Let’s Meet Yehoshua Bin Nun

A Nation in Shock 

No one was prepared for this. The Prime Minister had just appointed his personal assistant and public relations adviser to be the military Chief of Staff! The next day’s headlines, in large red letters, screamed: POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE! UNIMAGINABLE DANGER! MILITARY UPHEAVAL! 

 

How could such a thing happen? How can you take a young, inexperienced man, who has never been a leader of any sort and whom no one would even consider, and put him in charge of the armed forces at such a complicated, critical time? At a time when we are facing a dangerous war with a formidable enemy who can attack on multiple fronts? 

 

Yes, he is your trusted assistant, but that still leaves him light years away from being qualified to become Chief of Staff! 

 

This is exactly what happened in this week’s Torah reading. Moshe Rabbeinu had certainly proven himself to be a seasoned leader with the strongest connections with Hashem. He brought us the Torah, led us out of Egypt, and provided all our needs. Most recently, he led us to victory in battle against mighty kings, conquering the territories east of the Jordan River. Could anyone possibly replace such a man? 

 

With heightened emotions, Moshe prepared for his departure from this world without ever realizing his fondest dream, which was to lead his people into Eretz Yisrael and oversee the construction of the Beis Hamikdash. Moshe begged Hashem to appoint a worthy successor who would be able to overcome the enormous challenge of conquering Eretz Yisrael. He knew of many possible candidates. There were Tribal princes, there were community leaders, and there were his own two sons! 

 

According to the Midrash, Moshe Rabbeinu was shocked when the Blessed Holy One told him that He had chosen Yehoshua bin Nun to succeed him. He, as well as everyone else, knew that Yehoshua was Moshe Rabbeinu’s right-hand man, his personal assistant who made sure to remain at his side at all times and to protect Moshe’s honor, but did that qualify him to be appointed their leader? 

 

According to the Midrash, Hashem explained why He chose Yehoshua: “Yehoshua did so much to serve you and to honor you. He arrived early in your beit midrash and stayed late. He put all the benches in their places and spread the mats on the ground. Since he did everything in his power to serve you, he is worthy of serving the nation of Yisrael, for that is his just reward.”¹ 

 

Yehoshua’s total self-effacement and his humility were truly noteworthy. Despite those qualities, however, is this what the nation needed at this time? After all, they were not about to cross into a peaceful, pastoral paradise where all they needed to do was to enjoy its fruits and plenty. They were not about to go sit under the shade of their fruit trees and engage in philosophical discussions about moral values. 

 

The nation of Yisrael was about to wage war against giants. They needed to break through the walls of fortified cities. Their first years were ones of constant battles and conquests, followed by even more years of construction and laying infrastructure. All this called for a leader with military and industrial talents.  Yehoshua’s years of practice setting up the benches does not seem to be what prepared him for those daunting tasks, nor was his admirable humility. 

 

The Prince of Egypt 

The question is glaring, but there are several ways to reconcile it. One of my students suggested a resolution that seemed to me quite satisfactory. His interpretation sheds new light on the character of  Yehoshua bin Nun, and it carries an important lesson for us. 

 

It could be that until now we have had no idea who Yehoshua bin Nun really was. My student forwarded the hypothesis that Yehoshua had already held a prominent government position when the people of Yisrael were still in Egypt! The suggestion stunned me, but my student cited proofs for it. (This article is not the forum to go through his proofs.) Let’s present it in simple terms. 

 

First of all, you might have forgotten that Yehoshua already had military experience. He led our forces in our very first battle, which took place soon after we left Egypt, when the bloodthirsty people of  Amalek attacked us in the wilderness.² The people of Yisrael had endured generations of slavery, cowering under the whips of their taskmasters. None of them had been trained in warfare. Psychologically, they were totally unfit for waging battles and wielding weapons. At that moment, Moshe turned to Yehoshua and told him to take charge. 

