Why the apparent repetition? Moses is saying two things about leadership. He must go at a pace that people can bear. In the end, it would take a new generation and a new leader to lead the people across the Jordan and into the promised land. Leadership involves a delicate balance between impatience and patience. Go too fast and people resist and rebel. Go too slow and they become complacent. Transformation takes time, often more than a single generation. Principle 7: Leadership is stressful and emotionally demanding.
Did I give them birth? Why do You tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land You promised on oath to their ancestors?
You can find similar sentiments in the words of Elijah, Jeremiah and Jonah. All at some stage prayed to die rather than carry on. Transformative leaders see the need for people to change.
But people resist change and expect the work to be done for them by the leader. When the leader hands the challenge back, the people then turn on him and blame him for their troubles.
So Moses is to blame for the hardships of the desert. Elijah is to blame for disturbing the peace. Jeremiah is to blame for the Babylonians. No wonder that the most transformative leaders feel, at times, burnout and despair.
Why then do they lead? Not because they believe in themselves. The greatest Jewish leaders doubted their ability to lead. Leaders lead because there is work to do, there are people in need, there is injustice to be fought, there are wrongs to be righted, there are problems to be solved and challenges ahead.
Leaders hear this as a call to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. They lead because they know that to stand idly by and expect others to do the work is the too-easy option.
The responsible life is the best life there is, and is worth all the pain and frustration. There are challenges ahead for British and world Jewry and for the people and state of Israel.
The return of antisemitism is one. The isolation of Israel is another. A third is the erosion of Jewish identity at the edges of affiliation and commitment.
In truth these are all symptoms of the single overarching question of Jewish existence in the modern age. What is it to live as a Jew in the public domain, in a world without walls?
This is why since the time of Moses and Joshua, Judaism has insisted that truly effective leadership must include the identification, preparation and training of the next generation.
To be sure, it is difficult for those ensconced in power to think beyond themselves. The rabbis understand this basic principle. While conventional wisdom associates leadership with self-assurance, single-minded determination, bravado, and certainty, Jewish sources offer a dramatically different view, one which identifies humility as the essential attribute of effective leaders.
Jewish sources insist that the arrogance and inflated sense of self, often found in people with power, are, in fact, antithetical to effective leadership. Despite the popular notion, therefore, humility is not a sign of weak leadership.
Indeed, the Torah and later Jewish sources insist that the most effective of all leaders—Moses—was, at the same time, the most humble. Rather than precluding vision, tenacity and decisiveness, humility is essential for their realization.
In Judaism, exaggerated claims and self-aggrandizing speech are anathema to good leadership. In the contemporary period, feminist theologians have re-examined the claim that women did not hold positions of authority.
Today, Jewish women leaders hold positions of power and influence in countless areas and industries. All early biblical leaders of the Jewish people were elected by God. The matriarchs and patriarchs, priests, prophets, kings, judges, and warriors were chosen by divine plan to lead the nation at different points in its history.
The Torah she-bi-khetav : Lit. Beyond the biblical text, the influence of matriarchal faith and insight is conveyed in the midrashic literature, which expands the role of wife, helper, and mother to include prophetess, teacher and visionary. Yet it is clear from the biblical narrative that females did not serve in the broader leadership roles filled by males. We learn the power of truth from Tamar Genesis 38 , the need for courage in the face of persecution from Jochebed Exodus 2 , the wisdom of timing from Zipporah Exodus 4 , the beauty of song and dance from Miriam Exodus 15 , and the pursuit of justice from the Daughters of Zelophehad Numbers These women serve as prototypes of piety and sacrifice, taking risks to be independent, yet never straying too far from the community.
Although they are not all labeled as leaders per se, their examples have led and inspired Jews for generations. The Lit. When not specified, "Talmud" refers to the Babylonian Talmud. Talmud Lit. The Scroll of Esther is read on Purim from a parchment scroll. Megillah 14a states that there were forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses who prophesied to the people of Israel. Esther also served as queen when she was chosen by King Ahasuerus, although her rule was outside Israel.
Nazirite; person who vows to abstain for a specific period or for life from grape and grape products, cutting his hair, and touching a corpse. Nazir Ancient Jewish leaders display strengths and weaknesses, respond swiftly, express deep emotions, and even err in judgment, yet ultimately they exemplify unswerving belief in God and humanity.
They lead their families, their towns, their tribes, and even the nation as part of their mission or destiny. Most of the early leaders were adept at multiple tasks: Abraham served as sage, performing acts of h esed kindness and converting the masses, knowing when to make treaties and when to wage war. Deborah was a judge, a prophetess, a warrior and a poet. The roles of leadership, authority, power and influence usually overlapped.
Although early Jewish leaders simultaneously performed several tasks, Moses remains the unequalled model of a supreme leader. Due to his special relationship with God, his wisdom, courage, passion, and great humility, he epitomized the qualities of leadership as did no one who preceded or succeeded him. Yet it is Moses himself at the suggestion of his father-in-law who instituted a division of labor among the elders of the tribes.
He sought to appoint men of strength, who feared God, who had integrity and abhorred profit Exodus , who were also wise, insightful, and known to the people Deut. This list of attributes became the checklist of essential qualities necessary for the appointment of judges and kings. The Talmud Sanhedrin 17a adds that stature, age, appearance, and fluency in many languages were also prerequisites to serve on the high court and Moses ben Maimon Rambam , b.
Spain, Maimonides requires that such judges should also be knowledgeable in mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and sorcery. The Divine Presence Shekhinah rests on those who are brave, wealthy, wise, and humble, and all these traits are learned from Moses Nedarim 38a. Leaders were supposed to treat fellow Jews with patience and compassion, yet be willing to rebuke them. They had especially to be on their guard against arrogance and false pride. They had to worry about their reputation and how things were perceived by the people Berakhot 43b.
Leaders were also held accountable for the sins of the people if they failed to instruct the nation properly. Above all, Maimonides ruled that even a person of great wisdom could not hold a leadership position if he did not fear Heaven. Passover : This holiday lasts seven or eight days and celebrates Jewish freedom from slavery in Egypt.
Rosh Hashanah : Jews celebrate the birth of the universe and humanity during this holiday, which is also known as the Jewish New Year. The High Holy Days are considered a time of repentance for Jewish people.
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated the Syrian-Greeks over 2, years ago. Purim : This is a joyous holiday that celebrates a time when the Jewish people in Persia were saved from extermination. Religion: Judaism. Ancient Jewish Texts. My Jewish Learning. The Jewish Denominations. What is Judaism? Jewish Sacred Texts.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jewish Population. Judaism But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Since , the word has taken on a new and horrible meaning: the ideological and systematic state-sponsored The instability created in Europe by the First World War set the stage for another international conflict—World War II—which broke out two decades later and would prove even more devastating.
Rising to power in an economically and politically unstable Germany, Adolf Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in Auschwitz, also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, opened in and was the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps.
Located in southern Poland, Auschwitz initially served as a detention center for political prisoners. However, it evolved into a network of camps where Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian religion that may have originated as early as 4, years ago. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of three Persian dynasties, until the
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