Bamidbar, this week’s Torah portion, is not the most scintillating of Torah portions. This week we read about the census and the priests’ duties. One thing that caught my eye this week was this:

וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת אַהֲרֹ֖ן וּמֹשֶׁ֑ה -This is the offspring of Aaron and Moshe at the time that the Lord spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai. (Bamidbar 3:1)

This is clearly sharing what God shared with Moshe, why does it record it as the “offspring of Aaron and Moshe”? In this context it is clear it is only talking about the children of Aaron. Then why record it as the line of Moshe at all?

On this Rashi comments:

They also are called the sons of Moshe because he taught them the Torah. This tells us that whoever teaches the Torah to the son of his fellow man Scripture regards it to him as though he had begotten him (Sanhedrin 19b) ( Rashi on Bamidbar 3:1)

Why are Aaron’s children singled out for being considered the children of Moshe, when Moshe was the teacher of Torah to all of Israel? The Maharal, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Betzalel of Prague, explains that this only refers to an instance when extra energy and effort was invested in the education that it would be considered akin to parenting.

This language reminded me of language in Genesis with Yakov and Yosef. There we read:

אֵ֣לֶּה ׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף -These are the offspring of Yakov. Yosef , being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father ‘s wives. And Yosef brought a bad report of them to their father. (Genesis 37:2)

In Hebrew there is some ambiguity of saying that this is the “offspring of Yakov-Yosef”. On this Rashi quotes the Midrash:

Scripture regards all Yakov’s sons as secondary to Yosef for several reasons: first, the whole purpose of Yakov in working for Laban was only for Rachel, Yosef’s mother, (and all his children were born only in consequence of this); then, again, Yosef’s facial features bore a striking resemblance to those of Yakov. Further, whatever happened to Yakov happened to Yosef: the one was hated, the other was hated; in the case of the one his brother wished to kill him so, too, in the case of the other, his brethren wished to kill him. Many such similarities are pointed out in (Genesis Rabbah 84:5-6; Genesis Rabbah 84:8). ( Rashi on Genesis 37:2)

There is a lot going on here in these midrashim. We see from this language:

1. The supremacy of Yosef as compared to the rest of Yakov’s children
2. The similitude of visage – they looked alike
3. The similitude of life experience – they had parallel lives

The similar language might be pointing us to explain three dimension of Moshe’s unique connection to his nephews.

1. We do not hear of Moshe’s own children. It might be possible that his nephews took supremacy over his own children, let alone the rest of Israel. We tend to connect with people who share our interests.
2. Is it possible that Moshe’s nephews looked like Moshe? Interesting in as much as the clothing of the priest might have reminded Moshe of the Egyptian attire of his youth.
3. In what way might Moshe’s nephews have a similar life experience as their uncle?

This last one needs more analysis. The priests had additional requirements on their lives that set them apart from the rest of the people. These laws were to help preserve their purity so they could serve in sanctity in the Tabernacle. Moshe’s connection to them points out a deep lesson in leadership. What is the connection between being a functionary in the sacrificial cult have to do with Moshe’s vision of leadership?

This resonates with a vision of Servant Leadership in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership where the leader’s main focus is the thriving of their company or organization. A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, in this leadership philosophy the leader exists to serve the people. As stated by its founder, Robert K. Greenleaf, a servant leader should be focused on “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” Moshe’s connection to his nephews also point out a level of purity within this vision of servant leadership.

In summary, we see that Uncle Moishe had a close bond with his nephews. This might itself be an important lesson for us today. In a time in which we do not trust anyone’s motives, what does it mean to center our lives and leadership on sanctity and service? We need to hold leaders to higher standards, not lower standards. In our narcistic era of ego driven leadership, we have a lot to learn from this pure vision of servant leadership that lead others to go beyond the call of duty in service of the mission.

So maybe not such a boring Torah portion.