Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
יִפְקֹד ה' אֱלֹקֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכׇל בָּשָׂר אִישׁ עַל הָעֵדָה׃
אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא לִפְנֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר יָבֹא לִפְנֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר יוֹצִיאֵם וַאֲשֶׁר יְבִיאֵם וְלֹא תִהְיֶה עֲדַת ה' כַּצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהֶם רֹעֶה׃
“Let God, the Lord of the spirits of all people, appoint someone over the community,
who will go out before them and come in before them, and who will take them out and bring them in, so that God’s community will not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”
In these pesukim, Moshe is asking God to make sure that Benei Yisrael have a good leader after he dies. But why does Moshe describe God as “the Lord of the spirits of all people?” What does רוּחֹת (ruhot, spirits) mean here?
כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאֵין פַּרְצוּפֵיהֶם שָׁוִין זֶה לָזֶה, כָּךְ אֵין דַּעְתָּם שָׁוִין זֶה לָזֶה…
תֵּדַע לְךָ שֶׁהוּא כֵּן, מֹשֶׁה מְבַקֵּשׁ מִן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּשְׁעַת מִיתָתוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר לְפָנָיו, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לְפָנֶיךָ דַּעְתָּם שֶׁל כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד, וְאֵין בְּשֶׁל בָּנֶיךָ דּוֹמֶה זֶה לָזֶה. כְּשֶׁאֲנִי מִסְתַּלֵּק מֵהֶן, בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִמְּךָ…מְנֵה עֲלֵיהֶם אָדָם שֶׁיְּהֵא סוֹבֵל לְכָל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד לְפִי דַּעְתּוֹ.
מִנַּיִן…שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "יִפְקֹד יהוה אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחוֹת לְכָל בָּשָׂר."
Just as people’s faces are unlike one another, so are their personalities unlike one another...
Know that it is so, because of what Moshe asked from the Holy Blessed One, at the time of his death, when he said, “Master of the world, the mind of each and every person is known to You; and none of Your children is similar to any other. When I am taken from them, please… appoint someone who will tolerate each and every one of them according to their mind.”
Where is this idea found? As it is written, “Let God, the Lord of the spirits of all people...”
The midrash explains that Moshe used special language to request that Benei Yisrael would get a leader who would be like God—able to be a leader of a whole nation, but still appreciate and accept each person for who they are, no matter how different they may be.
- What does it mean to know someone’s mind? What do we learn from the fact that God is able to do this?
- Why is it important to recognize that people have different thoughts and personalities?
- What does it look like to tolerate people who are very different from you? Why is that an important thing for a leader to do? What makes that hard to do?
- Can you think of a teacher or leader that you know who is really good at adapting what they do for all the different personalities that they teach or lead? How does it feel to be in a classroom or community where every person, no matter how different, is noticed and valued?
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