At
the beginning of this week's portion, Parshat Va'ethanan, Moses relates to the
Israelites how he begged God to be allowed to enter the Land of Israel and how
God refused his request. But then Moses does something that seems both
uncharacteristic and "unleaderly": He blames the people for his
predicament (Deuteronomy 3:26):
וַיִּתְעַבֵּר
יְהוָה בִּי לְמַעַנְכֶם, וְלֹא שָׁמַע אֵלָי
But
the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me
I
shared my puzzlement with a participant in one of our programs, who suggested
to me the following interpretation.
Moses's rebuke of the people at this point in their history, and in this
way, was actually a very brave act, and a true moment of leadership.
Moses had proven throughout his tenure as the Israelites' leader his readiness
to put his own life on the line to protect them. Indeed, at the Israelites'
lowest ebb, after the Golden Calf episode, Moses dissuaded God from destroying
the entire nation by offering to be blotted out in their place (see Exodus
32:32). It is implausible, therefore, to suspect Moses of being
self-centered or callously blaming the people for his own failings. And it is
not just we readers who know this. Moses knows it too. That is what enables him
to hold up a mirror to the people and to tell them the truth as he sees it,
even when it would be easier to let sleeping dogs lie.
According
to this interpretation, Moses's rebuke of the people is actually a remarkable
act of leadership. Moses led the people on an amazing journey and transformed
them from a band of slaves into a powerful nation. What could be more tempting,
as life is about to end, than to ensure his legacy by speaking comfortingly and
flatteringly to the people, and leaving their feathers unruffled? But no,
Moses, chooses instead to tell them some painful truths, even at the risk of
their anger and his future reputation.
I
was reminded of this interpretation later in the week, when we concluded
another cohort of one of our leadership programs. It was clear to all involved
in the program that this had been a remarkable year, full of transformative
learning and the cultivation of meaningful relationships among the participants
and between the participants and our faculty. In the summary session, the
appreciation in the room for the program's director was palpable.
In
my head, I connected the feelings in that room with the above thoughts about Moses's
rebuke. As occasionally happens, the still-forming thoughts in my head didn't exit
my mouth in quite the way I intended. So, in the spirit of that wonderful
French phrase - l'esprit de l'escalier - here's what I wish I'd
said:
You might think that your
program director thinks that you are special, and that that's why she worked so
hard to create profound learning experiences for you. Let me let you into a secret. She doesn't. She
will always be happy to hear from you and of your progress. But she's not
waiting for your emails or calls. All
the passion, creativity, deep thinking, and hard work that she poured into her
time with you this year comes from another, much purer place. She is an
educator, an educational leader, whose passion is to help other educators to do
better, more thoughtful, work and to live more creative professional lives. What
matters to her is not how you feel personally about her or the program. The
only thing that really matters to her is the way you think and act as educators
after it.
Yes, as the Mandel
Foundation's founder and chairman, Mort Mandel, reminds us, it's all about who.
But it's not all about you! Being a leader means leading wherever and
whenever you find yourself faced with opportunities to do good and to make the
world a better place.
When I asked your director to
lead this program, she said yes. But she also made clear to me that she thought
there might be better ways for her to use her talents, and she wanted to know
my rationale. Like Moses, she wasn't afraid to argue with her boss or to tell
the truth as she sees it. And that's one of the main reasons you appreciate her
so much. She is always ready, mirror in hand, to point out where you've got
more work to do. And she will not rest until she's helped you to build up the
courage to look into that mirror and to do something about what you see.
That passion, commitment and strength
of character are what we mean by educational leadership. It's education of the
kind that Abraham Joshua Heschel had in mind when he wrote (in “The Spirit of
Jewish Education.” Jewish Education, Fall 1953, pp. 9-20): "What we need
more than anything else is not textbooks but text people."