A
second instance of silence and leadership In Numbers 31 occurs when the army
returns from its battle with the Midianites. Moses sees that, although they
have killed all the Midianite males, they have taken captive the women and
children. Moses's reaction (Numbers 31:14) is to become enraged at the
officers:
וַיִּקְצֹף
מֹשֶׁה עַל פְּקוּדֵי הֶחָיִל שָׂרֵי הָאֲלָפִים וְשָׂרֵי הַמֵּאוֹת הַבָּאִים
מִצְּבָא הַמִּלְחָמָה.
And
Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over
thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
Rashi
interpreted Moses's anger as follows:
ויקצף
משה על פקודי החיל. ממנים על החיל, ללמדך שכל סרחון הדור תלוי בגדולים שיש כח בידם
למחות:
"And
Moses was wroth with the officers of the host" - Those appointed over the
army; to teach you that the transgression of an entire generation hangs on the
great among them, who have the power to protest.
In
other words, according to Rashi, Moses's anger is directed at the officers
in particular because they remained silent when they should have spoken
out. This reminds me of John Stewart Mill's (1867) statement that:
"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should
look on and do nothing."
Leaders
spend much of their time leading through words and actions. But some of the
most crucial moments of leadership are - for better or worse - moments of
silence or inaction. Indeed it is on such moments that one's entire mission as
a leader sometimes hangs.