Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Yitro #5- Plan B?
In this weeks parsha, Yitro, moshe's father in law, suggests a new strategy for Moshe to most effectively lead Bnei Yisrael: delegation. Rashi comments that when Yitro says in pasuk yud Chet "you will surely wear yourself out...the matter is too heavy for you" that the weight of being the nations constant confidant would be too heavy for Moshe both physically and mentally. One can only wonder how is it that after so long, with Moshe literally waiting on Bnei Yisrael ALL DAY, he never thought of appointing people to help him? And if he did, what other reasons could there be for him not implementing that plan?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Rashi also comments on the word "gam" in the pasuk, and says that it's referring to Aharon and Chur. So maybe Aharon and Chur were helping Moshe, so he wasn't doing it all by himself and didn't think he needed more help. Scorning also comments that if Moshe didn't know the right verdict, he would turn to Hashem and ask Him what the right thing to do was. Maybe this means that Moshe wanted to make sure that everyone got the right verdict, so he took it upon himself to judge everyone who needed to ensure that they would get the right answer. This is why he never assigned others to help him. If he needed help, he would turn to Hashem.
ReplyDeleteThis year in bible class we learnt that Moshe did ask for help. in Pasuk yud aleph Perek yud aleph Moshe says, "
ReplyDeleteוַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה אֶל יְהֹוָה לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתָ לְעַבְדֶּךָ וְלָמָּה לֹא מָצָתִי חסר א' חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ לָשׂוּם אֶת מַשָּׂא כָּל הָעָם הַזֶּה עָלָי:" this means "Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes that You place the burden of this entire people upon me?"
From this we see Moshe did ask for help. What happened to the other leaders you might ask? Well חזקוני rights the important people died in a fire on the edge of the camp. This proves rashis commentary on pasuk aleph saying either the important people died or the lesser people.
But wait? This happens after this weeks parsha so, the important people were still alive to help. אהרון Was helping Moshe because he was always helping Moshe
According to Rebbe Meir, when Hashem appeared to Moshe at the burning bush Moshe was clearly alone. Throughout Tanach Moshe and Hashem's relationship is pointed out for their incredible closeness. It is possible that Moshe thought he was not allowed to appoint other judges. Hashem appeared to Moshe when he was alone and He was very clear that MOSHE would be the singular leader of the nation. Obviously Moshe had Aharon and the zikeinim, but Moshe was primarily alone. Why should judging the people be any different.
ReplyDelete