In the Torah portion of Pinchas, God commands Moses to prepare for his departure from the world. The first concern of the faithful shepherd is that "the congregation of God should not be as sheep that have no shepherd." He requests of God to appoint "a man over the congregation" in his place and is commanded to ordain Joshua son of Nun. This transition of leadership from one generation to the next invites us to contemplate the meaning of Jewish leadership in general, as well as the significance of generational transition in the service of each individual:
Consensus between the Leader and the People
It seems that there is a broad consensus today that the institution of monarchy has become obsolete. We know many historic examples, in Israel and among the nations, of tyrannical kings who brought their people to the brink of disaster. As a result, we prefer democracy – considered the lesser evil – as a system of government. But as Jews, aspiring to "rectify the world under the kingdom of the Almighty," can we be satisfied with the lesser evil?
We are accustomed to thinking that a king operates mainly through coercion – and if he is a kosher king of Israel, through religious coercion… – but the holy Or HaChaim writes that the king cannot lead the people without a fundamental inner agreement between them, a kind of 'democratic motif' that integrates with a Torah-based monarchy – "that he should agree to what they say and they should agree to what he says." To lead, it is not enough for the leader to maintain principles of truth, justice, and integrity, to correctly analyze reality and know how to implement everything on the ground. First and foremost, as a leader whose role is to unite the people and lead them to success and victory, the king needs to 'broadcast on the wavelength' of the people.
The heart of the king is "the heart of all Israel." He must understand and feel the desires of his people, listen to them, identify with them, and agree with their words. When the king agrees with the people, within the limits of the Torah, the people also agree to the response given by the king. The attentive and responsive king advances the people toward new goals.
Balanced Leadership
In Kabbalistic terms, the consensus that forms the basis of leadership belongs to the sefirah of hod (acknowledgment) – agreeing with another's opinion is an acknowledgment of the truth in their words. Indeed, leadership is expressed in "hod malchut (acknowledgment and kingdom)," the charismatic leadership of the king. In the directive to ordain Joshua, Moses was told "You shall put some of your hod upon him."
When the sefirah of hod stands alone, there is a danger of "my hod has turned upon me into corruption." Of a leader who only seeks the consensus of the people, it is said "the face of the generation is like the face of a dog," like a dog that runs before its master but at every crossroads looks back to know where to turn. A people seeking a king whose words are agreed upon will find a shallow, populist leader, and the mutual agreement will converge to the lowest common denominator. Democracy may prevent negative tyranny, but it will not allow for establishing a vision, meeting challenges, and achieving absolute victory. Saul, the first king, sinned when he listened to the people and did not destroy Amalek. True leadership also requires the sefirah of netzach (eternity) – a backbone of loyalty to eternal, unchanging values, and from them, the ability to establish a far-reaching vision and overcome all obstacles along the way.
Corresponding to the body's limbs, netzach and hod are the two legs – the king leads the people forward while balancing between absolute loyalty to eternal values and a deep understanding of the people's heart. At a deeper level, the balance between netzach and hod, right leg and left leg, is expressed in the leader's ability to articulate the eternal Torah in a new language, adapted to the generation. This quality belongs to the middle and balanced line of the sefirot, where the "tzaddik is the yesod (foundation) of the world" teaches Torah and leads in "the straight path."
In inner terms: A true leader is a general soul, identifying with all of Israel, agreeing with them and earning their agreement. Alongside this, the leader must also be a soul of atzilut (emanation), one of the "nobles of the children of Israel" who maintain a pure mind, in complete connection to God and His Torah. For the leader to be able to cope with current challenges and lead the people on a new path, he must be a new soul – one who learns and teaches the Torah in a renewed way, and through this, provides a new perspective on reality and new solutions to its problems.
From Intellect to Emotion
"A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." The earth represents the people, whose existence is constant ("the public never dies"), but leadership changes from generation to generation. Moses, the giver of the Torah and leader of the "generation of knowledge," is a general soul – he belongs to the realm of intellect. His disciple, Joshua son of Nun, is "a man in whom there is spirit," "who can walk with the spirit of each and every one," through emotional and heartfelt identification. To fight, conquer, and settle the Land of Israel requires primarily a strong and courageous heart (whose seven rectified attributes, from chesed to malchut, stand against the seven Canaanite nations).
The fact that the first generational transition in the leadership of the Jewish people is from intellect to emotion is not coincidental. At a deeper level, this is always the essence of the transition from generation to generation. The truth of the Torah is eternal and fixed, and practical conduct in reality is always obligated to fulfill the commandments in action, both generally and in detail. The profound differences between generations are differences of character, of emotion, of intention of the heart, and of inner identification.
Therefore, the truths that the previous generation passes down to us as an inheritance are perceived by us as intellectual. Even what touched the hearts of previous generations, according to their character, is for us a binding "Torah of truth" that is not always easy to 'connect' with. Our special place, which requires connection and identification, is the emotional place – we seek a leader who knows how to speak to this place within us, who understands us completely and is also enthusiastic about the Torah he learns from the previous generation. This is how he succeeds in creating a connection and leading us to follow the truth.
When God prophesies through Hosea about the new connection that will form in the future between Him and His people, He uses many righteous, firm, and intellectual arguments, but in summarizing the matter, the only thing that succeeds is "Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart." The leader we yearn for, the ideal king, is faithful to the Torah, continues from previous generations, but understands the heart of our generation and creates a new language of Torah that will speak to this heart.
Of course, on a smaller scale, this work is the task of each and every one of us in the generational transition: True Torah study, innovative and deep, combines the ability to learn the words of all previous generations with good and faithful intellect and with sincere listening to the learner's heart and world. When we persist in bringing the words of Torah closer to our understanding and feeling, we will discover new experiences in them, experiences of a Torah of life and redemption – "A new Torah will come forth from Me."
