For most of the Torah, the Israelites have one leader - Moshe. All of that changes this week when Joshua is charged with taking over once Moshe dies, and the Israelites prepare to enter the Holy Land. Once Joshua assumes the position, leadership isn’t centralized in the same way it was when Moshe was leading. The Israelites enter Israel, and leadership is diffused among the tribes in their different territories and the entire concept of leadership shifts. It meant, in some ways, that everyone was a leader now.
Parker Palmer wrote, “When we live in the close-knit ecosystem called community, everyone follows and everyone leads. Leadership, I now understand, simply comes with the territory called being human… And people can lead from the margins as well as from the center, which is the beauty of any ecosystem…So, what does it take to qualify as a leader? Being human and being here. As long as I am here, doing whatever I am doing, I am leading, for better or for worse. And, if I may say so, so are you.”
Palmer’s words feel so relevant to what it means to operate in a community, an ecosystem, particularly as we join together for the holidays. I am leading and Abe is leading but you are leading, too. You are affecting me and you are impacting the person sitting next to you and across the room. And each of us has a choice of how we lead in that moment. How do we influence those around us? Do we consciously try to lift them up? Perhaps we don’t even realize the role that we play as a part of the ecosystem.
You will show up on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning and you will be a leader. And so today, I’ll ask what kind of leader you want to be. The advice that Joshua is given as a leader of the Israelites is “hazak v’amatz” - be strong and courageous. I hope you will choose to be strong - even if it is a quiet strength. And I hope you will choose to be courageous - even if it is just trying one small thing that you haven’t done before.
As we make our way towards The Gates, I look forward to leading you. And I look forward to you being my leader, from wherever you are.
Shabbat Shalom and G’mar Chatimah Tovah, Rabbi Sarit
