By Seth Cohen
On Sunday morning, I awoke (once again) to streaming texts from friends and acquaintances who are heartbroken and worried about another murderous rampage against a Jewish house of worship. During the day I (once again) had conversations with friends and colleagues acknowledging the very real and worrisome rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and around the world. And by evening I (once again) looked for solace and reassurance from someone – anyone – who could speak to this moment with moral clarity, determination, and leadership.
And by the time I went to bed, I was still looking for that leadership. It had yet to appear.
Where is it? Who will help lead us in these moments of challenge and transformation? Because regardless of how we all might be living in the ‘age of individualism’ and the ‘sovereign self,’ a tribe still needs its leaders. It needs its shepherds. It still needs its beacons of possibility that can speak for and to its generations – to counsel them and cajole them, to help them see the moment for what it is – and for what it isn’t.
I have long believed the essence of contemporary Jewish community is not one of centralized control, but of inspired inclusiveness. That we need systems of learning and leading that allow many voices to rise up and create and contribute. That we need to empower professionals and volunteers alike to have agency in the development of the community they want to create. It is even more important that we create those systems because the “institutions” of Jewish life, particularly the large ‘legacy’ organizations that played those roles in the last century, are failing to do it in this one.
And yet…
We also need leaders who can rise above their silos, their stations, and the diverse communal landscape to speak to a broader national Jewish community where the safe haven of America is increasingly beginning to feel much less safe (and that for some the homeland of Israel feels much less like home). We need leaders who can span the boundaries both inside and outside our community, and who can engage multiple generations in common cause. Who can set aside ego and can focus on endeavor, and who can give voice to the thoughts many of us are thinking but too few of us are saying.
But where are these leaders? Where do we expect to find them? Are they in our national communal organizations that have historically helped harness philanthropic funds and social capital in times of crises? Perhaps they have, for too long, fought the tired debates over ‘allocations’ and ‘assimilation’ and left those organizations bereft of the kind of leaders who can rise to this moment. Perhaps we have worried ourselves, for too long, about investing in Jewish identity that is stylish and sexy – that keeps up with the trends of ‘cool’ – without investing enough in the capacity to respond to other worrisome trends of hate. Perhaps we have focused on how our organizations build endowment funds without endowing the same organizations with the kind of human resources that foster decisive leadership in distressing times. And Rabbinic voices of leadership? Where are those who can truly speak across denominations? Are there any anymore?
Yes, there is a timeliness to the current needs of leadership. But true leadership is also grounded in the timeless wisdom of the Jewish people. And one has to ask themselves in this moment, in this generation, do we have that leadership that is rooted in our past, but proactive about our future? Where do we find them? Who are they?
Because as optimistic as I am that this moment of challenge will pass and make us even stronger as a community, my optimism depends on the belief that in every generation there is a leadership that rises from within to speak to those generations – leaders who respond to crises with vision and direction, not positioning and fundraising.
So if you are one of those leaders, please rise. If you are in organizations that are searching for those leaders, search harder and choose wiser. Because another day soon (and it will inevitably be soon), some of us will wake up (once again) with streaming messages asking (once again):
Where are our leaders?
Seth Cohen is the founder of Applied Optimism, a consulting and experience design lab that helps organizations and communities design optimistic solutions to complex organizational, communal and individual challenges. Seth can be reached at [email protected] and at www.appliedoptimism.com
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Seth, You should be optimistic because you live in a Community full of great leaders both lay and professional. The world has brought incredible new challenges to our times and we have our work cut out for us, but we are unified and determined to address these challenges together.
The answer to your question, Seth, begins with the individual whose image will likely never join the others on Mt. Rushmore, our current president. Mr. Trump is quick to respond with words of condemnation and regret as the number of violent anti-Semitic continues to spiral upward almost always perpetrated by hate-infected white supremacists. Yet, our president refuses to acknowledge their growing threat despite quantifiable data gathered by the very organizations you appeal to for greater leadership roles.
It is Mr. Trump’s calculated neglect and lack of willingness to acknowledge the extent of the threat that we face today. Local Jewish leaders on the ground, facing day to day security concerns are doing what they can–obtaining Homeland Security grants to harden facilities, conducting training sessions with staff and volunteers to enhance security, working closely with law enforcement and when these horrible incidents do occur–doing their best to heal their shattered and bruised communities.
Now, what must Mr. Trump do? First, he must clearly and publicly renounce his view that there are “fine people on both sides.” Next, he should “declare war” on white supremacists like presidents have done in the past to combat organized crime and drug trafficking. He must urge Congress to significantly increase its funding for Homeland Security grants specifically directed to religious facilities such as synagogues, day schools and community centers, most of which remain soft targets for domestic terrorists. And finally, he needs to reject the NRA and its enablers and once and for all work to enact effective gun-control legislation in our country.
