As Moshe is nearing the end of his career as leader of the Jewish people, a replacement is needed. After realizing he will not even be going into Israel, time is running out to choose the appropriate successor.
Moshe asks God to find an appropriate candidate, and he gives a few criteria. He asks for someone who will lead the people in their coming and going; someone who will be able to take them out of the desert, and into the Land of Israel. He wants to make sure they don’t become “like a herd with no shepherd.”
God replies that Yehoshua is the man for the job. But how do you just make someone the new leader of an entire nation?
The first step was clear; he needed the approval of the people. Moshe was to place his hands upon Yehoshua’s head, and bring him to the Cohen Gadol, Elazar, in front of the entire nation. This was the first recorded smicha, and this was what gave Yehoshua credibility.
But how was he to know how to lead? He had the experience of the meraglim to teach him a thing or two about leadership, but now he was expected to bring the nation into their homeland, and conquer it in battle. So maybe he should just learn as much as possible from Moshe, and in every situation he faces, he will simply ask “What would Moshe do?”
That is not what God instructs. God says to Moshe, “give [Yehoshua] from your majesty.” Give him some of that mojo you used when leading the people – but don’t give him all of it. Yehoshua is going to have to do a lot of this on his own, and in his own way. He has a different task than Moshe, and that will require different tools.
Yehoshua needed to develop his own leadership traits. He wasn’t meant to be a carbon copy of Moshe. Moshe molded a mass of people into a nation, and Yehoshua must now bring the nation to its homeland.
Every leader has her style, and no style is supreme. When trying to find your own style, don’t try and become a different person. If you see a trait in someone that you wish you had, try it out. But don’t think the answer is to become that other person. It probably isn’t the right fit, and it will lead to nothing but failure.
