From The Other Side Of The Bench

By David J. Seidemann, Esq.

It seems that every time she opens her mouth, a lie falls out. And every time he opens his mouth, his foot falls in. I think it was Newt Gingrich who said that Hillary is at the point where she is now lying about her lies. For his part, if the Donald would speak just about the four issues where Hillary is vulnerable, he could win. But he can’t help himself, and the polls are not headed in the right direction. In a year when a poodle could probably beat Hillary, it’s Donald’s election to lose. At this rate, unless something changes–and that something is the Donald himself–she walks in to the White House.

Someone pointed out to me at a party the other night that within the name Donald is the word lad. Mr. Trump is just a lad, a little boy who can’t get out of the way of his own temper tantrums, and such behavior will spell victory for Mrs. Clinton. Another attendee was quick to retort, “Not so fast; within the name Hillary is the word liar.”

Either way, in just under three months we will have to vote for one of them. Staying home accomplishes nothing. Within the woven nature of these two individuals are such deeply rooted character flaws that in any other cycle, with any other opponent, the other would be leading by 60 points. To ignore their respective flaws is foolish; yet to get past their individual flaws is the only choice we have. One of them, come January, will be sitting in the Oval Office. So we need to focus on policy, on which candidate–the lies and tantrums aside–reflects our interests more.

Can this change I speak of–the change we want to see in their character–actually happen? Can man ever transcend the behavior patterns of his past, of his familial DNA?

When the Jewish nation stood on the banks of the Jordan River, getting ready to enter the Land of Israel in the days of Joshua, the tribes of Reuben and Gad did not cross over with the rest of the nation. Earlier they had asked Moses for permission to remain east of the Jordan. Their request was granted, and for reasons not set forth in the Torah, Moses placed half of the tribe of Menashe, Joseph’s eldest son, on the east side of the Jordan as well.

Why did Reuben and Gad request to remain east of the Jordan? Why did they not want to join their brethren in the Land of Israel proper? And whose idea was it to place half of the tribe of Menashe with them? And why only half of the tribe?

The Midrash tells us that of all the twelve sons of Jacob, Joseph had a special love for the Land of Israel. Accordingly, when the Children of Israel needed to cross the Jordan River, the river split in the merit of Joseph. A person’s good deeds can carry him through times of great hardship and challenge. Yet there is one negative, one set of circumstances that can strip away those merits and leave a person without recourse. Parties involved in disputes forfeit the merit they carried in their pocket that could have spelled deliverance.

Reuben and Gad were involved in a dispute with Joseph. Joseph claimed he was the firstborn son of Jacob’s true love, Rachel, and that therefore he was the firstborn, with all that accompanies that designation. Reuben argued that despite Jacob’s desire to marry Rachel first, in actuality, Jacob married Leah first and therefore he, Reuben, deserved the title of firstborn.

Gad argued that both Joseph and Reuben disqualified themselves from the title because of their infighting, and that as the firstborn of Leah’s maidservant, Zilpah, he was the official firstborn.

So as not to bring up old arguments that could possibly embroil the descendants of Joseph in a contemporary fight, so as not to endanger the entire nation by the Jordan not splitting, Reuben and Gad volunteered to stay to the east of the Jordan River. They distanced themselves from the tribe of Joseph so that the argument would be buried and so Joseph’s merit could split the river.

This argument of the firstborn had been waged before. Witness Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau. Nothing had changed. Man did not–could not–change. The jealousy was inborn and continued from generation to generation. Until . . .

Until Joseph begot two of his own sons, Menashe and Ephraim. Menashe was the firstborn, but Ephraim eclipsed him in greatness–and that was fine with Menashe. For the first time, an older brother acquiesced and encouraged the younger brother to be bigger and better.

Had Reuben and Gad been left to live on the east side of the Jordan, outside of Israel proper, by themselves, future generations might have concluded that they did not deserve to live in Israel proper because they could not change, because man was doomed to his character flaws. Man would never outgrow the character flaw of jealousy or perhaps another flaw like lying or whining or being insulting or thin-skinned.

But Menashe had conquered those demons and would serve as a constant reminder to the tribes of Reuben and Gad that negative personality traits can be conquered.

So why not place the entire tribe of Menashe with Reuben and Gad on the east side of the Jordan River?

Had Moses placed all of the tribe of Menashe on the east side with Reuben and Gad, we might have erroneously thought that Reuben and Gad and Menashe had failed, and that those with flaws can never enter the Promised Land. But Moses was brilliant and he placed only half of Menashe east of the Jordan, and the other half of the tribe of Menashe in Israel proper–to highlight that just as Menashe could merit the Promised Land despite being faced with the same challenges as Reuben and Gad, so too could the future generations of Reuben and Gad. Menashe was living proof that character flaws can be overcome.

Menashe was split to underscore that the moniker of the firstborn, the limelight, could be shared. Menashe was split to emphasize that although you might feel distanced by circumstances from your desired promised land, do not fear. Your hardships can be converted to challenges and then converted to victories that deliver you to your desired goal. Man is empowered to create great change in this world, beginning with great changes in himself.

It’s not too late. Someone please change. Donald? Hillary?

David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann and Mermelstein and serves as a professor of business law at Touro College. He can be reached at 718-692-1013 or ds@lawofficesm.com.

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