Leaders We Deserve

Parshat Korach 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The Haftorah describes the aftermath of the first battle in which the newly anointed King Shaul proves himself in the eyes of the nation who had received his appointment, requested by them, with a particular lack of fanfare. An air of cynicism is even recorded at the end of Chapter 10, as some people questioned whether “This one will save us.” 

In Chapter 11, Shaul emerges as a true leader in bringing a great salvation to the people of Yavesh Gilead (who return the favor at the very end of Shmuel Alef), and the prophet Shmuel suggests that the nation re-accept Shaul as king, now that they’ve seen his abilities. It is at that ceremony that Shmuel gives a speech eerily similar to the one Moshe gives in our parsha, when Moshe is confronted by Datan and Aviram, who challenge Moshe’s abilities as, in their opinion, a failed leader who was unable to fulfill his promise of bringing the people to the Promised Land. In Shmuel’s case, he speaks of how the people rejected his leadership, as the last Shofet (judge), in favor of a king, whose leadership style will necessarily impose on certain freedoms the people have enjoyed. Moshe is pointing to the unfairness of the claims made against him because the failures of the people to make it to the Promised Land are because of their behavior and rejection of God, rather than Moshe’s personal failures. 

Shmuel (12:3) : Here I am; bear witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed; whose ox did I take, or whose donkey did I take, or whom did I rob; or whom did I oppress, or from whose hand did I take a ransom, that I hide my eyes therewith, and I shall restore to you.

Moshe (Bamidbar 16:15): Moshe became very angry. He prayed to God, 'Do not accept their offering. I did not take a single donkey from them! I did not do any of them any harm!' 

Shmuel is reassured that the people harbor no ill will, they affirm that they accuse him of nothing of the kind. They simply want a king – they are perfectly happy with Shmuel as the prophet/spiritual leader 

Moshe, on the other hand, is patently ignored by those he is addressing; his honesty is irrelevant because their hatred of him runs too deep. They are accusing him of lording over them, when he knows very well he has only been self-sacrificing for the people. 

To be sure, both leaders are less suggesting that they never received anything from anyone than they are certainly claiming that they never used their king-like-status to their advantage to appropriate or lay claim to any property, tangible or intangible, that belonged to someone else. 

Shmuel is noting how he never took bribes in order to favor one person over another in judgment. Moshe Rabbenu is noting that even when he first came, when he didn’t want the job of taking the Israelites out of Egypt, he could have demanded a company car (or donkey), that all expenses getting him to Egypt should be covered by the Israelites. But he didn’t even do that! 

Additionally, Chizkuni notes Moshe’s final expression in this verse, “I did not do any of them any harm!” and suggests that is a personal response to Datan and Aviram, who were responsible for telling Pharaoh of Moshe’s having killed the Egyptian and he never sought any kind of vengeance for their effectively forcing him into exile. 

Both Moshe and Shmuel saw a serious upheaval of the Jewish communal institutions of their time, as we might see it, through the passage from bondage to freedom, from being slaves to Pharaoh to becoming servants of the Almighty in Moshe’s time, and the transition from libertarianism and anarchy to a monarchy and a more centralized order in Shmuel’s time. 

The key point that Moshe and Shmuel may have in common, relevant most to our era, is their lack of conflicts of interest. Their agenda, as it were, was “to help the people serve God in the most meaningful way, under the guidance of Torah and halakha” with no ulterior motive. 

Anything they saw getting in the way of those noble goals was a distraction. This is why each leader, in his own time, threw the same distraction back at the people. “Don’t accuse me of having a conflict of interest, or of overstepping my role, or of usurping power not given to me naturally by my role. I know who I am, I know what my role is, I know my position visavis the people, and I have always given my utmost to the nation in helping foster the right kind of relationship they are to have with God.” 

Even God said to Shmuel, “The people didn’t reject you in asking for a king. They rejected Me.” Shmuel was perturbed at what he was seeing, but God had to tell him it wasn’t personal between the people and him. It was an affront to God that they were asking for a king, but not a rejection of the prophet and that which he represented. 

We should be blessed to have leaders who, like Moshe and Shmuel, are altruistic, know their job, fill their role as best as possible, don’t take advantage of the people, and really want the best for the people. Our leaders should similarly be blessed that they not be held back by distractions or by things which get in the way of their doing that which they are tasked with doing – growing Torah institutions, teaching Torah, raising people up, being a moral, spiritual and emotional source of support, guiding and inspiring people to greatness in their personal relationship with God, and being an example and a model of what it means to live a life of Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying God’s name as much and as often as possible.