If your last name is Manning and you play in the NFL, expectations come with the territory. Archie Manning was one of the most respected quarterbacks of his generation. His sons, Peyton and Eli, each won two Super Bowls and are destined for the Hall of Fame. Today the football world is watching the next chapter unfold as Archie’s grandson, Arch Manning, begins his own career. Fair or not, everyone assumes greatness runs in the family. The logic seems almost irresistible. Great athletes produce great athletes. Excellence is inherited. Of course the next Manning will become a star.

Sometimes it works that way. Sometimes it does not. The same assumption lies at the heart of one of the most intriguing Midrashim in the Torah. As Moshe reaches the end of his life, he turns to G-d with a single request [Bemidbar 27:17]: “May G-d appoint a man over the congregation.”

Moshe is making a very understandable request. His time has come and he asks G-d to appoint a successor while he is still alive. And yet, our Sages in the Midrash paint a very different picture. The Midrash [Sifrei Bemidbar 138] suggests that Moshe hoped one of his own sons would succeed him. He had just given the daughters of Zelophehad an inheritance in the Land of Israel. If daughters inherit property, Moshe reasoned, surely sons should inherit their father’s mantle.

Excuse me? What was Moshe thinking? The Torah has spent nearly forty years chronicling Moshe’s leadership. And yet we know virtually nothing about Gershom and Eliezer[1]. They never command armies. They never judge disputes. They never deliver prophecy. They never emerge as public figures of any kind. Compare them with Aaron’s sons. From the moment the Tabernacle (Mishkan) is inaugurated, Aaron’s children occupy centre stage. Even after Nadav and Avihu perish, Elazar and Itamar continue the priestly service. Aaron’s family is constantly in full view while Moshe’s family is almost invisible. If we had been asked, before reading the Midrash, to place a bet on Polymarket as to the identity of Moshe’s successor,........

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