Lessons in Leadership: Parshas Lech Lecha – “Not even a shoelace”

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֶֽלֶךְ־סְדֹ֖ם אֶל־אַבְרָ֑ם תֶּן־לִ֣י הַנֶּ֔פֶשׁ וְהָֽרְכֻ֖שׁ קַח־לָֽךְ: וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָ֖ם אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֑ם הֲרִמֹ֨תִי יָדִ֤י אֶל ד’ קל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ: אִם־מִחוּט֙ וְעַ֣ד שְׂרֽוֹךְ־נַ֔עַל וְאִם־אֶקַּ֖ח מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לָ֑ךְ וְלֹ֣א תֹאמַ֔ר אֲנִ֖י הֶֽעֱשַׁ֥רְתִּי אֶת־אַבְרָֽם: )בראשית י”ד:כב-כג(

Then the king of Sodom said to Avraham, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the L-RD, G-d Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Avram rich.’

In Parshas Lech Lecha we read at length of the battle between the 4 kings and the 5 kings. The Torah provides us with great detail, the names of the individuals involved and the name of the lands where the battles took place. There is a fundamental principle that there are no extra words in the Torah, that each and every letter and the crowns on top of the letters, is there to teach us something which we would not have known otherwise. Therefore, the question begs to be asked: What is so important about this particular war that caused the Torah to describe it in such detail? Is it possible that all of this information is important in order that we better appreciate the miracle of Avraham’s victory over the four kings who were so mighty that they managed to defeat the five?

Through an analysis of the words of Chazal in the Midrash (Bereshis Rabbah 42:1) we can learn from the Torah’s recounting of this episode that we are to look at every single event that occurs in the world, no matter how small, as happening as a way to glorify the Name of the Ribbono Shel Olam, The Master of the World. With this understanding we can now examine one of the points of the aftermath of the war.

Following their victory in battle, the king of Sodom makes an offer to Avraham Avinu: תֶּן־לִ֣י הַנֶּ֔פֶשׁ וְהָֽרְכֻ֖שׁ קַח־לָֽךְ, “Give me the souls, and the possessions take for yourself.” The king offers Avraham the physical treasures taken following the war while he will keep the human prisoners as slaves. Based on the size of the armies involved one can imagine that the treasure would amount to quite a fortune.

Avraham’s response is a lesson to us all that is as relevant today as it was then. Avraham tells the king that he will not even take a thread or a shoelace lest the king be able to claim that he had contributed in any way to making  Avraham wealthy. Why was Avraham so concerned about this? What difference would it make?

The answer is that Avraham wanted to make sure that anything that he did glorified the name of HKB”H. He wanted to ensure that no one should ever be able to question his motivations for going to war and spilling blood. Had Avraham taken from the spoils of the war, some might have been able to say that Avraham entered into the war to take advantage of the  pecuniary benefits to be gained from doing so. In the future, they may have been able to look at Avraham and say that his wealth and high station came at least in part from his association with Sodom, a place that still today is the epitome of hedonistic selfishness and evil.

By refusing to benefit financially from the war, Avraham made it clear that the only reason that he became involved was to save his nephew and glorify the name of G-d. With his motivations beyond reproach the ideas and the theology that he brought to the masses remained pure. There was no question as to the reason that Avraham had established his outreach center, his yeshiva. Avraham’s wealth was clearly given to him by G-d and was not based upon unclean hands and backroom deals. The transparency of Avraham’s motivations and the source of his economic success only strengthed the message that he presented to the world.

Each of us, in whatever leadership role we find ourselves, be it a teacher, rabbi, doctor, hedge fund manager, or governmental officer must make sure that our motivations cannot be questioned, that those we lead cannot question if our commitment to them is noble and altruistic, to glorify the name of Hashem. We cannot, G-d forbid, give anyone reason to think that the decisions we make that affect others, that the advice we give to those seeking guidance, is tainted by self-interest. Because if that were to be the case, all of the foundations of society would crumble. Students need not listen to their teachers, clients would lose trust in their financial and medical advisors, soldiers would hesitate to follow the orders of their superiors, and, maybe the worst, those inquiring about issues of Torah and Judaism would question the truth of the answers given by their rabbis.

The lesson of Avraham is timeless. To be an effective leader, one must be beyond reproach and there should be no questions as to one’s motivations or even a concern that the leadership is tainted by self-interest.