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PAR'SHAT B'SHALACH: "A teacher Went out to Teach..."

1/25/2018

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A TEACHER SHOULD RESPECT HIS STUDENTS.
 
  ויאמר משׁה אל־יהושׁע בחר־לנו אנשׁים וצא הלחם בעמלק מחר אנכי נצב על־ראשׁ הגבעה ומטה האלהים בידי׃  

Moshe said to Y'hoshua, "Choose men for us, go out, and fight with `Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with God's staff in my hand." (Exo 17:9)


Medieval Jewish commentator Rashi says:
"Choose ... for us" that is, for me and you; Moshe compared Yehoshua to himself. From here the Sages have said, "Let the honor of your student be held in esteem by you as your own honor." 
(Cited in Yorah Daiah 242:33)

In Exodus 17:9, Moshe, who by all counts had been very highly honored by HaShem, brought his student and disciple Joshua to his side and addressed him as an equal. This denotes of the true humility of Moshe (Num 12:3). 
      I heard it said one time that "True greatness is the ability to make others feel great!"

Here is an anecdote from a Rabbi/teacher who understood this principle:
  • When Rabbi Akiva Eiger's children were preparing his response for a publication, Rabbi Eiger wrote to them: "Among the response, you will undoubtedly find many letters to those who have studied in my yeshiva. Please do not refer to them as my students, for I have never called anyone my student. How can I know who has learned more from whom?"                     (Introduction to Tshuvot Rav Akiva Eiger).

  As the mark of a true teacher, Rambam said, ,  
  • If his students do not understand what they have been taught, a teacher should not be angry with them. Rather he should repeat the lesson until they understand. 
But on the other hand he also said that, 
  • A student should not say, "I understand" when he really does not understand. he should ask for the lesson to be repeated until he comprehends it, even if it entails several repetitions. If his teacher grow impatient with him he should say, "Teacher, what you are teaching is Torah and I must learn it; but my mental capacity is limited!"            (Hilchot Talmud Torah 4:4; Yorah Daiah 246:10,11).

In his book, Love Your Neghbour' Rabbi Zelig Pliskin comments on this saying, "I once heard it said, "If you ask a question, you might be considered a fool for five minutes. But if you don't ask a question, you will remain a fool your entire life."' 

      And as a friend of mine said the other day, "If the student has not learned, the teacher has not taught!"

Once at a writer's conference someone said, "We need to stop looking at people as 'wrong', and instead start look at them as 'lost'"
     I think that it couldn't be more true. As teachers, we must always remind ourselves that we were not born with the knowledge we profess. Like everyone else, we were born ignoramus.    
     We also need to also keep in mind that we did not teach ourselves. Someone took the time to teach us either personally, on paper, or on digital tools. Everyone of us sits on the shoulders of the knowledge of someone else. At the end of the day, we are only the products of HaShem's infinite patience, as we do not know how long HaShem had been trying to drive the point home up to the day when we said, 'Eureka!'
     We need to resist the temptation to look down on those who have not yet received the knowledge we have. The key to resist that temptation is to remember where we come from. Who knows, it is possible that one day, those on whom we look down today will surpass us. The true mark of a teacher is in the number of students who have surpassed him. 
     Remembering these things helps us all to look at the people we teach, whether they are our children, our friends, co-workers, employees, or congregants with compassion, love, and respect, just like Moshe did with Yehoshua.
     The greatest sign of thankfulness we can show for the knowledge that has been imparted to us is to invest our time in teaching someone else what we know with the patience and grace that others, and ultimately Hashem has shown us. 

