MARCH 28 • 2024 | 77
day, and show kindness to
my master Abraham.” Gen.
24:12
Eliezer’s loyalty to
Abraham won, but not
without a deep struggle.
Hence the shalshelet.
The third shalshalet brings
us to Egypt and the life of
Joseph. Sold by his brothers
as a slave, he is now working
in the house of an eminent
Egyptian, Potiphar. Left
alone in the house with
his master’s wife, he finds
himself the object of her
desire. He is handsome.
She wants him to sleep with
her. He refuses. To do such
a thing, he says, would be
to betray his master, her
husband. It would be a sin
against God.
Yet over “he refused” is
a shalshelet, (Gen. 39:8)
indicating — as some
rabbinic sources and
medieval commentaries
suggest — that he did so
at the cost of considerable
effort. He nearly succumbed.
This was more than the
usual conflict between sin
and temptation. It was a
conflict of identity. Recall
that Joseph was living in a
new and strange land. His
brothers had rejected him.
They had made it clear that
they did not want him as part
of their family. Why then
should he not, in Egypt, do
as the Egyptians do? Why not
yield to his master’s wife if
that is what she wanted? The
question for Joseph was not
just, “Is this right?” but also,
“Am I an Egyptian or a Jew?”
All three episodes are
about inner conflict, and
all three are about identity.
There are times when each
of us has to decide, not just
“What shall I do?” but “What
kind of person shall I be?”
That is particularly fateful in
the case of a leader, which
brings us to episode four,
this time with Moses in the
central role.
DECIDING WHO WE ARE
After the sin of the Golden
Calf, Moses had, at God’s
command, instructed the
Israelites to build a Sanctuary
which would be, in effect, a
permanent symbolic home
for God in the midst of the
people. By now, the work
is complete, and all that
remains is for Moses to
induct his brother Aaron
and Aaron’s sons into office.
He robes Aaron with the
special garments of the High
Priest, anoints him with oil,
and performs the various
sacrifices appropriate to the
occasion. Over the word vay-
ishchat, “and he slaughtered
[the sacrificial ram]” (Lev.
8:23) there is a shalshelet. By
now we know that this
means there was an internal
struggle in Moses’ mind. But
what was it? There is not the
slightest sign in the text that
suggests that he was under-
going a crisis.
Yet a moment’s thought
makes it clear what Moses’
inner turmoil was about.
Until now he had led the
Jewish people. Aaron had
assisted him, accompany-
ing him on his missions
to Pharaoh, acting as his
spokesman, aide and sec-
ond-in-command. Now,
however, Aaron was about to
undertake a new leadership
role in his own right. No
longer would he be one step
behind Moses. He would do
what Moses himself could
not. He would preside over
the daily offerings in the
Tabernacle. He would medi-
ate the avodah, the Israelites’
sacred service to God. Once
a year on Yom Kippur he
would perform the service
that would secure atonement
for the people from their
sins. No longer in Moses’
shadow, Aaron was about to
become the one kind of lead-
er Moses was not destined to
be: a High Priest.
The Talmud adds a further
dimension to the poignan-
cy of the moment. At the
Burning Bush, Moses had
repeatedly resisted God’s
call to lead the people.
Eventually God told him
that Aaron would go with
him, helping him speak (Ex.
4:14-16). The Talmud says
that at that moment Moses
lost the chance to be a Priest:
“Originally [said God], I had
intended that you would be
the Priest and Aaron your
brother would be a Levite.
Now he will be the Priest
and you will be a Levite.”
Zevachim 102a
MOSES STRUGGLES
That is Moses’ inner struggle,
conveyed by the shalshelet.
He is about to induct his
brother into an office he
himself will never hold.
Things might have been oth-
erwise — but life is not lived
in the world of “might have
been.” He surely feels joy
for his brother, but he can-
not altogether avoid a sense
of loss. Perhaps he already
senses what he will later dis-
cover, that though he was the
Prophet and liberator, Aaron
will have a privilege Moses
will be denied, namely, see-
ing his children and their
descendants inherit his role.
The son of a Priest is a Priest.
The son of a Prophet is rarely
a Prophet.
What all four stories tell
us is there comes a time for
each of us when we must
make an ultimate decision as
to who we are. It is a moment
of existential truth. Lot is
a Hebrew, not a citizen of
Sodom. Eliezer is Abraham’s
servant, not his heir. Joseph is
Jacob’s son, not an Egyptian
of loose morals. Moses is a
Prophet, not a Priest.
To say ‘Yes’ to who we are,
we have to have the courage
to say “No” to who we are
not. Pain and struggle is
always involved in this type
of conflict. That is the mean-
ing of the shalshelet. But we
emerge less conflicted than
we were before.
This applies especially to
leaders, which is why the case
of Moses in our parshah is so
important. There were things
Moses was not destined to
do. He would never become
a Priest. That task fell to
Aaron. He would never lead
the people across the Jordan.
That was Joshua’s role. Moses
had to accept both facts with
good grace if he was to be
honest with himself. And
great leaders must be honest
with themselves if they are
to be honest with those they
lead.
A leader should never try
to be all things to all people.
A leader should be content
to be who they are. Leaders
must have the strength to
know what they cannot be if
they are to have the courage
to be truly their best selves.
The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
served as the chief rabbi of the
United Hebrew Congregations of the
Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teach-
ings have been made available to all
at rabbisacks.org.