Parashat B'Shalach | How Leadership is a Balancing Act

Bialik and Ravnitski’s Sefer HaAgada talks about a discussion in the Babylonian Talmud. First it is rabbi Meir who argues that the tribes begin to squabble about who of them will be first to enter the sea, as the Egyptians are nearing. Each of the tribes wants to be first. However, “Rabbi Yehuda said: this was not the way it happened. Rather this one said that he will not be first and the other said that he will not go first into the sea. As they were standing there giving advice to each other, there jumped Nachshon the son of Avinadav and went into the sea first. At that time Moses was extending his prayers. The Lord told Moses: my friends are drowning in the sea and all you do is extend your prayers to me! So, he said to him: My Lord, what can I do? And he responded ‘Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff…’ Therefore Judah was honored to lead a government in Israel, as it was said, ‘Judah became His sanctuary; / Israel, His dominion.’ And why was that – it was because ‘The sea looked and fled’.[1]”

There are several issues that we can learn from this. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Meir have a dispute, one argues that the people wanted to cross the sea and argued who would go first, the other claiming the exact opposite. Secondly, \god forbid, there is criticism of Moses, a criticism that does not appear in the text itself. Moses, so claims rabbi Yehuda, lengthens his prayers unnecessarily. In the portion of the torah we read this week the Godly response is, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.[2]” In other words, the Lord asserts that Moses is the leader and he has the responsibility to make the people he is supposed to lead to take a step, to move forward. “As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.[3]” It is a demand for human action and only if that happens then, “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.[4]”

It is way easy to come with demands and requests to others, it is much more difficult to set an example and begin with the deed itself. When the leader is capable of doing just that, a change is in the air and others can join in. That is how, so seems to argue rabbi Yehuda, it is possible to understand the verses, “When Israel went forth from Egypt, / The house of Jacob from a people of a foreign language, / Judah became His sanctuary; / Israel, His dominion. / The sea looked and fled…[5]” Judah becomes the ruler, the governor, because he is the one who led the people and caused the change, may be exploited it – causing the sea to withdraw. A leader is a person who can lead change, making it a reality, altering something in the hope for a better future. This means taking risks – there is no leadership is risks are completely avoided. On the other hand, reckless risk taking without comprehension is not the way to go. Leadership is an act of fine balancing.

The portion of the Torah further reminds us of a promise made a long time ago. “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will certainly take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.’[6]” So we go back again to Sefer HaAgada, that again quotes from the Babylonian Talmud that tries to figure out how exactly it was that Moses could fine Joseph’s coffin. “How could have Moses know where Joseph was buried? They said: Serach the daughter of Asher from that generation was still alive, so Moses went to check with her. He asked her: would you happen to know where Joseph is burred? She responded: The Egyptians had a metal coffin prepared for him and they sunk it into the Nile as a blessing to its water. And they further said that the wizards of Pharoah told him: if you wish that this Nation never leaves – they should not be able to find the bones of Joseph, as if they do not they cannot never leave the place. So, Moses went to the bank of the Nile and screamed: Joseph, Joseph! It is time to act on God’ promise to save the Israelites and it is time to fulfil the oath given to you. Honor the Lord, you are delaying it and the people of Israel are also delayed by you. If you show yourself now, so be it, if you do not – we are clear of our oath to you. Immediately the coffin of Joseph started bubbling and floated out of the deep waters just like a stem – and so Moses took it.[7]”

Admittedly it is a strange story – a metal coffin suddenly coming out of the depth of the Nile is not a common occurrence for sure. However, it does teach us about leadership by example. Even though there was a clear promise to Joseph to get his bones out of Israel and back to the Promised Land, still the benefit of the majority takes precedence even over an explicit oath made to Joseph, a promise that would be broken. The entire People is more important than a promise made to an individual.

This call for showing some leadership was made by MK rabbi Gilad Kariv in his speech this week in the Knesset. He demanded that the incite occurring on the issues of the Kotel cease immediately and that the agreed upon solution, a solution that solves a problem for the majority must come to fruition, even if it causes some discomfort to a small, but vocal and violent minority. If it was possible to call out Joseph on that, certainly that can be done when Gafni, Litsman and others are concerned.

Shabbat Shalom, wishes for Good Health and a happy TU BeShevat.

Reuven Marko, 14 January 2022, 13 Shevat, 5782

[1] Sefer HaAgada, edited by Bialk and Ravnitski, 3rd edition, 1st part, chapter 14, Talmud, Sota, 37A (my free translation) [2] Exodos 14 15 [3] Exodos 14 16 [4] Exodos 14 17 [5] Psalm 114 1-3 [6] Exodus 13 19 [7] Sefer HaAgada, edited by Bialk and Ravnitski, 3rd edition, 1st part, chapter 12, Talmud, Sota, 13A (my free translation)