Leading by Looking Ahead

Haftarh Beha’alotecha
Zechariah 2:14-4:7

Sorry for the break in posts. As you may have guessed from Marc and Jill, finals eat up a lot of our time. Hopefully this post will nourish you during Se’udah Shlishit.

This week’s parasha is interesting for a number of reasons. Most interesting, and perhaps best known, is chapter 12 of the book of Numbers, where Aaron and Miriam speak out against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married. Miriam is punished for this by contracting Tzaraat, a sort of white, scaly, psoriasis that symbolizes death. The Rabbis teach us that it is because of Miriam’s Lashon HaRa’, her evil speech, that she is punished.

Moses pleads for his sister’s health with the words “El, na, refah na, la!” These words translate to “Please, God, heal her!” Moses looks out for his sister, though she spoke ill of him. Moses follows through with his familial obligations to his sister and his brother and shows true leadership by placing aside the petty and focusing on the importance of his sister’s illness.

There is a lot to be learned here, and it is reiterated in this week’s Haftarah from Zechariah. In this Haftarah, Zechariah shares a vision of the High Priest reclaiming his birthright in the heavenly court, the Angel of Adonai in front of him and the Satan to his right.[1] Joshua, the High Priest, is cleaned up, given the markers of his office and certain ceremonial objects. He is then charged with leading the people so that if he and the priests do the right thing, there will be an ultimate peace, where everyone will be invited to “the shade of vines and fig trees.”[2]

The High Priest Joshua is pulled to follow in his family’s footsteps and lead the people. He has to put aside the dingy past of destruction and exile and put the crown on his head so that all the people can move on. The Temple is in the process of being rebuilt, there will be need for a High Priest. Joshua could have turned to the Angel of Adonai and asked why the people had to suffer so much. He could have asked why there was a need for an exile that destroyed the Temple that had been dedicated to God. He doesn’t, though. He accepts his position and moves on, in fact taking advice from the angel as to how the new Temple should be dedicated, with shouts of “Beautiful, Beautiful”[3]

Like Moses, Joshua puts aside what has happened to focus on moving forward. Moses prays for Miriam’s health and Joshua accepts the Ephod of Priesthood, not focusing on what came before or worrying about their own feelings in that moment. We don’t know what they are feeling. Perhaps Joshua is annoyed and worried he can’t do it. Perhaps Moses is annoyed with his sister and brother for their lack of consideration. We don’t know, because they move forward.

It is not clear that this parasha is advocating moving forward at any cost, but there is a message here about leadership and the importance of moving forward from a difficult situation. Leaders must choose when they are going to allow themselves to dwell on what has already happened as opposed to focusing on what is going to happen next. When will it be important to look back and reflect on the mistakes made? When will it be important enough to pause in order to turn back and see where we have come from?

Moses pauses at the end of his life on the precipice of the Promised Land to reflect on the journey and remind the people where they have come from. Only when he has done all he had to do does he reflect back and help the people to reflect. When it is called for and appropriate, Moses tries to use the peoples’ history to remind them of how to act and how not to act. Joshua knows that by remembering what has happened, but moving forward and not dwelling on it, there may finally be peace.

When looking forward, it is always important to look back from time to time, particularly as a leader.

[1] 3:1
[2] 3:10
[3] 4:7