This Tuesday marks the twenty-third Yahrtziet of the Rebbe. So much has been written about the Rebbe, yet there is so much more to say. The unique qualities that the Rebbe embodied could fill many books, and now thanks to the internet, you can learn easily by clicking here.
Today I would like to share with you just one lesson from the Rebbe that is expressed in this week’s Torah portion.
Speaking in broad terms, leaders are concerned about the big picture: about their community, their company, or their country. But the individual? That they leave up to the people lower on the chain of command. That is not a leader issue. But a unique leader cares about the whole community, while still caring about every single individual.
We see this example in this week’s Torah portion where we learn that Korach and his two hundred and fifty men challenged Moses’s leadership. Moses in turn challenged them to this contest: Tomorrow, he proposed, let’s all bring our pan with incense as an offering and we will see whose incense G-d accepts—knowing that G-d would not accept theirs. But Moses then turns to G-d and says please don’t even pay attention to them at all!
What is Moses saying? Doesn’t he want G-d to pay attention to them and punish them for bringing the incense? Isn’t this his chance to get revenge?
If Moses were a leader who was only concerned about the community, then our questions would be reasonable. Get rid of the troublemakers so you can continue to lead. But Moses was a leader who cared for each and every individual – even those who challenged him directly – and therefore he was as concerned about his opponents as he was about his followers.
The Rebbe lived his life the same way. To the Rebbe, every Jew counted. Everyone mattered. There was no such thing as a more important or less important person, a more important or less important matter.
Often, when the Rebbe would go from his office to his car to go home, he would take some coins and give them to the children to give to charity. Once he had one less coin than were children. An adult standing nearby reached into his own pocket to give the Rebbe more coins so that he could give them to the remaining child. The Rebbe refused and went back to his office to fetch some more coins, so that the child should not feel left out. This was the Rebbe. Even the feelings of a child mattered to the Rebbe.
This is a sign of a true leader.
May the Rebbe continue to be an inspiration to us all,