A message from Rabbi Adam Rubin
Humility in Leadership
Shalom alekhem! I am so very excited to join the Shaare Zion Beth-El community, officially beginning my tenure as the senior rabbi in July. I look forward to getting to know as many members of the SZBE family as I can in the coming weeks and months, and forming warm, long-lasting relationships with you. I am honoured to build upon a remarkable legacy created by Rabbi Moses, to learn from and work with him, as well as with the outstanding clergy team of Cantor Stotland and Reverend Tannenbaum.
As vitally important as leadership is for a shul, the flourishing of any Jewish community is a collective enterprise, a product of the energy, creativity and devotion of the synagogue’s members, those who volunteer their time and effort, as well as the clergy and staff.
Our parashah this week (Shabbat, July 1), Chukat-Balak, contains an important caution about the limits of leadership, and the essential quality of humility in any effective leader. God instructs Moshe to speak to a rock so that it will yield water. Angry and impatient, Moshe famously strikes the rock rather than speaking to it. He is punished for this deed by being forbidden to enter the Land with the People Israel.
Our sages and commentators puzzle over the exact nature of his transgression. The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman, 1194-1270) notes that Moshe made the mistake of saying “shall WE get water for you from this rock,” instead of “shall GOD get water for you,” making it seem as if Moshe (and his brother Aaron) were actually performing the miracle instead of God. As great a leader as Moshe was, he was not all-powerful.
In addition, the Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev (1740-1809), taught that by losing patience with the people, Moshe missed the opportunity to bring them to a higher spiritual consciousness and an awareness of God’s kindness.
I am looking forward to devoting myself to the flourishing and well-being of SZBE and am hopeful that you will find my service to the shul meaningful, energetic and inspiring; my work at the shul isn’t “about me,” but for the sake of our holy Kehillah. I have deep faith that together, as a community, no challenge is too great — indeed, that we can perform miracles together!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Adam Rubin