They are
thoughts that have been embedded in our minds and present on our lips for numerous
weeks. Questions such as, “What kind of
leader will take on the highest political position in the land following the
General Election? “Which priorities will
drive his policies and those of his ministers?” and “Will we, the nation,
benefit from their outcome?”
These are
questions that weigh heavily in our thoughts.
The
protagonist of this week’s Parasha, Korach had no such qualms.
‘Now (there) took Korach, son of Yitzhar, son of Kehat,
son of Levi, together with Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav and On, son of Pelet,
the sons of Reuven and they rose up in the face of Moses with certain men of
the children of Israel, two hundred-and fifty…’
Rashi
famously questions the odd phraseology regarding the manner in which the
Parasha begins, namely ‘Vayikach Korach’, which read literally would be ‘And
Korach took’.
What
exactly, asks Rashi, did he take? Quoting
the Midrash Tanchuma, he states that:
‘(Korach) took himself to one side, to be set apart
from the congregation, to contend against the priesthood and that is how
Onkelos renders it. He set himself apart
(i.e.) he separated himself from the rest of the congregation to establish a
rebellion.’
Chazal, our
rabbis, were in no doubt as to his motives and they were anything but
altruistic. In modern parlance, he was
attempting a ‘power grab’ riding on the back of the events following the
disastrous report of the spies that we read about in last week’s Parasha and
the low morale it had engendered. Datan
and Aviram, Moshe’s old Reubenite foes (we first met them fighting each other
in Egypt and threatening Moshe that they would reveal his killing of the
Egyptian slave-master), joined the rebellion.
Their grievance lay in the fact that, as descendants of the oldest
brother, they should have had ‘first dibs’ at the leadership. This all made for an explosive power-keg
waiting to ignite.
Korach’s idea
of leadership was very different to the one demonstrated by Moshe and Aharon. It was all about gratifying his lust for the
power at the expense of everyone else. Nominally
using the concept of ‘strength in numbers’ to propel him to the top.
I’m sure
we can think of many contemporary leaders who are more focused on their own
interests than those of the people they claim to represent and by extension,
protect.
The
dictum of ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ doesn’t play a
prominent role in their mission statement!
He accused
the brothers of ‘setting themselves above the Lord’s people’ whom he had
described as being ‘holy, every one of them and that the Lord was in their
midst’.
To which
Moshe replied,
“Listen now, you sons of Levi. Is it not enough for you that the Gd of
Israel has separated you from the Israelite community, enabling you to come
close to Him to serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and stand in the presence of the
community to minister to Him….and yet you seek the priesthood also?’...Aharon,
who is he that you should have grievances against him?”
The same
Aharon who we are told in Pirkei Avot 1.12 ‘loved peace and pursued peace
(amongst people)’. That Korech was
envious of Moshe’s position was one factor.
To have a grievance against the saintly peace-loving Aharon was something
else altogether.
Aharon’s love
towards others would be amplified thousands of years later in the guise of his
namesake, a man by the name of Aaron Feuerstein (of blessed memory).
He was a
businessman whose grandfather Henry, a Hungarian immigrant, had founded a textile
company called ‘Malden Mills’ in 1906. Their
best-selling line consisted of synthetic fleece products known as Polartec. Aaron took over the business in 1957. The factory was based in Lawrence,
Massachusetts.
On the
night of 11th December 1995, a fire broke out in the redbrick
factory which, by the end of the day, had destroyed the three buildings that
comprised Malden Mills. It was literally
‘burned to the ground’ over a period of 16 hours injuring more than 30 workers
and leaving 1,400 employees without a job - two weeks before Christmas. It was one of the most devastating fires in
the history of the State and there are differing reports as to whether there
were 1,400 or 3000 employees.
Aaron Feuerstein
could have understandably walked away and absolved himself of the
responsibility for what had happened. However,
he chose a different path. According to
the New York Times (5th November 2021), three days after the blaze,
when most of the workers were lining up to receive their final pay checks, he
joined the queue, handed out holiday bonuses and announced that he would reopen
as much as the factory as he could, reconstruct the destroyed buildings and
continue to pay the entire workforce for a month, despite their not being able
to work. He extended this promise twice.
The Boston
Globe quoted Feuerstein as saying:
“I’m not throwing 3,000 people out of work two weeks
before Christmas.”
Feuerstein also explained after the fire that
he was guided by Jewish tradition.
“When all is moral chaos, this is the time for you to
be a mensch,”
he said.’
A deeply
religious man and a graduate of Yeshiva University, Aaron Feuerstein kept his
word and the millions he paid out, eventually led to his losing control of the
company. After a downturn, he had no
option but to place it into bankruptcy in 2007.
It was bought by a private equity firm which closed down the factory and
relocated the manufacturing to Tennessee.
Five years ago, Polartec, as it was now known, was bought out by Milliken
an industrial manufacturing company.
Aaron
Feuerstein passed away at the age of 95 in 2021 without ever regretting his
actions.
In a 2003
episode of 60 Minutes entitled, ‘The Mensch of Malden Hills’, he said:
“You are not permitted to oppress the working man,
because he’s poor and he’s needy, amongst your brethren and amongst the non-Jew
in your community.”
The two
Aarons though separated by thousands of years are examples of what it means to
be a great leader. Men who placed those
for whom they were responsible ahead of their own personal ambitions. Aharon Hakohen, the first High Priest could
have distanced himself from others by stating that, as a Kohen Gadol, he had to
place all of his focus on the important work he did. Instead, he prioritised healing rifts between
people doing everything in his power to bring people together to set aside the
animosity they might have felt as a result of an argument.
Aaron
Feuerstein displayed the ultimate Kiddush Hashem, sanctification of Gd’s name
by supporting his employees and their families for as long as they were unable
to work because of the fire.
Compared
alongside these two giants, Korach and the type of leader that we are all too
familiar with, pale into insignificance.
Their attempts at aggrandisement often result in a great deal of misery
for those who are impacted by their selfish acts. Many of the world’s current leaders could
learn a great deal from both Aarons.
No one
knows what the future will bring, and which kind of leaders will make the
decisions that will impact all of our futures.
Shakespeare
wrote in Twelfth Night (Act 2: Scene 5)
‘Some Are Born Great, Some Achieve Greatness, And Some
Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them.’
We hope
and pray that whoever is chosen to lead us, proves to be wise enough to learn
from the altruistic actions of the truly great leaders that I have described
today.
Shavuah Tov and Chodesh Tov.
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