A True Leader

B"H

Last week we Torah readers were riding on a high.

Our forefather Jacob was

finally re-united with his long lost son Joseph, who had been gone for 22 years. Jacob’s family was growing and prospering in huge number, living in the city of “Goshen”, a peaceful suburb off the coast of North-East Egypt.

But unfortunately, Joseph, the 2^nd-in-command to Pharaoh, passed away. All of a sudden, the situation for the Jewish people began to spiral downwards in quick fashion.

‘(Pharaoh) said to his people, “Look! The nation of Israel’s descendants are more numerous and stronger than we are! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them…” The Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with crushing labor. They embittered their lives…’

But G-d Heard the cry of his people in pain.

He was now ready to redeem them and take them to Israel.

But which leader would be chosen for such an important task? An eloquent speaker.

A polished diplomat for sure. A handsome, charming, powerful leader, right?

Moshe (Moses), the son of Amram & Yocheved, was a shepherd for his father-in-law Yisro’s

flock of sheep. The Midrash tells us that once when he was tending the sheep in the desert, one of his kid goats ran off. Moshe immediately chased after it, and finally reached the goat by a pool of water it had found to drink. Moshe said:

“I didn’t realize that you were running away because you were thirsty. You must be tired!”

So Moshe mounted the goat on his shoulders and walked back to the flock.

G-d Said to Himself, “You have such compassion for the sheep of a mere human being. You are going to shepherd my sheep, the Jewish People.” (Shemos Rabbah 2:2)

Here was the leader G-d Was looking for.

True, Moshe had a stutter. He was 80 years old, and was a shepherd.

But such a tremendous compassion and caring for another’s well-being; that he did have.

This was the one.

So G-d Came to Moshe to Communicate his mission to lead the Jewish People out of Egypt:

‘Moshe was pasturing the flocks of Yisro…He looked, and behold! The thorn bush was burning with fire, but it was not being consumed. Moshe said, “Let me turn now and see this great spectacle! Why will the thorn bush not burn?” G-d Saw that he had turned to see, and G-d Called to him from within the thorn bush… Moshe hid his face because he was afraid to look at G-d.’

Why did G-d Reveal Himself to Moshe through a thorn bush? Our Sages tell us that ‘G-d Wanted to show that He is Always with His People during their times of distress-comparable to thorns. And just as this bush was burning but not being consumed, so too the Jewish People will never be consumed.’(Rashi)

But if we take a deeper look into the revelation of G-d to Moshe,

we will find something remarkable about what type of awesome leader Moshe really was.

Our sages tell us that there is a Moshe in every generation.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Shneerson, was the Moshe of our times. He searched for every lost sheep who was thirsty for water, physically & spiritually. As Jonathan Sacks, chief Rabbi of England, once said: "The Rebbe hunts down with love those that were once hunted down with hate."

The Rebbe once explained this passage as follows: G-d Revealed Himself to Moshe in a thorn bush, as our Sages say, to show that He is with His People during all their tough times. But G-d Wanted to reveal a deep secret to Moshe.

The secret understanding behind why suffering happens to good people.

Why the thorn bush! Why the tribulations at all!

There is a verse which states: “Ain rah yoredes mi’lemala” – No bad comes from above.

But that’s only from G-d’s Perspective!

He Sees the hidden good in all that occurs to us in the world.

G-d is Like the father who smacks his son who ran into the middle of oncoming traffic. He has a good intention. But we’re the son who doesn’t understand.

G-d Wanted to show Moshe the secret reason of why. Why the burning of the thorn bush.

But how did Moshe respond to this once-in-a-lifetime offer? And “Moshe hid his face.”

Moshe gave up on an opportunity many would do anything to attain. Why?

Because Moshe understood, that the minute he sees behind the curtain, the minute he understands from G-d’s Point of view, that’s when he loses the point of view of his people. How would he ever be able to plead with a perfectly true heart to G-d on behalf of the Jewish People, if he understood the hidden good behind the apparent bad? So Moshe “hid his face.”

Kabbalah teaches us, that not only is there a Moshe in every generation, but there is a spark of Moshe in every Jewish soul. Each of us has the ability to give up on our own personal welfare and help a thirsty soul, thirsty spiritually or physically, who is lost in the desert looking for water. To hide our face, our personal gain, in order to look from a fellow Jew’s point of view, from his pain, that is our opportunity to emulate our leader Moshe.

Through our caring for each other, may G-d Send us Moshiach, the ultimate Jewish leader!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

Jerusalem

P.S. If you're still hanging around to the end of the email, I want to reward you w/ an amazing 1st-hand story I heard last night. Rabbi Yisroel Shem Tov, an Elderly Chassid from Crown Heights, was visiting us here in Israel. He said this story: "In 1955, I was at a farbrengen (Chassidic Gathering) with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe began giving out matzah to all of those present. While doing so, I noticed the Rebbe take 3 pieces of Matzah, roll each one in a napkin, and put it in his jacket pocket. 'A Rebbe does things we definitely don't understand' I thought. Later that night, Mr. Weiss, the head of a nearby Jewish summer camp, came rushing past me to the Rebbe to tell him something. Within earshot, I heard him say: "There has just been a terrible car accident on the way to camp. There were campers in the van, and it flipped 3 times." Now a normal person's reaction would be one of horror or dismay. The Rebbe turned to him and laughing, asked: "3 times?" He then took out the covered matzahs and told the man to bring these to the boys in hospital. The boys soon left w/out any injuries at all."

The stories are endless. G-d, in Every generation, in his Great Kindness, sends us leaders that care for every one of their flock. And spiritually speaking, the Rebbe continues to help us and pray for each of his flock. As Tanya, Ch.27 of Igeres Hakodesh explains: "A Tzaddik is found more in this world after his death than before."