by Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtat, founder and head of the Yoru Program for the Training of Rabbis and Community Leaders, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
The Torah tells us two seemingly contradictory things in this week's Torah portion of Vayelech (which we read together with Nitzavim), regarding the appointment of Yehoshua bin Nun as the successor to Moshe Rabbeinu. In D'varim 31,7, we read that the new leader will "come with this nation into the land that G-d promised their forefathers." Sixteen verses later, we read that G-d told Yehoshua, "Be strong and brave, for you will bring the Children of Israel into the land…"
So which is it: Will Yehoshua come with them, as one among many, or will he lead them?
Rashi explains (based on Sanhedrin 8a) that Moshe said that Yehoshua should come with the elders and consult with them – but G-d later "corrected" Moshe and said that Yehoshua must be the undisputed leader, with the elders subservient to him.
It thus appears that Moshe made up his own mind, after which G-d came and "tweaked" his approach. This jibes with the Gemara (Megillah 31b) that tells us that the book of D'varim – comprised mostly of Moshe's parting speech to Israel before his death – was Moshe's own words: "Moshe said them from his own mouth."
But it seems not to jibe at all with a different passage in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 99a), which states very firmly: "Whoever says that even just one verse in the Torah was not stated originally by G-d is considered as one who has "scorned the word of the Lord" (Bamidbar 15,31), which the Torah says there is deserving of karet!
The Tosafot in Megillah resolved the contradiction in a straightforward manner, explaining that when it is said that Moshe said D'varim "from his own mouth," it means that he spoke with ruach hakodesh, a spirit of prophecy.
Let us elaborate on this. The famous Maggid of Dubna wrote that he asked his great teacher the Vilna Gaon: "What is the difference between the first four books of the Holy Torah and the Book of D'varim?" The Gaon answered him as follows:
"The first four were heard by G-d Himself through the throat of Moshe – while D'varim was heard by all of Israel in the same way they heard the other prophets after Moshe. That is, G-d would tell the prophet something today, and the next day the prophet went and recounted the vision to Israel. As such, when the prophet spoke to the nation, the Divine voice had already left him – and the same is true for the Book of D'varim when Moshe spoke it to Israel."
Rav Chaim of Volozhin explained it somewhat differently. He wrote in Nefesh HaChaim (3,14) that Moshe Rabbeinu worked so intensely on reaching the highest levels of "unification" (yichud) with G-d that we see in the second passage of Kriat Shma that Moshe said: "… you must love Hashem your G-d and serve Him with all your heart, and I will give you rain in your land…" That is, he was on such a high level that he canceled himself out from physical reality altogether and only the Shechina spoke from his throat. As is written, 'Mouth to mouth I will speak within [and not to!] him' – within him literally.
That is, Moshe was not on the level of "simple" prophets, but was rather on a much higher level in which the Divine Presence spoke "within Moshe's throat."
Either way, all agree that Moshe's words were not his own, but were rather those of the Living G-d, stated by Moshe with a spirit of prophecy – either regular prophecy, or an even higher level. This returns us to our original question: How could it be that G-d rejected Moshe's words about how Yehoshua should lead the people, if the words of Moshe are precisely those of G-d!?
It appears to me that we must explain that the above-cited Rashi [in the name of the Gemara] did not mean that Moshe had a different approach than G-d. Rather, Moshe's words were also those of G-d – and the Torah is telling us that Moshe gave Yehoshua one idea as to how to lead the nation, and G-d added another approach, in order to teach us that in general, a leader must have both of these.
That is, on the one hand, a leader who does not consult with others, and especially the elders and wise men of the generation, is liable to quickly become a dictator, with all of the negative ramifications thereof. So said Moshe. But at the same time, Hashem then adds, though this is very valuable advice, a leader must also lead! He may not only take advice from others, for then he could easily become dependent upon them, who will then become leaders themselves! As the Gemara says: "There must be only one dabar, spokesman/leader." This is liable to lead to disputes and strife, and the danger that "G-d's congregation will like a flock with no shepherd" (Bamidbar 27,17). G-d then told Yehoshua that while Moshe is correct in principle, he must also keep in mind the dangers of that approach, and to use his best judgement as to when to listen to the elders and when not. In the end, he must be the sole leader!
We thus learn from the words of the holy Torah two important principles in leadership that supplement each other. There must be teamwork, cooperation, listening, and even following the advice of others many times. But there must also be a sense that the leader is solely in charge, and he must not allow himself to be dragged after the opinions of others, which might be motivated by wrong considerations. He must carefully balance the different ideas that are proposed, and thus lead the nation along the straight path in order to reach the desired goal.
Shabbat Shalom!
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