Parshat Vaera Think Tank

THINK TANK

RELUCTANT LEADER

Last week we mentioned that often it is our familiarity with the biblical narrative which inhibits us from appreciating its subtleties. Another example can be found in the description of the exodus story. In the upcoming Torah portions, we witness as Moses develops from the shepherd who "happened" to come across the burning bush, to the greatest of all prophets who speaks to god "face to face". Clearly, Moses does not become the leader of the Jews overnight, rather this process has many stages. In both last week's and this week's Torah portion, a reoccurring theme is Moses' lack of enthusiasm to carry out Hashem's plan to face Pharaoh and take the people out of Egypt. At the burning bush, G-d needs to prod Moses (and give him a bag of tricks) to go and face Pharaoh. After the first setback that Moses encounters with Pharaoh, he seems willing to give up on his mission.

If we compare Moses to another reluctant prophet, his actions seems all the more surprising. Jonah, whom we read about on Yom Kippur, also tried to escape G-d's assignment, but he did so because he feared that the dwellers of Ninvei (the gentile city he was sent to admonish about their corrupt behavior) would heed his words of warning to repent, thereby making the rebellious Jews (who refused to repent) seem worse by comparison. Moses, on the other hand, should have been elated at the opportunity to free his people from slavery.

Surely a man as great as Moses has reason for his reluctance. It is hard to imagine that someone who was G-d's prophet did not believe that G-d was capable of delivering the Jews from slavery. What then is the cause of Moses' reluctance? Why does he view his mission as doomed to failure? What could possibly be the other side of the equation which leads Moses to think that facing Pharaoh may have been a mistake? Thinking about these questions will give us a fuller picture of the exodus and allow us to appreciate the narrative on a much deeper level.

Chaim Saiman, a native Atlantan and graduate of Georgia State University, is studying at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel.

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RESPONSES:

"Perhaps Moses was so incredibly humble that despite the fact that Hashem told him evrything would be ok, Moses was unsure of HIMSELF and therefore thought that things would not work out." -- Marsha Greenberg, Detroit.