Israel At War 5785: Vayechi – Leadership, From Joseph to Bibi

Of all the people in the book of Breishit (Genesis), Joseph is the one we read the most about. By the end of this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, we know more about his life than that of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And we learn that his character is more complex than theirs.

Joseph combined three different character traits individually possessed by each patriarch. Gevurah (strength) predominated in Abraham; chesed (kindness) in Isaac. Jacob, with his many trials, would seem to have embodied netzach, or endurance. But Joseph embodied all three.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks writes that Joseph had one of the necessary gifts of a leader: the ability to keep going despite setbacks and unpopularity. Joseph was not, to put it mildly, popular with his brothers, and he experienced many setbacks: betrayal, slavery, false accusations, and imprisonment. He went on to become second only to Pharaoh and successfully organize a program that allowed not only Egypt but neighboring nations to survive a seven-year famine. He showed both netzach and gevurah, enduring years of travail and then becoming a strong leader.

Yet Joseph wept more than any other person in Breishit, seven times in all, but not from self-pity or hurt. He wept when he was deeply touched: when he realized his brothers had repented of the evil they did to him; when he revealed himself to them; when he was reunited with his father; and, in Vayechi, when his father died and when he realized his brothers still feared his anger, now that their father was gone.

Rabbi Marc D. Angel notes that it seems self-evident that anyone who rises to a position of leadership must be tough. Joseph was tough; he could not have collected and stored all the grain needed to stave off famine otherwise. But he also could be vulnerable, and he showed mercy and forgiveness to his brothers. Not once but twice he told them not to be distressed, that he would sustain them and their families. (Genesis 45:5, 50:21) Joseph not only forgave, he attempted to ameliorate the guilt and fears of those who had harmed him.

In addition to gevurah and netzach, Joseph had chesed. This made him a better leader than if he had possessed any one of these traits alone. But such leaders are rare.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown great gevurah in the aftermath of October 7th. Netanyahu has stood up to pressure from the United States and other nations that a lesser man would have bowed to. He has pursued the enemy despite the agonizing situation in which Israeli hostages are held in horrendous conditions, knowing that caving to Hamas’ and others’ demands (stay out of Rafah, don’t kill so many people, make any deal to bring the captives home, don’t attack Lebanon) would ultimately lead to more Israeli deaths and kidnappings down the road. He has also demonstrated netzach over the course of a long and difficult campaign with few kudos coming his way. And Hamas and Hezbollah have been decimated.

Now he must bring home the captives. And it will take gevurah, not chesed, to do so. American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently acknowledged during an interview that when Hamas perceived pressure on Israel, they pulled back from potential deals to release the hostages. Netanyahu was right to resist the pressures, both from the world and his own people.

But Netanyahu has come across as insensitive to the families of the hostages. He has been accused by many of the families, as well as commentators and the general public, of not caring about the hostages, or their families. Netanyahu is not a warm and fuzzy guy, to say the least. (Which Israeli prime minister has been?) His expressions of sympathy, few and far between, are unconvincing. He may well be one of those people who don’t experience empathy. Or he may wish not to show it, believing Hamas will interpret it as lack of will to stay the course.

Most leaders, though, cannot combine gevurah and chesed, and are either hard or soft. President Biden is an example of a head of state who leads with his heart and has connected immediately and powerfully with family members of hostages that he has met. He also has trouble staying a tough course; very early on he demanded that Israel ease up its assault on Gaza, demanding that Israel take better care to protect civilians. Very few people, leaders or not, can bring both traits to bear as the situation demands.

Netanyahu would get more sympathy from his fellow Israelis and other world leaders if he himself could express sympathy convincingly. But Josephs are few and far between in this world. We will have to settle for strength and endurance during this long war, having faith that this will do more to both bring hostages home and prevent future kidnappings and deaths than kindness.