True Leadership

Tetzaveh

Exodus 27:20-30:10

Précis: The parasha continues with a description of ritual items in the Tabernacle, including oil for the lamp, priestly clothing, the ephod, breastplate, robes, plate, and miter. Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eliezer and Ithamar are designated as Priests and are consecrated with sacrifices and ceremony. The parasha concludes with a description of the daily sacrifices and incense to be offered at the Tabernacle.

Ex. 28:1 “You shall bring forward your bother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.”

How did Moses feel when he learned that his brother Aaron would be in charge of the ritual life of the Israelites? While Moses was called the most humble of men, after his leadership role of the Jewish people in freeing them from slavery, escaping through the Red Sea, receiving the Torah, and building the Mishkan, it must have come as something of a shock to see that his brother was now “taking over” ritual affairs.

On the one hand, Moses differs from the leadership of many subsequent cults, where a charismatic personality “takes over” the entire lives of the adherents. Our text is quite different. Moses cedes civil authority to the elders at the suggestion of Jethro; he cedes military leadership to Joshua in the fight against Amalek; and, perhaps most importantly, he was denied entry into the Promised Land.  As suggested by Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue (2/8/14), Moses is not a “dead cult hero.”

Moses certainly has a central role to play in Jewish history, but it 

​was a​s a leader, not as a Messiah. Here we arrive at a very important Jewish principle: a Jewish leader, no matter how great, no matter how knowledgeable, no matter how powerful, no matter how successful, is powerless without the support of his or her constituents.  Moses demonstrates that modesty is in fact a key element of leadership, and that training leaders who will follow in one’s footsteps is an important aspect of true leadership.

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Great leaders understand quite well that the offices they hold are held in trust for the people they lead. If only American (and Israeli) leaders grasped this message more fully!