Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Do you like to be a leader? Would it be hard to convince you to be in charge?
In our parashah, Moshe describes how he appointed people to be leaders of Benei Yisrael:
וָאֶקַּח אֶת רָאשֵׁי שִׁבְטֵיכֶם אֲנָשִׁים חֲכָמִים וִידֻעִים וָאֶתֵּן אוֹתָם רָאשִׁים עֲלֵיכֶם
So I took heads of your shevatim (tribes), wise and knowledgeable people, and appointed them heads over you.
The word וָאֶקַּח (va-akah, so I took) usually applies to things you can actually pick up and take in your hands. That makes it seem like Moshe had to drag these people into being the leaders! Couldn’t Moshe have just asked them?
מְשַׁכְתִּים בִּדְבָרִים. אָמַרְתִּי לָהֶם: אַשְׁרֵיכֶם! עַל מִי אַתֶּם בָּאִים לְהִתְמַנּוֹת? עַל בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ אַחִים וְרֵעִים כֶּרֶם חֶמְדָּה וְנַחֲלָה צֹאן מַרְעִית וְכָל לְשׁוֹן חִבָּה.
I (Moshe) "pulled" them with words of persuasion. I said to them: How fortunate you are! Whom are you coming to be appointed over? The children of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, people who are called "siblings," "friends," "God's cherished vineyard and inheritance," “God’s flock," and every other nice nickname.
Being a leader is hard, but Moshe convinced these people that it would be a privilege to lead Benei Yisrael.
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