Parashas Pinchas(65)
In this week's sedra Moses asks for a leader to succeed him. Hashem
instructes him to appoint Joshua as his heir to lead the People after
Moses' death.

Numbers 27:16

Let Hashem, the God of the spirit of all flesh, appoint a man over the
assembly.

RASHI

Let Hashem appoint: Rashi: When Moses heard the Omnipresent say to him
'give Zelaphchad's inheritance to his daughters', he said 'The time has
come for me to ask for my personal request - that my sons should
inherit my position of leadership .' The Holy One, blessed be He, said to
him, 'That is not My intention. Joshua is worthy of being rewarded for his
service, as he never moved from the tent.' This is the meaning of
Solomon's statement 'He who watches the fig tree shall eat its fruit'

(Proverbs 27:18).

In light of the previous Rashi-comment (27:15), what would you ask
here?

Your Question:

QUESTIONING RASHI

A Question: Rashi said above that the righteous (Moses) ''ignore their
own needs and concern themselves with the needs of the community" but
we see from this comment that Moses did think of his personal needs and
wanted his own son to be the newly appointed leader. How can these two
comments be reconciled?

Your Answer:

UNDERSTANDING THE "CONTRADICTION" IN RASHI

An Answer: Moses was, first and foremost, concerned with the
community's need for a new leader. But this did not prevent him from asking G-d
that that leader be his son. Moses hoped that these two needs, the
personal and communal, would complement each other and not contradict each
other.

INHERETING LEADERSHIP THE TORAH'S WAY

The latter part of the Rashi-comment on verse 16 is enlightening. He
says that G-d's answer to Moses' request was as follows:

"The Holy One said to him 'That is not My intention. Joshua is worthy
of being rewarded for his service as he never moved from the tent (a
reference to Exodus 33:12). This is the meaning of [King] Solomon's
statement 'he who keeps watch over the fig tree shall eat its fruit'

We see clearly that nepotism is not looked upon favorably in the Torah.
The position of leadership has to be filled by the man most worthy of
the task, without consideration of family background. Throughout the
Torah and Tanach we see this principle enforced over and over again.
Joshua's son did not inherit his father's mantel; Samuel's children didn't
inherit their father's position.

This idea is expressed most emphatically in the Talmud. In the mishna
in Edios (5:7) we are told that when the great Sage, Akavia ben
Mahalalel, was on his death bed, his son made a request of him. "Father, tell
your friends (the Sages) to include me in their circle." His father said
to him: "I shall not tell them that.' [His son] said to him: "Why? Have
I perhaps done something wrong?" He answered him: "No. But it is your
own actions that shall draw you near [to the Sages] or your own actions
that shall cause you to be distanced [from them].

Akavia was unequivocal: Your own actions, he told his son, will
determine how far you get in life, not your ancestor's accomplishments.

In another law, the Sages expressed this idea in its starkest form.
They said honors are to be bestowed according to the person's
accomplishments in life and nothing else. "The mamzer (born of a unlawful
relationship) who is an accomplished talmid chacham ( Torah scholar) takes
priority over the High Priest who is an ignoramus." (Talmud Horius 13a)

The mamzer is the lowest level of a person with a blemished pedigree,
the High Priest, on the other hand, is the highest level. In the realm
of personal accomplishment, the talmid chacham is on the highest level,
the ignoramus, on the lowest. This law says that personal
accomplishment is to be awarded more honor than inherited status. This line of
thought runs through the Scriptures and the Talmud like a scarlet thread. It
continues to be the guiding principle in Jewish life throughout the
generations afterwards.

ALWAYS CHECK THE COMPLETE VERSE WHICH RASHI QUOTES

Rashi quotes the first part of a verse from Proverbs. "He who keeps
watch over the fig tree shall eat its fruit" (Proverbs 27:18)

Sound advice to heed is that whenever Rashi quotes a verse in Tanach,
we should check the verse ourselves. In this case, Rashi quotes only
part of the verse. We should see what the complete verse says. It says:

"The protector of a fig tree will eat its fruit and the guardian of his
master will be honored."

We see that it is the last part of this verse, the part not quoted by
Rashi, which really supports his idea. As this verse indicates, the
rightful heir of Moses' leadership mantel is Joshua, for he was 'the
guardian of his master' and therefore he 'will be honored.'

Shabbat Shalom
Avigdor Bonchek

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