In the news — a new series

Jewish Family Education with Candace R. Kwiatek, The Dayton Jewish Observer

“Two leaders, three opinions” humorously recalls the Jewish saying, “Two Jews, three opinions.”

And there are certainly Jewish leaders in the news these days who represent strikingly different opinions.

On campus, Zionist, Jewish Voice for Peace, and anti-Zionist Jewish students endorse radically different visions of Zionism.

Author and journalist Peter Beinart and Rabbi David Wolpe similarly hold opposing views on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jewish leaders across the religious and cultural spectrum offer very different ideas about balancing communal continuity with inclusion and diversity. Proponents, skeptics, and traditionalist leaders are in current debate about the role of AI in halachic (Jewish legal) decision-making.

In the Jewish worldview, diverse viewpoints and robust debate in religious and cultural life are to be encouraged, even celebrated.

Considered the cornerstone of intellectual life, they introduce different perspectives which challenge and clarify one’s own views, all in the pursuit of truth.

Disagreement, challenge, and argument among leaders is plentiful in the Bible and even more evident in the Talmud, and it continues throughout Jewish history.

In the time of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Rabbi Ben Zakkai debated with the Zealots over the best approach: surrender versus militancy, a debate that continues even today among world Jewry.

Rabbi Barry Schwartz describes a 19th-century debate among rabbis Zacharias Frankel, Abraham Geiger, and Samson Raphael Hirsch over evolution in religion, echoed in the current debate on the place of Israel in American Judaism.

Since making meaningful decisions or taking a strong stance on an issue will almost inevitably provoke opposition or disagreement, most great leaders generate controversy.

From King David to the Baal Shem Tov and Milton Friedman, from Queen Salome Alexandra of Judea to Golda Meir and Ayn Rand, not one promoted ideas that were universally accepted.

But the same is true in our individual lives as well. Judaism’s tradition of wisdom offers the same guidance to leaders and ordinary individuals alike: Looking for a “win” is considered rebellion, but when spirited engagement involves participants who truly listen and are open to others’ ideas and even to being wrong, argument is “for the sake of heaven.”

Handling controversy well, however, isn’t the only defining feature of a great leader.

Unsurprisingly, there is significant agreement among books and articles, blog posts, AI search summaries, and Jewish commentaries about other defining qualities of great leaders such as integrity, empathy, and courage.

At the same time Judaism offers three unique, biblically inspired perspectives on leadership, highlighted by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his book Lessons in Leadership, that have the potential to improve leaders’ skills and outcomes and to offer another way of evaluating leadership candidates.

Leadership is service, not authority. Instead of adopting the top-down leadership style of the hierarchical ancient world, Sacks explains, Judaism introduced a model where its leaders serve the people and God, not themselves.

The two styles couldn’t be more different, one represented by the pyramid, the other by the biblical menorah — essentially an inverted pyramid.

In Judaism, “(t)he greatest leader is therefore the most humble,” Sacks points out, noting that “C.S. Lewis rightly defined humility not as thinking less of yourself but as thinking of yourself less.”

Ancient Israel’s leaders who chose authoritarian control over servant leadership inevitably caused chaos, as in the story of King Rehoboam.

After succeeding his father Solomon, Rehoboam ruled like a tyrant, causing the 10 northern tribes to rebel and form their own kingdom under King Jeroboam, splitting King David’s United Monarchy in two and ultimately leading to the exile of the Jewish people.

Leadership is owning the responsibility to act. Judaism is a call to leadership every day, to take responsibility for seeing what needs fixing — within oneself, the home, or the community — and making sure it gets done.

Great leadership calls for vision-driven action. Joseph’s vision for saving Egypt from famine. Jethro’s vision on how to create a better legal system. Esther’s vision of a way to save her people. Moses’ burning bush-inspired vision of the road, both physical and spiritual, from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Such vision is apparent in the tireless efforts of Theodor Herzl to secure a liberal, secular Jewish state, a homeland for the Jews plagued by antisemitism throughout the many lands in which the Jews were scattered.

In the Jewish view, everyone — of any age on any day — can be a leader and improve the world.

The highest form of leadership is teaching. In Ethics of the Fathers, one finds the phrase lilmod u’lelamed, to learn and to teach, which Rabbi Ishmael suggests is a call to “learn in order to teach.”

A relevant study by psychiatrist William Glasser reveals that while people learn only 10% of what they read and 50% of what they see and hear, they learn 95% of what they teach to others.

The obligation to teach compels a leader to be constantly learning, exploring, evaluating, adapting, and envisioning, giving direction and depth to one’s leadership.

Meanwhile, the leader’s “audience members,” empowered by what they’ve learned, are inspired to act, and these original learners in turn become leaders and teachers in their own right. Teaching is the highest form of leadership because it empowers and inspires others.

At many points in our lives, each of us will be called upon to be a leader, or a leadership opportunity will fall into our lap.

Will you reply, “Oh, I’m not leadership material”? How much more broken would our world be if Rabbi Akiva, Henrietta Szold, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Albert Einstein, or the midwives Shifra and Puah in the Book of Exodus had responded in like manner?

“The story of humanity has been, for the most part, a flight from responsibility,” Sacks concludes. “To be human is to seek to escape from responsibility. That is what makes Judaism different…For Judaism is God’s call to human responsibility.”

Literature to share

One in Six Million by Amy Fish. In 1942, an 8-month-old baby was discovered in a ditch near Krosno, Poland. The Polish couple that rescued her knew only her name and birthdate, Maria, November 1941, from the note pinned to her blanket. The couple took her home and raised her, but Maria always wondered about her Jewish identity. Then she came to the attention of the late genealogist Stanley Diamond. Although it reads like a masterfully-plotted detective novel, One in Six Million is a true story about an identity lost — and eventually found.

Perfect Match: The Story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton by Lori Dubbin. Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton just wanted to play tennis. But in the 1950s, Althea couldn’t join the American tennis leagues because she was Black. Angela had a similar experience in the United Kingdom, unable to join the best tennis clubs because she was Jewish. And they were both shunned by other players. But prejudice and discrimination didn’t stop them. Written for elementary ages, this biography is an inspirational tale about handling negativity and setbacks while pursuing one’s dreams.

To read the complete October 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.