Here is another true anecdote about a Rabbi/teacher
  • Rabbi Praida had to repeat each lesson 400 times to a certain student until the student finally grasped the information. Once when they were studying together, someone interrupted Rabbi Praida and asked him to go with him to perform a mitzvah. Rabbi Praida waited until he was finished repeating the lesson the usual 400 times, but the student did not comprehend the lesson. "Why is today different than usual?" asked the Rabbi.  "From the moment that you were asked to accompany those people, I was unable to concentrate on what you were teaching me." replied the student. "I kept thinking that you were going to leave right away. Rabbi Praida then repeated the lesson another 400 times, and for this HaShem granted him exceptionally long life and his entire generation merited Olam Haba. (Eruvim 54b)

Here are some more teaching nuggets,
  • Besides possessing a thorough grasp of the subject matter that is to be taught, a teacher must sincerely be interested in the welfare of his students. he should try to help them with their personal needs and problems, and should show them understanding and sympathy.(Shivti B'hais Hashem, pp.16,30)
  • A teacher should not use sarcastic remarks or ridicule ...(Bava Metzia 58b)

Our Master was a great teacher. He was tireless and patient. He used familiar talmudic parables so the simple and uneducated people could understand Him (Mat 13:10-11). He spoke to people in a relate-able language.  

 

Once while going through Samaria, people refused him hospitality, a very grave sin. The disciples (reacting to the already acrimonious politics between Jews and Samaritans) wanted to punish the people and the area with fire and brimstone but the Master refused. Several year later, those very disciples found themselves ministering to that very same city. This shows that Phillip had learned his lesson about being a patient teacher from the grace, patience and foresight of the Master,  (Luk 9:52-56; Acts 8:25).


Very often we find opposition when we try to share the truth of Messianic Judaism to those who have been raised in traditional churches. This can lead to derogatory and condescending attitudes from those who claim to 'know'. How unlike the Master this is How unlike the faithful Rabbi who repeats his lesson 400 times! The Master never looks down on us for our ignorance but like the patient teacher that He is, teaches us the lesson not 400 times but 7 x 77 times. 

May we impart on others the patience He has, and ever continues to impart upon us.

May we learn to follow the apostle's injunction, 

... and a slave of the Lord shouldn't fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, 
a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. 

Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents.For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.  
(2 Ti 2:24-26)

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PAR'SHAT BO: The Circumcision of the Heart!

1/18/2018

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Moshe is to go to Pharaoh. HaShem asked his prophet to challenge the worldly ruthless ruler to allow the Children of Israel to go worship their God for three days in the desert. Pharaoh absolutely refuses. The text of the Torah gives us some insight as to what is going on behind the scenes. We read in the text that HaShem commands Moshe:

ויאמר יהוה אל־משׁה בלכתך לשׁוב מצרימה ראה כל־המפתים אשׁר־שׂמתי בידך ועשׂיתם לפני פרעה ואני אחזק את־לבו ולא ישׁלח את־העם׃ 


"When you get back to Egypt, make sure that you do before Pharaoh every one of the wonders I have enabled you to do. Nevertheless, I am going to make him hardhearted, and he will refuse to let the people go. (Exo 4:21 CJB)

 "Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his servants hardhearted, so that I can demonstrate these signs of mine among them, so that you can tell your son and grandson about what I did to Egypt and about my signs that I demonstrated among them, and so that you will all know that I am Adonai." (Exo 10:1-2 CJB)



These words seem to imply that Pharaoh did not stand a chance. HaShem himself hardened his heart. This begs the question that Paulrhetorically asks about what HaShem said to Moshe in this parasha,

 For the Tanakh says to Pharaoh, "It is for this very reason that I raised you up, so that in connection with you I might demonstrate my power, so that my name might be known throughout the world." So then, he has mercy on whom he wants, and he hardens whom he wants. But you will say to me, 
"Then why does he still find fault with us? After all, who resists his will?"

To which he answers,

 Who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me this way?" Or has the potter no right to make from a given lump of clay this pot for honorable use and that one for dishonorable? 

Now what if God, even though he was quite willing to demonstrate his anger and make known his power, patiently put up with people who deserved punishment and were ripe for destruction?  (In other words, "you don't make a fuss when I show mercy to those who deserve punishment") 
What if he did this in order to make known the riches of his glory to those who are the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory --that is, to us, whom he called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles? 
(Rom 9:15-24 CJB)


To sum it all, the text of the Torah tells us that HaShem wanted this situation, and that he allowed it in order to establish his Name or 'reputation' on earth. He tells us that he has done it for our sake today.

It is true that we shouldn't question HaShem's ways. Many disasters in History ended up having a redemptive silver lining. But this still leaves us with a dilemma, "Is our life based on predestination or self-determination?" 

