When Leadership Fails to Lead

A little more than a year ago a group of 80 Rabbis wrote a letter espousing their moral outrage for Israel’s behavior in Gaza, Yehuda and Shomron. The term people use for these rabbis is Orthodox. I have always rejected that term and never use it as it was placed on religious Jews by reformers. I am not an Orthodox Jew. I am simply a Jew. Only Hashem has the right to call me anything other than that. Therefore I reject it outright and will refer to these 80 rabbis as rabbis. To be sure, reformed rabbis will indeed get their definition as they created it to make that their thing so I abide by their wishes and follow suit.

In their letter, these 80 rabbis wrote, “Israel’s prolonged military campaign, now approaching two years, has devastated Gaza. The death toll is rising with very significant losses of lives, and Israel’s limiting of humanitarian aid, at times completely halting the entry of food and medical supplies, has raised the specter of coming starvation. We affirm that Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation. The justified anger toward Hamas has dangerously expanded by some extremists into blanket suspicion of the entire population of Gaza — children included — tarnished as future terrorists. Meanwhile, in Yehuda and Shomron (the West Bank), extremist settler violence has resulted in the murder of civilians and has forced Palestinian villagers from their homes, further destabilizing the region. Orthodox Jewry, as some of Israel’s most devoted supporters, bears a unique moral responsibility. We must affirm that Judaism’s vision of justice and compassion extends to all human beings.”

These rabbis made every effort to pimp their letter. It was on every website talking about Israel and Gaza, too many major US newspapers to count as well as every Jewish newspaper and periodical, every Jewish website and was, as one could imagine, obviously used as weaponry for all the enemies of Israel looking to destroy not only the Jewish state, but the Jewish people.

Last month, Uri Kurlianchik pointed out the fallacy of the famine in Gaza claims these rabbis hung their hat on. “A UNICEF-led survey published in July found that child malnutrition in Gaza is exceptionally low, not just by Middle Eastern standards, but by global standards. In fact, Gaza is doing better than some EU-member states! The survey found that acute malnutrition in Gaza based on WHZ (Weight-for-Height Z-score) was about 0.5% across regions. Gaza’s pre-war rate was 0.8%. This means that the “famine” in Gaza has actually improved the nutritional situation in this famously obese region. An often overlooked fact is that before the war, the obesity rate of Gazan men was 58.7% and Gazan women was 71.3%. And that’s already during Israel’s “terrible” blockade. The acute malnutrition in Gaza’s children is well below nearby countries such as Egypt (2.9%), Jordan (2.0%), and Syria (12%). In fact, it’s much better than Bulgaria (5%), Romania (5%) and Malta (5%). In Yemen it’s 16%. In India it’s 18%. Two orders of magnitude higher than Gaza!”

The Rabbi who spearheaded this letter sadly destroyed in one day a wonderful reputation it took him decades to build. I was a great admirer of his but suffice it to say I no longer am. I don’t know how many, if any, of these other 80 rabbis live in Israel, though I am sure some do. I also don’t know if any of them served in battle in the uniform of the IDF in defense of our country. But their actions with this letter did far more damage to the Jewish people and the state of Israel than anything Israel had done in Gaza, Judea or Samaria. Our enemies used their words as a cudgel and beat Jews all over the world with it. But through all their moral high ground pontificating, this one comment near the end of their screed got my attention. “The future of Israel depends not only on its military strength but on its moral clarity.”

The Talmud in Yoma 22b relates a discussion about King Saul and his failure to follow G-d’s command that Samuel gave him about wiping out the nation of Amalek. When confronted about his failure, King Saul excused his actions by claiming he was having mercy on their king and queen by keeping them alive. Furthermore, he said, “If the men have sinned, in what way have the animals sinned? And if the adults have sinned, in what way have the children sinned? A Divine Voice then came forth and said to him: “Do not be overly righteous” (That is to say: Do not be more merciful than the Creator Himself, Who has commanded you to do this, for to do so would not be an indication of righteousness but of weakness).” Saul refused to take responsibility for his mistake until it was too late. The talmud then says something very strange. In a rather long discussion the talmud compares King David to King Saul and why King David was a better king than Saul who himself was a very righteous person his entire life. In a nutshell the talmud says David had creepy things in his closet and Saul did not. Meaning Saul came from righteous parents with pristine Jewish lineage, David on the other hand came from a background of converts and questionable illicit relationships. And yet as the great Jewish commentator Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michal better known by the name Malbim reminds us, when King David was confronted with his sin with Batsheva and her husband his immediate reaction was “I have sinned against Hashem”. Saul deflected.

I bring this story from the talmud to illustrate how Torah makes a distinction between what true leadership with moral clarity looks like and what happens to those “leaders” who follow the crowd. King David’s grandfather, our namesake Yehuda, when faced with the challenge of admitting his mistake or following through with a cover-up, took the path of Jewish leadership. As he did throughout his life, Yehuda took responsibility and acted with courage each time it was called for even though it may not have been the popular path to take. There is a reason the Kings of the Jewish people have to come from Yehuda and why our Messiah must as well. And King David did that exact same thing. When called out on his mistake by the prophet Nathan, David’s first response was to take responsibility for his actions. “I stand guilty before G-D!” (Samuel 2-12:13) He didn’t equivocate or make excuses nor did he rely on his enemies narratives and lecture the people from atop his moral glass house. Kings do not answer to anyone. That is why they are kings. But a leader of Israel answers to Hashem and does what is needed and required, even when it is opposite of what the people are demanding from him.

