Lessons of Leadership

The destruction of Jerusalem came through a Kamza and a Bar Kamza in this way. A certain man had a friend Kamza and an enemy Bar Kamza. He once made a party and said to his servant, Go and bring Kamza. The man went and brought Bar Kamza. When the man [who gave the party] found him there he said, See, you tell tales about me; what are you doing here? Get out. Said the other: Since I am here, let me stay, and I will pay you for whatever I eat and drink. He said, I won't. Then let me give you half the cost of the party. No, said the other. Then let me pay for the whole party. He still said, No, and he grabbed him in his hands and put him out. Said the other, Since the Rabbis were sitting there and did not stop him, this shows that they agreed with him. I will go and inform against them, to the Government. He went and said to the Emperor, The Jews are rebelling against you. He said, How can I tell? He said to him: Send them an offering and see whether they will offer it [on the altar]. So he sent with him a fine calf. While on the way he made a blemish on its upper lip, or as some say on the white of its eye, in a place where we [Jews] count it a blemish but they do not. The Rabbis were inclined to offer it in order not to offend the Government. Said R. Zechariah b. Abkulas to them: People will say that blemished animals are offered on the altar. They then proposed to kill Bar Kamza so that he should not go and inform against them, but R. Zechariah b. Abkulas said to them, Is one who makes a blemish on consecrated animals to be put to death? R. Johanan thereupon remarked: Through the scrupulousness of R. Zechariah b. Abkulas our House has been destroyed, our Temple burnt and we ourselves exiled from our land. [Soncino translation]

R. Yehudah Nesiah and the Rabbis disagreed (on the interpretation of a verse). One says ‘(the character of) a generation parallels (that of its) leader.’ And the other says ‘(the character of) a leader parallels that of his/her generation.’ What is the issue of disagreement? If you will say (that they are debating) righteousness, that one master holds that if a generation is righteous then their leader is righteous, and the other master holds the reverse; that if a generation’s leader is righteous, then the generation too is righteous. [Translation by Uri L’Tzedek. Edited for gender neutrality]

When the members of his community wanted to appoint Rabbi Akiva their leader, he said, “Let me discuss it with my household.” They [the community] followed him home and overheard them saying, “If you take the position, know that they will curse you and they will despise you.” [Translation by Danny Siegel]

In a place where there are no worthy people, strive to be worthy. [Koren Sacks translation]

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria: Without Torah there is no social order; without social order there is no Torah. Without wisdom, there is no conscience; without conscience, there is no wisdom. Without knowledge, there is no understanding; without understanding there is no knowledge. Without sustenance, there is no Torah; without Torah there is no sustenance.

Ben Zoma said: Who is one that is wise? One who learns from every person, as it is said: From all my teachers have I gained understanding.(Psalm 119:99) Who is mighty? One who conquers their impulse to evil, as it is written, "One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one who rules over their spirit than one who conquers a city" (Proverbs 16:32) Who is rich? One who is happy with their portion, as it says (Psalms, 128:2),"If you eat of toil of your hands, fortunate are you, and good is to you"; "fortunate are you" in this world, "and good is to you" in the World to Come. Who is honored? One who honors the creations, as it says, "Those who honor Me I will honor, but those who scorn Me will be despised" (I Samuel 2:30) [AJWS translation]