Rabbi Alan Iser
This week’s Torah portion is Emor: Leviticus 21:1 — 24:23
The Torah portion of Emor begins rather simply by stating: “The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests (Kohanim) the sons of Aaron and say to them … ” (Leviticus 21:1). The text then proceeds to discuss the laws of ritual defilement for priests, particularly with regard to contact with the dead, to whom priests can be married, and what disqualifies them for priestly service. There is a fascinating midrash that takes this opening verse in a seemingly different direction. What did God actually tell Moses? God showed him every generation and its judges, kings, sages and leaders as well as its robbers and thieves (Leviticus Rabbah 26:7).
What in the world is this midrash doing here? For the rabbinic author of this homily, God is instructing Moses, Aaron and his sons about the nature of leadership, beyond the particulars of their ritual involvement.
The great Hassidic master, Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshicha, understood the phrase “every generation and its leaders” to mean each generation gets a leader according to its needs.
Thus, a lesser generation needs a greater leader. He draws an analogy to illness. The more severe the illness, the more expert physician the patient needs. However, history shows us that this is not always the case. Not every generation gets a Lincoln or a Churchill in a time of crisis.
Another commentary on our midrash by a 20-century Polish rabbi, Rabbi Aharon Levin, pointedly asks, “Why did God show Moses the robbers and thieves of each generation?” The answer, he says, is that what is considered a crime in one generation is not necessarily considered a crime in another. What is murder in one generation is called patriotism and survival by another. What is referred to by one generation as hypocrisy and corruption is referred to by another as ideological conflict and party loyalty. So, by knowing the nature of a generation’s robbers and thieves, one can tell the nature of the generation and its leaders (Hadrash Vehaiyun).
In my opinion, scurrilous individuals are occasionally at the margins of society and sometimes they are in positions of power. We need the perspective of history to properly judge our leaders. Rabbi Levin himself was no stranger to politics. He was one of the foremost leaders of Polish Jewry in the interwar years, serving in the Polish parliament in the 1920s and 1930s. Rabbi Levin modelled leadership and Jewish values in his most famous speech in the Polish parliament when he argued for abolishing the death penalty.
He was murdered by the Nazis in 1941.
Does each generation get the leadership it deserves? How should we judge political leaders from the viewpoint of Jewish values? These are vital questions which rabbis both ancient and modern pondered, as we must, too, today.
Rabbi Alan Iser is a retired rabbi who previously was a congregational rabbi, Hillel director and adjunct professor at St. Joseph’s University, Villanova University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.