Ownership: The Final Stage of the Journey
As we near the end of the fourth book of the Torah, we encounter a parsha that, at first glance, seems like a collection of unrelated episodes, (the fifth book, Deuteronomy, will mostly be Moses’ restatement of the events and laws of the final forty years). But when we look more closely, we begin to notice a quiet yet seismic shift taking place—one that unfolds almost without our noticing.
Up until this point in the story, the Jewish people were led by Moses, who was the conduit to convey the will of G-d. Moses led the people by communicating to them the morals, values, and teachings of G-d. When the Jewish people stepped outside the protection of the direct instruction of G-d and followed their own intuition, as they did in the episode of the spies, they strayed from the will of G-d and delayed their entry into the land by a generation.
In this Parsha, a subtle but profound transition begins to unfold: leadership and spiritual initiative start to emerge from within the people themselves. Pinchas takes a bold, independent, and controversial action without clear directive from Moses, and G-d confirms that what he did was correct (“I hereby give him My covenant of peace”). The daughters of Tzelafchad petition to inherit their father's portion of the land of Israel, and G-d acknowledges that their request is correct (“Zelophehad's daughters speak justly… you shall transfer their father's inheritance to them”). Moses asks G-d to appoint a leader in his mold, “so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd. Yet, G-d appoints Joshua, whose model of leadership was not one of a shepherd leading his flock but one who helps the people discover their own voice and inspiration. The sages state: “the face of Moses was [radiant] like the sun, whereas the face of Joshua was like the moon”, precisely because the moon’s light does not dominate the sky as powerfully as the sun, it allows the lesser light of the many stars to shine.
And finally, at the conclusion of the Parsha, where the Torah describes the communal daily and holiday offerings, we read a deeply moving scene described in the Midrash and quoted by Rashi:
What is stated above? “{Moses spoke to the Lord, saying} Let the Lord…appoint {a leader over the congregation}” (27:16). The Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses, “Before you command Me regarding My children, command My children regarding Me.” This is analogous to a princess who was about to depart from the world and was instructing her husband about her children, {and he replied, “Before you instruct me about them, instruct them about me”}.
Moses, the “wife” in the analogy, was about to pass away and asked G-d, the “husband”, to take care of their “children”, the people of Israel, after the passing of Moses. But G-d reminds Moses that, at this point, the “children” have matured; and they must now take responsibility for nurturing their relationship with their father in heaven. During the forty years since the Exodus, Moses showered them with inspiration and communication from above; at this point, they will learn to hear the inner intuition of their soul and find the inspiration from within themselves. They will take ownership and responsibility to move forward on their journey, advance their purpose and mission, and nurture their relationship with their Father in heaven.