative of Moshe Rabbeinu at the start of the Book of D’varim.
(D’varim 1:9-16)
At that time I said to you saying, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.
HaShem your God has multiplied you until you are today as numerous as the stars in the sky.
May HaShem the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousandfold, and bless you as He promised you.
How (Eicha) can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!
Pick from each of your tribes’ men who are wise, discerning, and experienced, and I will appoint them as your heads.”
You answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.”
So I took your tribal leaders, wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you: chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens, and officials for your tribes.
Now let’s see another comment from Rashi and then we will pose two questions.
(Rashi 1:9)
I AM NOT ABLE [TO BEAR YOU] ALONE —
Is it possible that Moses was not able to judge Israel? The man who brought them forth from Egypt, and divided the sea for them, and made the Manna fall, and collected the quails, was not he able to judge them?!
But thus, did he say unto them, ה' אלהיכם הרבה אתכם THE LORD YOUR GOD HATH MADE YOU GREAT (הרבה) —
He has made you superior to and has placed you higher than your judges, inasmuch as He takes the punishment off you and places it upon your judges.
Solomon made a similar statement (namely that the Jewish judge may easily make himself liable to punishment): “For who is able to judge this thy grievous people?” (1 Kings 3:9).
Is it possible that he of whom it is said, (1 Kings 5:11) “He was wiser than all men”, should say, "Who is able to judge”? But this did Solomon mean: The judges of this people are not like the judges of other peoples, for if one of the latter gives judgment and wrongly sentences a person to death by the sword, or to flagellation, or to strangulation, or wrests his justice and thus robs him of his due, it is regarded as of little importance (lit., there is nothing at all in that);
I, however, if I unjustly sentence a person to pay even a sum of money, my life is required of me, as it is said, (Proverbs 22:23) “And He robs of their life those who rob them."
(Sifrei Devarim 9:2; Sanhedrin 7a).
From many of the above passages we learn of the tremendous difficulties Moshe incurred because of his leadership of the Jewish People. A critical piece of the understanding of all of this is the concept that Rashi teaches that the punishment of the people (being led) is placed upon their judges and leadership. Also, that it is specifically JEWISH leadership that suffers this terrible outcome, NOT the judges and leaders of other nations!
Here are 4 questions.
1. If we are to posit that Jewish Leaders are punished even when they have led and judged their constituents properly; WHY SHOULD they suffer if they’ve done nothing wrong?
2. If on the other hand we posit that the Jewish Leaders have IMPROPERLY led their followers why would non-Jewish leaders be different? Shouldn’t ALL leaders of ALL nations be equal in their responsibility to lead and adjudicate correctly?
3. This word Eicha as it is used in this week’s Parsha seems to be describing Moshe Rabbeinu’s personal difficulties in handling the numerous challenges of leading a very large and important nation and all of their needs. Why do the Rabbis see fit to correlate Moshe Rabbeinu’s usage of the word Eicha with the word Yirmiyahu uses to describe our exiles throughout the millennia?
4. Why become a Jewish Leader?
We will start by positing a philosophical concept and support it with teachings from our Rabbis to build on the theme.
The critical idea being discussed here is that HaShem’s creation performs properly only when man’s behavior is moral and just, as is ultimately modeled for us by the Torah. For example, we see when the generation of the flood perverted their actions to unspeakably dire levels the world could not continue to sustain itself.
The Talmud (Tractate Shabbas 10a) tells us:
Any judge who judges a true judgment truthfully, even if he sits in judgment only one hour, the verse ascribes to him as if he became a partner to the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the act of Creation (as by means of a true judgment he upholds the world -Me’iri).
(This conclusion is derived by means of a verbal analogy [gezera shava]: It is written here: “And the people stood over Moses from the morning until the evening.” And it is written there, in the act of Creation: “And it was evening, and it was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5).)
The statement that a true judge is tantamount to a partner with HaShem in creation is based on our initial premise. Truthful judging means bringing the world to a more optimal state of performance. A properly functioning judicial system is the most basic prerequisite for world order and one who implements this is taking a partnership role in the continued maintenance of creation.
