Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Shabbat Thoughts- The Buck stops here!


            Suspense novels have introduced us all to the now familiar abbreviation POTUS. Previously known only to high-ranking security personnel, we now know that this abbreviation stands for President of the United States. There is only one President; only one ultimate leader. In the words of Harry Truman “The buck stops here”. Ultimate responsibility and authority are borne by this leader.
        This week's Torah reading presents a different appreciation of leadership. We all know that Moses speaks to God the way that you and I speak with our neighbors so Moses is the ultimate leader. This Parsha details a sharing of authority between Moses and other people.  God speaks to Moses and says “I shall remove a portion of your authority and shall share it with the 70 elders of the nation.” Moses does not object. He does not see this step as a diminution of his own identity. Furthermore, the next paragraph in the Torah reinforces Moses’s humility.
        A young teenager hurriedly rushes to Moses and reports that two men are prophesying somewhere in the camp. Their names are Eldad and Maydad and they appear only in this one tiny section of the Bible. Joshua suggests that Moses quiet them. Moses responds by saying “Wouldn't it be great if everybody could be a prophet?”
        Of course, we all know that Moses is the supreme leader of Israel. However, the message presented in our Torah reading for this Shabbat is that a significant aspect of leadership is humility. A true leader is not threatened by the capacity to lead evidenced by someone else.
        Moses understands that true leadership emerges from honoring and respecting others. True authority is not reduced by showing dignity and esteem to others.
        May we all embrace a bit of Moses’s leadership style; being less concerned about promoting our own ego and more attuned to respecting others. As a result no one loses and we all gain.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Steve Silberman

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