The answer really is that HaShem did not initiate Pharaoh's resolve against the Children of Israel. He only used what already existed in Pharaoh's heart.   It is most striking when we read the text in English, whereas the Hebrew is more specific. We are also faced with this dilemma when we read the text with the cultural mentality of 21st century urban  Westerners. Now that we have an idea as to why HaShem allowed this situation, let us see what was Pharaoh's stubbornness motivated by. 

For the first 5 plagues, we are not told that HaShem hardened Pharaoh's hard, we first told that HaShem will make Pharaoh's heart 'difficult קשה'. A 'difficult heart' is a heart that is oppositional, contrary; someone who refuses to cooperate and listen to others. "My-mind-is-made-up-so-don't confuse-me-with-the-facts" type of attitude.
     Then we are told that 'Pharaoh's heart was "hardened יחזק "(Ex 7:13). What does it mean? What is a heart-hardened person?   In our culture, we tend to associate the heart with feelings and emotions. A "hard-hearted" person would therefore be an insensitive person who "doesn't like kittens". 
     In Hebrew, the heart represents the seat of the will and decision-making. The description would be therefore as of someone who is arrogantly stubborn and doesn't change their mind about things. No matter how much you challenge them, they are unmovable. This is something that is very common to human nature.
     We are then told that Pharaoh's heart was 'heavy כבד'. (Ex 7:14) In English, a heavy heart is a sad heart. In the case of Pharaoh it refers to his pride being wounded. The pride of the haughtiest man in the world was wounded by he of whom HaShem said was the meekest man in the world (Numb 12:3).
     We are also told that Pharaoh 'strengthened his heart' יחזק (Ex 8:19). At first in English it may even it sounds good, but what that means is that Pharaoh strengthened his already made up assumptions or decisions. It's a very common human reaction. How do we strengthen our hearts in the sense used here to describe Pharaoh's attitude? By rationalizing our opinion and disobedience. against HaShem's commandments.

All those things represent the anti-thesis of what we should be. When our heart takes the unshakable resolve to strengthen itself against HaShem's will and ways in our lives through rationalization in order to save our pride and so-called honor, we resemble Pharaoh. 
     As we read these things, we may suddenly realize that, in our stubborn proud ways, we may resemble Pharaoh more than Moshe.

We do not have to be Pharaoh in order to be like Pharaoh. All we have to do is harden our hearts and resolve against those things that HaShem asks us to do; against the way he wants us to be. This was the devil's sin from the beginning. Of all the sins in the book, pride comes at the top.

There are six things Adonai hates, seven which he detests: a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet swift in running to do evil, a false witness who lies with every breath, and him who sows strife among brothers.
(Pro 6:16-19 CJB)



We can all remember times when we have hardened our hearts against HaShem's will. Even today, He may call us to repent from some type of behavior, some bad habit, but even more from some grudge, some "unfinished business" with relatives, co-workers, spouse, former spouse, or children but we don't because ... (fill in the blanks).

Moshe and Jeremiah analogized a stiff-neck proud and stubborn heart with an 'uncircumcised heart'.

In our new understanding that the "heart" in Hebrew is the "will", let us apply Moshe and Jeremiah's challenge to our lives today: 

Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; 
and don't be stiffnecked any longer! 
Deu: 10:16

 "People of Y'hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, circumcise yourselves for Adonai, 
remove the foreskins of your heart! Jer: 4:4

Stephen, the first Jewish messianic martyr challenged his hard-hearted religious opponents with, 

Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! 
You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! 
You do the same things your fathers did! 
(Act 7:51 CJB)

Moshe tells us that in the messianic Age,... 

... Adonai your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live. 
Deu: 30:6

MAY IT BE SOON HASHEM
EVEN IN OUR DAYS!

 
"
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PAR'SHAT VAYERA: Empathy: But What About Me?

1/13/2018

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WE SHOULD SYMPATHIZE WITH THE PROBLEMS OF OTHERS EVEN WHEN WE OURSELVES ARE SUFFERING.
 
