My People Ki Tisa 5784

What makes a great leader?  There are countless books on the subject, seminars and whole industries devoted to developing leadership.  I am struck by a sentence in this week’s Parsha that exemplifies the leadership that we see in Moshe, the leader of the Jewish people.

Let’s look at the situation.  Hashem took the Jewish people out of Egypt with incredible miracles, including the plagues and the splitting of the sea. In addition to the physical miracles, the heavens opened, showing them Hashem’s light that is not normally seen on earth. Then came the revelation at Sinai, when Hashem Himself spoke to every single Jew.  His first words were “I am the L-rd you G-d.”  

40 days later the people made a golden calf.  Everything that had been built was shattered.  The transformation from idol worshiping slaves in Egypt to a free nation devoted to serving Hashem was no more.  The journey, both spiritual and physical, toward establishing a holy land was now derailed. Moshe sees this rebellious act the moment he descends the mountain from 40 days of spiritual bliss not known to any other human, and immediately breaks the Tablets which Hashem had given him.

Hashem tells Moshe that it’s time to start over.  This is not the nation destined to be My people. Hashem tells Moshe,   I will destroy them to start over with you and your family who have remained faithful to me.

How must Moshe have felt?  Was everything he had done to save, lead and educate the people for nothing?  Would he not have felt anger against these people and agreed that they are not cut out for the work of creating a holy nation?  Didn’t he in fact break the Tablets in anger?  And what an opportunity for him to begin again on his terms with those who have shown themselves faithful.  Not to mention the potential for being the patriarch of the nascent nation.

Well, Moshe did the opposite.  He approached Hashem and demanded to instead himself be,  wiped from the Torah if Hashem won’t forgive them.  It’s not about me and my family, it’s not about the righteous among them.  It’s about the nation as a whole, including the sinners.  

Moshe devoted his life to Torah.  He brought it down for all of us, he taught it, and led the people to Mount Sinai to receive it.  It was his whole life, to the extent that the Torah is referred to as “Torat Moshe” - Moshe’s Torah.  The people had violated this Torah.  But in his eyes the people came first.  

Moshe was willing to sacrifice everything, including his connection to Torah, for his people.  He broke the precious G-d given Tablets not out of anger, but in order to protect the people.  (There are many discussions about this subject.  One interpretation - by breaking the Tablets Moshe removed the “contract” between Hashem and the Jewish people, lessening their violation.)

What struck me most was this part of Moshe’s prayer to atone for the people (Shemot 33:13):  “And now, if I have indeed found favor in Your eyes, pray let me know Your ways, so that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes; and consider that this nation is Your people."  There is a lot in this sentence, but look at Rashi’s explanation of the last few words:  “consider that this nation is Your people: That [Hashem] should not say, “and I will make you into a great nation” and [then] forsake these [people]. See [i.e., remember] that they are Your people from long ago, and if You reject them, I would not rely on [only] my descendants to survive; make known to me [now] the payment of my reward through this people.”

Moshe is saying:  Show me that I have found favor in Your eyes, by forgiving the people, not by making me the patriarch of a new nation.  We would usually associate a person finding favor in Hashem’s eyes as a source of personal blessing.  Moshe, the quintessential leader on the other hand, is saying no, my favor is the favor of the people.

No one can hope to approach anything like Moshe’s level of greatness, but we are taught that each of us has a “Moshe spark” in our soul, and we should work to emulate him to the best of our ability.  Moshe, and the Jewish leaders throughout the generations, have shown us how to relate to our fellow Jews.  

We tend to look down on those who have gone astray.  If we care about them, we may try to correct them, just like we find rebuke from Moshe in the Torah.  But before we can give correction to another, we must be prepared to sacrifice for their benefit.  Before any judgment or negative feelings, we know they are part of our people and therefore deserve to be forgiven.  

This is the mark of a true leader, and what each of us should strive to find in our approach to each other.  To love one another unconditionally and not allow any perceived wrongdoing to stop us from caring about them.