מעשיך יקרבוך ומעשיך ירחקוך
ALL FOR MY CHILDREN Moshe Rabenu knows that his life will soon end. He also knows that his people, Am Israel, will need a leader to replace him. Who were the candidates to take Moshe’s place? The most natural thing at that time and in those circumstances would have been for Moshe’s sons to replace him. At the end of the day “all our sacrifice is for our children”. And Moshe might have thought that he deserved to see his sons following in his footsteps and be the next leaders of his people. Formally—and as the Jews saw in Egypt— a leader , a Pharaoh or a King, establishes his own dynasty. Why would Moshe be different from any other political leader?
MERIT or FAMILY Surprisingly, Moshe’s sons are not mentioned in the Tora as candidates for his replacement. The Sages of the Midrash affirm that Moshe at first did think of his children as his natural successors. How do we know? The Rabbis deduced this idea from the juxtaposition of the text that speaks of Tselofchad, and the text that speaks of Moshe’s replacement. Tselofchad had no sons. The daughters told Moshe that they deserved to inherit their father’s land. In the end, the Tora proves them right and Tselofchad’s daughters got their inheritance. The Sages indicate that at that time Moshe thought: “If the daughters of Tselofchad, that seemingly were unfit, ended up inheriting their father’s land, my sons, should also inherit my position of leadership, regardless of how fit they are for the job”. At this point, and with an unusual absence of euphemisms, the Rabbis “reconstruct” God’s theoretical response to Moshe: “Your sons did nothing to deserve inheriting you (ישבו להם)! They did not attend the study house and did not make an effort to learn Torah.” In other words, Torah, study, intellectual and spiritual training, is not inherited from father to children like a piece of land. If there was no personal effort on the part of the children, inheriting automatically a position of leadership would be considered simply “nepotism.”
PROBATE COURT At the end, HaShem, tells Moshe that the one who will succeed him will be Yehoshua, Moshe’s assistant. And again the Rabbis rationalized with their own words God’s decision: “Although he is neither your son nor your nephew, Yehoshua,[is your disciple] and he tried his best. During the years that he assisted you, Yehoshua would get up very early in the morning and show up at the House of Study (בית ועד). There, and before anyone else arrived, Yehoshua cleaned the floor, laid out the carpets and arranged the benches… he was willing to do any work that was necessary, regardless of whether or not that work was according to his status and prestige, for the sake of Tora and the people …. Yehoshua stayed in the study house until late at night, and only left when everyone else had already left.” The comparison between Yehoshua and the sons of Moshe leaves no room for ambiguity. HaShem teaches Moshe – and through him to all of us – that we Jews belong to a “meritocratic” society: our own merits are more valuable than our inherited merits. Leadership positions are assigned on the basis of personal efforts and merit, by virtue of the individual’s talents, education, competence and specific aptitude for that particular position.
LAND AND LEADERSHIP. Unlike a piece of land or a large fortune, Tora — and leadership in the realm of Tora — is NOT automatically inherited from father to son. The fact that my father is or was a great sage or a great leader does not make me, his son, a good man for the job. And vice versa. It is possible that a great sage had a father who was not a great sage. Ultimately, it is up to one’s own effort. This is also how the great Jewish sage Aqabiya ben Mahalalel explained this idea to his son. When Aqabiya was about to die, his son asked him to “recommend” him to his colleagues, who were the most prominent rabbis and leaders of the Jewish people. “With your recommendation, dad, many doors are going to open for me, and I am going to be able to get close to the prestigious Rabbinical elite”. But his father refused to recommend him to the Rabbis. His son asked him: “Did you find anything wrong with me? And his father answered “no”, but he added phrase that became one of the most important lessons the rabbis taught on this subject: “My son, it is not my recommendation that will give you prestige or a leadership position, but your actions”. In Hebrew: מעשיך יקרבוך ומעשיך ירחקוך “It will be your deeds and behavior, not my words, what will bring you closer or further away from the Rabbis.”
