Parshat Devarim, Chapter 1:1 - 3:22 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger

With this week we begin the fifth and final book of the Torah-Devarim or Deuteronomy. Traditionally this final book of the Pentateuch is Moses’ farewell to the Children of Israel before they begin their mission to fulfill the promise of the covenant made with God and enter the Promised Land. Moses’ reviews their journey in the opening verses and in particular reviews the administration of the People. Moses outlines in detail, that the burdens of leadership have been great upon him. “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself,” he says recounting Moses’ need to enlist others in the task of adjudicating the many situations and cases that arise from the people. Moses describes seeking out other leaders, the chieftains of tribes who are “leaders, wise and experienced men and appointed them head over you. (1:12)”

This is a tired Moses. This is a leader who has borne the brunt of a kevitching, ungrateful group through many years in the desert. No matter how many times Moses had urged the Children of Israel to trust in God, they have whined and complained about their lot. And now at the end of his life and the end of his journey of leadership—Moses’ speech begins with an acknowledgement that this has not been an easy task, neither is he immune from the difficulty of leadership. Although he has brought the people Israel to this moment with God’s help and guidance, Moses reminds the people in his oration that their moments of defiance of God made the journey more difficult. “Because of you God was incensed with me too, (1:37)”.

And uncharacteristically Moses blames the Children of Israel for his fate of not being able to enter the Eretz Yisrael. “And God said, You shall not enter it either, (Ex. 1:37). You can hear the bitterness in his voice. Moses who hit the rock rather than spoke to it—when the Children of Israel were thirsty for water—now blames his punishment of not being able to enter the Promised Land on the people.

Tired leaders often cannot see the problems with their own actions.

And so in these opening verses of Deuteronomy, Moses acknowledges that Joshua will inherit the mantle of leadership as picked by God and concludes the portion with a reminder not only to the people but to Joshua that God will be with them as they cross over (3:22).

But as Deuteronomy opens we can understand that often a change in leadership will be good thing. As groups grow and change, as institutions grow and change a new leader can bring a different set of skills to the mix. Moses who was the right leader for the first 40 years, bringing the slaves to Mt. Sinai, and ushering the first generations into freedom cannot be the leader who commands a fleet footed army that will need to engage the local people. Moses helped formed the liberated people into a distinct people and gave them an identity and shape and took God’s laws and made them into the practical law of a people. Now it will be up to Joshua to lead the army and build the tribes into a true nation.

It is a lesson for all of us involved in group settings and institutional settings that leadership must change and grow as the group and institutions grow and develop. What was right for one generation may need to be adjusted for the next. But when we acknowledge it and work with it we can achieve fulfillment for ourselves and for our communities.

Posted by Lee at August 8, 2005 10:06 AM