Rabbi Eric Mollo
This week’s Torah portion is Shemot: Exodus 1:1 – 6:1
The book of Exodus opens with verses that feel like a comforting continuation of the end of Genesis. We are given a familiar list: the names of those who came down to Egypt with Jacob and settled in Goshen. We are reminded that they did well there. So well, in fact, that they became exceedingly numerous. It is a portrait of stability and blessing, and just as the family appears stronger and more connected than ever before, the tone shifts. “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” With that single line, the ground gives way. A society that once benefited from diverse wisdom and leadership now recasts Jacob’s descendants as a threat. Fear replaces relationship. Oppression becomes policy. An unlikely hero emerges.
The Torah does not introduce Moses in a vacuum, but in response to moral collapse. Pharaoh’s refusal to recognize previous ties to the sons of Jacob is a timeless lesson in failed leadership. Every time those in power forget or neglect those who built the system they inherited, cruelty swiftly follows. The timely world of Shemot is one in which policies are enacted to control bodies (euthanasia of Israelite sons), erase names (forgotten partnerships with foreigners) and justify violence (xenophobia against the Israelites disguised as nationalism).
Our modern culture is saturated with heroes who wear capes, like those worn in the ubiquitous Marvel and DC movie franchises. These heroes possess extraordinary abilities, moral clarity and near invincibility. Even if the bad guys win a battle or two, we all know the good guys will win the war. Moses, the Torah’s greatest hero, stands in stark contrast to these overinflated fantasy warriors.
According to the Torah, there is nothing extraordinary about Moses the man. He is not imbued with supernatural strength or any other remarkable gifts. In fact, when Moses is first introduced, he is fearful, self-deprecating and filled with doubt. The Torah could have absolutely fashioned Moses into a superhero (see Samson). Instead, God surrounds Moses with the support he needs to succeed — Aaron to speak, Jethro to mentor, elders to share the burden of leadership and those who will literally hold him up when the Israelites need him most. Unlike so many superheroes, Moses’ success doesn’t rely on strength alone, but from his willingness to visibly lean on others. Thus, we learn that the best and most successful leaders favor openness and interdependence over domination and their perceived need for invulnerability.
What makes Moses a great hero is his capacity to learn, to adapt, to assess, to pivot, to accept help and to keep pressing forward no matter what. In a time of inconsistency, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the noise and shifting sand beneath our feet. Shemot asks us to reconsider what we are longing for in our leaders. True heroes do not wear capes. They notice suffering and refuse to look away. They make mistakes and learn from them moving forward. They lead boldly when needed and step aside when others can do better. They understand that redemption is not the work of one miraculous individual, but of many imperfect people moving forward together.
Parashat Shemot reinforces the idea that redemption does not begin with spectacle, certainty or superhuman ability. It begins when ordinary people refuse to surrender their moral agency, even when the cost is high and the outcome unclear. Moses is heroic because he is afraid and moves forward anyway. Moses is powerful because of the power he builds in relationship with those around him.
In an age that rewards bravado, be vulnerable. In an age that rewards dominance, be nurturing. Moses’ story insists on a different vision of greatness, one that values responsibility over spectacle and relationship over power, a vision that challenges us to take on the heroic work our moment demands: to be human, fallible, collaborative and willing to act without the promise of victory. Superheroes need not apply.
Eric Mollo is the associate rabbi at Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim in Wynnewood. He is also treasurer for the Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis and serves on the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia.
