Taking Responsibility for a Mission

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

In Parshas Shemos, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to return to Egypt and take the Jews out of slavery. Moshe’s first response is: “Who am I to do such a thing?” (Shemos 3:11) He later claims that he stammers and is not a good speaker (ibid. 4:10), and is therefore not fitting for this shelichus (mission). Finally, he suggests that this mission should go to his brother, Aharon (ibid. 13). Rashi (ibid. 10) notes that Moshe in fact argued for seven days with Hashem, consistently trying to refuse to accept this mission.

How could Moshe Rabbeinu have argued with Hashem and tried to refuse this task if Hashem told him to do it?

Rav Zalman Sorotzkin answers that had this been a direct command from Hashem, Moshe would not have argued that he was unfit for the job. Of course Moshe would have accepted, and right away. Rather, Hashem came to Moshe, saying that He had heard the cries of the Bnei Yisrael and seen their oppression, and was therefore asking Moshe to be the shaliach (emissary) to redeem them.

The question remains, however: Even if Hashem was only offering him this shelichus, why did Moshe argue against Him? If he saw that this was Hashem’s will, why didn’t he just go ahead and accept?

Rav Reuven Fine answers that Moshe was in fact not arguing or trying to refuse this shelichus, but rather examining it. This is because examining a shelichus in advance of accepting it is an integral part of the shelichus itself. A shaliach is expected to assume total responsibility for the accomplishment of his mission. Moshe’s questioning of his ability to succeed in this shelichus was part of his sense of responsibility for it.

Moshe beheld the prospect of taking a whole nation of millions of people out of Egypt, a place referred to as “the fiery furnace” (Melachim I 8:11), where no slave had ever escaped. Perhaps he lacked the spiritual perfection needed for this? Moreover, he knew that the Egyptian exile would serve as the basis for all future exiles, and that redemption would depend in large part on the redeemer. Even if he brought the Jews out of Egypt, perhaps his redemption would fall short of what was needed to make the Jews an eternally free people, for whom any exile would only be temporary (see Maharal, Hagada Shel Pesach).

Because of the risks involved, Moshe asked: Perhaps Hashem should redeem the Jews by Himself? Perhaps someone greater than Moshe should do this? Or, perhaps the redeemer should be a more capable speaker? Lastly, even if Moshe was thoroughly capable of the task, Moshe’s brother Aharon had until then been the leader of the Jewish People, and appointing Moshe as redeemer would be a slight to Aharon’s honor. Even a minute flaw in Moshe’s redemption had to be taken into account. These questions showed how seriously Moshe viewed his mission, and this showed that he was fitting to be the shaliach to redeem Klal Yisrael.

Moshe Rabbeinu serves as an example of what shelichus means: Complete devotion to one’s mission. In fact, each and every one of us is a shaliach. We have been sent to this world to serve Hashem, and we should view our lives as a mission that requires our total dedication. Rabbeinu Yonah (Sha’arei Teshuva 2:21) illustrates this, saying that we should consider ourselves as if a king sent us on a long journey to a foreign land, to perform a very important assignment. We should be focused constantly on fulfilling our mission properly, and we should be ever aware that the day will come when we’ll have to report back before the king, explaining how each and every action we did was part of our mission.

Rav Reuven Fine notes that living with a sense of shelichus is empowering. If before, we viewed certain actions as beyond our ability, once we view them as a mission and realize that we simply must succeed — we will discover that we possess the abilities needed to succeed. The Sages allude to this in their statement (Gittin 64a): “One can assume that a shaliach fulfills his shelichus.” If we take full responsibility for something, we will be able to do it.

Moreover, one who lives his life knowing that he is Hashem’s shaliach merits to feel a deep sense of satisfaction. He knows that every bit of learning he accomplishes, every mitzvah he performs and every act of chessed he does — no matter how small it may seem — is the fulfillment of the mission for which he was sent to this world.

Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Steinman lived with this awareness, that he was a shaliach in this world who would eventually have to “report back” to Hashem. He therefore sought to do every mitzvah with the greatest precision, knowing that in the end he would have to face G-d and account for all of his actions.

This thought compelled him at times to take steps far beyond what halacha required. For example, once, before Purim, he received $5,000 from a frequent donor, who asked that this money be given on Purim to a poor person who lived in Bnei Brak. However, when Purim arrived, Rav Steinman discovered that the money had been misplaced in his apartment.

“Never mind,” the donor told Rav Steinman. “I exempt you from the shelichus. Don’t worry about the money, I’ll find another way to help this man.”

Rav Steinman nevertheless gathered together a sum of $100 that he could give right away to the man, and soon afterwards he took a loan for the remaining $4,900, which he gave to him and slowly paid back on his own.

The donor begged Rav Steinman not to do this, but he explained: “Even if I am exempt as far as the earthly court goes, when I come to my final judgment, what will I say if Hashem asks me: ‘Why weren’t you more responsible with your fellow man’s money?’ Any amount of money in the world is worth paying so that my actions will be justified before Hashem!”

May we devote ourselves totally to our mission!