Parashat Naso
Last week, in parashat B’midbar, we read, “Eileh toldot Aharon u’Moshe…. V’eileh shemot b’nei Aharon.” “These are the generations of Aaron and Moshe…. And these are the names of the children of Moshe. Nowhere are names of Moshe’s children mentioned.
This week’s parasha, Naso, opens “Naso et rosh b’nei Gershon…” “Count the children of Gershon…” The reader must think of Moshe when the name Gershon is mentioned. Moshe’s two sons are Gershom and Eliezer. The names Gershom and Gershon are used interchangeably in later texts. Still, all commentary on our parasha agree that the Gershonites are not Moshe’s children.
The question then becomes what happened to Moshe’s children? Where are they in our history?
The Gershonites have their own destiny. They are Levi’im, obligated to serve in the Tabernacle, with their own specific job. Perhaps the Gershonites were descendents of Moshe, and perhaps not. Either way, they couldn’t simply follow in Moshe’s footsteps. They couldn’t just follow what all the other Levi’im were doing. They needed to fulfill their own role, to follow their own destiny.
For the children of leaders (and the rest of us) it is often assumed that they will follow in the footsteps of their parents. We too often expect our children to do what we think is important, from music lessons to sports to academics. We must learn as parents that children are not clay to be molded, but people to be taught. From their parents they learn communal responsibility; they develop leadership traits. However, they must be allowed to be separate from their parents, to follow their own destinies and become the people they are meant to be.
Shabbat shalom.
