Presence
A Message for Parashat Ekev 2018
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Addressing Am Yisrael during the final days of
his life, Moshe remembered the events of het ha-egel. He recalled God’s
indication to him at the time that the people had sinned:
“And God said to me: ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your
people that you brought out of Egypt have acted ruinously…’” (Devarim
9:12)
Removing himself from involvement in Am
Yisrael’s redemption from Egypt, God seemingly rebranded Moshe as their
sole leader. And when Moshe petitioned on their behalf, he responded to God’s
claim by deflecting that role and declaring:
“…And they are Your people and Your estate that you
brought out with Your great power and Your outstretched arm.” (9:29)
It appears at first glance as if God and
Moshe were taking turns at refusing the responsibility of the nation and its
sins. I believe that in reality, however, this conversation represented God’s
attempt to redirect Moshe’s approach to leadership at that time.
Interestingly, God was not the first to
attribute Moshe with the role of singularly “bringing the nation out of Egypt.”
The people of Am Yisrael were. In the moments that led up to het
ha-egel, they panicked and turned to Aharon, saying:
“Rise up, make us gods that will go before us, for this man
Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has
happened to him.” (Shemot 32:1)
God’s reference to Moshe in this manner,
then, was merely a reference to the nation’s own misperception. And it was
precisely that mistake which had inspired their sin. They had, after all,
sought “gods” to replace Moshe because his presence as their leader appeared to
them as “a god.” What may have caused this misunderstanding?
Consider a particular detail that Moshe
repeatedly mentioned in his retelling of this story:
“When I went up the mountain to take the stone tablets…And I
stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, no bread did I eat nor
water did I drink…” (9:9)
“And I threw myself before God as at first, forty days and
forty nights – no bread did I eat nor water did I drink…” (9:18)
“And I threw myself before God the forty days and the forty
nights that I threw myself…” (9:25)
A forty-day spiritual rendezvous with God is
impossible for the simple man. Moshe – and only Moshe “the man of God” –
could engage in that experience. And as he reflected on that time forty years
later, Moshe stressed that specific detail in order to signify the rift that
had grown between him and the people. Indeed, R. Zvi Grumet described Moshe in
this context: “He is no longer merely a man, but someone endowed with near
God-like capabilities…This cannot have gone unnoticed by the people.”[1]
Returning to the dialogue with which we began,
God’s intended message to Moshe may now take full form. His description of Am
Yisrael as “your people that you brought out of Egypt” hinted
at the distance that had grown between Moshe and the nation. Moshe was no
longer seen by them as “one of us,” but rather as a separate and distant “god.”
And the tragic outcome of his failed connection to the nation as a “man of the
people” was het ha-egel, when they declared: “Rise up, make us gods
that will go before us, for this man Moshe who brought us up from the land of
Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.” God’s demand of Moshe
after the sin, then, was to undergo a significant change in his approach to
leadership. He tasked Moshe with mending his disconnect from the people by
making his presence felt and emerging as a “man of the people.”
Leadership expert John P. Kotter
distinguished between “management” and “leadership.” He explained that whereas
managers organize, leaders align. The potential roles of a
football quarterback may demonstrate the difference: A quarterback who
describes to his team the next two or three plays is managing. One who
explains a totally new approach to the game for the second half of the season,
however, is leading. Managers look for the right fit between people and
the jobs, by setting up systems to ensure that plans are implemented precisely
and efficiently. And management works best in short-term projects. Leadership,
in contrast, is involved in long-term projects. A leader searches for the
proper fit between people and the vision. He or she communicates the new
direction to the individuals who can create coalitions that understand the
vision and are committed to its achievement.[2]
Matan Torah had cast
Moshe in the distant and limited role of a “national manager.” Consider his
descent from the mountain from the vantage point of the nation: He approached
them upon return from the superhuman feat of forty days and nights without food
or drink while clutching a large set of laws and instructions that he would now
transmit to them. He was operating from a distance – almost like a god – as he
played out the role of “organizing manager” of the nation.
Reflecting back on that event during the
final days of his life, however, Moshe was determined to learn from his
experience. He segued from the story of het ha-egel to a demand that
displayed his empathetic role as a leader. He addressed the people:
“And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem your God ask of you but to
fear Hashem your God in all his ways, to love Him, and to worship Hashem your
God with all your heart and with all your being, to keep God’s commands and His
statutes that I charge you today for your own good?” …
Only your fathers did God desire to love them, and He chose their seed after
them, chose you from all the peoples as on this day. (10:12-15)
Stripping away the cold demeanor of a distant
pedagogue, Moshe appealed to their emotions. By invoking God’s love of the
forefathers and them he was speaking to the people’s hearts – as one of them. Moshe
no longer addressed them as a manager who conveyed performance demands, but as
a leader who was laying out the broad vision for the future of God’s nation.