It s Not About You Or: What Moses Knew Rabbi Shai Held Fed up with the people s ceaseless grumbling and complaining, Moses lets God have it. Why have you dealt ill with Your servant, he asks, and why have I not enjoyed your favor, that you have laid the burden of all this people upon me? Moses insists that the strain of leading the Israelites is too much for him and boldly (brazenly?) insists that he would rather God kill him than force him to endure his miserable task any longer. God responds by granting Moses at least some of the relief he begs for, instructing him to gather seventy of Israel s elders and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, where God will draw some of the spirit that is on [Moses] and put it on [the leaders]; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone (11:11-17). From the way the story unfolds, we learn a tremendous amount about leadership, about humility, and about the crucial relationship between them. From the way the story unfolds, we learn a tremendous amount about leadership, about humility, and about the crucial relationship between them. Moses does as God has told him. As promised, God draws upon the spirit that was on Moses and places it upon the seventy elders. And when the spirit was upon them, they spoke in ecstasy [or perhaps, prophesied va-yitnab u], 1 but did 1 I follow NJPS here in rendering va-yitnab u as they spoke in ecstasy. Even if we render va-yitnab u as they prophesied, it is important to understand that what they are doing is exhibit[ing] ecstatic behavior dancing, writhing, etc. Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary (2004), p. 738. Everett Fox explains how ecstatic prophecy worked in the ancient world: The prophet would go into a trance or roll about, or shriek (or a combination of these). Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses: A New Translation with Introduction, Commentary, and Notes (1995), p. 717. For what is at stake here, see Jacob Milgrom s explanation in the next sentence. 1
not continue (11:25). Bible scholar Jacob Milgrom explains what its going on here: The function of [the elders ] ecstasy, he writes, is not to render them prophets their ecstatic state is never again repeated but to provide [one-time] divine validation for their selection as leaders. 2 But then something totally unexpected happens, and Moses and Joshua s respective responses to the scene are highly instructive. Two men, Eldad and Meidad, who had remained in the camp, nevertheless have the spirit rest upon them and begin to speak in ecstasy. A lad runs out and reports to Moses that Eldad and Meidad are speaking in ecstasy in the camp. Joshua, Moses attendant, reacts right away, encouraging Moses to restrain them. But Moses takes a very different tack, correcting his overly zealous assistant: Are you jealous on my behalf? Would that all the Lord s people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them! (11:26-29). Moses response is striking and the more closely we read, the more arresting it becomes. The report Moses receives is that the two men were speaking in ecstasy (mitnab im). But when Moses refuses to stop them, he expresses a wish that all of Israel were prophets (nevi im). He no longer speaks of a single moment but of what Martin Buber calls a substantive state. 3 His dream is not that all Israel will have prophetic moments (in which they speak ecstatically) but that all Israel will be prophets. In effect, Milgrom notes, Moses proclaims that not only is it a desideratum that all of Israel qualify (through ecstasy) to become elders but that they may even attain a higher level to be prophets like Moses himself. 4 Whereas Joshua wants to prevent two people from experiencing even moments of prophecy at a level distinctly lower than his master s, Moses dreams of a time when all Israel 2 Jacob Milgrom, Numbers (1990), p. 89. 3 Martin Buber, Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant (trans. 1958), p. 167. 4 Milgrom, Numbers, p. 91 2
will be at the very same level as he. Robert Alter suggests that Moses here expresses the sense that holding a monopoly of power (equated with access to the divine spirit) is not at all what impels him as a leader He points to an ideal of what we might call radical spiritual egalitarianism. 5 Moreover, when God calls upon Moses to appoint the seventy elders to help him lead the people, God tells him that God will draw upon the spirit that is upon [him] (11:17) and place it upon them. But when Moses expresses the wish that all Israel be prophets, he gives voice to the hope that God would put God s spirit upon them (11:29). In other words, Moses expresses the wish that all Israel be prophets without that prophecy having to be in any way dependent on, or derivative of, his own prophetic spirit. 6 God s spirit, not his own mediation thereof. What matters to Moses is Moses eschews jealousy, and he is unwilling Moses dreams of a time when all to allow others be jealous on his behalf. This Israel will be at the very same level stands in stark contrast to models of as he. leadership with which many of us are only too familiar. How often do we encounter leaders or have we ourselves been leaders who seem incapable of disentangling the mission to which they dedicate themselves from their constant need for ego-affirmation? The cause they serve, and the needs they have for attention, status, and approbation, become sadly indistinguishable. The work these leaders do is important, but so, they strive diligently to remind us, are they. In this extraordinary scene, Moses represents the antithesis of the selfishness we often confront in leaders, spiritual leaders most definitely included. The lesson Moses embodies is as simple to express as it can be difficult to actualize: His work is 5 Alter, The Five Books of Moses, pp. 739-740. 6 Cf. the comments of Nachmanides and Seforno on Numbers 11:29. 3
