The challenge of leadership

Torah study

CANTOR JANICE L. ROGER
Pinchas/Numbers 25:10-30:1

• Pinchas is rewarded for killing the Israelite and the Midianite woman who cursed God.
  
  
• Israel fights a war against the Midianites.
  
  
• Joshua is chosen to be Moses' successor.
  

Moses spoke to God, saying, "Let God, Source of the breath of all flesh, appoint someone over the community." ... And God answered Moses, "Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man, and lay your hand upon him. ... Invest him with some of your authority so that the whole Israelite community may obey." (Numbers 27:15-16,18-20)

• We pray for all who hold positions of leadership and responsibility in our national life. Let Your blessing rest upon them, and make them responsive to Your will, so that our nation may be to the world an example of justice and compassion. (Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and Weekdays, CCAR Press, p. 186)
  
  
• No person except a natural born citizen or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of 35 years, and been 14 years a resident within the United States. (United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5)
  
  
• When Moses here addressed himself to God, he thought that perhaps his sons would succeed him. But God told him: "Joshua will be the one to come in your place, not your sons. For he served you many years, rising in the morning to prepare the house of study - arranging the benches, straightening the mats." Thus it is written (in Proverbs 27:18), "He who guards a fig tree shall eat its fruit." (Yalkut Shimoni)
  

1. God says that Joshua is "an inspired man." Are there other qualities aside from "inspired" that you would use to describe a leader of the Israelites?
   
   
2. Based on Gates of Prayer selection, how do you think faith and religion play a part in governance?
   
   
3. Since the priesthood was an inherited position, Moses had reason to believe that one of his sons would become his successor. What do you think are some justifications for choosing an individual other than Moses' son?
   

The Torah teaches, "Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses." (Deuteronomy 34:10) His hands-on approach to leading the Israelites to the Promised Land is unparalleled by later biblical figures. Moses' great leadership style included his faith, his understanding of the needs of the Israelites and his concern for their well-being. But Moses was so entrenched in who the Israelites had been that he may not have recognized the necessity for a new type of leadership. God, however, knew that new qualities in a leader were required for the people to enter the Promised Land. Thus, Joshua would not have the same tasks that Moses had been given. Nonetheless, he needed to be an inspired man.

Transition in leadership is crucial. This Torah vignette presents one model for such a transition. However, every change in leadership produces its own set of circumstances and needs. Our mission is to recognize this reality and to act accordingly. The Torah provides us with principles to guide us in that endeavor.