VOLUME 20, ISSUE 27 FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2013 \/ 29 SIVAN 5773
\nCANDLE LIGHTING: 8:03 P.M. SHABBAT ENDS: 9:14 PM (CHICAGO)
\nTORAH PORTION: KORACH (NUMBERS 16:1 – 18:32)<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored <\/p>\n Moses is leading the Jews through the desert. And a man named Korach starts a rebellion\u00a0against him. There are two forms or dimensions of leadership. One is power, the other, influence. 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\u2019s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored anonymously, \u201cin honor of Rabbi Ezriel Munk for teaching me the Book of Samuel\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-chicago-torah-network-shabbat-fax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nanonymously, \u201cin honor of Rabbi Ezriel Munk for
\nteaching me the Book of Samuel\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n1. All the people in the community are holy, and G-d is with them. Why are you\u00a0placing yourselves above everyone else? (16:3)<\/h4>\n
\nHis argument with Moses? It sounds like a philosophical one.
\n\u201cWe are all knowledgeable. Educated. Religious. We can serve G-d without you.
\nWe don\u2019t need you as our leader.\u201d
\nBut Jewish tradition teaches that the root of Korach\u2019s rebellion was really something else.
\nJealousy.
\nHe saw Moses appoint others to positions of honor. He felt left out.
\nAnd it ate him up.
\nUntil finally, he just couldn\u2019t take it. And he starts a rebellion against Moshe.
\n… It\u2019s easy to see how running after honor isn\u2019t good.
\nHow it lowers a person. Spiritually. Morally.
\nBut the Rabbis of the Talmud tell us more.
\nIn Ethics of the Fathers, they say that \u2018… the pursuit of honor removes a person from the\u00a0world.\u2019
\nThat a person who goes through life looking for honor, will miss out on so much that life has to\u00a0offer.
\nBecause think about what can happen to such a person.
\nHow he is constantly getting offended.
\nOver nothing.
\nHow he can spend his whole life chasing after honor. And more honor.
\nAnd how he eats himself up when the honor goes to someone else.
\nBottom line: He never gets the chance to enjoy life.
\nThe nineteenth century Chassidic Rabbi, Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg once visited\u00a0a certain town. And was greeted by a huge crowd of his followers.<\/strong>
\nBefore meeting them, he asked for a few minutes of privacy. And they gave him a small room\u00a0to use.
\nThe Rabbi was known as a very spiritual man. And the people had all kinds of ideas about what he
\nwas doing in the room.
\nThis week\u2019s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored
\nanonymously, \u201cin honor of Rabbi Ezriel Munk for
\nteaching me the Book of Samuel\u201d.
\n\u201cHe must be doing something holy.
\nMaybe he\u2019s deeply involved in his prayers. Or something mystical.\u201d
\nOne of his followers was very curious. He just had to know.
\nSo he stood right outside the door. And listened.
\nAnd he heard the Rabbi\u2019s voice, saying:
\n\u201cWelcome, esteemed Rabbi.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are so honored to have such a world famous personality in our town.\u201d
\nAnd, \u201cIt is a pleasure to meet such a great scholar.\u201d And so on.
\nThe man was shocked.
\nThe Rabbi was known for his humility. What in the world was he doing?
\nHe decided to admit that he had eavesdropped. And to ask for an explanation.
\nThe Rabbi explained: \u201cI know what\u2019s going to happen.
\nHow people are going to get up and say all kinds of things about me.
\nExaggerations. And even some outright lies.
\nAnd it\u2019s so easy to let those things go to your head.
\nTo start believing them yourself.
\n… I wanted to make sure it wouldn\u2019t happen.
\nSo I said them all to myself first.
\nAnd when you do that … it sounds so absurd. It\u2019s a joke.
\nIt helped me realize how silly it is.
\nAnd now hopefully, when I hear it from others, it won\u2019t affect me.\u201d<\/p>\nA LESSON ABOUT LEADERSHIP<\/h4>\n
\nOften we confuse the two. After all, those who have power often have influence, and those who\u00a0have influence have a certain kind of power. In fact, however, the two are quite different, even\u00a0opposites.
\nWe can see this by a simple thought-experiment. Imagine you have total power, and then you\u00a0decide to share it with nine others. You now have one-tenth of the power with which you began.
\nImagine, by contrast, that you have a certain measure of influence, and now you share it with\u00a0nine others. How much do you have left? Not less. In fact, more. Initially there was only one of\u00a0you; now there are ten. Your influence has spread.
\nPower operates by division, influence by multiplication. With power, the more we share, the less
\nwe have. With influence, the more we share, the more we have.
\n(Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. See the complete Torah thought here<\/a>.)
\n?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"