Loving, Responsible Leadership

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

There were two ornaments on the clothing of the Kohen Gadol [High Priest]. The choshen [breastplate], an ornament set against the heart (Rashi on Shemot 28:4), and the avnei shoham [“sardonyx stones”]: “Place these two stones on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod as remembrance stones for Israel’s sons. Aharon shall carry their names on his two shoulders before the L-rd as a remembrance” (Shemot 28:12).

The choshen was composed of twelve precious gems corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. As for the two avnei shoham on the Kohen Gadol’s shoulders, six tribes were engraved on the right stone and six on the left.

The choshen and the avnei shoham hint at the virtuous leadership and the nobility of the Kohen Gadol. The choshen hints that the whole Jewish People, with all its tribes and in all its diversity, were in the Kohen’s Gadol’s great and loving heart. If any tribe or any Jew were missing from his heart, then, so to speak, it was as though G-d were not in his heart. The Kohen Gadol’s task was to defend, to atone, to show benevolence, and to bless the whole Jewish People, all their tribes and various factions, with love.

The avnei shoham, on the Kohen Gadol’s shoulders, alludes for us to the responsibility he bore to all of Israel, down to the last Jew, just as a military commander has ranked on his shoulders in token of the responsibility he bears to all his soldiers.

Right now, we need spiritual and political leadership like that of the Kohen Gadol, leaders who will keep the whole Jewish People in their hearts, and who will unite them all despite the plethora of different streams of thought. Then, all will be as one man with one heart, like the choshen which bears within it all the tribes.

We greatly need leadership that will undertake responsibility for the whole Jewish People, both those on the right and on the left, just as the Kohen Gadol bore all of Israel on his right and left shoulders. We need leadership that will be responsible for the State of Israel -- its survival, security and growth, responsibility for the whole Land of Israel, for every inch of our beloved land. They must take responsibility for the moral, Jewish, and spiritual state of the whole nation, responsibility for the distress and suffering of the people and the country, responsibility for future generations, and for their Jewish identity. We have to follow in the path of Aharon the Kohen Gadol, and of Hillel HaZaken, who used to say: “Be among the students of Aaron, loving and pursuing peace, loving your fellow man and bringing him near to the Torah” (Avot 1).

Looking forward to salvation,
With Love of Israel,
Shabbat Shalom.