The notion of Jewish Leadership is to properly implement the correct operating system of creation. Thus a Jewish Leader is helping to ensure that creation operates correctly in all aspects. Ecology, morality, creativity, physics, and all necessary components of existence will only function correctly to the extent that the Jewish People have a leadership that is guiding them correctly.
HaShem made a perfect system but for it to run smoothly and continuously there needs to be correctly applied justice. This was implemented at Sinai preceding our reception of the Ten Commandments, and immediately following them we have the Parsha of Mishpatim, laws that the court system is required to enforce. This is because the giving of the Torah, the pivotal moment which justified the entire creation, is practically applied through our justice system.
Moshe here is telling the Jews that HaShem was ready for our nation to take on the mission of bringing the world to its ultimate maximization, but Moshe couldn’t do it alone. He needed the help of other Jews willing to take leadership roles and handle the responsibility of dispensing justice.
The downside of all of this of course is that when Jewish leadership is not properly effective there will then be an unraveling of creation. THIS unraveling is indeed the responsibility of the Jewish Leadership. It’s not that the leadership necessarily did anything WRONG but they did not do enough RIGHT.
And this is the rallying cry of the word “eicha.” The book of Eicha is written in alphabetically ordered verses because the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are the DNA of the universe. In fact, the Rabbis tell us that HaShem used these letters to create the world.
Both Moshe and Yirmiyahu used the word “eicha” to make the same point: when the Jewish leaders aren’t judging in a manner that instills proper behavior among their constituents, and thus fail to maximize the effectiveness of creation as a whole, they are essentially unraveling the fundamental DNA of the universe. This is the real tragedy of galus, the real lamentation of our downfallen state. It isn’t just about what we are missing, it’s about the whole world not operating at its highest level of productivity.
The responsibility of non-Jewish leadership is to make sure that a system of justice exists so that human beings do mot sink into chaos and lawlessness. As long as they are trying to implement justice, they are fulfilling their responsibility even IF they make mistakes in judgment. This is because as long as they maintain a system of justice whereby, they often adjudicate correctly they will prevent anarchy from occurring.
In contrast, Jewish judges must do more than hold the people accountable. The overarching responsibility of Jewish Leadership is to be effective in making the operation system of creation function properly and bring about the ultimate completion of HaShem’s creation.
Now we can understand that Moshe’s failure at the Waters of Meriva was that he did not bring about a GREATER sanctification of HaShem and NOT that he desecrated HaShem’s Name, G-d forbid. His insufficiency was that by not giving the Jews the experience they were supposed to have at Merivah, they were fundamentally lacking and could not achieve an aspect of their potential.
HaShem is angry at Moshe because of the fact of the Jewish Nation’s failure to successfully enter the land of Israel as they were intended: without weapons and with the obvious Presence of HaShem among them clearly visible to all as it was by the Splitting of the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai, and in the Desert.
Ona deeper level, HaShem was angry at Moshe not because of what he did wrong, but because the Jews’ failure to enter the Land as they were meant to before the sin of the spies was a real deficiency in the nation’s development. The deficit of the sanctity that would have been attributed to HaShem’s Name necessarily means a missing opportunity for the Jewish people to become who they were supposed to be.
The notion of Jewish Leadership is more than just avoiding wrong decisions, it’s about doing everything right. Taking this a step further, HaShem’s designs are thwarted when the Jewish leaders fail to bring about the ultimate level of success, and this is something HaShem laments.
An Amora relates in Tractate B’rachos 3a:
Elijah said to me: What voice did you hear in that ruin?
I responded: I heard a Heavenly voice, like an echo of that roar, of the Holy One, Blessed be He (Maharsha), cooing like a dove and saying: Woe to the children, due to whose sins I destroyed My house, burned My Temple, and exiled them among the nations.
And Elijah said to me: By your life and by your head, not only did that voice cry out in that moment, but it cries out thus three times each and every day.
