A certain rabbi has been receiving a bit of underground buzz. He is liked by so many, and many agree is so well-suited for the job, that he has received much attention and he has been asked - would you be the President of YU if given the chance?
After too many occurances, he took to Facebook to officially announce he has no intention of being the President of YU. He listed four examples, which I copy-and-paste below in his words:
Here are four reasons why [I am] not a candidate to be President of Yeshiva University:I can pass off the 1st and 3rd as being humble, and perhaps the 2nd as well. But the 4th reason makes me sad. Good people are shying away from leadership positions because they are afraid of the insults, the jibes, the hate. My grandfather wrote about this phenomena in his divrei Torah several times. My grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Zev (Herbert) Bomzer, also was disagreed with and his motives were doubted as being pure. He knew that thick skin was necessary all too well. There are two I will summarize below where he read this into the Torah. The first is on Noah:
1. I am not qualified.
2. I am not interested.
3. There are many people far better suited for the position.
4. I lack the thick skin that public figures must have if they are to be successful.
Rashi says on the words “he was a righteous perfect man in his generation” - “ish tzaddik tamim”, that “there are some of our rabbis (“rabboseinu”) that interpret this as praise, and others who interpret this as criticism.”
The spirit of an Ish Tzaddik Tamim is that there will always be those who are dorash lgnai, always critical of him.
A leader who has no detractors, whom everyone finds shevach for, must not be doing a thing. He is probably flattering, and finding all kinds of ways to have everyone love him.
A real leader provokes opposition if he pushes Emet - truth.
Thus, Noach was a Tzaddik Tamim - the sign that this was so is that “there are others who are doresh oto lgnai”!
The second is on Toldot:
Have you ever tried to do something important, to help out other people, and been doubted? Have you ever stepped into the limelight and your motivations are called into question by naysayers and scoffers?
This happened to Abraham, and it will happen to any person who steps up in life. We learn from Abraham how to deal with this, to develop a thick skin.
Parshat Toldot begins with a sentence full of redundancies. It says, “And these are the generations of Isaac son of Abraham, Abraham begot Isaac.”
Having said these are the generations of Abraham, why repeat that Abraham begot Isaac?
Rashi comments: “Because the scoffers of the generation were saying: Sarah became pregnant from Abimelech, etc. What did the Holy One, blessed be He do? He fashioned the facial appearance of Isaac like Abraham’s and everyone testified: Abraham begot Isaac.”
There is a main question asked on this.
He would only start to look like his father once he matured. What about the scoffers during Isaac’s youth. How was that alleviated?
In fact, imagine what those scoffers were saying when they heard that Abraham had taken Isaac to Mt. Moriah to slaughter him! They must have had a field day. They probably thought that Abraham was going to murder someone else’s son, that’s why he was so willing. If this was meant to protect Abraham’s dignity, how did it help?
Why does it happen to Abraham this way? Did Isaac have to be born just nine months after Sarah’s overnight stay in the palace of Abimelech?
Let us look at R. Yose (TB Shabbat 116), who made a very curious wish: “May my share be among those who are suspected [of wrongdoing], but there is no basis [to those suspicions and accusations].”
Why would he want that?
Because the most efficient test of faith comes when one does a meritorious deed and is accused of having ulterior motives. It takes a tremendous amount of loyalty to G-d, and/or the cause, when that happens.
Abraham, our patriarch, teaches us that such a thing can happen to the best. Yet, we must go on to serve G-d.
We can’t always stop the scoffers. Maybe eventually, maybe soon enough our kids and our results will prove we were good. But for now, we can show we are leaders of faith and fortitude. We can serve with constant and continual conviction in our goals
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