Moses: The Responsible One?

I have been doing some serious thinking. Moses is considered by many to be the single most important character in the Torah. A teacher, leader, a prophet, and a man of great conviction, Moses seems to be a potential role model for us all. I am going to explore, over the course of the next couple weeks, or more, what lessons we can learn from him.

The first lesson is how to take responsibility. Now while Moses isn't perfect and really doesn't always embody responsibility, I feel that he can help teach us its importance.

Moses kills an Egyptian while the Israelites were still in Egypt and he buries him in the sand. This action leads to his eventual fleeing of Egypt. Was running from his problem the responsible thing to do? Probably not. However, with some guidance he does return and resolve the issues he runs from. What we can learn from this? We can learn that our problems and issues don't go away and that we have to face them straight on.

Another example of responsibility that we can learn from Moses' experiences, is that he leads the entirety of the Israelite people through the desert. He guides them, leads them, and takes charge of them. That also shows responsibility.

He also takes responsibility for his actions when his anger takes the best of him. He made a mistake and then he paid for it.

These lessons of leading with others in mind and to take the consequences of our actions in stride are some of the many lessons we can learn from Moses on responsibility.

What other examples are there of Moses' responsibility? Do university students need to be more responsible? Can Judaism teach responsibility?

Jeremy Markiz