Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Va'era
Yaakov, who yearned his whole life to see his family united, left a testament – the blessings for his descendants – clearly establishing that the "crown" would rest on Yosef’s head, but that Yehuda had the right to be a partner. This would achieve unity between Rachel’s sons and Leah’s sons. Yosef’s prominence was rooted in reality, as he was Paroh’s all-powerful viceroy, but it far exceeded this factor and was connected to his mother, Rachel. Yaakov even had a first thought that Dan, the firstborn of Rachel’s maidservant, would be the antecedent of the Mashiach (see Bereishit Rabbati regarding "Dan will judge his nation like one of the tribes of Israel" (Bereishit 49:16)).
We return then, to our question from last week: How does the transfer of leadership to Moshe at the beginning of Shemot align with Yaakov’s plans? We already raised the idea that descendants of Ephrayim, Yosef’s more prominent son, failed, during the Exile, to make good use of his leadership, when they tried to improperly "jumpstart" the liberation. We will now look at a different approach.
To bring the people out of Egypt and receive the Torah required an exceptionally unique leader with two qualities: First, he needed leadership skills, acquired by growing up as a prince in the royal palace. Second, he had to tower above all the people so significantly that no one could ever challenge him, ensuring that "Moshe is true and his Torah is true" would always be a sacred principle. Thus, Moshe was chosen on a one-time basis, as the leader needed for the times, even though he was not a descendant of Yosef or Yehuda.
The Tribe of Ephrayim was clearly displeased with this (see precedent in Shoftim 8:1-3). Moshe addressed this challenge by appointing Yehoshua bin Nun as his deputy, declaring in effect that he was not claiming permanent leadership, which would remain with Ephrayim. Already in the battle against Amalek, Yehoshua was the partner-leader, as the pasuk says "Moshe said to Yehoshua, ‘Choose men for us and go fight Amalek.’" Rashi emphasizes: "‘For us’ – for me and you, making him equal to himself." Moshe's greatness, including his humility, is fully revealed. The willingness to share leadership for unity’s sake is key to victory over Amalek and success against all challenges.
But what about Yehuda? Yehoshua also had a partner: Calev ben Yefuneh. The gemara (Sota 11b) identifies him as Calev ben Chetzron, son of Peretz, Yehuda’s firstborn through Tamar, ancestor of the royal dynasty (see Divrei Hayamim I. 2:18).
Thus, under Moshe’s leadership, Israel united. Alongside Moshe stood Yehoshua from Ephrayim/Rachel and Calev from Yehuda/Leah.
Here too, and throughout history, humility is essential for achieving unity.
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