Parashah Va’era (Exodus 6:2 - 9:35)
“But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage.” Exodus 6:9
What happens when a leader leads, but no one follows? Is the person still a leader?
In this week’s parasha we read of how God chose Moses to lead the Hebrews, and yet a) they were not in any shape to be led; and b) they were not the ones who chose Moses as their leader. Both of these challenges made an already difficult situation for Moses all the more challenging.
But the research on leadership parallels our rabbinic texts in that both fields of knowledge say that one is to do the right thing, even if the masses choose to do differently.
Being a leader is not about taking the easy road; rather, it is about pursuit of righteousness and justice. It is about leading toward a vision. It is in order to bring the masses to a better place.
Rabbi Michael Zedek, of Emanuel Congregation, Chicago, IL, wrote a wonderful piece on this week’s Torah portion to highlight these leadership principles quoting a sermon given by the famous American psychiatrist, Dr. Karl Menninger:
“Moses now knows his focus is to serve the people, to care about them, to nurture them, to love them. There may be hard moments ahead, but despair is overcome in service. Such is reminiscent of the wonderful statement by Dr. Karl Menninger. Implicit in Moses’ new vigor, it is explicit in Dr. Menninger’s words:
If people are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered [just like the Israelites], love them anyway. If you do, good people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives [they certainly didn’t think Moses was such a great guy], but do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies [remember Edward G. Robinson in the movie; always giving Moses a hard time], succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow [miracle after miracle and still they don’t leave him alone; they complain and complain]. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. People favor underdogs but seem to follow only top dogs. Fight for underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight [what do you think Moses thought when he came down and saw the Golden Calf]. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them [Moses certainly knew that]. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have, and you may get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.”
It’s not easy to lead, and Moses found this out the very hard way. This weekend ask your child to name someone who they think is a leader. What is it about the person that makes them a leader? Do they think leading is easy? What skills and training do they think a leader should have? Did Moses have these skills? What experiences best prepared Moses for his role as our greatest leader? These are just the starter questions. From here let your child take the lead…
Have a wonderful weekend. Shabbat shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment