D’var Torah – March 14
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach – Happy Purim! I hope this finds you all well.
Good leaders…well, you know them as soon as you see them. It’s the white collar CEO or manager who goes down to the factory floor, takes off his coat and tie, rolls up his sleeves, and jumps in on the assembly line because a lot of the workforce is out with the flu. It’s the exhausted and hungry Army Officer and Senior NCO who still doesn’t eat until they are sure that all their subordinates have eaten first. And it’s the high school principal who jumps in and subs a class when one of her teachers has to leave abruptly because of a family emergency. No matter how bad or miserable things get, good leaders represent for us a glimmer of light. They inspire us to achieve what we didn’t think possible and are living signs of determination, grit, hope, and resiliency.
Both in this week’s parsha of Ki Tissa (Exodus 30:11-34:34) as well as on this joyous holiday of Purim, we see leadership at its finest.
First, Ki Tissa. While Moses is busy receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the people lose faith, and then construct and begin worshipping the golden calf. After Moses smashes the tablets and restores order, he turns to God and cries out: “Alas, this people is guilty of a great sin in making for themselves a god of gold. Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!”(Exodus 32:32)*.
Wow! It is the ultimate “the buck stops with me.” In other words, Moses takes responsibility and accountability for all those under him. He could have easily disavowed, disowned, and discarded them without a second thought, yet he consciously and loyally sticks with them and again throws his lot in with theirs.
The great Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson (z”l), the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, commented:
“The entire being of Moses was the Torah he brought to his people. The Torah was more than something he taught. It was what he was. It was his G-d within him.
Yet when it came to a choice between the Torah or his people, he chose his people. He said, ‘And if you do not forgive them, then wipe me out from Your book that You have written!’
His whole being was the Torah,
but deep into his essence, at the very core,
was his oneness with his people.”[1]
Next, there is Esther…Queen Esther. When her uncle Mordechai tells her that Haman is planning on murdering all of the Jews and that she must plead the case of their people to her husband the king, she tells him that visiting her all-powerful husband without an invitation may very likely result in her execution, and that she will go to him nonetheless.
Her words, her solemn declaration have echoed throughout the ages, from the ghettos of Poland and gas chambers of Auschwitz to the yeshivas of Jerusalem and kibbutzim of Israel, and everywhere in between: “…I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” (Esther 4:16)*
A totally selfless and heroic act.
At some point in life, either by voluntary zeal or by sheer force of fate and circumstance, we are all going to find ourselves in positions of leadership and authority. There will come a point where we will be in charge, it’s going to happen. The question remains, what sort of leader do you want to be?
Bizrat HaShem, with God’s help, may we all be leaders like Moshe Rabbeinu and we may all be leaders worthy of Esther HaMalka.
Wishing you a Good Shabbos and a very happy and joyous Happy Purim.
Bivrakha,
Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky
Beth El Congregation | 520 Fairmont Ave, Winchester, VA 22601
(540) 667-1889 (office)