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June 16, 1993

Leadership in Jewish Thought (1993)

Principles of Leadership

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Article

Five Guiding Principles For Rabbis

First, you who are this day being invested in the rabbinate dare not be discouraged! The Sefer Chasidim of R. Yehuda Ha-Hasid teaches us that one who composes chiddushei Torah (Torah writings) and does not publish them is guilty of being mo’el behekdesh, of illicit use of sacred property, because our intellectual achievements in Torah are the gift of the Almighty and we dare not keep them to ourselves and deny them to our fellow Jews. And if this is true of Torah novellae, which another talmid chakham may well be able to disprove, how much more so is it true of creating Torah personalities, of making Jews who will live and support Torah! You have no moral right to be frightened, no right to abandon your fellow Jews, no right to hoard Torah for yourselves and deny it to others – even though you are reluctant and they are unreceptive! Some of you who are blessed with the gift of leadership may soon rise to be the agents of great, perhaps dramatic, improvements in the relationship between Torah and Israel. But each of you can, if you will it, make at least a dent here and a change there, so that together you will have achieved mighty contributions, together with other musmakhim of our Yeshiva and other yeshivot and benei Torah from all over the country. The second “negative commandment” is: do not allow yourselves to be sucked into any of the fashionable extremisms that are tearing our people apart. They are tempting, even seductive. Supporting them can make us feel good emotionally without burdening our intellects. Extremism threatens to rip off the thin membrane of civilization that covers the inner volcano of violence. Violence from the mouth of a gun is a cancer that grows from the verbal violence from the mouth of a careless speaker or the pen of an irresponsible writer. And the oncogene – the cancer's seed – is extremism in dehumanizing your adversary. There is a special obligation that lies upon all who have influence over the public – especially younger peopl…
The Rabbinate Principles of Leadership

Outline

Hasidic Models of Leadership (2000)

Hasidic Models of Leadership – Convention of Rabbinical Council of America – 5/30/00. I. Introduction. Probl of religious lp nowadays. Ours = time of troubled transition, attenuated influence. Hsm, in course of but a few decades, produced astounding array number of powerful leaders who galvanized Eastern European Jewry, pulled them out of the doldrums – different models developed by Hsm. Any lessons f us? Jsm always had variety of kinds of lp: Biblical = Moses + Aaron, מלך כהן ונביא; Talmud = רב + תנא; since then: 17–18th centuries – ת״ח + מוכיחים ומגידים. • W Hasidism – term “Z” used in early He lit., later: “Rebbe”. We’ll keep w Z. • In this lecture will discuss phenomenon of Zaddikism, the need / function / qualifications f He lp; the varieties of lp by the Z, the relationship of Z and Hasid – and ultimately, whether and what we can learn from these forms of lp for our own rabbinic lp at the start of this new century. II. Sources – TYY = first emphasis (אנשי צורה / חומר); most elaborate = נועם אלימלך (posthumously 1788). III. Transition from Traditional Rabbinic to Hasidic World. 1. Traditional Rabbinic world: ת״ח = highest accolade (so: intellectual); He: Z = charisma. Though occasionally in He lit the two terms used interchangeably, fundamental difference: typical biography ת״ח – linear (hagiography–ArtScroll); Z – “double life” – באתכסיא / התגלות. 2. He critique of their contemporary rabbinic lp: TYY – שדין יהודאין, חכמים להרע... Bitter against intellectual class and their pilpul, and they served to cement relations between אנשי צורה ואנשי חומר (i.e., common enemy). Hasidism argued: lomdus isn’t enough, must have אמונת חכמים, i.e., is one of greater רוחניות, and that can’t be learned – רגש ההתבטלות... So, charisma trumps cognition... 3. But while lomdus not prerequisite f Z, not true they were ignorant. Many Zaddikim / Hasidim – ת״ח, גדולים. (O: אבני נזר – rather die fr learning than not learning). 4. Of course, Mitnagdim counter-attacked with even greater f…
Chasidim & Mitnagdim Principles of Leadership

Synagogue Sermon

A Qualification for Jewish Leadership (1972)

Our Sidra begins with the words ויגש אליו יהודה, “and Judah drew near to (Joseph),” whom Judah recognized only as the powerful viceroy of all Egypt. We reach, here, the point of highest tension in the entire drama of Joseph and his brothers. If I be permitted the play on words, ויגש can be read not only as coming from the words נגש, “he drew near,” but also התנגשות, collision. For what we are reading about is not only an encounter between Joseph and Judah, but a confrontation; not only a meeting, but a challenge. And the nature of this התנגשות or contest is nothing less than the future leadership of the Children of Israel. Joseph was by all means the favorite of Father Jacob. It is Joseph to whom Jacob had given the “coat of many colors,” the symbol of leadership. Judah was the chosen of the brothers. He was their spokesman and their chief. Which of the two would inherit the mantle of Jacob and become the leader of the tribes, and the progenitor of the future dynasty of Judah and ultimately of the Messiah? The answer, as all of us know, is: Judah. Jacob continued to shower his personal love upon Joseph, but he was forced to concede sovereignty or מלכות to another brother, to Judah.Why is that so? After all, consider the differences between these two personalities. Joseph is handsome, charismatic, a natural leader, seized by powerful ambitions, an accomplished linguist, a man of moral self-control, a diplomat, an economist, a man brimming with diverse talents – a born winner.Judah, contrariwise, strikes us as dull. In considering his personality, I am often led to think of the mentality of an amoral, tired, and jaded upper-middle-aged businessman. He bumbles his way through life. He sees all of existence through the eyes of a ledger, and everything is evaluated in terms of profit and loss. When the brothers want to kill Joseph, his response is מה בצע כי נהרוג אחינו, it will bring in more for us if we sell him rather than kill him. The moral issues were of no concern…
Vayigash Principles of Leadership