Parsha with Evan Green

Shalom Mishpacha,

Here’s hoping the onset of another beautiful Shabbat finds each one of you in happiness and health. For those in Ottawa, it finds you buried in snow!

This week we start the Sefer Shemot (known in English as the Book of Exodus) with Parshat Shemot, which includes the story of Moshe (Moses), whom we might consider to be the paradigm of a Jewish leader. Does not the mere name – Moshe – stir feelings within us?

It brings with it the weight of history, our history... as Moshe is forever linked with our Torah and our lives. This week we begin to read his story - our story – from his beginning.

Moshe comes to teach us so much. This week, we will focus on what he teaches us about leadership. Each us is a ‘leader’ in some way: perhaps in our families, in our schools, in our synagogues, in our communities, in our workplaces; or at least, we all certainly have the potential to be. Moshe and our Torah come to teach us much about how bring out this potential.

We all know the story and how it begins. We find the Israelites in Egypt and we watch them as they become slaves to Pharaoh. The Torah then tells us that Pharaoh wanted to kill all of the Jewish newborn boys. His astrologers told him that a redeemer of the Jewish people was being born.

However, Amram and Yocheved, Moshe's parents, hid him as long as they could. They then placed him in a waterproofed basket in the Nile where he was found by Pharaoh's daughter. Moshe was brought up in the Pharaoh's palace. 

The Torah tells us that after Moshe grew up, he went out to observe the burdens of his brethren. He came to know that he was one of them. He saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew, he "looked this way and that way to see if there was a man," and then struck down the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12).

From here, Rabbi Kalman Packouz believes that we learn some of the basic principles of being a leader:

(1) A leader must go out amongst the people to understand firsthand their situation.

(2) A leader must be able to recognize that there is a problem.

(3) A leader must look to see if there is anyone else who is dealing with the problem. If someone is already taking action, then support and assist the person - don't vie for glory of being the hero. (4) If there is no one taking action, then one must take action.

There is a common misconception that only ability leads to leadership. Moses comes to teach us that caring and taking responsibility leads to leadership. People tend to focus on their weaknesses and use them as excuses for not taking responsibility and for not leading.

Moshe, as we know, had a serious speech impediment. It didn't stop him from achieving greatness. He succeeded at being a great leader and a great person. And so can each of us... no matter what impediment may lie before us.

Charles Harary speaks of 3 prerequisites for real leadership: First, A Commitment To Truth - it should be about doing what is right, not what looks good or what everyone might be doing.

Then, second, it is about being ready to stand against the whole world - for what's right. Avraham was the first monotheist and stood firmly in opposition to all of the idol worshippers – to the world – around him (where the term Ha’ivri (Hebrew), ‘the one who stood on the other side’, comes from). Moshe too, stood against many, in opposition, standing up for what was right.

But I wanted to focus on the third one Charles Harary brings forth: Compassion. A leader must truly care and want to help others. 

We read in the Torah that G-d tested all of the Patriarchs as shepherds to test and train them for leadership. The Midrashim (part of our Oral Torah and tradition) tell of Moshe going to great lengths to find a lost lamb and carrying it back to the flock because it was weak.

Among other reasons that he was chosen to lead the Israelites: just as he cared about that one small member of his flock, Moshe cared about each and every Jew and directed his heart and mind the share the experiences of his fellow Jews. Although he enjoyed the privileges of a palace upbringing, he empathized with the plight of those Jews who were enslaved. This quality of concern for others helped make Moshe an outstanding leader.

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin argues that just as Moshe went out from the luxury of the royal palace to see his fellow Israelites' suffering; we, too, must "go out" to see and respond to others' suffering... whether we see ourselves as leaders or not... It is part of our role in the world to care for and look out for others.

Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz learns from this parsha the meaning of true empathy. He draws upon a comment from the Midrash which Rashi (Rabbi and perhaps the greatest of our Torah commentators, 11th C, France) quotes in this week's parsha: "And it was in those days that Moshe grew up and went out amongst his brethren and saw their travails."

Rashi comments that Moshe put "his eyes and heart into suffering with them." Moshe did not merely observe their distress; rather, he threw his entire being into understanding the depth of their distress, to know every tiny detail of it. But, it does not stop here.