We saw the power of effective leadership by the Prime Minister of New Zealand in the wake of the mosque mass murders there. Surely Mr. Trump can use the power of his office to lead our country in a new direction.
Yes, this is where the leadership begins, because if Mr. Trump does not lead the effort to eradicate the scourge of white supremacist violence, our current and future leaders face the prospect of a being in their graves instead of at a podium leading the way forward for the Jewish people.
Mark S. Freedman
[email protected]
I do not feel as optimistic as Mr. Robbins. Until our political leaders unite and present strong words about hatred, we are headed down a very bad path. Our leaders have proven to be beholden to their financial sponsors. There is no moral compass whatsoever. And as I have repeated many times, HATRED IS NOT POLITICAL. But doing nothing about it will change our political climate for the worse. We need to urge our Jewish leaders to lobby their Representatives, both Republican and Democrat to stand up to the hatred filled leadership and the hatred spewed by the extreme right and left media outlets. Those outlets are what is guiding our leadership today….self serving demogogues who are completed uneducated about our cherished political process.
“Bemakom she’ein anashim histadel lihiyot ish – In a place where there are no people, try to be a person” (Ethics of the Fathers 2:5)
It seems Jewish organizations and philanthropists are investing heavily in developing cohorts of trained Jewish leaders prepared to meet the needs of the future – an effort that is to be greatly commended.
However, nothing can replace the motivation and resilience of a self-made leader. This is a person who takes initiative to stand up in answer to an unmet communal need and devotes his or her entire life to see it through.
While Chabad may not have the resources and philanthropic backing of the rest of the Jewish community, it certainly has its fill of self-appointed leaders, like Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway, and thousands like him who invest the entirety of their lives to meet every last need within the Jewish community, without expectations and/or personal gain, and without regard to denominational affiliation.
Very interesting post….
Although I get the thrust of your post, I am somewhat confused about the lack of clarity regarding “leadership” expectations. To be more direct, what type of “leadership” are you actually expecting or seeking…..Rabbinic? Political? Communal? Academic? Spiritual? Other?
I am truly impressed by the level of outspoken and forceful leadership which has already surfaced as a result of these and other horrific and horrendous events. I am even more impressed by our community’s ability and capacity to unite during times of crisis and adversity. Yes, it would indeed be amazing for this level of “leadership” and Achdut to surface irrespective of crisis. But, that is the nature of our human condition.
Let’s try to inspire each other to bring out the best leadership attributes each of us possess; and lets inspire each each other to help lead our community. We really don’t have the time or the luxury to opine, lament and complain about the perceptual lack of leadership. That boat has already left the dock.
The rest is commentary…
I can’t address rabbinic leadership on the macro level, but on the microlevel I am sure that rabbis are responding to this tragedy. In my own community, Douglaston, New York, the two Conservative synagogue’s and the one Orthodox synagogue come together to observe Yom Hashoa. Our observance was yesterday. Each in his own way without discussing it with his colleague spoke about the shooting in the Chabad synagogue. We were certainly not silent and I cannot believe that rabbis won’t address this tragedy during this week of Yom Hashoa observances or Shabbat.
Seth, I’m late responding to your piece here, but I’d suggest the answer to your question will be found in both thinking deeper about what leadership is, and looking more broadly to where the leadership your seeking might actually be. (I realize your past work with Schusterman has exposed you to some of that). As others have pointed out here, local leaders, both clergy and lay leaders across a variety of denominational backgrounds, have stepped up with a remarkable response to the resurgence of hate we’re facing. Inter-faith outreach, education (I attended a gathering featuring nearly 100 teens from a variety of faiths recently that was authentic, illuminating for the youth, and – as a quick look around will show – not uncommon). On our campuses, student leaders are responding to anti-Zionism and BDS nonsense with smart outreach to Muslim and other groups. And of course, Chabad’s response to all this has been inspiring – sadly a result of being the target of past attacks. And surely we all appreciated the response of leaders in Pittsburg to that horror.
Jewish leadership has rarely been centralized, and it is odd to use Mt Rushmore as our ideal: I’d suggest the best Jewish leaders are humbly doing their part in a way that is carved into a stone mountain for all to see would be embarrassing. Judaism is in a moment of transition, and there are certainly some legacy orgs and leaders that have become entrenched and/or slow to adapt and innovate, but one needn’t look very far to find the 1/2 full part of the cup.
It appears that ADL has risen above all others to lead, speak truth to power and act.
That doesn’t mean that the rest of us are off the hook. We can’t afford to be voyeurs or bystanders as our world suffers.
And you and I know well, Seth, what actions are taken on the ground by solid practitioners who move in to heal.
Cindy Chazan