The word Eichah is invoked when the failure of the Jewish People to bring creation to its fulfillment is being lamented.
The questions we need to deal with are, why do we have such a hard time finding effective Jewish leaders? What makes so many people shy away from these responsibilities? And what in fact are the upsides to taking on these positions?
We need to understand that the root of our distaste for leadership is a feeling that it isn’t really our responsibility. It’s a sense that someone else should do it, that it isn’t really our job. It is a feeling of entitlement and consumerism and that everything should be provided for the sake of our convenience.
Everyone is asking which community should I join? What shul should I be davening at? Which school should I send my children to? Nobody is asking how they can step in and take responsibility to improve the already existing organizations and structures that they are part of.
The mindset of working to build and enhance our community is becoming more and more scarce. And it is a huge problem that faces our nation today. We look at the great examples of leaders of the past and decide it’s not for us.
A widespread delusion is that by shirking responsibility we escape from accountability, but this is a massive mistake. Even those who DO take leadership roles must face consequences when errors are made, surely the backlash of these faults will affect us as well. Avoiding the mantle of responsibility will not save us from the repercussions of failure.
The fallacy is that everyone wants to be consumers and not take productive leadership roles, and then wonders why Mashiach is not here. Moshe used the word “eicha” to describe a people who refuse to take on the burden of leading, and only through internalizing this will we be able to end our long exile.
The benefits of leadership are typified and embodied by Moshe. Leaders gain access to special Divine assistance and connection. They are imbued with a special light and power, which Moshe epitomized.
The reason for this is HaShem’s primary focus in creation is the Jewish People. HaShem appears and speaks and connects to the Jewish Leaders specifically BECAUSE they are taking responsibility for HIS children/nation.
(Rashi D’varim 2:16)
SO, IT CAME TO PASS WHEN [ALL THE MEN OF WAR] HAD COME TO AN END … THAT THE LORD SPOKE TO ME etc. —
But from when the spies were sent forth until now, the word וידבר is not mentioned in this section, but ויאמר,
to teach you that during these entire thirty eight years during which the Israelites were lying under G-d’s censure, the Divine speech was not directed towards Moshe in an expression of affection, face to face, and with tranquility of mind — to teach you that the Shechinah rests upon the prophets only for Israel’s sake.
(Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 2 13; Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:5; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 1:1 towards end).
We see Moshe Rabeinu is the primary example of a leader who is imbued with special spirit and light specifically BECAUSE of his being the leader and Torah giver of the Jewish People. Indeed, Moshe’s own spirit is used to instill the 70 Elders and Yehoshua with Divine Spirit as well.
Thus, the hesitation that many people have not to undertake leadership is understandable because they do not want to take responsibility. Nonetheless people do not realize that they ALREADY HAVE that responsibility as members of the Jewish People! There simply cannot be a Mashiach and ultimate success in project creation unless we Jewish People step into our ultimate responsibility and destiny. Furthermore, IF we step into our proper leadership roles, we will be connected to HaShem in ways that are otherwise impossible. The fulfillment that comes with our being leaders is a life full of connection to HaShem, elevated spirit, and divine inspiration.
Practical Applications
1. The notion of Jewish Leadership is to properly implement the correct operating system of creation. Thus, a Jewish Leader is helping to ensure that creation operates correctly in all aspects. Ecology, morality, creativity, physics, and all necessary components of existence will only function correctly to the extent that the Jewish People have a leadership that is effective.
2. We need to understand that the root of our distaste for leadership is a feeling that it isn’t really our responsibility. It’s a sense that someone else should do it, and that it isn’t really our job. It is a feeling of entitlement and consumerism and that everything should be provided for the sake of our convenience.
3. There simply cannot be a Mashiach and ultimate success in project creation unless we Jewish People step into our ultimate responsibility and destiny. Furthermore, IF we step into our proper leadership roles, we will be connected to HaShem in ways that are otherwise impossible. The fulfillment that comes with our being leaders is a life full of connection to HaShem, elevated spirit, and divine inspiration.
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