Joseph vs. Moses: A Comparison

This week’s Torah reading of Sh’mot is the first of the book of Exodus, and in a sense it marks the great leap from Genesis and the story of Creation to the story of slavery and redemption. But I’d like to hark back to the conclusion of Genesis, specifically for the purpose of comparing Joseph, the protagonist of the book’s last fourteen chapters who leads the Jews down to Egypt, with Moses—introduced in our parashah—who takes them out. Which characteristics distinguish them as leaders? Why did God choose them for their respective tasks?

Let’s look first at the Joseph story, which begins thus:

These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph at seventeen years old
Was shepherding his brothers with the flock, and he was a boy
With the sons of Bilhah and sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives,
And Joseph brought their ill report to their father.