Beha'alotecha: When Divine Spirits Won't Help You Decide

This week I am writing my 100th blog post. It's hard to believe that I've already written 100 of these things; it doesn't seem so long ago that I sat down to write post number one. Thank you, everyone, for reading my blog. Your comments and feedback have been invaluable, and I truly consider Take on Torah to be a collaborative project. And I can promise you this, as long as you keep reading and commenting, I'll keep writing. Thanks for all your support! ...And now, on to this week's post!

Leadership is tough. It may seem like a lot of fun, but once you take on that mantle, it ain't easy! Public scrutiny, little praise yet LOTS of blame, and a good number of people who think they could do your job better than you can. Thankfully, I'm not speaking from personal experience, but rather from this week's Torah portion, which shows us some of Moses' greatest challenges during the Exodus. As usual, the people are complaining. This time the manna isn't enough for them, they want meat! In addition to all the kvetching, Moses loses one of his favorite advisers, his father-in-law, God scolds him, and worst of all, he faces a coup from his own siblings! The job is getting the best of him, and he is forced to ask God for help.

God acquiesces to Moses' request, and instructs him to pick 70 elders who will be imbued with the Divine spirit, and who will share the burden of leadership. What follows is a fascinating scene where two elders seem to be receiving this Calling in an unsanctioned manner, and Moses' advisers fear it will undermine Moses' authority. They beg him to stop these "rogue" elders, but Moses surprises them by declaring, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!" Moses isn't looking for more control, he's looking for less, and he would happily give it all away in a heartbeat!

Now, I feel kind of bad criticizing Moses - after all, the guy has had a rough couple of years. But the notion of every Israelite being a prophet, being a leader, is pretty frightening. Whether you like it or not, leadership is necessary. Without it, you're going to end up with anarchy and chaos. Someone needs to make decisions, and yes, someone needs to be accountable and listen to people's kvetching. Moses selfishly hopes to relinquish control, even though clearly God considers him the best person for the job. In our lives, we too must strive to figure out what our greatest potential is, and do everything we can to live up to it. Not everyone is meant to be a leader or a prophet, but we all have limitless potential.

The Talmud teaches us, "In a place where there is no leader, strive to be a leader." We should seek out opportunities to be at our best, chances to make the world a better place for the people around us. But what happens in a place where there already is a leader? There is still a role for us to play, and many ways we can help out and do our part. One of the reasons the Israelites struggled so much throughout their time in the desert was because Moses never became comfortable in his role. Sometimes we don't get to choose where life will take us, but we can always affect our own lives, and make the most of every situation. Don't wait for the "Spirit of God" to come down and anoint you a leader. Follow instead those most wonderful words of Mahatma Gandhi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy of My Buffo on Flickr

2. CC image courtesy of Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr

3. CC image courtesy of Ian W Scott on Flickr

4. CC image courtesy of St_A_Sh on Flickr

5. CC image courtesy of Ben Sutherland on Flickr