 וגם אני שׁמעתי את־נאקת בני ישׂראל אשׁר מצרים מעבדים אתם ואזכר את־בריתי׃ 

Moreover, I have [also*] heard the groaning of the people of Isra'el, whom the Egyptians are keeping in slavery; and I have remembered my covenant.  (Exo 6:5)

(*The Hebrew has the word, 'also'.)

   In Chasam Sofer Rabbi Moshe Sofer explained why the word 'also' is included in the verse though it may seem superfluous (and there are no superfluous words in the Torah). He says that by it, is inferred that it is not only HaShem who heard the 'groanings', but the people also heard one another's cries. Even though the entire Jewish people were enslaved and afflicted, they did not forget the plight of their fellowman. 
   By this, HaShem  encourages us not to be so wrapped up in our own problems that we forget to empathize and be concerned for the the plight of those around us who may after all, be under a heavier burden that we are while, out of concern for others, refusing to impose their burdens on those around them through verbal complaints. 

Here is a little anecdote about this.

   The mother of Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv has a custom to collect money for the poor at funerals. At the funeral of her only daughter, she also collected charity. When asked how she was able to compose herself at the height of her grief, she replied, "Just because I am suffering doesn't mean that the poor have to suffer also." (Tnuas Hamussar, vol. 2, p. 28). 

   Our Master has certainly left us an example to follow on this matter.
He himself is described by Isaiah the prophet as,

... a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. ... Though mistreated, he was submissive -- he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. (Isa 53:3-7 CJB)


   Fully aware of what expected Him within the next few days in Jerusalem, He stopped on His way to comfort Lazarus' two sisters who had just lost their brother. Yochanan records that at that moment, 

Yeshua cried; (Joh 11:35 CJB). 

    Anticipating the soon coming destruction of the Temple and of the city, even at the height of His suffering he made sure to empathize with the 'daughters of Jerusalem' saying, 

"Daughters of Yerushalayim, 
don't cry for me; cry for yourselves and your children! (Luk 23:28). 

    While Himself unjustly hanging on the tree, He cared for the thieve who admitting his guilt begged to be 'remembered', 

"Then he [the thief] said, "Yeshua, remember me when you come as King." Yeshua said to him, "Yes! I promise that you will be with me today in Gan-`Eden." (Luk 23:42-43). 
    
   Finally, just before the end, our Master also made sure that His mother as well as His youngest disciple would be cared for after His departure,

"When Yeshua saw his mother and the talmid whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Mother, this is your son." Then he said to the talmid, "This is your mother." And from that time on, the talmid took her into his own home. (Joh 19:26-27).

   But we might say, "Oh, but this is Yeshua! He can do that, but we can't!"

    When Aaron lost his two sons he was in the middle of a great dedication ceremony, but the faithful levite refused to mourn while in the service of Hashem. Not only did he not want to draw negative attention, away from this very important moment and to himself, but  he also didn't want to dampen the joy it meant for the people of Israel. He went later to mourn his two sons in the privacy of his own tent with his own relatives. 

   The Master's dear apostle gave us a commandment to empathy in, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."  (Rom 12:15). This command doesn't seem to be conditional to our our state at the time. While like following Yeshua's example we are not to indulge in burdening everybody with our problems, we are to be aware and take concern of the problems of others. 

NOTE: All that said, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't share our personal issues with others in order to get help, counsel, prayer, or even comfort and sympathy, but we are to do so in private, with the leaders of the congregation so as not to burden the whole congregation with our personal issues. While we are to give that sympathy, we are not to indulge in milking it from others. Sad to say, congregation 'prayer requests' times are often hijacked into 'pity parties'! The dear apostle Paul said to the Roman congregation, 

'There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.' " (Act 20:35 CJB)

    Following after the example of the Master, Paul and Silas his travelling companion who were  unjustly imprisoned cared more for their jailer than for themselves and even their own freedom. Here is the account that Luke, Paul's biographer left us regarding that episode,

The mob joined in the attack against them, and the judges tore their clothes off them and ordered that they be flogged. After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely. Upon receiving such an order, he threw them into the inner cell and clamped their feet securely between heavy blocks of wood. Around midnight, Sha'ul and Sila were praying and singing hymns to God, while the other prisoners listened attentively. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer awoke, and when he saw the doors open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, for he assumed that the prisoners had escaped. But Sha'ul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We're all here!" Calling for lights, the jailer ran in, began to tremble and fell down in front of Sha'ul and Sila.(Act 16:22-29 CJB)


