Leaders who are not corrupt

Moshe, the leader in Parshat Korach and Shmuel, the leader in the Haftara (Shmuel I 11:14-12:22) had a lot in common. They were great leaders but unfortunately, their sons did not follow in their footsteps. God was the one to decide who their successors would be. They both felt that they needed to go out of their way to defend themselves and prove that they were not corrupt.

After Korach’s uprising with Datan, Aviram, On Ben Pelet and 250 leaders, where they said to Moshe and Aaron (Bamidbar 16:3): “You have taken too much for yourselves and since the entire congregation are all holy and the Lord is in their midst, why do you raise yourselves above the assembly of God?” Moshe said to God (Bamidbar 16:15),: “…I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

In the Book of Shmuel, we find a parallel idea,

In Shmuel I 8:1-6, a few chapters before the Haftara, we read:

When Shmuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be Israel’s judges…But his sons did not follow in his path; they were bent on gain, and they took bribes, and they bent justice. All the elders of Israel gathered and came to Shmuel in Rama. “Look, you have grown old,” they said to him, “and your sons have not followed in your path. Now appoint a king for us to govern us like any other nation.” When they said, “Give us a king to govern us,” the idea displeased Shmuel, and Shmuel prayed to the Lord.

In the Haftara (Shmuel I 12:1-5) “Shmuel addressed all of Israel: ‘…Here I am- testify against me in front of the Lord and in front of His anointed- whose ox have I seized, and whose donkey have I seized? Whom have I cheated and whom have I oppressed, And from whose hand have I taken a bribe and averted my eyes from him? Let me repay you.’”

Both Moshe and Shmuel made it clear that they were clean leaders who did everything by the books.

While Korach and his fellow protesters had a problem with Moshe and Aaron’s leadership, they did not accuse Moshe of taking advantage of the nation for his own personal gain. As well, the elders did not accuse Shmuel of any wrongdoing. They just said that his sons did not follow in his path.

Moshe and Shmuel both jumped in to say that they were innocent, even though they didn’t need to, as they hadn’t done anything wrong. They both sensed that their personal integrity was being attacked even though nobody said anything about that straight out.

Rav Yisachar Yaakovson taught that psychologically people assume that “money will answer for everything” (as it says in Kohelet 10:19) people automatically think that their leaders become rich by defrauding the community (cheshbon haklal). They think that the only reason that these people want to be leaders is for the money. Moshe and Shmuel must have sensed this and therefore they both rushed to defend themselves and clear their names. As well, neither of them chose to become leaders, they were both chosen by God.

We should give our leaders the benefit of a doubt. However, if they are proven to be corrupt, it is time for them to move on so that we can bring in those who are more honorable and worthy.