[The Mishnah is the first major work of rabbinic literature, consisting of teachings transmitted over hundreds of years and compiled around 200 CE. Pirkei Avot (literally “Chapters of the Fathers,” also known as “Ethics of our Fathers”) consists of short statement of advice, ethics and wisdom.]
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אֵין בּוּר יְרֵא חֵטְא, וְלֹא עַם הָאָרֶץ חָסִיד, וְלֹא הַבַּיְשָׁן לָמֵד, וְלֹא הַקַּפְּדָן מְלַמֵּד, וְלֹא כָל הַמַּרְבֶּה בִסְחוֹרָה מַחְכִּים. וּבְמָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין אֲנָשִׁים, הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ:
He used to say: A brute is not sin-fearing, nor is an ignorant person pious; nor can a timid person learn, nor can an impatient person teach; nor will someone who engages too much in business become wise. In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.
[The Talmud is the textual record of generations of rabbinic debate about law, philosophy, and biblical interpretation, compiled between the 3rd and 8th centuries and structured as commentary on the Mishnah. Tractate Yoma (“The Day”) is part of the Talmud and discusses laws relating to Yom Kippur.]
שְׁנֵי פַּרְנָסִים טוֹבִים עָמְדוּ לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל: מֹשֶׁה וְדָוִד. מֹשֶׁה אָמַר: יִכָּתֵב סוּרְחָנִי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי״, דָּוִד אָמַר: אַל יִכָּתֵב סוּרְחָנִי. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אַשְׁרֵי נְשׂוּי פֶּשַׁע כְּסוּי חֲטָאָה״.
It is said that two good leaders arose for the Jewish people: Moses and David. Moses said: Let my disgrace be written, i.e., may the sin I committed be written explicitly, as it is stated: “Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me” (Numbers 20:12). In contrast, David said: Let my disgrace not be written, as it is stated: “Fortunate is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is hidden” (Psalms 32:1).
[Shenei Luchot HaBrit is a commentary on the Torah written c.1611 - c.1631 by Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horovitz, a Polish-born rabbi living in Ottoman Palestine.]
המעלה הגדולה מכל המעלות היא מעלת ענוה, ולא נשתבח אדון הנביאים בפרטיות כי אם בענוה. ובברייתא דרבי פנחס בן יאיר (עבודה זרה כ, ב), זהירות מביאי לידי זריזות כו', תמצא שם מעלת הענוה.
The greatest virtue of all the virtues that exist is the virtue of humility. This is why the greatest of all prophets is credited in the Torah with only this virtue. Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair lists a number of virtues, possession of each one is a stepping-stone to still higher virtues, the highest one being humility.
[Likutei Etzot is a collection of teachings on a variety of common human situations and emotions by the famous Chasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who lived 1772-1810 in Ukraine.]
ב. עַל־יְדֵי בִּטּוּל הַכַּעַס בְּרַחֲמָנוּת כַּנַּ"ל, עַל־יְדֵי זֶה מְקַבְּלִים הַצַּדִּיקֵי אֱמֶת הַכָּבוֹד וְהַגְּדֻלָּה, וַאֲזַי זוֹכִין לְמַנְהִיג אֱמֶת, שֶׁיְּרַחֵם עַל הָעוֹלָם לְנַהֲגָם כָּרָאוּי, לְהָבִיא כָּל אֶחָד אֶל הַתַּכְלִית הַטּוֹב הָאַחֲרוֹן: (שם)
Through breaking the force of anger with love and kindness, the true Tzaddikim receive honor and greatness and the world finds a true leader — one who will have pity for the world and lead it in the right way, bringing each individual to his ultimate goal.
[Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth in the United Kingdom. Covenant & Conversation is a 21st-century five-volume collection of Rabbi Sacks’s essays on the weekly Torah portion.]
Covenant & Conversation: The Unexpected Leader (Vayigash)
Leaders make mistakes. That is an occupational hazard of the role. Managers follow the rules, but leaders find themselves in situations for which there are no rules. Do you declare a war in which people will die, or do you refrain from doing so at the risk of letting your enemy grow stronger with the result that more will die later?...
What matters, suggests the Torah, is that you repent – you recognise and admit your wrongdoings, and you change as a result...
The stories of Judah and of his descendant David tell us that what mark a leader is not necessarily perfect righteousness. It is the ability to admit mistakes, to learn from them and grow from them. The Judah we see at the beginning of the story is not the man we see at the end... A leader is one who, though he may stumble and fall, arises more honest, humble and courageous than he was before.