Provide for yourselves men who are wise (1:13)
Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin was once asked the following question: Why does the Rabbi accept – as students in his Yeshiva – an inordinate number of sons of Rabbis? Is there favoritism involved? He answered: Heaven forbid! The reason is that these young men are going to become Rabbis in any case. If so, it is better for them to at least learn and know something! (Chiyuchah Shel Torah)
Reprinted from the Parshas Devorim 5785 email of R’ Yedidye Hirtenfeld’s whY I Matter parsha sheet for the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn, NY.
You [Bnei Yisrael] answered me [Moshe] and said, "The thing that you have proposed to do [i.e., to appoint judges to assist you] is good" (1:14) Rashi comments: "You at once decided the matter to your benefit. You should really have replied - our teacher, Moshe! From whom is it more fitting to learn, from you or from your disciple?"
In other words, Bnei Yisrael should have rejected, or at least resisted, Moshe's proposal to appoint judges to assist him. By agreeing readily to the appointment of judges, they showed a lack of appreciation of Moshe.
R' Yisrael Yitzchak Halevi z"l (rabbi in Warsaw in the 1880's) asks: We read in verse 9, "I said to you at that time, saying, 'I cannot carry you alone.'" Rashi comments there, "What is the significance of the word 'saying' [i.e., being bidden to say, implying that Moshe was repeating another's words]? Moshe, in effect, said to them: 'Not of myself do I tell you that I am not able to bear you, but by the bidding of the Holy One, blessed is He'."
If so, asks R' Yisrael Yitzchak, how could Moshe criticize Bnei Yisrael for accepting the appointment of judges? He answers: Even though it was G-d's will, Bnei Yisrael did not have to express their approval. They could have remained silent. Or, they could have responded, "What can we say? If that is the Will of G-d, we accept it." [This is analogous to Chazal's teaching that one should not say, "I dislike non-kosher food." He should say, "I'm sure it's delicious, but G-d has told me not to eat it."] By saying that they approved of appointing judges, they indicated that they did not appreciate Moshe enough. (Gerres Karmel)
Reprinted from the Parshas Devorim 5785 email of R’ Yedidye Hirtenfeld’s whY I Matter parsha sheet for the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn, NY.
