Parshat Pinchas: Modelling Leadership

It was a violation of the trust that the people had placed into him. He was after all a respected leader, someone whose face was known to many. He had numerous responsibilities, not least to those he was answerable to. That he could have acted in such a disgraceful manner is deeply disturbing and disappointing. He has let us all down.

On the face of it, you would expect that these words might very well apply to the recent news that jolted the Nation regarding the behaviour of the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The honest and open face that reassured us when we struggled to make sense of the pandemic that overtook our lives one-and-a-half-years ago.

The man whom we thought we could trust has revealed himself to be anything but trustworthy, as per his statement of resignation:

"...I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this....we owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance."

There is no mention of the infidelity he has perpetrated in destroying the sacred union he had established with his wife through marriage or the devastating consequences of such actions on his young family.

I am however, not referring to this gentleman but to another leader, one who lived many years ago. Rashi explaining the verse: 'A Prince of a father's house of the Simeonites' (Bemidbar 25.14) describes him as being:

 

 ‘of one of the five 'father’s houses' which were of the tribe of Simeon.’

 

To recap the end of last week's Parsha:

Bilaam sent Midinianite prostitutes into the Israelite camp and they seduced the Israelites, causing them to engage in idol worship and immoral acts. One of the women, Cozbi, the daughter of Tzur, who was a princess herself was caught with Zimri, the son of Salu, a Prince of Shimon by Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron. Pinchas, seeing this, took a spear and killed them both, which immediately brought an end to the plague that had been cast upon the Israelites.

The Torah makes a point of naming Zimri in this week's Parsha to emphasise the severity of what had happened. Despite his position as one of the most respected members of his tribe, Zimri's behaviour could not be condoned or tolerated in any way whatsoever. Whether or not he was married, his actions led to his being 'named and shamed' in perpetuity because Princes of tribes should not behave in such a degrading manner.

When considering the behaviour of both men, in terms of their respective immorality, there seems to be a consistent and sadly unbreakable thread which connects their actions through the mists of time. This link underscores the combustible relationship between responsibility, power and human weakness.

The Prince of the Tribe of Simeon and the former Health Secretary were both entrusted with the ability to make decisions that would affect the people who had elevated them to their respective positions. Furthermore, those outside their inner circle looked up to them on account of their status and roles.

"With great power there must also come great responsibility" is a quote that I have employed before. No-one quite knows its origins and it is attributed to numerous people ranging from Voltaire to Peter Parker's (aka Spider-Man) Uncle Ben. In truth, it is probably much older, dating back to the New Testament. Nevertheless, its exactitude cannot be underestimated. For, as they say "never a truer word" has been spoken (Prince Tcherkasky 18th Century).

Were this Biblical episode to be left standing without rectification, the Torah would be remiss in its mission to provide us with a moral code to help us identify the characteristics that are intrinsic to being a good leader. Someone whose actions are the polar opposites of those of the shamed Zimri, son of Salu. For, as I will discuss, the way a leader conducts him/herself in private can often impact on how they are perceived in public.

Later in the Parsha, we read the following verse:

 

And the Lord answered Moses (saying), “Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man, and lay your hand upon him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission him in their sight. Invest him with some of your authority, so that the whole Israelite community may obey. (27:18-20)

Rashi notes that when the Torah uses the phrase, "commission him in their sight":

“Know that they are troublesome, that they are rebellious — accept your office having in mind that you will have to take upon yourself all this (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 92 on 11:16).

What Rashi is telling us concerns Moshe's responsibility to make sure Joshua, his successor knows what he must do to lead the people properly. How he must comport himself, so as to gain the respect he must have in order to discharge his duties effectively. He is telling him that whatever he does as a leader must reflect the behaviour that he expects from the people he is leading. You can't ask your followers to behave in a certain manner if you don't lead by example. 

Zimri, as Nasi, Prince of the Tribe of Shimon was no less responsible to his tribesmen and women than the Health Secretary was to the nation who were following his directives. How would we have behaved had we known of the Politician’s secret dalliance, in conjunction with wilfully ignoring his own advice?

This brings us to the topic of how the way we present ourselves publicly is predicated on the way we behave in our private lives.

It is a striking anomaly. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Torah reading for Minchah seems to be most inappropriate. One would expect it to revolve around the issue of spiritual purity and suchlike. Instead, we read about the forbidden illicit relationships between members of a single family. How, on this day, when we aspire to be angels, can we bring our minds to consider such baseness?

Chazal tell us that it is precisely such behaviour that we must be aware of, if we are to reach the spiritual heights that we are meant to attain. In order to be a Holy Nation to Gd, we must act in a fitting manner. Should men who have been unable to control their basest instincts be the people that we look up to as role models? 

This is why, if we juxtapose the language used to describe Zimri and Joshua, we see how the Torah is really the originator of the phrase I quoted earlier, if not verbatim, then certainly in spirit.

Perhaps the gentleman whose tattered reputation now lies at his feet will consider this when he aspires to move onto another role. It is never too late to change one's behaviour and ‘turn over a new leaf'. However, before worrying about the rights or wrongs of whether cameras should or should not have been filming what transpired, perhaps he should be focussing on his own internal photograph - the kind that won't be brought up in evidence in a human court of law.

None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes, but if we wish to be role models to others, we need to start by acting as such. For what we do and how we represent ourselves impacts on many other people.

As Pirkei Avot tells us, of all the physical and metaphorical crowns that we wear, the most important is that of ‘a good name’.

Shabbat Shalom.