Parashat Beha'alotcha

June 13, 2025
17 Sivan 5785
Parashat Beha'alotcha
Numbers 8:1 - 12:16

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday we recorded our last Tehillah Talks before our summer break. The question on the table was, “what makes a good leader?” We had a thoughtful conversation and what came through was a sense that both of these young men thought that good leadership occurred when the leader truly cared about the community that they served. I invite you to tune in.

In the podcast, we began our conversation with the passage from the book of Samuel where the people demand a king and Samuel, with God’s guidance, outlines what the result of having a king will be like for the people. They are told that the king will have power over many aspects of their lives.

The conversation brought me directly to this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotcha, "when you raise (the lamps)" (Numbers 8:1-12:16). Our conversation reminded me that of all of the leaders that we have in the Tanach (our Bible), only one is successful - not perfect, but successful: Moses. It is in this Torah portion that we continue to understand why he was an effective leader.

We know that he did not want the job, but once he had it he took it seriously. We know that when his father-in-law, Yitro, gave him advice, he was able to hear it and take it. Of course, it was in no small measure because of the way in which the advice was given.

But it is in this Torah portion that we come to understand more deeply why Moses was a successful leader, in spite of leading an incredibly difficult group of people who complained with regularity. They pushed Moses to the edge. He complains to the Divine, saying words to the effect of what did I do to deserve this, finish me off now. More directly, he says: “Did I produce all these people, did I engender them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a caregiver carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?”

We might simply say “what am I, their nursing mother?” His complaint is not met with anger but rather with a solution. Seventy elders are identified to share the burden with Moses and are invited to join with him in the Tent of Meeting. Moses is no longer alone. We are told that the spirit rested on them; however, two refused to come and prophesized among the people. Although those around Moses saw this as a problem, he did not. He welcomed it and wished more would share the burden he carried with him.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l brings his wisdom to this moment as he identifies two types of leadership, one based in power and the other in influence. The power based model is one where, if you bestow your power on individuals around you, you may end up diminishing your own power. On the other hand, if you include others in your sphere of influence, your influence increases through their participation. "Power works by division, influence works by multiplication.” Moses shared his influence with the elders. Their efficacy was enhanced by their proximity to Moses and their support of one another. They functioned as a community.

At the end of the Torah portion, Moses is characterized by God as the humblest of men, even as his siblings long for more recognition for themselves. This Torah portion allows us to see Moses as someone doing a difficult job while accepting help, wanting help, and constantly striving to do better.

Moses is an exemplar for us, one that is not easy to find, nor easy to become. After my conversation with our two teens and their expression of their deeply held values, I put my hope in them.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Linda Shriner-Cahn