Prior to the Miraglim setting out on their mission to Eretz Yisrael, Moshe Rabbeinu prayed for Hoshea, that he should gain the strength, conviction and principle to stand against the false testimony of the other spies and to eventually lead B’nei Yisrael. Moshe blessed him before the mission and changed his name to Yehoshua which conveys the above attributes.
This prayer and blessing of Moshe Rabbeinu to Yehoshua begs the definition of the qualities which make a Real Jewish Leader.
The Sefer L’lmod Ul’lamed (Rabbi Mordechai Katz) on Parsha Shelach (page 138) gives an outline of the qualities which make such a leader.
He lists six major qualities expected of a Leader of Klal Yisrael:
- 1/ He must be a total believer in Hashem.
- 2/ He sets a personal example that others will respect and model themselves after.
- 3/ He has personal attributes of sincerity, affability and concern for others.
- 4/ He displays humility before Hashem and does not consider himself superior to his fellow man. He does not consider himself superior to the people he leads.
- 5/ He possesses firm and unwavering devotion to Hashem.
- 6/ If Hashem supremacy is challenged, he (the Leader) should react vigorously against challenging Hashem’s Laws.
The Sefer continues by quoting gemora Sanhedrin 7b which states; “
…a Jewish leader should be strong and dynamic rather than weak and vacillating. But, at all times, the Jewish leader should not let his position make him haughty. He should remember that he is but dust and ashes and that in the end his bones will rest in the same soil as do those of all other men.”
We learn that Moshe Rabbeinu was the epitome, the paradigm of these attributes and his tefillahs were answered when Yehoshua came to possess these attributes as well.
But we live in contemporary times. Is it possible to find such a leader who fits the above criteria amongst modern-day politicians and governing “leaders(sic)”? Surely NOT in any Memshelet Yisrael that I’m aware of. Just check out the news which runs the gamut from political pressure for talks with Syria (read: about the Golan), US and EU pressure to transfer taxes collected from Arabs to the “pa(sic)”, to power-abusive Israeli government bureaucrats in life or death situations denying help, aid or benefits to terror victims, to a distorted, mutant sense of morality which says that my avowed enemy’s basic supplies must not be harmed even as he continues to take Jewish blood and lives and seeks our destruction and obliteration. And for good measure, let’s throw in the gross and utter neglect of successive regimes regarding Jonathan Pollard and an Israeli presidential candidate’s complicity in Pollard’s continued incarceration as well as the outrageous police approval for another attempt at a “gay parade” abomination.
But there are Jewish Leaders who I can think of, both living and niftar who possess or possessed these qualities.
In past years, I written about Rav Moshe Levinger who had been arrested, tried and been confined to his Chevron home because he was among those arrested for blocking traffic prior to the geirush, the expulsions of Jews from Gush Katif and the 4 Shomron towns.
I wrote of the circumstances which brought me to meet Rav levinger 10 years ago. I met Rav Levinger for the first time. Back in 1997, 1 1/2 years before I made Aliyah, it was my great privilege to meet Rav Levinger at a Hachnasat Sefer Torah at Yishuv Sh’vut Rahel where one of his sons was the Mankal (director). I had no way of knowing in advance that he would be there, that I would meet him or that his son was Mankal.
As we began dancing with the Sefer Torah, I noticed a face, someone I had never before met, but which took me back over 25 years, to when my knowledge of him began when I used to subscribe to the Jerusalem Post International Edition. Again and again, I saw pictures and reports and background of Rav Levinger and his Gush Emunim followers snaking their way through the Shomron hills as they marched to Elon Moreh. And then, I was face-to-face with walking, talking history. The tears welled up within me.
The stories and accounts that I have read through the years are proof conclusive that Rav Levinger was/is among the true pioneers doing the Ratzon Hashem (the Will of Hashem) in bringing the Jews to settle the Land of Israel — V’Shavu Banim L’gvulam.
There was/is no equivocation, no vacillation in Rav Moshe Levinger. And there’s no quit in this great man. His Emunah in HaKadosh Borchu is rock solid, complete and unequivocal as seen in his deeds throughout the decades that I have read, learned and known of him as well as before. His personal example and attributes should be such a paradigm, an inspiration to all Believing Jews just as Sefer L’lmod Ul’lamed outlines and quotes from Sanhedrin 7b.
But we have seen other future leaders who fit the same courageous, unequivocal mold as Rav Levinger. Names like Avi Beiber, Hananel Dayan, Baruch Marzel and, of course Nadia Matar and Moshe Feiglin, come readily to mind. They also fit the leadership paradigm mentioned above and stand solid and steadfast — Al Kiddush Hashem against a corrupt, despotic regime who feels mercy for a cruel murderous enemy while cheating and persecuting the Jews and disregarding Hashem’s eternal legacy to the Jews; Eretz Yisrael.
May we, the B’nai Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole, that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard and the 3 captive Chayalim and the other MIAs be liberated and returned to us and that we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
**************************************************************
Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
***************************************************************
1 thought on “Parsha Shelach 5767: Moshe’s Blessing to Yehoshua — Paradigm of a Real Jewish Leader”
Comments are closed.