Sheepish Leadership

 

 

Posted on December 4, 2019 (5780) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha | Level: Beginner

 

Sheep. You wouldn’t think they’d play a major role in determining our leaders, but they     did. The Midrash says that one of Moshe’s defining acts that moved  G-d to choose him as  the leader of Israel was his attitude toward his animal flock. Once an ewe wandered from the pack, and Moshe scoured the desert to find it. He finally found the parched and exhausted creature, and he fed and carried her back to the rest of the flock. G-d was impressed. On     the way home, Moshe saw a very fascinating sight. A burning bush. The rest is history.

King David was also a shepherd. The Midrash tells us that David’s handling of sheep was  also the impetus for G-d to choose him to lead His flock. David had a very calculated   grazing system. First he would allow only the young sheep to pasture. They would eat the most tender grass. After they finished, David allowed the older sheep to graze. In this manner the tougher meadow grass was left for those sheep with stronger jaws. The    Midrash tells us that G-d was impressed with David’s abilities to discern the different     needs of varying age groups and foresaw in those actions the leadership qualities needed to be King of Israel.

So much for the careers of two of our greatest Jewish leaders as shepherds. What troubles me is this week’s Torah portion which contains a long episode that also deals with sheep. It expounds in detail exactly how Yaakov manipulated genetics and had the acumen to cultivate an amazingly large and diverse flock. However, I am troubled. Why is a long narrative of seemingly inconsequential breeding techniques detailed so intricately? The

Torah spends nearly twenty verses on a half-dozen varieties of sheep colors and explains how Yaakov bred them. Why are such seemingly insignificant breeding details given so much play in the Torah? Let us analyze the story:

Yaakov worked fifteen years for his father-in-law, Lavan. No matter how arduously he toiled, Lavan constantly tried to deny Yaakov compensation. Finally, he forced Yaakov to accept a share in the sheep as wages, but only with certain stipulations. He would only compensate him with sheep that were a mutation from the normal flock. First, he set Yaakov’s wages to be paid with only speckled lambs that born of Yaakov’s flock. Yaakov, in  a procedure that would have astounded even Gregor Mendel, produced sheep exactly according to those specifications. Next, Lavan allowed him striped sheep. Again, miraculously Yaakov cultivated his flock to produce a bounty of striped sheep! The Torah repeats the episode in various colors and stripes. What could be the significance of its importance?

Rabbi Aryeh Levin was once standing outside his yeshiva in Jerusalem while the children were on a 15 minute recess break. His son, Chaim, a teacher in  the yeshiva, was standing and observing, when suddenly his father turned to him. “What do you see my son?” asked Rav Aryeh. “Why,” he answered, “children playing!”

“Tell me about them,” said Reb Aryeh. “Well,” answered Reb Chaim, “Dovid is standing near the door of the school, with his hands in his pockets, he probably is no athlete.

Moishie is playing wildly, he probably is undisciplined. Yankel is analyzing how the clouds are drifting. I guess he was not counted in the game. But all in all they are just a bunch of children playing.” Reb Aryeh turned to him and exclaimed, “No, my son. You don’t know how to watch the children.

“Dovid is near the door with his hands in his pockets because he has no sweater. His  parents can’t afford winter clothes for him. Moishie is wild because his Rebbe scolded him and he is frustrated. And Yankel is moping because his mother is ill and he bears the responsibility to help with the entire household.

“In order to be a Rebbe you must know each boy’s needs and make sure to give him the proper attention to fulfill those needs.”

Yaakov had a very difficult task. His mission was to breed twelve tribes — each to be directed in a unique path. Some sons were to be merchants, others scholars. Judah was destined for royalty, while Levi was suited to be a teacher of the common folk. Each son, like each Jew, had a special mission. Hashem needed a father for the twelve tribes who would not breed all his children in the same mold. If Moshe’s and David’s destinies were determined by their care and compassion for their animal flock, perhaps Yaakov’s

development of twelve tribes was pre-determined by his development of a wide array of his flock. Only someone who knew how to cultivate unity in diversity would know how to produce the forebearers of the Jewish nation.

 

The Returning Strength of Jacob

 

 

Posted on November 14, 2018 (5779) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

 

Our father Jacob was a very strong and physically powerful person. We read of his physical prowess in his previous encounter with the shepherds of Haran and later of his wrestling match with the angel of Esav, at the river of Yaabok. His sons, though young in years, are also very powerful and strong physically and filled with self-confidence, without fear of confronting dangerous enemies. We will see that his two sons, Shimon and Levi, destroy   the city of Shechem in their rage and sense of justified revenge for the behavior against   their sister Dena. And according to Jewish legend, as quoted by Ramban in his   commentary, Jacob engaged in many battles against hostile tribes after entering the Land   of Israel.

