Parshas Mattos-Massei- A Leader, Not A Pleaser

In response to the spiritual and physical damage they caused the Jewish people, Hashem commands Moshe to wage war with the Midianites. Hashem states that after this Moshe will pass away. With full knowledge of the sequence of events Moshe doesn’t delay. He begins to prepare for war with joy (Rashi 31,3). He acts purely in service of Hashem and His commandments. However, when Moshe attempts to gather the Jewish warriors to battle, they resist. They recognize that the war they are about to wage will be followed by the death of Moshe. They don’t want Moshe to leave them and therefore resist going to war. Moshe then forcibly enlists them into battle against Midian. Rashi (31,5) comments that “this shows the praise of the leaders of the Jewish people in how beloved they are to the people. Earlier (Shemos 17,4), Moshe suspected the people would go as far as to stone him when they experienced a water shortage. Now, upon hearing Moshe would die following battle, they resist going out to war to extend his life.”

It is common to only recognize the value of something when it is nearly or already gone. In what way is this unique to the role of Moshe as the leader of the Jewish people?

Furthermore, why is it important for Rashi to illustrate the attitude the people had earlier? Wouldn’t it be enough to say that they showed their great value for Moshe by resisting the battle that would precede his demise?

 In Parshas Pinchas (27, 15-23), Moshe asks Hashem to appoint the next leader who would eventually guide the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael. Hashem tells Moshe that this would be his foremost student, Yehoshua bin Nun. Rashi (27,19) adds that Hashem tells Moshe to instruct Yehoshua that the Jewish people would be difficult and challenging. This was the agreement in accepting the mantle of leadership.

Why is an essential part of the job of a leader to deal with difficult constituents?

There are two reasons a group may dislike their leader. They may recognize he is primarily interested in his personal gains and doesn’t really care for the people. This could be for numerous reasons. This is a strong disqualification in effective leadership and will not result in a successfully developed people. The second reason is that the leader may genuinely care for the people and therefore require of them development that they resist. This is appropriate Jewish leadership.

The law of inertia states that a sedentary object will not move without a stronger force propelling it to so. Man’s nature is such that it enjoys staying as is and therefore scoffs at change. The process of self-betterment is therefore a very challenging ordeal. The job a leader is to help motivate and enact that development in the people. Thus, effective leadership will naturally engender opposition. It is actually a hallmark of great leadership for people to resist because of the growth the leader demands of the people. Obviously this needs to be done tactfully, but the refusal and resistance is the natural response.

When the Jewish warriors resist going out to battle they are illustrating that the prior challenges they gave Moshe were because they actually valued what he was attempting to accomplish with the people. It was not because they did not value his leadership, but the opposite. They didn’t enjoy the change and development he demanded and therefore gave Moshe much difficulty. Their attitude at the end of Moshe’s life is indicative of their original mentality as well.

Moshe is the quintessential Jewish leader. To be a “yes-man” or abuse one’s position of power will result in poor leadership. To demand development in the appropriate areas will cause friction. However, it will also ultimately motivate the people to grow. This is the mark of a true Jewish leader.