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