The Midrash goes on to say that Moshe put his shoulder under their load and shared the burden with all his brethren. This was not so much to help them, says Rabbi Levovitz, since Moshe could only provide a limited amount of help to such a multitude and for such an overwhelming task. Rather, he shared in their hard labor so that he could truly share in their pain, exhaustion and crushed spirit. Then, and only then, could he be truly empathetic. This is the trait of a true leader.

As our Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (also from Oral Torah, a beautiful and insightful set of wise words) teaches us, sharing in another's burden is essential for the acquisition of Torah. It is fundamental not only for mitzvot between man and man, but between man and G-d as well.

Since true empathy is essential for Torah, Rabbi Levovitz states one can't be truly Torah observant if one is derelict in this trait. Ritual piety without sharing in others' burdens is not Torah observance.

The natural feelings people have cause them to isolate themselves from others who are suffering., Torah observance is not designed to provide one with maximum comfort; the Torah requires us to investigate the depth of other peoples' distress and, as Moshe did, feel along with those who suffer. This is true empathy.

Moses came to teach us that an essential part of being Jewish is taking care of those around us. In this light, we can all be leaders.

To end off, it is worth noting that Moses’ empathy was surpassed only by his modesty perhaps, another trait not entirely unbecoming of a true leader. As the Torah states, Moshe said to Hashem: "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh . . . " Moshe, as humble as he was, did not even consider himself worthy of being the deliverer of the Jewish people.

Thereupon, Hashem answered him that his very question was proof of how fit he was for the task. Hashem calls only on those who do not think overly highly of themselves. Thus, as the Midrash teaches us, of all the mountains, Hashem chose lowly Mt. Sinai as the place upon which to give the Torah, for while the higher mountains boasted of their heights, Mt. Sinai remained little in its own eyes. Similarly, since Moshe remained little in his own eyes, he was worth of leading the Jewish people.

We all have this potential of leadership within us, and I believe we shall each realize this in our own ways.

May we learn from our Torah and from Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses our teacher, how to bring out this potential to lead. May Hashem strengthen us all to be committed to the truth, to stand up for what is right and to demonstrate unending love, compassion and empathy towards those around us. And all this, with a good dose of humility. With this, we will all lead where we can, in our families and in our communities… and collectively, the Jewish people can act as role models for everyone.

Shabbat Shalom

Evan Green
Partner and International Project/Programme Manager

Le Groupe-conseil Baastel ltee

(819) 595-1421 ext.228 cell: (819) 329-4490

www.baastel.com

Torah Portion Vayigash - Joseph and His Brothers Reunited

Shalom Mishpacha,

With the beautiful holiday of Hanukkah now over, I hope this finds everyone in happiness and health, filled with light and ready to keep shining into the coming months. As we continue reading sefer Bereishit (Genesis), we come to parshat Vayigash.

We left off last week (with baited breath!) with Yoseph's pronouncement that he was keeping Binyamin as a slave for ‘stealing’ his wine cup. The other 11 brothers still do not know this Egyptian Viceroy whom they have come to ask for food during a famine is their long lost brother.

Yehuda steps forward to challenge the decision and offers himself as a slave instead of Benyamin. Yoseph can no longer hold back his emotions and he will relay the words to his brothers that echo through the generations to the present day: “Anee Yoseph! I am Joseph!”

The brothers are shocked and they are ashamed. In a moment, they realize all they had done, remembering how they threw him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. Yoseph HaTzaddik, the righteous one, comforts his brothers by assuring them that it was not by their hand that he descended to mitzrayim, Egypt, but by Hashem’s.

He tells them he was placed right where he needed to be, to be able to save them from famine. Yoseph then offers to bring the extended family to mitzrayim and they accept. Yaakov is initially numb and disbelieving of the news, but becomes very excited to see his son.

The Torah then recounts the 70 members of Jacob's family that went down to Egypt and we have the powerful scene of Yaakov reuniting with his son Yoseph and his meeting with Pharaoh.