ultimately not about him. Moses serves God rather than his own ego. Although Numbers 11 shows that Moses is quite capable of self-pity (11:11-15), it also makes clear that his leadership is in service of something greater than his own ego or high status. R. Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) writes that Moses answer to Joshua remains for all teachers and leaders as the brilliant example that they should keep before their eyes as the highest aim of their work, namely to render themselves superfluous, that the people of all classes and ranks reach such a spiritual level that they no longer require teachers and leaders (Commentary to Numbers 11:29). Here is an ideal worth pursuing: Teachers and leaders who see the possibility of their own superfluousness as a mark of the people s spiritual achievement rather than as an unforgivable assault on their own stature and significance. Later on in Numbers, Moses again evinces his uncommon capacity for self-transcendence. Informed of his impending death, Moses pleads with God to appoint a leader who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that the Lord s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd. God commands Moses to take Joshua and lay [his] hand upon him, investing him with some of Moses own authority and grandeur, so that all Israel will follow him. Many of us might balk at such a moment we might feel jealous or competitive, and want to assert our own uniqueness and irreplaceability. Subtly, beautifully, Numbers tells us that whatever complex feelings Moses might have, he transfers his authority to Joshua willingly and open-heartedly. [Moses] laid his hands upon [Joshua] and commissioned him as the Lord had spoken through Moses (27:16-23). Rashi (1040-1105) explains that Moses acted generously, doing more than he had been commanded: Although he had The lesson Moses embodies is as simple to express as it can be difficult to actualize: His work is ultimately not about him. 4
only been instructed to place one hand on Joshua in transferring authority to him, Moses chooses to place both (Commentary to Numbers 27:23). 7 Moses dream as expressed in Numbers 11 is later transformed by the prophet Joel into a promise. After that, Joel prophesies that is, in a far off eschatological time I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. I will even pour out My spirit upon male and female slaves in those days (Joel 3:1-2). Joel s startling promise takes up the wishful longing of Moses and stamps it as a definite part of [God s] program for the future. 8 In the redeemed future, Israel will be utterly suffused with God s overflowing spirit. 9 Buber comments that although Joel s hope is not Mosaic in the strict sense it may still be ascribed to the after-effects of Moses spirit. 10 Returning to our story: Who were Eldad and Meidad, these two men blessed with the spirit while remaining in the camp? The Talmudic Sages wonder the same thing. The question is answered by imagining how Moses could have chosen seventy elders from among the twelve tribes. Moses said [to himself]: How shall I do it? If I choose six from each tribe, there will be two more [than the required seventy]; if I choose five, ten will then be wanting. If, on the 7 For an intriguing difference in how the Sages understand these two moments in Moses life, compare Numbers Rabbah 16:25 (Moses gives of his spirit without thereby losing anything) with Numbers Rabbah 21:15 (Moses gives to Joshua as if pouring from one vessel into another ). 8 Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah (1976), p. 99. 9 Although the term all flesh (kol basar) usually refers either to all human beings (see, e.g., Isaiah 49:26 and Jeremiah 45:5) or to all living beings (see, e.g. Genesis 6:17), almost all scholars agree that in this context all flesh in v. 1. refers to Israel hence the affirmation that your sons and daughters shall prophesy. For the insistence that Israel alone is spoken of here, cf., e.g., Mordechai Cogan, Yoel (1994), pp. 47-48, and James L. Crenshaw, Joel (1995), p. 165. For a more hesitant view, cf. John Barton, Joel and Obadiah: A Commentary (2001), p. 96. Among traditional commentators, R. David Kimhi, for example, insists that only Israel is promised this glorious future, whereas Metzudat David and Metzudat Tziyon, among others, argue that all of humanity is included in Joel s promise. Cf. their respective commentaries to Joel 3:1. 10 Buber, Moses, p. 167. 5
Joshua, it subtly emerges, cares more deeply for Moses honor than for his own. other hand, I choose six out of one and five out of another, I will cause jealousy among the tribes. Of the responses given, R. Simeon s is arguably the most powerful in our context. R. Simeon said: Eldad and Meidad remained in the camp. For when the Blessed Holy One said to Moses, Gather for me seventy of Israel s elders, Eldad and Meidad observed, We are not worthy of such greatness. Thereupon the Blessed Holy One said, Because you have humbled yourselves, I will add to your greatness yet more greatness. And how did God add to their greatness? In that all the other prophets prophesied and ceased, but [Eldad and Meidad s] prophesying did not cease (BT, Sanhedrin 17a). On R. Simeon s telling, Eldad and Meidad are decidedly not out for their own glory. On the contrary, God rewards them for their genuine modesty and self-effacement. But R. Simeon goes on, explaining the content of their prophecy: 11 They said, Moses shall die and Joshua shall bring Israel into the land (BT, Sanhedrin 17a). Why is this Rabbinic embellishment of our story so important? R. Simeon s description of the scene yields a remarkable triangle of selflessness. Eldad and Meidad do not pursue greatness or glory; on the contrary, they humbly renounce the status associated with being an elder, and the grandeur of having that status confirmed by being bestowed with God s spirit. But now consider Joshua. We ve already seen that Moses attendant wants passionately to protect his master s unique stature as Israel s leader and pre-eminent prophet. More powerfully, implicit in R. Simeon s interpretation is that Joshua seeks to silence the very prophets who announce his own future greatness. Joshua, it subtly emerges, cares more deeply for Moses 11 The Sages appear to understand Eldad and Meidad not to be speaking in ecstasy but having content-full prophecies. 6
honor than for his own. There will be no putsch here, and certainly no attempt to foment rumors of Joshua s own impending ascent to leadership. On the contrary, Joshua wants Moses to restrain those who promise him a glorious future. And then, of course, there is Moses, who will not try to imprison the spirit in order to maintain his own stature, and who reprimands Joshua, reminding him to avoid being jealous on his behalf. Imagine the scene and compare it with what we all too often confront: Four leaders, all of whom care far more deeply about the goal of serving God than they do about the seductions of power, glory, or ego-affirmation. A real religious leader knows deep down that her sacred work is ultimately not about her even if she sometimes fails to live up to this fundamental insight. Leaders who needily pursue their own glory and institutions which focus on their own self-perpetuation sometimes even at the expense of the very values they purport to uphold are sadly prevalent in our world. In the face of all that stands Moses, the paradigmatic leader who internalizes and embodies the simple but profound truth: It s not about you. Shabbat Shalom. Sign up to receive Rabbi Shai Held s weekly divrei Torah direct to your inbox: www.mechonhadar.org/shaiheld 7