Thought of the Week: Va'era - 5777

FOLLOW THE MESSAGE

When charged with the mission of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moshe balked.  "They will not listen to me, I have a speech impediment", he stated.

The great fourteenth century Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven of Gerona notes that the fact that Moshe was not "The Great Communicator" is actually proof to the authenticity of his message.

When a powerful and convincing orator inspires the public to do something or follow a movement, those being lead are not doing it because of the value of the message but rather due to the messenger.  History has shown us all too often of many such cases, where a nation follows an absurd ruler due to his charisma.

We are told that Moshe had difficulty communicating.  Yet, as we all know, his teachings remain alive and significant up until this day.  Thus we recognize that it was not a nation following a leader blindly, but rather the greatness of the message itself.