There are so many beautiful lessons here about the ability one can have to forgive others and to seeing beyond past misdeeds allowing for a brighter future and for both to rise above what may have occurred. Yoseph strengthens all of his descendants – each of us – with this potential power to tap into. Who could have shown such restraint, such love, such kedushah (holiness)?

Forgiving others and seeing beyond the harm they may have done to us continues to be a struggle for many. Neither letting go nor apologizing are easy, but such actions can go quite a distance in repairing relationships. 

Of course, once all the pieces come together in the brothers’ minds in that moment, they are fearful of reprisal for what they had done. Yoseph, once again living up to the name for which he is known in our tradition – HaTzaddik – immediately puts his brothers at ease and ‘lets them off the hook’, so to speak, by telling them that Hashem brought him to Egypt to be able to sustain the family of Israel (and the world).

Yoseph teaches us so much about chessed (kindness), as well as bitachon (trust) and emunah (faith), as he not only demonstrates deep kindness for his brothers, but also places the events that took place within the larger picture of life: accepting that all happens for a reason and was, in the end, for the best for everyone.

For this lesson alone, we can forever be indebted to Yoseph and our Torah. But we can go deeper. There are also beautiful lessons about the importance of the achdut (unity) of the Jewish people, and that unity co-exists with diversity in Klal Yisrael. The strength of the brothers reuniting, and then once Yaakov joins them, of the whole family reuniting, is almost palpable as you read the Torah this week.

I think we have all experienced that somehow, seemingly paradoxically, relationships can be strengthened, that we can sometimes come closer, after being apart. Then, the critical importance of the unity of our people is a point that is driven home at the end of the parsha as well, but is easily missed. At the end of the parsha the Torah states: "And all the souls of Yaakov's house that came to Egypt -- seventy."

The Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, a great tzaddik, of our more recent history) points out that the Hebrew word for "souls" is "nefashot"; yet, in this verse, a singular form "nefesh" is used, alluding to the fact that “in heaven the souls of Israel are like one, and this was demonstrated at that point in our history.”

The division that we read over the last few weeks between the brothers, between the tribes of Israel, was but a precursor to a strong unity that was to come. This moment, and the foundation that was being built, reaches down to each of us today.

This unity among us, as Rabbi Shimon Finkelman reminds us, does not lessen the truth of that fact that while each Jewish soul is an integral part of this one whole, it is also unique and special. He brings a comparison to a person’s body that is indeed a single unit, but still comprised of many individual parts, each with its own unique and special function.

The Chofetz Chaim translates the importance of this unity into practical terms: “if another Jew refuses to do a favor that you have asked of him or her, or even if he or she has caused you heartache or has shamed you in some way, do not seek revenge or bear a grudge, for who is oneself and whois one's fellow'? Both stem from the same source, as it is written and who is like Your nation, Israel, one nation on earth? (Divrei HaYamim - Chronicles)”.

Rabbi Shimon Finkelman argues that when a person has an inflammation in his or her foot, one cannot say that the rest of his or her body feels fine and is not bound up in that pain. Similarly, the souls of the Jewish people are bound up with one another.

When the soul of one Jewish person is hurting, all Jews (even though one may not know him or her personally) feel the pain; or perhaps, our Torah is teaching us, we should feel that pain. The Jewish people are like one soul; we thus must strive to ensure the unity of all Jews.

At this time in history, this lesson remains critical. Although we descended to Egypt as one so long ago, today the Yiddishe Mishpacha is in many ways fractured. Perhaps the time has come to truly realize and internalize that whether or not we pray the same way or resemble one another in every way, we are one.

One people, and one family... And a family comes together and survives through rising above some factors of disunity and through chessed and forgiveness, as Yoseph taught us. Family remains together and thrives as a unit through patience and tolerance, and with love. There can be diversity in a unified whole.

The colourful mosaic of the Jewish people’s tapestry need not divide us. Together our strength is greater and only together do we move closer to fulfilling our collective purpose.

We may each spell Hanukkah differently, but the light it teaches us to shine forth, comes from the same source... and together, it is unbelievably bright.

Shabbat Shalom

- Evan D. Green

Partner and International Project/Programme Manager

Le Groupe-conseil Baastel ltee

(819) 595-1421 ext.228 cell: (819) 329-4490

www.baastel.com