Former MK to 'Post': Israel needs a leader like Moses - opinion

• Published date: 07 January 2021
• Author: DOV LIPMAN
• Date: 07 January 2021

I suggest that voters read through this week's Torah portion, Parshat Shemot, which sheds light on the human nature of our nation's first leader, and why he was chosen for the task.

Tradition teaches us that the first action a person commits in the Torah captures the essence of that person. And so it was with our original leader: Moses's first action was to leave the comforts of the king's palace, where he had grown up witnessing the suffering of the Jewish people (Exodus 2:11).

From the outset, we see how Moses never turns a blind eye to that suffering. He cares. But he doesn't just care. When he sees a Jew being beaten by an Egyptian, he makes a move at great personal risk to bring an end to the suffering of this Jew (2:12). Moreover, Moses's concern was not relegated to just outside forces causing problems for his brethren. When he sees tension the next day between two Jews, he is unable to remain silent and tries to intercede (2:13).

Care for the welfare of his nation. He sought to protect his brothers from external foes. Zero tolerance for infighting among Jews. These are the three first qualities that we see in the man who became our foundational leader.

Moses then flees to Midian, and we see that caring and a willingness to act extends beyond his own people. He sees Midianite men preventing women from drawing water from the well, and without hesitation fights the Midianites and draws water himself for the women (2:16-17). Here we see a fourth quality of Moses: not accepting human suffering anywhere in the world, and a willingness to take risks to stop such suffering.

Later, before God appears at the burning bush, the Torah teaches that Moses was a shepherd (3:1). The midrash relates how Moses saw one of the goats run off and chased after it, and then saw the goat head to a brook where it rested and drank the water. "I didn't realize that you were running away because you were tired and thirsty," said Moses, and after the goat drank, he carried the animal back to the flock.

God saw this and decided that someone who cares so much about the well-being of one goat is the man who should become leader of the Jewish people. As Mahatma Ghandi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." This was a fifth quality: caring about the suffering of all, including animals.

Finally, God appears to Moses and offers him the incredible...