We generally meet leaders only when they assume their roles, knowing little about their early lives or what shaped them. What traits do future leaders possess, and what qualities should those aspiring to lead develop?

This challenge applies to the Torah’s leaders too, who are usually introduced at the start of their leadership. However, we encounter Moshe Rabbeinu from birth, learning about his early life to understand why Hashem chose him to lead the Jewish people. Despite his speech impediment and upbringing in Pharaoh’s palace, Moshe was chosen – raising the question, why him?

Compassion and self-sacrifice

There are many answers to why Hashem chose Moshe as a leader. The first comes from Moshe’s first recorded action: leaving the palace to witness the suffering of the Jewish people. Before the Torah describes what he saw, it emphasizes that he “saw their suffering” – that he empathized with them (Shemot Rabbah 1:27).

Though raised as Egyptian royalty, Moshe nevertheless chose to identify with the Jewish slaves. He felt connected to them, seeing them as his “brothers,” and shared in their pain, even taking on their burdens (ibid.).

His compassion wasn’t limited to his own people. When he arrived at the well in Midyan, he intervened to defend Midyanite women being mistreated at the well. Even animals were recipients of his care. He encountered the burning bush after pursuing a lost lamb and carrying it back to the flock on his shoulders (Shemot Rabbah 2:2).

Moshe’s own survival was rooted in the self-sacrifice of others – his mother, sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter. Named Moshe (“draws”) rather than Mashuy (“drawn”), his name foretold his role in saving others (Seforno, Shemot 2:10). The one saved by others “paid it forward,” embodying the power of self-sacrifice in leadership.

This selflessness defined his leadership. When Hashem offered to wipe out the Jewish people and start a new nation with Moshe’s descendants, he refused. He tied his fate to theirs, asking that if Hashem would not forgive them, his own name be erased as well. Moshe’s identity and fate were inseparable from those he led (Avnei Miluim, Hakdama).

Stepping up

In Egypt, Moshe didn’t just empathize with the suffering of the Jewish people – he took action to save them, even when others wouldn’t and at great personal risk. When he saw an Egyptian assaulting a Jew, he “looked both ways and saw that there was no man.” Though others were likely present, no one intervened. Moshe stepped up, saving the Jew by killing the Egyptian, knowing it might force him to flee Egypt. He embodied Hillel’s words: “In a place where there is no man, try to be the man” (Avot 2:6).

“Responsibility” is at the heart of leadership. A leader is not just someone who takes charge but takes responsibility for the well-being of others and the world around them. Nachshon ben Aminadav is a prime example. When Bnei Yisrael stood at the sea, afraid to move forward with the Egyptians behind them, Nachshon led the way with a leap of faith into the sea (Sotah 37a).

Non-Jews have also shown this kind of leadership. During the Holocaust, nearly thirty thousand “righteous gentiles” risked their lives to save Jews, stepping up when no one else would. Their actions, like those of Nachshon and Moshe, remind us that leadership is a universal responsibility, not limited to a particular group.

Reflectiveness

Moshe paid a price for killing the Egyptian, fleeing Mitzrayim and living in exile in Midyan for forty years.

His return was sparked by his attentiveness and reflectiveness, as seen in his encounter with the burning bush. While others may have passed by, Moshe stopped to investigate. He noticed something unusual – the bush burned without being consumed – and felt compelled to understand it.

It was through this reflection that Moshe received Hashem’s revelation (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 15). Leaders, like Moshe, must be attentive to what happens around them. True leadership requires sensitivity to the subtle “winds” of divine guidance, which can only be discerned by those who pause to reflect.

Humility

Moshe’s reaction to Hashem’s call reveals a vital leadership quality: humility. When instructed to confront Pharaoh and lead the Jews, Moshe humbly questioned, “Who am I?” Moshe was “the humblest of men.” Similarly, Yirmiyahu HaNavi responded with humility when appointed as a prophet, saying “I do not know how to speak; I am a (mere) lad.”

Unlike many leaders driven by ambition, true leaders recognize their authority comes from a higher power. Moshe and Yirmiyahu understood that their strength was not their own but from Hashem, who assured them, “I will be with you” and “Don’t fear them because I am with you.” Their humility allowed them to fulfill their divine missions with the recognition that they were merely instruments of G-d’s will.

May the Torah’s depiction of Moshe inspire us to cultivate the qualities that enable us to embrace our true leadership potential.

 

Rabbi Reuven Taragin is Educational Director of Mizrachi and Dean of the Yeshivat Hakotel Overseas Program. His new book, Essentials of Judaism, can be purchased at rabbireuventaragin.com.