כּי־תָבוֹא
‘when you arrive’
At the end of the 40 year journey through the wilderness, Moshe turns to the children of Israel and says…
“Hey guys… what would you like first, the good news or the bad news?“
So Moshe recounts all the commitments they’ve undertaken in their covenant with Hashem, for which they will enter the land of milk and honey.
And as we read the Torah’s account, we are also introduced to the blessing on the first fruit of the harvest to be offered to Hashem once they have “arrived” in the land of Israel. It goes on…
“You shall also give portions to the Levite, the orphan, the widow and the stranger. They shall eat it within your gates and be satisfied.“ Deut. 26:11
He’s got them in the palm of his hand.
There’s no moaning, there’s no revolt, even when he gives them the bad news about all the curses that will befall them if they renege on the covenant.
But why?
After all, he’s old, he’s tired, he knows he’s about to die, and he’s telling them some really difficult stuff. And on top of that a lot of those assembled are not the ones that left Egypt! They are the next generation. They never knew slavery in Egypt. They’ve pretty much been spoon-fed their whole lives.
And more, once they get to Yisrael, even though they have “arrived” to flourish into peoplehood, they are going to have to share these fruits across the whole of society, including the stranger amongst them.
It’s a bit of an ask.
But hold their attention he does.
Could someone hold the attention of that kind of audience today?
Trust in some of today’s leaders has been at an all time low. We’ve seen it in many levels of Government, particularly during the pandemic, in the Post Office where managers were so enamoured of their accounting software that they wouldn’t listen to the sub-postmasters and persecuted them for mistakes instead, or shockingly in a hosptal where the concerns of nurses and consultants about baby deaths were ignored.
Rabbi Sacks, of blessed memory, once asked…
‘What is the most important attribute of a great leader?’
His answer was…
‘Their followers. As without them, they have no one to lead’.
Clearly those assembled with Moshe trusted him and were prepared to listen and learn from his leadership.
This was not just because they respected him… but because he respected them.
Each one of us can show leadership, can offer hope, and can show respect.
Because we too, like the generations before us, we too have “arrived”.
[Inspired by a d’var torah written by Richard Segalov for Pinner Synagogue]