parsha of the week: rabbi avi billet

Moshe’s in Shoftim: Follow a leader like me

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The shofar sounding last Sunday began the wake-up call of the month of Elul that reminds us that Rosh Hashana will soon be upon us. The commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya on the coming parshas has found an important place in my own Elul and teshuvah-focused experience. This week we will look at one of his important teachings.

In the context of reminding the Israelites not to follow the influence of the necromancers of the surrounding nations, a seemingly uncharacteristic comment escapes Moshe’s lips: “A prophet from among you, from your brethren, such as myself, will be whom Hashem your G-d establishes for you. Listen to him [the prophet].” (18:15) In Hebrew, the “comment” is all of one word: “kamoni,” or “such as myself.”

Many commentaries suggest that this comment refers to the previous word, me’achekha (from your brethren), in which Moshe says that any prophet you will have will be from the Israelite nation and he will teach you the ways of G-d and will not steer you in the direction of idolatry or the occult —  kamoni, meaning “along the lines as I have properly led you.”

Rabbeinu Bachya points out, for example, that one might think achekha includes a prophet from the children of Eisav or Ishmael. This is another reason why Moshe is clear to say kamoni, only from a direct Israelite lineage.

All these disclaimers are nice, but the fact remains that if Moshe needed to bring an example, he could have just as easily used his brother’s name, or he could have pointed at Yehoshua as he did in Bamidbar 27 and Devarim 1 and 3, saying, “A prophet … such as Yehoshua who will be taking over when I am gone.” Why did he say what seems like a hubris statement — “You’ll want a prophet like me”? After all, Moshe was the humblest of people (Bamidbar 12:3), so certainly this comment is out of character!

The Baal Haturim notices that kamoni has the same numerical value as anav (humble) (both equal 126). Moshe does not want to say, “I am humble,” but he does want to suggest, in code, what is a good quality of a leader.

Humility is not defined as thinking you are a nobody. Humility means knowing who you are, and not making a big deal about it. It means understanding your role, as you understand that you are a nobody in comparison to G-d. Most importantly, a humble leader knows that circumstances have brought him or her to a position that commands respect or is an inspiration to others, but it’s the position which is respected before the person filling it earns the respect based on his deeds.

Rabbeinu Bachya explains Moshe’s word-choice as follows, “The prophet should be like me, meaning he should follow my precedent. He should not add nor subtract or uproot a single mitzvah from the Torah, unless he is an established prophet and the specific circumstance warrants it [for instance, Elijah bringing sacrifices on Mount Carmel during the time of the Temple].

“Ours is not a religion in which we believe in Moshe is prophet and leader on account of the signs and wonders he did. It is all on account of our having heard G-d’s word directly from Him [at Sinai], as did Moshe. We know it, we were witnesses to it, as it says (Shmot 19:9), ‘Behold I am coming to you in a thick cloud so that the nation will hear when I speak with you, and they will believe in you [as My chosen leader] forever’.”

Rabbeinu Bachya quotes Maimonides (Foundations of the Torah Chapter 8) as the source for his position, and Maimonides continues the point saying that every sign Moshe did was to get the people to follow him to Sinai. But every sign also gets people thinking, “Maybe this guy is a magician.” The Sinai experience changed all of that forever.

When Moshe says, “G-d will appoint a prophet kamoni,” he is saying, “It will be so clear in your eyes who is a true prophet, because he stands for Torah, is guided by the Torah, and doesn’t change the Torah.” He needs to use himself, and not Aharon or Yehoshua, as an example, because it was Moshe who was on Sinai. This is not arrogance. This is knowing and understanding what his role was, is and remains forever.

Judaism has always been a religion in which the Written and Oral Torah was sacrosanct. In different circles, and across a large spectrum, it has become about many other things. Chumras, how “frum” you are, what clothes you wear, how you look, where you send your kids to yeshiva, social action, social justice, right-wing politics (more common in observant communities), left-wing politics (more common in non-observant communities), and “tikkun olam.”

The shofar and Elul remind us, as does Moshe, that we need to look to and follow the examples of leaders and leadership that help us maintain our focus — a Jewish experience that follows the model set at Sinai, of a commitment to and observance of G-d’s word, in which nothing (beyond certain social changes as fitting to the world in which we live) is added to or subtracted from the Torah.

To contact Rabbi Billet: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

Rabbi Billet is off this week. A version of this column appeared in 2012.