Torah portion

SPIRIT TORAH PORTION

Of Influence and Power

Our portion opens ety that honors the human as with the first words the image and likeness of God. of God to Abraham: It is about a vision, which has “Leave your land, your birth- yet to fully be realized but has place and your father’s house, never been abandoned, of a and go to the land world based on justice that I will show you.” and compassion. These words are the Abraham is the most foundation upon which influential person Abraham was to build who ever lived. Yet, he our nation. ruled no empire and

Generally, people Rabbi commanded no great conform to their surroundings. They adopt Bentzion Geisinsky army. He is the supreme example of influence the standards and Parshat without power. absorb the culture of Lech Lecha: Why? Because he was the time and place in which they live. I want you, says Genesis 12:117:27; Isaiah 40:27-41:16. prepared to be different. Leadership, as every leader knows, can be God to Abraham, to lonely. Yet you continue be different. Not for the sake to do what you have to do of being different, but for the because you know that the sake of starting something majority is not always right, new: a nation that will not and conventional wisdom is worship power and the sym- not always wise. The children bols of power — for that is of Abraham are prepared to what idols really were and are. challenge the idols of the age. I want you, said God, to “teach One reason why Jews have your children and your house- become, out of all proportion hold afterward to follow the to their numbers, leaders in way of the Lord by doing what almost every sphere of human is right and just.” endeavor is precisely this will-

To be a Jew is to be willing ingness to be different, refusing to challenge the prevailing to assimilate to the dominant consensus of worshiping the culture or convert to the domold gods. Statues, figurines, inant faith. That is why, howicons, idols represented ever small their numbers, Jews power. That is what Baal for created communities. It is hard the Canaanites, Zeus for the to lead alone, far less hard to Greeks, and missiles and lead in the company of others, bombs for terrorists and rogue even if you are a minority. states are today. As Jews, we do not follow

Power allows us to rule the majority merely because over others without their con- it is the majority. It is what sent. Judaism is a sustained makes a nation of leaders. critique of power. It is about how a nation can be formed Rabbi Bentzion Geisinsky lives in on shared commitment and Bloomfield Hills, where he co-directs collective responsibility. It is Chabad of Bingham Farms with his about how to construct a soci- wife, Moussia.