Haftorah This Week
Welcome to Haftorah This Week, the place where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on this week's Haftorah.
HAFTARAT SHELACH LEKHA
(Joshua 2:1-24)
The Parsha and the Haftarah describe incidents of scouting/spying the Land of Israel prior to the conquest. The incidents are separated by thirty-nine years. The first, which took place under the leadership of Moses, ended in disaster when the spies returned with a disheartening report that paralyzed the people. The second, which took place under the leadership of Joshua, successfully prepared the way for the conquest of Jericho.
There is a contrast between the way these two leaders organized the military operation of scouting the Land. The contrast suggests that Moses, though the appropriate leader to take the people out of Egypt and to Sinai, was not the same leader needed to take them into the Land. That challenge demanded a leader like Joshua--a general.
Joshua did not send twelve spies chosen because they were leaders of the tribes, as Moses did. Rather Joshua sent only two spies, who apparently were trained scouts. Unlike Moses, Joshua sent them on a very specific mission, to scout out the city of Jericho. Most important and in contrast to Moses, Joshua gave the spies explicit orders to immediately report back to him and not to the people. In short, Joshua showed himself to be a military leader, precisely the kind of leader necessary to meet the demands of the historical moment.
Moses, of whom the Torah says, "There never will arise another like Moses," was not the leader capable of bringing the people into the Land. A different set of leadership qualities and abilities were required for this job.
Jewish leadership is judged by its capacity to meet the challenges of the day. Prophetic, priestly, military, royal, rabbinic, political, lay leadership--each type of leadership has been necessary. There is no privileged form of leadership. Because of the fluidity of leadership types, Jewish history has been very hard on Jewish leadership. Either it delivers on the building of a secure and just community moving on the convenantal path or new leadership types emerge that can meet the challenges of the era.
(Irwin Kula)
To join the conversation about the weekly Haftorah at CLAL Torah Talk, click here.
To access a CLAL commentary on this week's Torah portion, click here.
To access the Haftorah This Week Archive, click here.
To access the Torah This Week Archive, click here.
To receive The Haftorah this Week column by email on a regular basis, complete the box below:
