In Pirkei Avot, we learn to take initiative for finding ourselves our own Rav to whom we may go for support and advice, and a friend with whom and from whom we can learn. “עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר” – “Make for yourself a teacher, and acquire for yourself a friend” (Pikei Avot 1:6). The point here is that we take initiative for the choice and not merely acquiesce to who may be available. We ideally should choose our leaders and advisors according to what we need. The Rabbis who I respect the most are the ones who say, ‘When I give a pesak, I am answering the person who is asking about the Halacha.”
In this week’s Parsha of Shoftim, we learn about the necessity of leaders, how they are to be chosen and how they are to be accountable to all within their community. In our Eshel community, we are spread far and wide. Some of our shuls and Rabbis and communities are accepting, welcoming, and home for us and some may not be what we want and need. But it is up to us to surround ourselves with those who will advocate for us, for our children, and for what is right.
In Parshat Shoftim, notice these words in the very beginning (Devarim 16:18-20):
שֹֽׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָֽׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק
You must appoint judges and officers for yourselves in all your cities that God, your God, is giving you, for each of your tribes. They must judge the people by rendering fair judgments.
לֹֽא־תַטֶּ֣ה מִשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹ֥א תַכִּ֖יר פָּנִ֑ים וְלֹֽא־תִקַּ֣ח שֹׁ֔חַד כִּ֣י הַשֹּׁ֗חַד יְעַוֵּר֙ עֵינֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים וִֽיסַלֵּ֖ף דִּבְרֵ֥י צַדִּיקִֽם
You must not pervert justice. You must not show partiality. You must not accept a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the sages and perverts the just words of the Torah.
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙ וְיָֽרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ:
Justice, justice must you pursue, in order that you live and take possession of the land that God, your God, is giving you.
Clearly the focus of leadership is about the well-being and the sanctity of all lives within the community, and not about self-aggrandizement or amassing control and wealth for the leader’s own sake, as we see later in the reading. Judging by fair judgments, not perverting justice, not accepting bribes and focusing on justice for all people – these are to be the goals striven for by our leaders.
In such a climate, we are concerned about the well-being of all community members and must show compassion and all elements of justice towards them all. In thinking about leadership, I often consider the complexity of our identities and what it takes for a leader to accommodate them – those who are less financially and economically resourced; those who are less educated, those who came to their Jewish identity in a variety of ways, those who are neurodivergent, physically disabled, gender and sexuality diverse and so on. The leader we need is the one who acknowledges the different conditions of the many human beings that Ribbonu shel Olam created and accommodates them, as G-d created them to be.
Please, everyone, let’s work on the issues. Let’s think carefully about what is at stake, the hatred that is rampant in the USA and our world, the too large percentage of people who hate women, people of color, people of different faiths, people with disabilities, veterans, immigrants, people in dept, LGBTQ+ people—in other words all of us. We are vulnerable and we are being threatened. I need and seek a leader who understands that, not adding to and fueling threats to the wellbeing of all. That is what I need for our officers and judges, our governmental leaders, our teachers, our friends, all of those with whom we surround ourselves. Let us make informed and healthy choices for those from whom and with whom we learn. We can and must control that, even and especially when we are in less than ideal situations.
By Dr. Saundra Sterling Epstein
Director of Welcoming Shuls Project