1. “Everyone Does what is Good in his (or her) Eyes”

A century after the passing of the political visionary and leader, Theodor Herzl, we ask ourselves many questions about how people come to leadership today and the quality of that leadership. Before and during the early years of the State of Israel, we could look with pride to David Ben Gurion, probably the most outstanding of all of Israel’s Prime Ministers: an ideologue, visionary, dynamic statesman and a bold decision maker - whether we always agreed with him or not. As the years passed, we respected and admired Golda Meir and Menachem Begin as leaders of stature, even if we contested their policies. 

They were considered to be leaders who inspired and led, perhaps because they lived through difficult times, perhaps because as younger individuals they were personally involved in fighting for the creation of the Jewish state. They were considered to be paternal figures at a time when the citizens of the fledgling state were in need of a father and mother – and these were their parents. They were not necessarily Tzaddikim but, for the most part, we felt that these were people of stature and they were to leave an indelible imprint on the pages of Jewish history.

Today, we read of successive scandals among the ranks of those who bear the mantle of leadership in an Israel that is almost 60 years old. The former Israeli President, the Ministers of Justice and Finance, the heads of the IDF and Police - all of whom, by definition, should be sterling examples of uprightness - were suspended or resigned from their posts over the course of several months.

Have the people changed (“You get the leadership that you deserve”)?
or have the caretakers of law and order regressed to the point that, “Everyone does what is good in his (or her) eyes”?

We expect the Jewish State - founded on the ashes of six million Jewish victims during the Shoah - whose Divinely inspired universal mission has been to serve as “a light unto the nations”, to strive towards that goal [however the concept may be interpreted].

• If the rest of the world judges us by higher standards than they judge themselves, surely we should at least attempt to live up to those standards?

Some would argue the opposite, in a realist, possibly cynical post-modern world:

• Israel is growing out of her infancy; the young child no longer requires a father figure.
• Israel is now going through her psychosocial moratorium, to coin Erikson’s description of the rebellious adolescent. The irritable juvenile no longer needs a significant other parent; he or she will search for role models elsewhere, dropping the traditional mores of the older generation like sickly flies. All that is different is desirable.
• In the shrinking global village that describes our world there is no need to cling to old traditions: we can learn from everybody and take our future into our own hands.

Review

• Can Israel learn from Jewish leadership practice in the Diaspora today?
• What can Israel adopt from the models brought in this discussion?
• Have any Israeli leaders emerged through some of these models?
• Make a list of some of Israel's leaders, spiritual leaders, and leading figures to share with your group, and each pair of particpants should choose two personalities. Align the qualities you rated important in Jewish leadership and rate these leaders. Discuss.
• Do you think it realistic today to expect that Israel's leaders to develop as teachers, rather than politicians?