Passing on Leadership

When a king dies, his power ends but when a prophet dies, his influence begins.

So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua, son of Nun, "a man of spirit," and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eliazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your splendor so that the whole Israelite community will obey him."

Moses is commanded to perform two acts over and above presenting Joshua to the priest and people. First he is to "lay his hand" on Joshua. Then he is to give him "some of your splendor." What is the significance of these two gestures? How did they differ from one another? Which of them constituted induction into office? The Sages, added commentary which at first sight only deepens the mystery:

"Lay your hand on him" - this is like lighting one candle from another.

"Give him some of your splendor" - this is like pouring something from one vessel to another.

It is these two statements that will enable us to decode the mystery.

There are two forms or dimensions of leadership:

One is power, the other, influence. Often we confuse the two. After all, those who have power often have influence, and those who have influence have a certain kind of power.

But the two are quite different, and at times even opposites. We can see this by a simple thought-experiment. Imagine you have total power, and then you decide to share it with nine others. You now have one-tenth of the power with which you began.

Imagine, by contrast, that you have a certain measure of influence, and now you share it with nine others.

How much do you have left? Not less, but in fact, more.

Initially there was only one of you; now there are ten.

Your influence has spread.

Power operates by division, influence by multiplication.

With power, the more we share, the less we have.

With influence, the more we share, the more we have.

Review: power operates by division, influence by multiplication.

With power, the more we share, the less we have.

With influence, the more we share, the more we have.

So deep is the difference that the Torah allocates them to two distinct leadership roles: king and prophet. Kings had power. They could levy taxes, conscript people to serve in the army, and decide when and against whom to wage war. They could impose non-judicial punishments to preserve social order. The very nature of the social contract, was the transfer of power from individuals to a central authority. Without this, there could be no government, no defense of a country and no safeguard against lawlessness and anarchy.

Prophets, by contrast, had no power at all. They commanded no armies. They levied no taxes. They spoke God's word, but had no means of enforcing it.

All they had was influence, but what influence! To this very day, Elijah fights against corruption, Amos calls to social justice, Isaiah's visions of the end of days, are still capable of moving us by the sheer force of their inspiration.

Who, today, is swayed by the lives of Ahab or Jehoshaphat or Jehu?

When a king dies, his power ends but when a prophet dies, his influence begins.