The Passuk tells us how Moshe Rabbeinu, once again, complains before Hashem that he is unworthy of leading the Children of Israel from Egypt: “Moshe spoke before Hashem, saying: “Beyond, the Children of Israel have not listened to me, so how will Pharaoh listen to me, and I speak with sealed lips?” (Shemos 6:12). Hashem does not accept the claim, but we need to ask ourselves the simple question: Why? Why did Hashem really choose Moshe? What quality made him the right person for this mission?

A similar question can be asked from the opposite direction: How is it possible that Pharaoh was willing to tolerate Moshe, the representative of the slave-people who dared approach him with demands and threats? Where, indeed, lies the inner strength of Moshe, who was clearly not the eloquent and charismatic speaker, which allowed him to open negotiations with Pharaoh without the latter expelling him or even worse?

It seems that Moshe’s strength was his humility. Even when he came to speak to Pharaoh, he did not do so arrogantly, seeking to force him to act against his will; rather, he tried to convince him that this is the proper and right way to behave, and that it is in the best interest of the Egyptians to release the Children of Israel. 

Moshe believed that this trait made him unsuitable for leadership. He saw himself as slow-spoken and slow-tongued, presenting his arguments in a slow and stammering manner, without charisma, without overwhelming personal power. The truth, however, was that precisely these qualities allowed his leadership to touch each and every person, up to and including Pharaoh. 

More specifically, Hashem purposely refrained from appointing a charismatic leader who could not be resisted. If He wanted to force the hand of the nascent Jewish People or that of Pharaoh, He surely had other ways to do it. He could have skipped directly to the final plague without preliminaries and led Israel directly to the splitting of the Sea.

Hashem, however, wished to teach both Israel and Egypt a lesson. He wanted them to internalize fundamental ideas. The Children of Israel needed to learn that they were free, and Egypt had to learn that they had no right to hold them as slaves.

The power of Egypt was built on enslaving others. As they saw it, the gods themselves had given them the right to be masters of the world. Yet, they needed to recognize that they had no right to enslave Israel. It was not enough for them to free them against their will; they had to recognize that they are not worthy of being their masters, that the Jewish nation, people of Hashem, God of Israel, are inherently free and cannot be enslaved by anyone.

To bring about true reform, and not merely cosmetic change that can be reversed by a change in power relations, it was necessary for the Egyptians to agree and demand that the people leave. Thus spoke Moshe at the end of our Parasha: “For now I could have sent My hand and stricken you and your people with the pestilence and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, for this I have let you endure, in order to show you My strength and so that My Name may be declared throughout the world.” The Divine revelation, the declaration of His Name, would come specifically by the freedom of His people.

The quality required to bring the Israelites out of Egypt was precisely the skill of direct communication rather than the acumen of careful diplomacy. Convince the Egyptians would take a person who sees the highest value in persuasion rather than coercion. In other words, it would take a person who knows how to listen rather than one who knows merely how to speak. Only a true listener can convince others – rather than coerce them by force or by charisma – to correct their mistakes and adopt a new mindset.

The skill of listening and persuasion of this type is not possessed by the arrogant, and proud, and the overconfident. Certainly, leadership by persuasion requires much courage; it takes much bravery to stick up for the truth. But only those who lack arrogance, who do not seek to convince others by any means other than striving for truth – not by virtue of name and status, by rhetorical skills and personal greatness – only they can truly convince the others to change their mind. 

Such a person was Moshe Rabbeinu, the most humble of men. Such was the greatest leader we’ve had. And such are the leaders we need.