It takes chutzpah to step into the role, but for those who anchor their leadership in Jewish values, it’s never about them. It’s about the task at hand.

Rabbi Yael Splansky
Holy Blossom Temple, toronto

Rabbi Mark Fishman
Congregation Beth Tikvah, Montreal

Rabbi Fishman: Jewish leadership can mean two things: leadership by people who are Jewish, and leading in a way that reflects Jewish values. I am particularly interested in the latter – leaders who are able to extract from classic Jewish texts themes that can point toward what it means to lead in a way that is deeply Jewish. 

Perhaps most fundamental of all is the theme of vision. The biblical character of Moses comes to mind. Moses cannot begin his mission before he has a sense of what he is being called upon to do. Encountering the burning bush was more than a mystical or prophetic moment for Moses – it was a vision of what the goals and objectives in his life were to be. 

Before a leader can bring others “over there,” he or she has to know where “there” is. 

Rabbi Splansky: Apparently, it isn’t so unusual for a thorn bush to catch fire in the desert. But Moses stopped to watch because he was curious. Why wasn’t the fire consuming the bush? A Jewish leader is naturally curious. 

Moses was a shepherd by profession, but he wondered about the physics of that burning bush. He wondered about greater freedom for a people he barely knew, but sensed he was somehow a part of. He wondered about a place called Israel, which he had only seen in his daydreams. Moses’ curiosity carried him in the direction of Pharoah’s palace. 

A Jewish leader is driven by the need to find out.

Rabbi Fishman:  And yet, Moses is doubtful. He claims the Jewish People will not believe him and doubts that the people will accept him as their leader, the one who will take them to freedom. God responds harshly to this and strikes Moses with a punishment that hints he has spoken badly about others. 

The principle is that once a vision has been acquired, the role of the leader is to have faith in others. In addition to seeing the destination, a leader has to believe that the community is able to be a part of the journey.

Rabbi Splansky: The finest mark of a Jewish leader is loving loyalty, not blind loyalty. When we built the golden calf, God suggested to Moses: “I see that this is a stiff-necked people. Now let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (Exodus 32:9-10)  

But Moses did not take the bait. Even in the heat of his anger, he did not abandon his people. Instead, he defended them. 

A Jewish leader stands by the people – stands with them and for them, and draws out the best in them.

Rabbi Fishman:  Moses, in an act of despair, cries out to God: “the burden is too heavy… if this is how you are going to treat me, please kill me” (Numbers 11). This is Moses at the depth of despair. 

And yet even within the bleak moments, a trace of inspiration can be found. When there is no one around to do what needs to be done, a Jewish leader will innately sense that this is why they are here, and that this is their moment.

Rabbi Splansky:  A Jewish leader knows who she is and who she isn’t; what he can do and what he cannot. She knows what she knows, what she has yet to learn, and also that there are things about God’s world she will never know. 

It takes chutzpah to step into a leadership role, but for those who anchor their leadership in Jewish values, it’s never “about me.” It’s about the task, the need, the mitzvah at hand. A Jew steps into leadership because he feels duty-bound to offer up his best efforts in order to make God’s world more whole. A Jew recognizes her talents are God-given, that his time on earth is God-given.  

At first, it may seem chutzpadik to step into leadership, but when we see our potential for impact as a gift, a challenge, an opportunity and an expectation from the Divine, it’s chutzpadik to say no.