August 31, 2025|ז' אלול ה' אלפים תשפ"ה Shoftim 5785 - A Fearless Leader By Rabbi Beni Krohn

IIt is a concept that Jewish children learn when they are young, and that we even learn to sing in the tefillah of Yigdal:

This is a paraphrase of the pasuk at the very end of the Torah that tells us the same thing:

And yet, this week, Moshe tells the Jewish People the following:

And, of course, this raises the question: If we are told there would never be a prophet like Moshe ever again, how could Moshe tell Am Yisrael explicitly that there will be another Navi who is כמוני, like me!?

This morning, I want to share three answers to this question.

The first two come from Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, living as a leader of Orthodox Jewry in 19th century Germany:

First, he notes that not only does Moshe say this future prophet will be כמוני, like me, but he also says that this Navi will be מִקִּרְבְּךָ מֵאַחֶיךָ, he will be someone who is living among you, someone who is your brother.

In what way will this future Navi be כמוני? Like me? Says Moshe, just like I am a regular human being with a father and mother. Someone who came from the ranks of regular members of the Jewish People. So, too, any future Navi will be כמוני, just like me! He will also be a regular human being, who lives in your neighborhood, who comes from a family and has a father and mother. You will know his parents, siblings, and relatives. There will be nothing supernatural about him.

One can't help but feel that Rav Hirsch believed that this was an early warning not to believe in a future argument about a potential prophet who others would claim to be the "son of God".

In his second answer, Rav Hirsch makes a different argument about what כמוני means. He notes that just two pesukim before this one the Torah commands us:

And continues the following pasuk to explain that the other nations turn to sorcerers and magicians to tell them the future, but that Hashem does not want us involved with such people.

And so, says Rav Hirsch, what does it mean when Moshe says, rather, Hashem will send you a Navi כמוני? It means that just as Moshe was never someone to whom Am Yisrael would come to foretell the future, rather he was someone who was there to tell us what Hashem wanted from us, so, too, any future prophet will be כמוני, the same.

The goal of Nevi'im throughout our history was never so that we could find out from him what we want to know. The goal of a Navi was so that the Navi could tell us what Hashem wants us to know!

The pasuk doesn't say "אותו תשאלון, that you should go to ask him!" It says "אותו תשמעון, you should listen to him!"

And there is a third answer I would like to share with you this morning as well.

In his commentary on Rashi, the Gur Aryeh, the Maharal of Prague offers a different answer, quoting from the Sifrei, who says, what does it mean that every future prophet will be כמוני? Like Moshe? In what way?

Says the Sifrei:

כמו שאני מדבר דבר ואיני מתירא

Just like Moshe says, when I speak, when I deliver information, I am not afraid, I have no fear, so, too, any future Navi will be the same. The Sifrei goes on to quote several pesukim showing Moshe's confidence, even in the face of Pharaoh's power, and the confidence of Yehoshua, Shmuel, and Eliyahu HaNavi to rebuke the people, regardless of their possible response.

And explains the Maharal, that this answer also emanates from the context of this pasuk.

The pesukim before described how the nations of the world turn to sorcerers and magicians. Why? Because they don't have a direct line to Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, so they turn to all kinds of black magic.

But Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to Hashem face-to-face. And so, he knew that any ideas he would deliver were literally Dvar Hashem, the Word of God Himself. And so, he had no doubt about what it was that Hashem wanted from Him and from Am Yisrael, and for that reason Moshe was able to navigate his role with confidence and without fear.

And so, explains Moshe, even if the Nevi'im that will come after me will not be on my level. Yes, it's true, they won't speak to Hashem face to face, but, in the words of the Maharal:

אלא הוא כמוני בענין זה שדברי אלקים חיים בקרבו, ולכך אינו ירא כמוני

Nevertheless, He will be like me in the sense that he will have the word of Hashem living inside him, in which case he will never fear, כמוני, just like me!

Rabbi Yacov Haber wrote a sefer on the parsha called Reachings. And in it, he quotes this idea from the Maharal, and he writes something very powerful: "If you're not fearless about repeating the word of God, you should search yourself. Either it is not really the word of God, or you don't really believe it yourself."

And then he writes:

"When we are concerned about what people will think or say about our Judaism, we are compromising our connection to Hashem. When we are worried about fitting in, we are not living up to our potential. When we are afraid to be different, we are not being true to ourselves or to God."

Unfortunately, this is so true. How many times do we consider making a change in our life, to start a chavrusa, to come to mincha on Shabbos afternoon, to share a dvar torah at the Shabbos table, and we don't do it. And why not? Because we know someone might make a comment or even if they say nothing, we're worried about what they'll think. Will I not fit in with my friends anymore? And this isn't a worry that exists only when we're in high school. It absolutely continues to exist into adulthood at every age!

It says something so powerful about the power of cynicism and making jokes like that to others. But it also says so much about the importance of deciding who we want to be and being unafraid to be ourselves.

Jack Lew is an Orthodox Jew who has served in many important roles in Washington, including as the Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief of Staff. At one point, he came to visit Boca Raton Synagogue, and Rabbi Goldberg and Rabbi Moskowitz asked him how he navigated being an observant Jew and the demands of working for the President.

He said, "I have found that everyone respects my religious observance if I'm sincere and authentic. If you have integrity and your consistent then anyone I have interacted with respected my religious observance. If you show that you have confidence and you really believe in what you do, people notice, and they respect it. When you're wishy washy, when sometimes you stand up for your beliefs and sometimes you compromise, then it doesn't go. Because how can you expect other people to respect your beliefs if you don't!?"

Moshe Rabbeinu promises Am Yisrael that even if future Nevi'im won't be on his level, they will still be כמוני, they will be fiercely confident in the messages they share with the world because they know they are the messengers of Hashem, sharing His values with the world.

But this is not a message only for a Navi. It is a message for all of us. Reminding us that every one of us is a Shliach, a Messenger of Hashem. And when we have the strength and conviction to know that we have been chosen to carry His values out into the world, then there's no reason to ever be afraid. Then we will have the courage to be fearless.