{"id":49532,"date":"2019-02-15T12:10:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T10:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=49532"},"modified":"2022-09-08T17:18:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:18:39","slug":"are-we-there-for-our-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/are-we-there-for-our-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Are We There For Our Leaders?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[598,397,437],"acf":{"old_id":"49532","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49163,"related_cahpter":"156","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Moses prayed so much for Israel; why won\u2019t Israel pray for Moses?","content":"

Moses\u2019s life is full of accomplishment, and also suffused with tragedy. One of the greatest tragedies of Moses\u2019s life is his inability to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. This comes full force in the end of Deuteronomy 3. Moses tells the people how he begged God: \u201cPlease! Let me cross over (\u05d0\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d4) and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan (Deut 3:25).\u201d But, of course, God denies Moses\u2019s request, spinning the word \u201ccross over\u201d (\u05d0\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d4) into God\u2019s being \u201ccross\u201d (\u05d5\u05d9\u05ea\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8) with Moses. \u201cEnough! Never speak to Me of this matter again!\u201d (Deut 3:26).<\/span><\/p>\n

But this rejection by God is not the deepest tragedy in Moses\u2019s life. It isn\u2019t even the most tragic part of our chapter, Deuteronomy 3. Because there is a silent bystander to this exchange: the people of Israel. Why didn\u2019t the people jump in and plead with God on Moses\u2019s behalf to let him join them?<\/span><\/p>\n

This tragedy is magnified in the rabbinic interpretation of this scene. Rabbi Tanhuma notices that Moses tells the people, with Joshua at their head, that \u201cyou shall cross\u201d over the Jordan (Deut 3:21) and enter the Promised Land. R. Tanhuma imagines a pregnant pause here, in which the people are strangely silent:<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the force of “You are crossing over (Deut 3:21)”? R. Tanhuma said: Moses prostrated himself before Israel and said to them: \u201cYou are to cross over,\u201d but not I. He gave them the opportunity to pray for him, but they did not grasp his meaning (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:11)<\/span><\/p>\n

Moses thought: I have prayed on behalf of Israel \u2013 with success! \u2013 so many times. My prayers saved them from annihilation following the sin of the Golden Calf. Isn\u2019t it possible that they will pray for me now? But Moses was let down: Israel did not take the hint, and never intervened on Moses\u2019s behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a deep lesson here for all of us in our relationship to people in power. How many times in life do we miss the cues from people we consider powerful, from our leaders, parents and teachers? When they need our support and our prayers, are we there for them? Imagine a world in which Israel prayed for Moses, and God forgave him. Is that a world we are willing to try to pray for now? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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