Moses: Envoy of God, Envoy of His People: Leadership and Crisis from the Exodus to the Plains of Moab

by Rabbi Lichtenstein Mosheh, Perry Zamek (Translator), Mosheh Likhtenshtain

Moses, master prophet and teacher, devoted the lion s share of his career to his role as leader of Israel. ENVOY OF GOD, ENVOY OF HIS PEOPLE follows the path of Moses development as a leader from the moment he appears on the scene as a young lad in Egypt until his departing farewell address to his flock. The book details crisis and commitment, frustration and doubt, selfless devotion and identification, along with trust and alienation. All of the relevant episodes, from the first encounter between Moses and the quarreling slaves to his dealings with the second generations are analyzed and examined, from the perspective of the relationships between the leader and the people. The method of interpretation is based upon a literary analysis of the text that attempts to delve into the inner world of the leader and his interactions with the people. The result is a Medrash oriented approach that creates a fascinating combination of textual analysis and emotional insight. The book also contains a methodological chapter that spells out the exegetical approach and the philosophical outlook that the literary analysis is based upon.

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2008

Reviews

[Mindy Schaper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Gush book, and I'm very glad I discovered this approach. Being very into literature myself, it is very refreshing to read a book that analyzes Tanach and its characters the way we analyze literature.

I got this book because someone mentioned its basic premise in a podcast (Judaism Demystified) and it had long been the way I had thought of Moshe. I immediately bought the book and read it over Pesach and Shavuos.

I loved the method of analysis being completely internal to the text. The whole beginning of the book had been something I had thought of myself, but this book fleshed it out a lot more and found supporting details within the book that I had not picked up on.

The rest of the book brought out points I had not really examined, and enriched my understanding of Moshe and his leadership. I appreciated the ability to point out flaws where they existed.

There was only one point which I didn't think had justification within the text, and that was where R' Lichtensttein posits that Moshe had tried to pursuade the Jewish people to rebel against the Egyptians as inferred from him going out on the second day and seeing 2 people fighting. I don't think we can infer from there that they were disagreeing about whether to rebel or not. I think the intention of that story might be to highlight that Moshe saw an oppressed people and wanted to save them, but then immediately after saw that these people, instead of uniting under their shared trauma, were fighting amongst each other. (Unsurprising that they would take out their anger on people of equal power, since they could not safely do it against their masters.) This depressed him and was part of the reason he ran away and gave up his mission.

Anyway, I'm very glad I came across this book and I look forward to reading others like it.

[Doug Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an insightful character study of Moses as leader of Israel, employing a close reading of the biblical text enhanced by insights from midrash, Talmud, and classical Jewish commentators. There is discussion of Moses' early hopes for his people; his years in Midian; his return to Egypt and preparation for the Exodus; his intercession for Israel after the sin of the golden calf; his discouragement with the failure of the older generation of Israel; his disappointment with the shortcomings of the younger generation in whom he invested so much during the wilderness years; and his loving guidance of his people during his final months. The book concludes with essays on the role of midrash and the importance of considering human emotions and motivations in interpreting biblical narrative. All in all, a great background reference for a study of the Pentateuch.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Midrash. Made some familiar points and some less than unique ones but also some interesting ones. I'd recommend the book. 3.5 stars.