This week’s Torah portion ends with a brief passage commanding us to put fringes on the corner of our clothes. This is where the idea of the Jewish prayer shawl, a tallit, comes from.

It is essentially a piece cloth that drapes over one’s shoulders and hangs down in front on both sides, but what’s important are the fringes on the four corners, not the cloth. It is worn by both men and women, although not all women choose to do so. I I jokingly refer to the tallit as a fringe delivery system. The cloth is usually beautiful but without the fringes it has no meaning.

And what of these fringes? They are a reminder. A reminder that we are in a relationship with the Divine, a personified deity who has asked us to follow certain rules and commandments.

In last weeks Torah portion, God explicitly told Moses and the people to follow the pillar of smoke and pillar of fire that would lead them through the desert. But we also read an aside conversation that Moses has with his father-in-law, in which Moses said,“we need you to guide us and tell us where to camp in the desert.”

This week, God allowed Moses to send 12 scouts into Canaan to check out the Promised Land, even though God had already told Moses how wonderful it would be.

The God of Judaism asks us to trust and obey. And yet even our greatest leader, Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our teacher, as he is called, didn’t always trust God.

How can we square this with the level of trust and obedience that the God of the Torah requires?

There is an old Russian saying: trust but verify. Even Moses, who seemed always to be ready to follow God’s commands, sought human assurance.

Tonight I listened on the radio while two men running for president of this nation hurled insults at each other and claimed the other was lying. I am certain that tomorrow morning there will be much discussion and debunking of the claims that each made about himself and the other.

Despite the extensive fact checking that we will be subjected to, I don’t think it matters. Each man’s supporters think he was right. Both groups believe that our nation will suffer dreadfully if their favorite’s opponent wins the election.

Tonight, I wish we could elect a Moses. Someone humble enough to ask for help when he needed it. Who could debate respectfully with God, and convince the Deity to change course. Who has trust but doesn’t hesitate to verify. Who has the stamina to lead an enormous and deeply divided nation.

And to be completely honest, I wouldn’t mind if it was someone who wore tallit to remind him or herself about what is most important.