Leadership issues at critical and routine times

Parshah and its implementation - Parshat Matot - and the war of the 'Iron Swords' 5784

Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

Dedicated to the IDF soldiers' success, to safeguard them lest any harm come to them, to the healing of all the wounded and the return of the abducted.

We live in turbulent and complex times. The security issues are among the most complicated that the Israeli people have known since ancient times. They present us with dilemmas in which there is no easy choice – it is not between the worst and the ideal, but between bad and worse.

This does not prevent various parties from trying to present superficial and simplistic solutions that ignore the complexity and consider only the parts that suit their agenda, especially when they have no responsibility for the results.

During these crucial days, complex security issues and complex leadership issues are being discussed at the same time.

National leadership carries on its shoulders the public responsibility to formulate a policy, outline the path, and lead to its realization. This responsibility has increased in such a challenging and complex security period, creating dilemmas that require difficult decisions. It needs to have the ability to analyze all the complex sides of the situation, consider all the consequences arising from it in the present and the future, and make a decision. The leadership is exposed to confidential information that is essential to the analysis of the complex situation, as opposed to the general public. Therefore, it should also have the tools to give the right weight to each of the elements of the situation. The public has no choice but to trust its decisions. It is not right to leave to each person to decide for himself.

Naturally, every leader has a worldview and an agenda of his own. These may also cause him to examine the complexity of the security situation from a 'position', in a simplistic way, in a way that suits his agenda, and to ignore facts that may not suit him. Misunderstanding the security situation can lead to wrong conclusions and a policy that will endanger the fate of the public. Even if the danger does not materialize such a leader may lose public trust.

Precisely on days like these, the regular reading of the weekly Torah portion, Parashat Matot, brings us back to the role of leadership during a routine. Days when the situation is stable and everything goes smoothly. There, too, leadership plays an important role in leading the public, physical and spiritual routine.

Parashat Matot opens with the commandment to the heads of the tribes about the vows:

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה'. אִישׁ כִּי יִדֹּר נֶדֶר לַה' אוֹ הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה לֶאְסֹר אִסָּר עַל נַפְשׁוֹ לֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ כְּכׇל הַיֹּצֵא מִפִּיו יַעֲשֶׂה.

"Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which Hashem has commanded. When a man vows a vow to Hashem or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth". (Bamidbar 30:2-3).

The heads of the tribes are the leaders of the people:

וראשי המטות לבני ישראל – הם נשיאי הדגלים שהעמידו אותן המטות על דגליהם אחר שמתו נחשון בן עמינדב וחביריו.

"Now the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel -are the princes of the standards, whom the tribes had appointed over their standards after Nachshon the son of Amminadab (prince of the children of Judah) and his colleagues had died". (Ramban ibid)

The vow and the oath are special laws in the Torah. They empower the 'words' of a vow and an oath to be halachically binding, similar to the level of obligation of one of the Torah's commandments, and those who do not live up to their vow or oath are treated with severity. The heads of the tribes have the halachic authority and discretion to annul the vow and the oath, and similarly to them a court of law. According to the Ramban, the commandment in the Torah was said specifically to the heads of the tribes and not to the rest of the people, so that the possibility of annulment would not lead the people to take their vows and oaths lightly (ibid. as opposed to Rashi).

There is a connection between the role of leadership and the deep essence of the vows:

שכן התורה מייפה את כוחנו להטיל מצוות על עצמנו, כדי שנקיים כראוי את מצוות התורה. התורה מאפשרת ליחידים, לקהילות ולכלל האומה לקבוע לעצמם הנהגות קבועות להבטחת השמירה הנאמנה של המצוות.

"The Torah beautifies our power to take Mitzvot upon ourselves (voluntarily, by vows and oaths), so that we fulfill the Mitzvot correctly. It allows the individual, the public and the nation as a whole to establish sustainable rules to faithfully perform the Mitzvot" (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Bamidbar 30:2). This law has implications on the validity of public customs and regulations: "They are also the basis for the regulations and customs of the communities, and these come to regulate and ensure the fulfillment of G-d's commandments according to the special circumstances of every place" (ibid. verse 1).

For this reason, this role was specifically assigned to the heads, the "tribal leaders":

״מטה״ תופס את השבט כ״ענף״ של הכלל הגדול יותר, כאשר כל ענף עמל, באמצעות תכונותיו הייחודיות, להוציא לפועל את הייעוד המשותף לכל האומה כולה. היה זה תפקידם של ראשי המטות לדאוג למנהגים הנובעים מייחודיותו של כל ״ענף״, ולדאוג גם לפעילויות, לשאיפות ולמטרות המשותפות. על ראשי המטות הוטלה האחריות לכוון את כל אלה למסלול הראוי כדי לקדם את מילוי התפקיד הלאומי בהתאם לתכונותיו הייחודיות של כל ״ענף״. האמצעי לפעילות כזו, התנאי המוקדם להתפתחות האומה ככלל ולחיים קהילתיים, הוא כוחם המחייב של נדרים ושל תקנות שנתקנו על ידי אדם – ״לא יחל דברו״ (פסוק ג) – ובזה עוסקים ההלכות הבאות עתה.

"Tribal head" perceives the tribe as a "branch" of the greater whole, where each branch labors, through its unique characteristics, to carry out the common destiny of the entire nation. It was the duty of the heads of the tribes to take care of the customs arising from the uniqueness of each "branch", and also take care of the common activities, aspirations, and goals. The tribal leaders were assigned the responsibility of promoting the fulfillment of the national role according to the unique characteristics of each "branch". The means for such activity, the precondition for the development of the nation as a whole and community life, is the binding force of vows and regulations made by each person - לֹא יַחֵל דְּבָרוֹ "he shall not break his word" (verse 3) - and this is what the following laws deal with". (ibid. v. 2).

Therefore, they are also the ones who are in charge of 'annulling' the vows when necessary.

This is an important challenge for any leadership because even the routine institutionalization of customs and regulations may have fateful consequences for the public for generations.