D’var Torah by Rabbi Zischa Shaps
What defines someone as “Great”?
In the Torah world we refer to a leader as a Gadol. Someone who is great. The
word Gadol has a number of meanings. We use it to mean large or big. We use it to
mean great and we also use it to refer to an adult as opposed to a child. In
Talmudic terms, a Gadol is one who is above Bar or Bat Mitzvah age, as opposed to
a Koton, one who is underage.
This week we read about the beginning of slavery of the Jewish people, the birth of
Moshe and his path to becoming the leader of the Jewish people. The Torah relates
Vayigdal hayeled – and the child grew up and was brought to the daughter of
Pharaoh. The very next verse says “Vayigdal Moshe” and Moshe grew up and went
out to his brethren and observed their burdens. Why does it say “he grew up”
twice? Rabbi Yissocher Frand explains that the first time it means Moshe grew up
physically, the second time refers to a spiritual maturation, a change of status.
Moshe went from the status of a child to the status of a “Gadol”. Moshe is living as
a Prince in the Pharaoh’s palace yet he chooses to take part in the suffering of his
fellow Jews. He doesn’t ignore their plight, he joins them and feels their pain.
Rabbi Shimon Shkop (1860-1939) expands on the concept of a Gadol. When a child
is a baby, he only thinks about himself. I need. I am hungry. I want. As the child
matures, he develops the capacity to think about others and is able to expand the
“I”. We expand the I to include our family and maybe even our friends. The more
one can expand the “I”, the more people you can include in your ”I”, then the bigger
you are and the more of a Gadol you are. Unfortunately, some people never truly
mature. They are still only thinking in terms of themselves even when they are
adults. Even though they have physically matured, they have not truly become a
Gadol in the sense of growing beyond their own selves.
A true leader is referred to as a Gadol because they care about each individual,
they have expanded their “I” to include everyone. Stories abound of our sages who
felt that while others were in pain or distress, it would not be right to continue to
live with all of the usual comforts. A classic case is Moshe himself who later on
during the battle of Amalek refuses to sit on a cushion, because how could he be
comfortable while the people are in the midst of battle. I am sure Moshe would not
have been vacationing in the Caribbean had he been here today.
We too can each be a Gadol by including as many people as possible in our “I”. If
we think about others as an extension of ourselves then we will care more about
their feelings and their needs. We will conduct ourselves in ways that show we are
part of them not apart from them.
Shabbat Shalom,
The JET Team
