A Different Kind of Leadership
This week’s portion, Korach, completes a series of three from the Book of Numbers that form a picture of counterintuitive Jewish leadership. While leaders of the past and present often base their authority on fear, power, charisma and wealth, Jewish leadership—embodied here by Moses—offers something distinct.
Two weeks ago, Parashat B’haalot’cha taught that humility is the qualitative mark of a true Jewish leader. Last week, Parashat Sh’lach L’cha elevated courageous vision as a virtue in assessing those who guide us. And finally in Korach, we find that equality of opportunity, democratic representativeness, and will to power are insufficient to rise to the ranks of tribal head.
Though Korach rebels against Moses with a challenge that sounds reasonable in its assertion of equity, not all are equipped with the skills, experience, temperament or insight to lead. And while this may chaff against the contemporary sensibility that we are all endowed with the ability to take the reins of our community, this portion reminds us that we aspire for our leaders to be better than we are: more compassionate, more imaginative, more thoughtful, more patient, and more capable. Sometimes an embrace of a more elitist stance is less about superiority than it is suitability.