Paul's motto was,

 When we are cursed, we keep on blessing; when we are persecuted, we go on putting up with it; 
(1Co 4:12 CJB)



    James the Master's brother also tells us how to handle the adversities of life in,

Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. (Jas 1:2-4 CJB)


If we do not take patiently and with joy today's afflictions, how will we be able to emulate the example's of the early Jewish messianic martyrs whom the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Jewish believers in fist century Israel) challenges with,

What more should I say? There isn't time to tell about Gid`on, Barak, Shimshon, Yiftach, David, Sh'mu'el and the prophets; who, through trusting, conquered kingdoms, worked righteousness, received what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, had their weakness turned to strength, grew mighty in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead resurrected; other people were stretched on the rack and beaten to death, refusing to be ransomed, so that they would gain a better resurrection. Others underwent the trials of being mocked and whipped, then chained and imprisoned. They were stoned, sawed in two, murdered by the sword; they went about clothed in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated, wandering about in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground! The world was not worthy of them! All of these had their merit attested because of their trusting. Nevertheless, they did not receive what had been promised, because God had planned something better that would involve us, so that only with us would they be brought to the goal. (Heb 11:32-40 CJB)

MAY WE, WITH ALL THE MARTYRS OF THE FAITH THROUGHOUT THE AGES, TAKE OUR TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS PATIENTLY.

 MAY WE, LIKE THE MASTER, USE THEM AS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE TO PROVOKE IN US EMPATHY FOR OTHERS, 
RATHER THAN SYMPATHY FOR OURSELVES. 

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PAR'SHAT SHEMOT: Broken Into Leadership!

1/2/2018

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BROKEN INTO LEADERSHIP

 ויאמר יהוה ראה ראיתי את־עני עמי אשׁר במצרים ואת־צעקתם שׁמעתי מפני נגשׂיו כי ידעתי את־מכאביו׃ 
 וארד להצילו מיד מצרים ולהעלתו מן־הארץ ההוא אל־ארץ טובה ורחבה אל־ארץ זבת חלב ודבשׁ אל־מקום הכנעני והחתי והאמרי והפרזי והחוי והיבוסי׃ 
 ועתה הנה צעקת בני־ישׂראל באה אלי וגם־ראיתי את־הלחץ אשׁר מצרים לחצים אתם׃ 


Adonai said, "I have seen how my people are being oppressed in Egypt and heard their cry for release from their slavemasters, because I know their pain. I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that country to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the place of the Kena`ani, Hitti, Emori, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi. Yes, the cry of the people of Isra'el has come to me, and I have seen how terribly the Egyptians oppress them. 
(Exo 3:7-9 CJB)



In this passage HaShem claimed He has seen the oppression of His people. That He heard their cries. He says, "I know their pain" which resulted in "I have come down..."
     In two weeks we will go over Par'shat "Bo". Though English texts of that parasha translate it as "go", in Hebrew, "Bo" means "Come". The sages have therefore concluded that if HaShem tells Moshe, "Come to Pharaoh..." (Ex 10:1), as opposed to "Go to Pharaoh...", HaShem must be in Egypt. From there we learn that HaShem did not just content Himself with observing the situation from afar. He came down and took part of the afflictions of His people. 
     This sets an example for would-be leaders of HaShem's people. We cannot be satisfied with leaders which display mere remote empathy. A leader of HaShem's congregations need to be able to not just say "Sorry for your problem...!", or "I feel and understand your pain ...!", (when they really sometimes don't) but he needs to really truly empathize, and that from a heart of personal experience. And if a leader is to empathize from a heart of personal experience, one cannot be a  true leader of HaShem's people without having personally gone through harrowing experiences and done some pretty awful blunders themselves. How else could they understand and have mercy on us simple people! In fact, mistakes and blunders seem to be the hallmark of those HaShem chooses to lead His people.    

