FOLLOWING THE LEADER
“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?”
So said Benjamin Disraeli, the great 19th century British Prime Minister. Disraeli was the only Prime Minister in British history to be born Jewish. His view seems to be that a leader must look to his followers to establish his way of thinking and the direction of his leadership. However, this view is quite disturbing. If a leader is following the people, and the people are following the leader, then who is really making the decisions? Who will be the one to stand up for something which is truly worth standing up for? What is the function of a leader?
In modern day politics, a leader is clearly someone who follows his followers. Politicians jostle with each other to amass votes, so busy trying not to fall out with anyone that they seldom take a definite side on any matter. As soon as a politician finds himself in office, he is already working out a strategy to stay in power at the next election. The leader is led by the people; or to put it bluntly, the man is walked by the dog; where the dog runs, the man follows, dragged by the leash.
A prime example of leadership gone wrong is found in this week’s parshah. Korach launches a rebellion against Moshe and puts himself forward as the leader of the Jewish people. In pirkei avos, this rebellion is referred to as the argument between Korach and his followers (Korach vechol adoso). Surely the argument was between Moshe and Korach, not Korach and his followers? The commentator Malbim explains that the argument was actually not just between Korach and Moshe. Within Korach’s camp there were divisions, with each member of the rebellion wanting to assume the leadership – they were only united in their opposition of Moshe. How familiar this seems; internal divisions generally prove that far from wanting the best for the people, each candidate simply wants the honor and power of being the leader.
When the Torah gives the command to appoint a leader over the Jewish nation, it says, “You shall appoint a king over you”. A Jewish king is not subservient to the people. He is subservient to G-d. The purpose of a leader is to follow his convictions, to make courageous and sometimes unpopular decisions, and most of all, to lead and not to follow.
Shabbat Shalom
Dovi