And yet the overall picture of our father Jacob that emerges from the narrative recorded in the Torah is one of appeasement and an avoidance of confrontation at almost all costs. He allows both Lavan and Esav to threaten him and, in effect, he chooses to buy them off with words and gifts. There is little evidence of the true strength and power of Jacob in the   Torah narrative itself. It is obvious that that there is a dual nature present in the portrait

that the Torah describes regarding our father Jacob. And there is a profound lesson present in that purposeful presentation that the Torah has made for us to learn and follow.

We are all aware that the narrative regarding the lives and experiences of our patriarchs and matriarchs is meant to be instructive, as are all the events in Jewish history. During first and second Temple times, when the Jewish people had national sovereignty, they engaged in many wars and battles and were well known throughout the area as a fierce

foe. As a matter of fact, Josephus records that the wars of the Jews were the most fearsome in the history of the Roman Legions.

However, after the destruction of the second Temple and the rise of Christianity and later Islam, the Jews became a persecuted minority and almost powerless in terms of physical strength. The entire history of the exile is how the Jewish people lived by their wits, with low profiles and with appeasement of their enemies. Since the exile has lasted for such a long time, this attitude and self-assessment became ingrained in the Jewish psyche. It is only when the rock bottom of the Jewish exile was reached through the Holocaust that the situation of Jewish self assessment and self assertion began to change.

The creation of the State of Israel is undoubtedly the catalyst for this change. The success of the Jewish State, far beyond even the wildest hopes of previous generations, has emboldened Jewish life throughout the world. It has enabled Jews to become publicly Jewish and observant even while holding high office in non-Jewish societies and  countries. It is the time of the children of Jacob reasserting themselves in pride and strength. May it continue to embed itself in the brains and hearts of Jews.

Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Berel Wein

 

 

 

 

The Returning Strength of Jacob

 

 

Posted on November 14, 2018 (5779) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

 

Our father Jacob was a very strong and physically powerful person. We read of his physical prowess in his previous encounter with the shepherds of Haran and later of his wrestling match with the angel of Esav, at the river of Yaabok. His sons, though young in years, are also very powerful and strong physically and filled with self-confidence, without fear of confronting dangerous enemies. We will see that his two sons, Shimon and Levi, destroy   the city of Shechem in their rage and sense of justified revenge for the behavior against   their sister Dena. And according to Jewish legend, as quoted by Ramban in his   commentary, Jacob engaged in many battles against hostile tribes after entering the Land   of Israel.

And yet the overall picture of our father Jacob that emerges from the narrative recorded in the Torah is one of appeasement and an avoidance of confrontation at almost all costs. He allows both Lavan and Esav to threaten him and, in effect, he chooses to buy them off with words and gifts. There is little evidence of the true strength and power of Jacob in the   Torah narrative itself. It is obvious that that there is a dual nature present in the portrait

that the Torah describes regarding our father Jacob. And there is a profound lesson present in that purposeful presentation that the Torah has made for us to learn and follow.

We are all aware that the narrative regarding the lives and experiences of our patriarchs and matriarchs is meant to be instructive, as are all the events in Jewish history. During first and second Temple times, when the Jewish people had national sovereignty, they engaged in many wars and battles and were well known throughout the area as a fierce

foe. As a matter of fact, Josephus records that the wars of the Jews were the most fearsome in the history of the Roman Legions.

However, after the destruction of the second Temple and the rise of Christianity and later Islam, the Jews became a persecuted minority and almost powerless in terms of physical strength. The entire history of the exile is how the Jewish people lived by their wits, with low profiles and with appeasement of their enemies. Since the exile has lasted for such a long time, this attitude and self-assessment became ingrained in the Jewish psyche. It is only when the rock bottom of the Jewish exile was reached through the Holocaust that the situation of Jewish self assessment and self assertion began to change.

The creation of the State of Israel is undoubtedly the catalyst for this change. The success of the Jewish State, far beyond even the wildest hopes of previous generations, has emboldened Jewish life throughout the world. It has enabled Jews to become publicly Jewish and observant even while holding high office in non-Jewish societies and  countries. It is the time of the children of Jacob reasserting themselves in pride and strength. May it continue to embed itself in the brains and hearts of Jews.

Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Berel Wein