I am remembered of the famous story of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint who went to teach about the God of Yeshua to the Mincayanis, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador in 1956.  The tribe  was so engrossed in personal vendettas that they did not know what it meant to have grandchildren. They actually killed Jim and Nate with their spears.         Later, Jim Elliot's wife of  decided to continue her husband's work and went to live among the  Mincayanis in order to care for them. That was something that took them by surprise. Her main message was about the God who could understand them  because 'He Himself had lost his son by a spear. But though it was painful to Him, He did not choose to go for revenge but rather to use His son's death as an element of life for those who killed him.'  You can watch the docu-drama rightly called 'The End of the Spear' here: http://christian-flix.com/end-of-the-spear/ 
     Because of His similar experience, those tribes people felt that that God could understand them, so they were willing to listen to His Words and let them change their lives. A beautiful true story.

Here is an anecdote to illustrate the point. (Heard from Rabbi Shalom Shwadron)

A little boy was playing in front of Rabbi Shwadron's house in Jerusalem. The child fell, and received a nasty cut. Hearing the child's cry, Rabbi Shwadron ran outside, put a towel over the cut, and rushed over with the boy to a doctor that lived nearby. As he was running, an elderly lady noticed his concern and distress and, thinking it was one of Rabbi Shwadron's children, called out, "Don't worry, don't worry, Hashem will help!"
     It so happened that the boy was the woman's grandson. Rabbi Shwadron was curious to see her reaction when she would realize the child's identity. Sure enough, as soon as she realized that it was her grandson, she stopped saying, "Don't worry," and started screaming at the top of her lungs, "My Meir! My Meir!" while neighbors tried to calm her down.
   
When someone else's child is involved, you may detachedly say, "Don't worry"; but when your own child is involved, then you'll shout!

Such kinds of leaders were the foremen of the Children of Israel in Egypt. 

The text of the Torah tells us, 

'The foremen of the people of Isra'el, whom Pharaoh's slavemasters had appointed to be over them, were flogged and asked, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday and today, as you did formerly?"
(Exo 5:14 CJB)

Rashi, the medieval commentator writes: These officers were Israelite. They had pity for their fellow Israelites and did not force them to fill their quotas. When the officers handed over bricks to the Egyptian taskmasters, the taskmasters beat them for not having pressed the workers to fill their quotas. (Shemot Rabbah 5:20 cited by Rashi).

About the issue of leadership, the Chofetz Chayim also writes that leaders very often take unfair advantage of the people working under them. The just mode of behavior, however, is to never act condescendingly toward others, even if you are elevated to a rank above them. 
     Arrogance is a trait which is strictly forbidden. According to some authorities, the prohibition against arrogance is listed among the 613 commandments of the Torah. We should learn from the officers of the Children of Israel who not only did not take unfair advantage of those under them, but who even suffered physical pain to aid them. (Machaneh Israel, pt 2 ch 3.)



It is recorded in the Torah that when Moshe followed Jethro's advice to share the load of the care of the people by delegating responsibility onto others,  he looked for ... able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, ....(Exo 18:21) When Moses asked the people to chose these kinds of leaders, Jewish historians tells us that the people chose these officers who had suffered the lash of the Egyptians on their behalf.


Bringing this situation closer to our concerns as disciples of the Master, about the events that happen in the desert Paul teaches that ... these things took place as examples for us, ...(1 Co 10:6). This choice by the Children of Israel should therefore serve us as a good sample of the kinds of leaders we should chose for our congregations.
 
The Master Himself taught about choices in leadership in the following words. He said,
    
"You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators. Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave! (Mat 20:25-27)

..whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Mat 23:12)

The Master Himself, our Leader and King, set the example for us by suffering the lash of the Romans on our behalf. 

It is the conviction of this writer that only when, like the Children of Israel of old,  we will desire and establish such types of leaders over  our congregations, that is, 
  • Leaders who give their lives in service for the people they serve; 
  • Leaders who do not consider their office as gain;  
  • Leaders who reject pride and arrogance in favor of humility and service; 
  • Leaders who know that mercy is a bridge they cannot deny others without denying it to themselves;
  • Leader who, through their personal abnegation can show the miracle of the resurrection in their own lives of service to the body; 

... our messianic movement will be strong and fulfill its mission of being the Light of Messiah to the world just as it did before! 


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