The Emes #5

Moses he isn't- but who is?

"Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3)

Barack Obama is no Moses, but only Moses was so this is not a cause for complaint. The American people are not, individually or collectively G-d, but there is only one G-d so this is not an expectation that we should have nor should we be disappointed by our status. But should Barack Obama and the American people learn something from the relationship between Moses and G-d that would be beneficial to the office of the President and to the American Public?

We learn that the characteristic most associated with Moses was his sense of humility. It was this sense of humility that made it possible for Moses to converse with G-d and transfer what he learned to the people, Israel, who were slaves in the land of Egypt. Moses knew where his greatness was coming from. He understood that all his talents were G-d-given gifts and not the result of his own talents or abilities. As a result of this special relationship Moses was one of the most transformative individuals in history. He led his people out of slavery, he led his people through the barren desert, with the help of G-d for forty years, and he led his people to the gates of, but not into, the Promised Land. Moses heard what G-d had to say, debated with G-d in support of his people, and, with the exception of his violation of G-d’s instruction regarding bringing water from the rock, heeded G-d’s wishes. Only when Moses displayed a loss of humility by publicly striking the rock with his rod notwithstanding the instruction by G-d to Moses that he merely to talk to the rock, that Moses fails the test of leadership and loses the privilege of leading the Hebrew children into their Land.

Since assuming the office of the Presidency Barack Obama has failed at virtually every turn to demonstrate the characteristic of humility that is the true sign of a great person and a great leader. Faced with overwhelming opposition from American public opinion he has used not the humility of Moses to debate and ultimately compromise with the American people but the power of Pharaoh, aided and abetted with his Potiphar team of Harry Reid and Nancy Pilosi to force his agenda down the throat of an unwilling population. With virtually every unbiased poll showing the majority of Americans in opposition to the President’s program he has barreled ahead in the belief that he knows better than the millions of Americans who have been activated and express their dismay at the direction of this administration. The ironic analogy is that Moses was a poor and stuttering speaker and reluctant in his early period to use his voice as a tool to transform the Hebrew slaves into a free nation. Barack Obama, on the other hand, uses a gift of speech not to channel our American dream for freedom but to override it and make our majority a slave to his personal causes.

By denying us our freedom Barack Obama does not fit into the mold of the humble Moses. Does he fit into the Mold of the arrogant Pharaoh who at first belittled Moses’s attempt to deprive him of his slaves? The American people have demonstrated over and over again that by a substantial majority they recognize the quagmire that this Pharaoh is leading us into. Will we find our Moses to lead us out of the desert?