THE LEADERSHIP TRIFECTA
July 7, 2015REPETITION?
In response to being told by G-d that he will be “gathered to his people,” Moshe asks G-d to appoint a successor. Moshe includes among the qualifications for a new leader that he be: “[One] who will go out before them and come in before them.” Moshe then adds: “who shall take them out and bring them in…”
Why did Moshe need to repeat this qualification of going before the people? First he says, “[One] who will go out before them and come in before them.” And then he adds, “[one] who shall take them out and bring them in.” Isn’t this a repeat of his earlier statement, albeit phrased in a slightly different fashion?
This question assumes great force when we consider the way the Torah economizes on its words even in matters of law, where one missed or misunderstood detail can wreak havoc. Why then would it repeat a seemingly identical message in a passage that appears to have no more than historical value?
Moshe’s request to G-d for a leader can teach an eternal lesson not only for the selection of leaders but also for each and every one of us. Moreover, these lessons are so crucial that the Torah could not have “afforded” to economize and present the lesson in an abbreviated form. Had the lesson not been presented this unambiguously, we would have risked losing a critical lesson.
TWO ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP: PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL
Rashi seems to have anticipated our question. He explains that these two statements represent distinct leadership qualifications.
Rashi interprets the first phrase, “who will go out before them and come in before them,” as a reference to the manner in which a leader should lead his nation into war:
Not like the kings of the [gentile] nations, who sit at home and send their armies to war, but as I did, for I fought against Sichon and Og.
Rashi then explains that the second phrase, “who shall take them out and bring them in…,” means that he should take them out and bring them in “through his merits.”
In other words, the first lesson is that a leader must exhibit courage by, literally, going ahead of his soldiers into battle. This lesson relates to his role as a physical leader of the people, as one who leads them successfully in and out of battle. The second qualification describes the spiritual power of a leader who will prevail against his people’s enemies because of his own worthiness.
According to Rashi, whose words are based on earlier Midrashic teachings, a leader must lead in both venues: the physical and spiritual.
THE FACE OF A DOG!
There is another approach to this repetition of the “follow me” qualification for leadership.
The Talmud (Sota 49b) describes the pitiful state of affairs for all people immediately before the final Redemption: “The face of the generation is like the face of a dog.”
One great 19th century sage interpreted this phrase as a bleak depiction of leadership in the last days of Galus. The phrase “face of the generation” alludes to its leaders. In what way can they be compared to dogs?
When a dog goes out walking with its master, it runs ahead and ostensibly “leads” the way. But, when it comes to a fork in the road, it looks back to see which way the master wants to go. The degenerate state of leadership in our “last-generation-of exile” fits that description all too well. Leaders act as if they are leading the way, but when they come to a thorny or controversial matter, they turn around to determine which way the people want them to choose. The leaders thus become the quintessential followers.
This, then, is what Moshe had in mind when he asked for the type of leader who not only goes ahead of his nation but also “takes them out and brings them in.” He must be a leader who truly leads in every sense of the word. The leader makes the determination when to go out and when to come in. Simply going ahead of a nation and acting like a leader does not suffice.
MERITORIOUS LEADERSHIP
We can now see the connection with Rashi’s commentary that the second requirement for leadership is that the leader leads because of his merits.
When a leader leads because of acquired power, whether it is through force or through a democratic process, he does not yet meet the test of leadership. The leader must have merit. Moreover, the Hebrew word for merit, z’chus, also means refinement. If a leader is known for his righteousness and impeccable morality he will also have the fortitude to go against the grain and lead the people in directions that they might not want to travel. The leader who lacks those merits and is unrefined will be forced to follow the dictates of the masses and choose what is popular, not what is right.
The rationale for this is simple: When a person is not morally refined it means that his desires and animalistic needs control him. In effect, he is not a leader in his own life, rather he is being controlled by lower forces within himself. How then can he be a true leader of others?
NO BASIS FOR DISILLUSIONMENT
One may question why the Talmud would inform us of the pitiful state of leadership in the last moments of Galus? That there is a paucity of true leadership in our generation should come as a surprise to no one. We don’t need the Talmud to reveal a fact of life that is anything but secret. A similar question has been raised about other dire predictions concerning the last days of Galus that the Sages discuss at length in the Talmud and other classical Jewish sources. Why were they mentioned so often? Did the Sages wish to demoralize us?
The Rebbe provided us with an answer to this question.
Had the pitiful state of affairs before Moshiach’s coming not been foretold, some would have lost their faith in his coming. Upon witnessing the degenerate state of affairs (in leadership as well as other areas marked by a precipitous decline of morality and a frightening increase of violence and corruption) one could have concluded that the Messianic process has, G-d forbid, been aborted. People so disillusioned would have lost their faith in the promise of the Redemption and perhaps even lost faith in Judaism altogether.
To forestall this disastrous reaction to the negativity of the pre-Messianic era, our prescient sages revealed to us that this distressing scenario is actually a harbinger of the Redemption. Although we certainly should be troubled by the phenomenon of negative leadership, we should not be disheartened by it.
Many Holocaust survivors have stated that their faith was not shaken by the atrocities of the Holocaust. As one Holocaust survivor I knew put it: “I realized then that there was nothing I could rely upon; not governments nor organizations, ideologies or politics. I then knew that the only thing I could rely on must be G-d!”
When we see the dearth of real leadership and the low level of morality popular leaders epitomize, we are compelled to conclude that the only true leader is Moshiach. The only way out of this morass is the final Redemption, which Moshiach ushers in and which must be imminent.
LEADERS CULTIVATING LEADERS
Returning to the subject of Moshe’s repetition of the qualifications for leadership, one may suggest that another dimension of leadership is alluded to by this repetition:
A leader, by definition, must be one who leads the people and is not their follower.
But even that does not suffice. A leader must also cultivate leadership qualities in the people he leads. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks commented about the Rebbe’s unique leadership: “Good leaders cultivate followers, great leaders cultivate leaders.”
Thus, Moshe asks G-d to appoint leaders who will go first, ahead of the people. This means that they will take the initiative and not wait for the people to wake up and do things on their own.
However, that is but the first step of leadership. The leader must then “take them out and bring them in,” suggesting that the leader must transform them into ones “who go out and come back in” because the leader has nurtured the spark of leadership which each and every Jew possesses.
IGNITING THE SPARK OF MOSHIACH
This message is especially relevant to the role of Moshiach. On the one hand, Moshiach is the ultimate leader who will succeed in bringing all the Jews to the Promised Land, something even Moshe was denied.
On the other hand, Moshiach is the one who ignites the spark of Moshiach within us and renders us all leaders who, in turn, have the power to reveal Moshiach’s full potential. This will be the potent force that transforms the world of Galus into the world of Geula!
This message is particularly apt for the period of the Three Weeks into which we have now entered. It is a sad period, one in which the negative aspects of Galus are highlighted. But the Rebbe’s message will not allow us to become depressed. We will know that no matter how low we have gone, the darkness of Exile will be followed by the reemergence of true leadership, when the light of Redemption will shine brightly. May that be imminently; may that be NOW!
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