Embedded in this week’s parsha is one of the great principles of leadership. The context is this: Moses, knowing that he was not destined to lead the next generation across the Jordan into the promised land, asked God to appoint a successor. He remembered what happened when he was away from the Israelites for a mere 40 days. They panicked…
A true story that took place in 1995: It concerns the legacy of an unusual man with an unusual name: Mr Ernest Onians, a farmer in East Anglia whose main business was as a supplier of pigswill. Known as an eccentric, his hobby was collecting paintings. He used to go around local auctions and whenever a painting came on sale,…
Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Num. 27:15–17 Moses was in sight of the Angel…
The passage in which God tells Moses to prepare for death, and Moses, in response, asks God to appoint a successor (see Num 27:12-23), is full of interest for what it tells us about leadership. Indeed when Moses is confronted with his own mortality, his first response is not to think about himself at all but about the succession. That…
…in accordance with Rabbi Joshua son of Levi. It has been taught in accordance with Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Hanina: Abraham instituted the morning prayer, as its says And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood, and ‘standing’ means prayer, as it says then Pinchas stood up and prayed. Isaac instituted the…
…over you. The Lord will rule over you” (Judges 8:23)? Why then should there be a single, life-appointed Moses-type leader rather than what happened in the days of the Judges, namely charismatic figures who led the people through a particular crisis and then went back to their previous anonymity, as Caleb and Pinchas did during the lifetime of Moses? Surely…
Just beneath the surface of today’s this week’s parsha is an exceptionally poignant story. It occurs in the context of Moses’ prayer that God appoint a successor as leader of the Jewish people. One hint is given in the words of God to Moses: “After you have seen you also will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron…
It is a farsighted, selfless gesture. As Rashi comments: “This is to tell the praise of the righteous – that when they are about to leave this world, they put aside their personal needs and become preoccupied with the needs of the community.” Great leaders think about the long-term future. They are concerned with succession and continuity. So it was…
…being what only we are, we contribute to humanity what only we can give. PINCHAS: If we truly wish to hand on our legacy to our children, we must teach them to love it. MATOT-MASEI: Life is a journey, not a destination. We should constantly set ourselves new challenges that take us out of our comfort zone. Life is growth….
…it literally we would have to say, “And I, I knew it not.” Why the double “I”? To this, Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (Panim Yafot) gave a magnificent answer. How, he asks, do we come to know that “God is in this place”? “By ve’anochi lo yadati – not knowing the I.” We know God when we forget the self. We…