January 14, 2012 | 19 Tevet 5772 | Exodus 1:1 – 6:1

Over a week ago faithful Republicans began to sit in caucus meetings in Iowa to begin the process of picking their party’s nominee for President of the United States of America in the election that will be held later this year.  Earlier this week the first voters of the year entered their polling places in New Hampshire to actually cast votes. Next Saturday our neighbors to the north in South Carolina will be making their choice.

What qualities are these caucus goers and voters looking for as they examine the field of Republican candidates?  What are the characteristics of the ideal candidate?

Admittedly, the characteristics of the ideal United States President and the characteristics of the ideal leader for the Israelites may differ somewhat from each other.  Let’s let the voters express their opinions on that issue as it pertains to the President.  In the meantime, we can consider the issue as it pertains to the ideal leader for the Israelites as our tradition answered it…in a manner that is still relevant today.

Moses had a number of qualities that made him a worthy leader.  He cared about the plight of Israelite slaves at times when no one else seemed to care.  He seemed to have sensitivities and sensibilities that few others possessed.  In time, he became an assertive and convincing leader.

But Moses was not remembered for any of these fine qualities. Instead Moses became known to subsequent generations as “Moshe he’anav” – “Moses, the modest one.”  In fact, he was modest to a fault.

Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock; but shepherds came and drove them off.  Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock. (Exodus 2:16 – 17)

The midrash highlights a quality of the chivalrous Moses that the Torah does not directly project…his extreme, perhaps excessive, modesty.

Moses, when tending Yitro's flock in the wilderness, proved himself a tender shepherd. He was not above carrying a little lamb, becoming footsore in its search for water, on his shoulder back to the flock. God said, 'This tender shepherd of man's flocks shall be the shepherd of my own flock.' (Shemot Rabbah 2:2)

Another midrash highlights Moses’ modesty to such an extent that he once apologized to a wayward sheep!

God chose Moses (to become the leader of the Israelites) because once, while herding Yitro’s sheep, he spent a great deal of time pursuing one sheep that had left the flock – only to apologize to it for his own negligence when he found that all it wanted was a drink of water. 

Is Moses’ modesty extreme?  As the midrashic tradition portrays it, I think we would have to say, “Yes.”  But it is far more important that we glean from this tradition the centrality of modesty in leadership.  Without it any leader will lose his/her moorings.  When one’s grounding that enables him to see himself in proper perspective is lost, sound leadership becomes impossible.

But modesty is hardly just a desirable, even necessary, characteristic for those who lead groups of people and, yes, elected officials.  It is a characteristic that enables all of us to properly see ourselves within our world and to become more fully human.

Shabbat Shalom.