 

Why Yehoshua? Apparently, he was one of the few individuals who had some experience in leadership and organized combat. Let’s examine his background. He was from the Tribe of Ephraim, and his ancestor  Yosef certainly knew how to run governments and armed forces. Yehoshua’s grandfather was Elishama ben Amihud, the prince of his Tribe. When Yehoshua was chosen as one of the twelve spies sent to scout Eretz Yisrael, all twelve were described as “heads of the people of Yisrael.” 

 

The people of the Tribe of Ephraim were already well-versed in the ways of government and warfare during their time in Egypt. In fact, there is an opinion in Chazal that this Tribe was never enslaved. This could explain how a large portion of the tribe managed to fight their way to freedom and to flee from Egypt before it was time for the Redemption. 

 

Recounting our first battle with Amalek, the Torah relates: “Moshe said to Yehoshua, ‘Choose men for us and go out to fight Amalek.’”³  This is the very first mention of Yehoshua in the Torah, and a reader would have no idea who he was. Moshe told him, “Choose men for us.” What is meant by “for us”? Was Yehoshua an equal to Moshe? Indeed, that is how Rashi explains these words. 

 

The only explanation is that Yehoshua was the natural choice as a political and military leader at the outset, when the people of Yisrael had just left Egypt. Moshe had not yet received the Torah, and if so, Yehoshua had not yet become his disciple. Nonetheless, Hashem told Moshe, “Inscribe this in a scroll and dictate it into  Yehoshua’s ears.”⁴ What was so special about Yehoshua? The answers became clear at the end of the people’s long years of wandering in the wilderness, when Hashem  chose Yehoshua to lead the conquest of Eretz Yisrael and to rid the Land of the Canaanites and Amalekites. 

 

He Who Sees Himself as Small Is Really Great 

In light of this, Yehoshua’s extreme humility and self-effacement takes on much more significance.  Yehoshua was not some anonymous adolescent with no experience, who clung to Moshe as a baby clinging to his mother’s skirt. Yehoshua was a brilliant, eminently qualified leader, who still understood the need to subordinate himself to Moshe Rabbeinu, and this was the greatest demonstration of his genuine humility. 

 

When Yehoshua was chosen to succeed Moshe, it was not because Hashem had ignored the need for a talented leader. On the contrary, no one was more qualified for the position, for on top of his talents and strengths, he was extremely humble. This made him eminently suited to become the leader of the people of Yisrael. 

 

In the tradition of Breslever Chassidim, Rebbe Nachman’s prime disciple – Rav  Noson of Breslev – is compared to Yehoshua bin Nun. The Chassidim emphasize that Rav Noson was not a simple young man who spent his time searching for himself. From the very beginning of their relationship, it was understood that he was a gadol in Torah scholarship and in the area of sanctity, and despite that greatness  Rav  Noson subordinated himself totally to Rebbe Nachman. He was a somebody, and he still subordinated himself. He was a giant, but he knew enough to hold himself small in comparison to the genuine giant. 

 

Yehoshua bin Nun was a giant in every sense of the word, and that is what made his self-effacement to Moshe Rabbeinu such an incredible achievement. This is a tremendous lesson for every single one of us. You might be brilliant and talented, and you might already be a tremendous Torah scholar, but you still must bend your head before those who are greater than you. By doing so, you will not diminish your status; on the contrary, that is the ultimate sign of your greatness. 

 

For simple people like us, it is only sensible to feel humble and display humility to our leaders. We must cleave to the tzaddikim and follow their lead, drinking their words with thirst and fulfilling all their instructions. By doing this, we will be able to achieve success in life and climb the ladder toward spiritual greatness. 

 

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Editor’s Notes 

¹ Bamidbar Rabbah, Chapter 21, Section 14, and in Tanchuma (Parshat Pinchas, Section 11) 

² Shemot (Exodus) 17:8-16 

³ Shemot 17:9 

⁴ Shemot 17:14