Faith, Freedom, and Leadership

What does a leader mean? The Talmud states in Baba Kama 52a that, “When God wants to punish the world he sets weak leaders into place, like a sheep that jumps off a cliff and the rest of the herd follows.” Leadership is core to any healthy relationship, be it politics, community or family, if we have a brave and courageous leader at the helm the herd will follow in his tracks and if it is the opposite we can only imagine the chaos that ensues. But of course, not every situation of bad leadership is the same, the nation is thirsty for true leadership, and with that desire, finds the bravest of their people to oppose the regime and create their own driving force.

America has that ability every four years to do just that. Has the leadership failed the majority? Switch ‘em out and elect your person of interest. I heard Tucker Carlson speak at the RNC this week, he said, “A President is elected while a leader is the bravest person.” America has been led astray for so many years now that it isn’t merely enough to elect a new president that will guide us to the mountaintop so that in four years we’ll have someone lead us off the edge, rather it is time for a leader to take us to the golden pasture to start the next chapter of our story. A leader is one who has the experience and the fortitude to withstand the assault of the other side and prove to still be standing when the last shot is fired.

But this isn’t just a national problem, this seems to be a plague hitting the rest of the world as well. The entire world is being misled by so called leaders and every person in their own life is feeling the pain. Is it a child who was lied to about their identity and has made a life altering and irreversible decision, is it a family that can’t afford their groceries, credit card bills, tuition and medicines. Is it with nations embroiled in unwanted conflict that just seemed to sprout out of nowhere, or is it the decline of humanity that has become the status quo for way too many people. Failing leadership has consequences that stretch far beyond its borders of governance, it ruins the spirit of people alike across the globe. 

The silent majority is silent no longer, but the leadership somehow has still not changed. How is it that we are so fed up with bureaucracy for decades and we still go along with it? I recently heard of an article of a man living near the great state of Oregon, he collected truck loads of bottles so that he could cash them in for ten cents as he crossed state lines. They couldn’t charge him for what he was doing, because the entire idea of recycling is a bureaucratic agenda as they are trying to play God with the scam called climate change. Nobody voted this into law and there is not one rational human who has this on their list of the top ten issues of their life. So if you learn to game the corrupt system you truly are a winner.

Donald Trump said this very clearly in a 2016 debate when he told Clinton that he knows the system to be rigged because he uses it. He added, “I know you won’t change the tax code because all of your friends use the same tricks as I do.” It takes some observation, and sometimes all we need is some time to pass by so we can see the pattern clearly behind us. This is the same with business, relationships and just about anything else in life. Hindsight is 2020 they say, because it is then that we can gather the facts and make the proper decisions to go forward with. But what if the system is so corrupt that we no longer have the ability to actually make that much needed change in our society?

Let’s see what real leadership looks like. Israel struck the Houthis in Yemen and its infrastructure this past weekend. Are they the same Houthis mentioned in the Torah as one of the seven nations that God will take revenge on as we get closer to reclaiming our identity? Maybe, maybe not. A bold move like this comes from a deep place of recognition that there must be strong action in order to protect our homeland. This kind of leadership is rooted in principles and values that can never be broken. Values that were set in stone thousands of years ago, principles that were made clear to the nation of Israel from before its founding in the book of Genesis. This is our land and no ICC or governance around the world can try and change that.

When the world lacks leadership it needs a people that believe in something bigger to make the necessary changes. Be it government overreach into our personal lives, be it the total lack of value for human life by weakening allies and basically giving the green light to the world to attack. It will be people who stand for a deep rooted belief that will be able to stop them in their tracks. We have already made it clear that all of these failures stem from the same core of evil, there is no way to describe all of these many failures as mere coincidences. A people rooted in faith, united as one in a true belief will be the people who can beseech God’s ear for Him to show mercy and give us another chance to make things right.

Every generation in history had their own fight, they had their own pundits and writers trying to make sense of it all, but after all was said and done it was unity under one true belief that actually set them free. It doesn’t matter if the left fought the far right or, like today, the right fighting the corrupt and evil left, at the end it is the sanctity of human life and the value of true freedom that sets us free. True freedom is not when we are able to do whatever we want, that may be freedom to you, but what about the person you are stealing from? True freedom is when we submit to a higher purpose as we pursue the happiness endowed to us by our One and Loving Creator.

Isaiah 11:9. “The world will be filled with the Knowledge of God, [just] as the waters fill the depths of the oceans.” The values of the Torah bring God to life in our lives, we get to witness His providence throughout it and we allow ourselves to be led by the Greatest Leader mankind can ever ask for. Israel’s leadership shows resolve and strength to the rest of the world, it teaches every person with open eyes what it means to stand for what is true and right. We may disagree on the details of our plans and we may not find a common solution that makes everyone happy, but as the people of God we all know that without Him we have nothing. 

Nothing short of a miracle of God gave us back our land after close to two thousand years of persecution and exile. And nothing short of a miracle of God will lead us into the long awaited future when we are all sitting under our vines and fig trees. And as the world is slowly waking up to acknowledge they understand, that nothing short of a miracle of God will make the entire world united as one, indivisible under God. Zachariah 14:9 “On that day God will be One and His name will be One.” There won’t be any divisiveness, parting one into two. It will be His name that unites the world to one, and it is with His leadership that the world will see its best days that are soon to come.

David Lemmer is a Jewish Orthodox Author and Hypnotherapist out of NJ. He can be reached at LemmerHypno@gmail.com