By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — I recently read a book by Aaron David Miller entitled, The End of Greatness – Why America Can’t Have (and Doesn’t Want) Another Great President.
Miller asserts that there have only been three great American Presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. He also asserts that not only is such presidential greatness impossible to achieve today, but that our nation may also not even want it.
Writes Miller: “But is it possible, even beneficial that we would not want another great [president]…The search for extraordinary leaders creates unrealistic and unreasonable expectations, skews the standards by which we judge our presidents, leads to presidential overreach, and creates a distorted understanding of the office and the way in which leaders more often than not actually lead.” (p.177-178)
At one time Americans looked up to and idolized their leaders. Today it seems we relish taking them down more than building them up. We find joy in discovering their foibles and exaggerating their faults, rather than in looking up to them as role models.
Our Israelite ancestors had this problem as well. Before Moses died God told him to appoint Joshua as his successor: “And the Lord answered Moses, ‘Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man, and lay your hand upon him…Invest him with some of your authority, so that the whole Israelite community may obey.'” (Numbers 27:18-20)
Our Rabbinic Sages noted that Moses invested Joshua with some of his authority but not all of it. If Moses was the sun, Joshua was the moon. But if Joshua was going to be the new leader of the Israelites, wouldn’t it have been better for him to receive all of Moses’ greatness instead of a portion?
The commentator Lekutei Yisrael answers “no.” If Moses had given Joshua all of his glory, Joshua would have ended up being too far above his flock to be a successful leader. They would not have related to him. The Israelites of Joshua’s generation were not as knowledgeable, religious, or educated as Moses’ generation.
In order for leaders to be successful, they need to be able to relate to the community they serve. If a leader is too far removed from the community intellectually and spiritually, he or she will not be able to successfully guide it. Thus Joshua received only some of Moses’ glory so that he would be on the same level as the Israelites.
Perhaps this is why there are no great leaders today: we have the leaders we deserve.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. You may comment to him at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com, or post your comment on this website provided that the comment is civil and that you identify yourself by full name and by your city and state of residence.