VOLUME 20, ISSUE 27 FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2013 / 29 SIVAN 5773
CANDLE LIGHTING: 8:03 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS: 9:14 PM (CHICAGO)
TORAH PORTION: KORACH (NUMBERS 16:1 – 18:32)
This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored
anonymously, “in honor of Rabbi Ezriel Munk for
teaching me the Book of Samuel”.
1. All the people in the community are holy, and G-d is with them. Why are you placing yourselves above everyone else? (16:3)
Moses is leading the Jews through the desert. And a man named Korach starts a rebellion against him.
His argument with Moses? It sounds like a philosophical one.
“We are all knowledgeable. Educated. Religious. We can serve G-d without you.
We don’t need you as our leader.”
But Jewish tradition teaches that the root of Korach’s rebellion was really something else.
Jealousy.
He saw Moses appoint others to positions of honor. He felt left out.
And it ate him up.
Until finally, he just couldn’t take it. And he starts a rebellion against Moshe.
… It’s easy to see how running after honor isn’t good.
How it lowers a person. Spiritually. Morally.
But the Rabbis of the Talmud tell us more.
In Ethics of the Fathers, they say that ‘… the pursuit of honor removes a person from the world.’
That a person who goes through life looking for honor, will miss out on so much that life has to offer.
Because think about what can happen to such a person.
How he is constantly getting offended.
Over nothing.
How he can spend his whole life chasing after honor. And more honor.
And how he eats himself up when the honor goes to someone else.
Bottom line: He never gets the chance to enjoy life.
The nineteenth century Chassidic Rabbi, Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg once visited a certain town. And was greeted by a huge crowd of his followers.
Before meeting them, he asked for a few minutes of privacy. And they gave him a small room to use.
The Rabbi was known as a very spiritual man. And the people had all kinds of ideas about what he
was doing in the room.
This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored
anonymously, “in honor of Rabbi Ezriel Munk for
teaching me the Book of Samuel”.
“He must be doing something holy.
Maybe he’s deeply involved in his prayers. Or something mystical.”
One of his followers was very curious. He just had to know.
So he stood right outside the door. And listened.
And he heard the Rabbi’s voice, saying:
“Welcome, esteemed Rabbi.”
“We are so honored to have such a world famous personality in our town.”
And, “It is a pleasure to meet such a great scholar.” And so on.
The man was shocked.
The Rabbi was known for his humility. What in the world was he doing?
He decided to admit that he had eavesdropped. And to ask for an explanation.
The Rabbi explained: “I know what’s going to happen.
How people are going to get up and say all kinds of things about me.
Exaggerations. And even some outright lies.
And it’s so easy to let those things go to your head.
To start believing them yourself.
… I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t happen.
So I said them all to myself first.
And when you do that … it sounds so absurd. It’s a joke.
It helped me realize how silly it is.
And now hopefully, when I hear it from others, it won’t affect me.”
A LESSON ABOUT LEADERSHIP
There are two forms or dimensions of leadership. One is power, the other, influence.
Often we confuse the two. After all, those who have power often have influence, and those who have influence have a certain kind of power. In fact, however, the two are quite different, even opposites.
We can see this by a simple thought-experiment. Imagine you have total power, and then you decide to share it with nine others. You now have one-tenth of the power with which you began.
Imagine, by contrast, that you have a certain measure of influence, and now you share it with nine others. How much do you have left? Not less. In fact, more. Initially there was only one of you; now there are ten. Your influence has spread.
Power operates by division, influence by multiplication. With power, the more we share, the less
we have. With influence, the more we share, the more we have.
(Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. See the complete Torah thought here.)
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