Often, leaders specialize in a particular area of leadership. Some are great organizers. Others are visionaries. Some leaders are great motivators. Others lead by example. There is a form of leadership that focuses on the big picture, addressing global issues. There is the leader that relates to the individual. Some are political or civic leaders. Others are religious leaders. Some are thought leaders. Others are focused on character.
There are many leaders that can integrate multiple forms of leadership that span wide areas of life. However, it is rare for a person to excel in every area of leadership. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the tension between attention to global issues and a focus on the individual. Yet, this is what personifies a consummate Jewish leader. Moses, Joshua, King David, and true Jewish leaders throughout the generations, all were able to successfully straddle both sides of the equation.
Today is a day that we reflect on the Rebbe’s leadership. What many have observed, and I too have been privileged to witness, is the Rebbe’s capacity to excel in all those aforementioned areas of leadership and yet be able to hyper-focus on the individual at the same time. We know that the Rebbe oversaw a network of institutions that had global reach. We know that the Rebbe was involved in geopolitics, especially as it related to Israel. We know that the Rebbe taught for hours, with revolutionary innovations in the intersection of Torah and life. At the same time, the Rebbe corresponded with thousands of people. He also spent countless hours meeting with individuals. Each person that met the Rebbe commented on how during their time with the Rebbe they felt that were the only thing he was focused on.
At the bottom of this email there is an interview with a person whose father passed away when he was seven years old. He shares how the Rebbe cared for him like a surrogate father. I was witness to that story. From fall of 1989 until the Rebbe’s illness in the winter of 1992, I saw the Rebbe’s constant attention to this boy and his brothers. There are countless people who felt that personal love and connection. As Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, put it, “the Rebbe cared for both Klal Yisrael (the Jewish people as a whole) as well as Reb Yisrael (the individual Jew).”
May we be inspired by the Rebbe’s example of caring and love for all. May we merit to be a small part of bringing the Rebbe’s vision of a world of Redemption to a state of reality with the coming of Mashiach speedily.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin