Years ago, ‘in
a previous life,’ I had a wonderful job as training officer of my naval unit. After a year in that position, I had pretty
much set up my systems exactly as I wanted, and my day-to-day work was really a
piece of cake. But I lacked leadership
experience, in the purest sense of leadership:
regularly directing the actions of a group of subordinates. So I asked for a change of position to that
of section supervisor, where I was in charge of about a dozen signals warfare
specialists.
As supervisor, I found that my new
position involved more teaching than anything else. My subordinates were all less experienced
than me – both in the military service and on the job. What they needed most from me was constant
teaching, constant explanation of unfamiliar concepts, constant mentoring
regarding setting priorities and organizing their own work. I found that leading, is really all
about teaching. Leading isn’t simply
about telling people what to do, and expecting them to do it.
This Shabbat, we start reading the fifth and final book of the
Torah: Devarim, or as it’s called in the
larger world, Deuteronomy. The name
comes from the Greek deutero (pronounced ‘deftero’), meaning
the ordinal number ‘second.’ When we reach Parashat Devarim, the rabbi’s stress
level usually starts going through the roof, because it means that the High Holy
Days are only two months in the distance.
But I can tell you with great certainty, that it isn’t the High Holy Days
that are elevating my stress level this year…
If you follow my writing on the weekly
parashah, or perhaps the parashah itself, then you know that the
book of Numbers which we finished last week, is all about leadership. Moses and Aaron find their leadership
constantly tested. The way they respond
to those challenges, teaches us important lessons about leadership, teamwork,
and responsibility.
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses
takes on an entirely different role:
that of teacher. The entire book
consists of a series of sermons, or as we call them here in the Land of Oz, ‘drashes.’ The book seems repetitive, because it is; Moses
is repeating to the people the lessons of what they’ve experienced to this
point. Hence the name Deuteronomy,
meaning ‘the second recitation.’ It is a
prelude to Moses’ death, the passing of the mantle of leadership to Joshua, and
the start of the conquest of the Holy Land.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks points out
in his drash this week, that with the arrival of the start of the book of
Deuteronomy Moses has apparently switched roles. He has gone from leader, to teacher. But the truth is that there’s no switching inherent.
A leader, is a teacher…and ideally,
vice versa.
In our generation, respect for
teachers comes with difficulty. We’ve
been conditioned to think: He who can, does;
he who cannot, teaches. The
teaching profession is no longer held in high esteem. I remember how I briefly considered, when I
was in high school, a future as a teacher. And I remember how nobody particularly
encouraged that choice. It didn’t pay
well. So why wouldn’t I want to do
something else? Unfortunately, many
teachers as a result of this lack of regard for what they do, experience ‘burn
out’ and lose their sense of calling.
Funny how things work out: I ultimately did become a teacher,
since that is definitely what a rabbi is. And recently, I had to read where someone wrote
of my calling: Who needs
rabbis??! They’ve just read a few more
books than the rest of us!!! So it apparently
isn’t just classroom teachers who carry the stigma of he who can, does; he
who cannot, teaches. At least in
some people’s minds, it extends to those whose calling is to teach in whatever
setting.
But those of us who have been in
supervisory positions, especially when the job description made it clear that
we were responsible for the development of our subordinates, know the truth. That leading is teaching. It’s easy enough, at least in a military
setting, to simply order a subordinate to do something. It’s more challenging to mentor that
subordinate, to pull them along, to teach them what needs to be done, and when,
and how. That’s the kind of leading-is-teaching
that we see Moses doing in the fifth book of the Torah. The narrative seems to have ‘changed gears.’ But truly, it has not. It’s still all about leadership, period.
Leadership opportunities are all
around us. We see a lot of leadership. And a lot of it is poor leadership. Good leadership is precious, because it is
relatively rare. This past Sunday, some
of you in this room attended a certain congregational AGM and witnessed just
about the worst possible leadership. And
that is a tragedy. Especially in the
Jewish world, where our holiest book, the Torah, gives us so many examples of outstanding
leadership. But unfortunately, this
is one of the results when Jews don’t read, and heed, their own Torah. We call Moses, Mosheh Rabbeinu – Moses,
our teacher. From his life we learn
so much. Lessons that we can, and
should, apply to our own lives. Shabbat
shalom.
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