Reb Shlomo Carlebach zt"l
Parsha Vayechi
(Via Stuie Wax)
SEARCHING FOR A LEADER
And Moshe was shepherding the sheep of Yisro…(Sh’mos 3:1)
Imagine if today we were looking for somebody to save the world. What kind of person what do we look for? We would want someone who looks very intelligent and who is handsome and a good speaker. A real polished personality.
But when G-d looks for a leader, this is not what He is looking for. When G-d wanted to find someone to take the Jews out of Egypt, He was looking for something else.
Do you know why Moshe was chosen?
The Medrash says (Sh’mos Rabbah 2:2) that says that Moshe was a shepherd. His father-in-law lived on Mount Sinai and he used to take his father-in-law’s sheep out on the mountain to graze. One day a little sheep ran off. Moshe Rabbeinu started running after the sheep, calling it all kinds of sweet names and saying, “Please come back, please come back.”
The sheep ran all the way up to the top of Mount Sinai. It found a tiny little lake and stopped to drink and Moshe found it there. He waited until it finished drinking. He then took the sheep, put it over his shoulders, and he said to the sheep, “You poor little thing. You must be so tired after all that running.”
Then Moshe looked fondly at the sheep and said, “My sweetest sheep, I wish we could talk to each other.”
At that moment, G-d said to the angels, “If Moshe takes such good care of sheep, can you imagine how well he will take care of My children?”
And that was the moment that G-d appeared to Moshe Rabbeinu at the burning bush.
I bless you and me that we should always talk to each other, and know that we are G-d’s children.
Good Shabbos!
