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Pinhas

God of the Spirits of All Flesh

Moses requested from God that He appoint a leader capable of addressing the needs of each and every member of the nation.

“Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: May the Lord, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation” (Numbers 27:15–16). This serves to inform you of the praise of the righteous, who, when they take leave of the world, they set aside their own needs and attend to the needs of the community.… Moses said to God: Does the person whom You will install over them have a spirit capable of accepting 600,000 different people, so that he can speak to each and every one of them in accordance with his character? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: Moses, you have spoken well…. Know that this is what Moses requested from the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, the character of each and every one is known and revealed before You, and the children’s characters are not all alike. Therefore, when I leave You, I implore You: If You seek to appoint a leader over them, appoint a person who will tolerate each and every one of them according to his character, as it is stated: “May the Lord, God of the spirits [of all flesh,” with “spirits” written in the plural]. (Yalkut Shimoni, Pinhas 1:776)