Leaders aNd “Leaders”

What is the nature of a leader? The prophet Daniel, near the end of his book, foretells about a king who places himself above everyone else. He would go on to conquer many lands, but ended up utterly alone. He would end up selling conquered land for a pittance, and would precipitate tremendous sorrow for the Jewish people.

It is possible Daniel was prophesying about the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was an egoist who cared only about himself. He conquered much of Europe, but eventually was defeated and exiled to a distant island. He sold one third of what would become the United States for just fifteen million dollars. And his ideology of "enlightenment" led to the assimilation of vast numbers of Jews. Napoleon, by all objective standards, was full of himself.

Moses, on the other hand, was an entirely different kind of leader. He was filled with the Divine, entirely humble – "the humblest person on earth," as the Torah attests. How could one of the greatest men to ever live be the most humble? The Rebbe explains that Moses lived with the belief and awareness that everything emanates from the Divine – including all of one’s talents and life circumstances. Moses was keenly aware of his own greatness, but he knew they were all G‑d given. As such, any person who was born with the same gifts and privileges as he would be equally great, if not better. And as a result of this worldview, he was able to appreciate and love every individual, without judgment. He constantly stood up to defend them, patiently guided them, faithfully led his people out of slavery, brought them close to G‑d at Mount Sinai, taught them G‑d's Torah, led them to the border of the promised land. In a sense, we owe all of Jewish history and where we are today to the unprecedented level of humility embodied by Moses.

This quality is found in true Jewish leaders throughout the centuries, the “Moses” of each generation. The spirit of Moses rests with every Jewish leader throughout the generations – up to and including Moshiach.

The spark of Moses, and the spark of Moshiach, is also found within each individual.

Leaders like Napoleon and others like him are in it for themselves, for their own needs, their own glory, their legacy. They want to lead as a way of overcoming their own sense of inadequacy, and seek to remake the world in their image by imposing their ideology or will on the populace. True leaders, on the other hand, are reluctant to lead, because they are more interested in serving than leading. Moses was subservient to the Divine will, and sees his life as a vehicle to manifest the Divine will on earth. Any existence of his own, if there even is one, is secondary to that mandate. If he is thrust into leadership in order to accomplish it, then so be it. But he is not looking to lead.

It is precisely that transcendent sense of self, or of non self, that makes great leaders great. It’s what propels them to take risks and to rewrite rules, and thereby rewrite history, in pursuit of a higher calling. Moses risked his life by standing up to Pharaoh, the injustice of ancient Egypt, defending a fellow Israelite with his own body, and, in the ultimate test, standing “against” G‑d Himself when the Divine wrath threatened to annihilate the Israelites after the Sin of the Golden Calf. He chose to smash the holy tablets containing the Ten Commandments when their presence threatened the existence of the Israelites –because he saw them as even more precious, the children of G‑d. Because that’s how G‑d sees it. His extreme humility allowed him to see everything through the prism of the Divine, and to think, feel and act accordingly.

It is interesting that all of this greatness and extreme form of humility, was literally born in Egypt, in slavery. The greatest light emanates from the darkness, and so the darkest circumstances can serve as a catalyst for tremendous light.

This is what the Rebbe, another great leader and the Moses of our time, told Benjamin Netanyahu when he was preparing to commence his role as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in 1984. Specifically, the Rebbe told him that he should be aware of the fact that he is entering a house of darkness. But, at the same time, he should know that when one holds up a candle in a dark place, the light can be seen from very far away. Thus the darkness becomes an advantage, enabling the illumination of the entire world.

Just as we witnessed G d's tremendous kindness and miracles throughout our nation's history, up to and including the present day, we trust that we will continue to see wonders and miracles. And we will soon reach that time when “G d will illuminate for us,” and we and our children will live in a world of light and goodness. EM