What is so appalling about this letter is not that they published it and went to great lengths to publicize it. It’s that they have yet to apologize for it even when it is obvious the accounts coming from the media and the UN were all parroting talking points from Hamas who the letter writers themselves write of with contempt. How is it these “leaders” of Israel relied on the word of the sworn enemies of our people while denying the testimony of the very soldiers who are defending the land and the people on whose behalf they profess to speak. “However, Israel’s prolonged military campaign, now approaching two years, has devastated Gaza. The death toll is rising with very significant losses of lives” Yes, loss of lives happen and cities under siege get devastated. That’s called war. These rabbis gave our haters cover under the guise of religious leadership pounding away at our people and did so in the midst of a coordinated effort to marginalize us. The effect of their decision to write then publicize this letter all over the globe still harms us in massive ways. As early as December 2024 articles were everywhere debunking the death toll numbers coming out of Gaza that were being amplified by a willing press and anti-Israel NGO’s. But these Rabbis could not have cared any less. They had a sermon to give and they were gonna give it! Whoa to those who are so wise in their own opinion; So clever in their own judgment! (Isaiah 5:21)

While our people were still in tunnels in Gaza one of the signatories on this letter stated “The heart of Torah is justice not revenge.” Talk about a lack of leadership. Our sons and daughters were being tortured and starved to death by a cruel and savage enemy and this rabbi claimed our war effort was one of revenge? How sad for Jews in America if this is what qualifies as a leader of our people. I am sure this rabbi cares very much for the Jewish people and I’m quite confident he has done far more on their behalf than I ever will. However, it seems he has forgotten the lesson Samuel was teaching us about what it means to be a leader of the Jewish people. The story of King Saul is the cautionary tale these rabbis should have learned from. “And Samuel said, “You may look small in your own eyes, but you are the head of the tribes of Israel. G-D anointed you king over Israel, and G-D sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and proscribe the sinful Amalekites; make war on them until you have exterminated them.’ Why did you disobey G-D and swoop down on the spoil in defiance of G-D’s will?” Saul said to Samuel, “I did wrong to transgress G-D’s command and your instructions; but I was afraid of the troops and I yielded to them. (Samuel 1, 15:17-19; 24) Leadership demands from leaders the fortitude to stand against the tide and lead. But Jewish leadership demands more. A Jewish leader must ignore the troops and not yield to them. He must understand Hashem has put him in this position to be a leader of His people and in order to do that he must be responsible, act in a way that the Torah mandates and stand tall and courageous against those who want to destroy us. A Jewish leader must not succumb to the mob simply because they are uncomfortable with a war happening thousands of miles away and far from their air-conditioned country clubs and coffee houses. A Jewish leader is required to search and chase after truth in spite of what his people or even his own galut mentality are demanding from him. For a rabbi in America to puppet false Hamas narratives being spewed in the media is embarrassing enough. But to do so against the words of his own people who are actually fighting a war of survival is the height of hubris and every single signee should be ashamed of themselves. Their efforts reek of faux glass house moral outrage specifically designed to quell the voices coming from their pews or classrooms and to show the world “see, look at us! There are some “Orthodox” rabbis who are against Israel too”. Of course they are not against Israel, but as time has passed, our enemies fail to make that distinction and every single one of them should have known better.

Before I forget I want to address this “settler” fallacy these rabbis smeared our people with and here I will quote a man who protected me as a child and knows a thing or two about leadership in the face of the mob, Israeli Ambassador Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Leiter. “According to the Shin Bet, the core group of violent individuals numbers fewer than 100. By contrast, in 2023, Palestinians carried out 11,370 terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.” Where were these arbiters of morality in 2023 when “settlers” or what we here in Israel call Jews, were attacked more than 11,000 times? Any letters of condemnation from their high perch? Any lectures disseminated through the media? I have heard of or read exactly zero. King David would have made sure his voice was heard and then some. Yehuda would have taken care of the problem on his own after which I am sure these same rabbis would have sermonized about Jewish supremacy or some nonsense about vengeance and justice blah blah blah. We are a people with a country now. If we do not fight our enemies we will not have a country to defend. Hard choices here in the middle-east must be made to survive and if that makes some rabbinical leaders uncomfortable, get over it. That’s what is demanded of a leader.

But ambassador Leiter was not finished and I echo these sentiments. “Your statement not only reflects a severe unfamiliarity with the facts, but also relies on the lies of our worst enemies. Hamas physically seizes aid, imposes taxes and fees, runs smuggling operations, and even infiltrates aid organizations themselves. Israel places no barriers, neither in quality nor in quantity, on the delivery of humanitarian aid. Israel is the one feeding those who are firing on our children. In the face of heavy pressures and false accusations, what is required is moral backbone and a deep belief in the justice of our cause. Sadly, your statement undermined that.”

Now that Elul is here and the fabrications they relied on for their letter have been thoroughly debunked, it is incumbent on these Rabbis to apologize publicly in the same way they lectured the world previously. They need to openly acknowledge they believed false propaganda which was spread with the express intent of attacking our people. They need to sermonize their parishioners and students on the importance of not jumping to conclusions in the face of facts in contradiction to their message. More importantly they need to lead by example and display humility by asking forgiveness in the same way they had hurt the persons in question. I have waited until half the month was gone to see if indeed they would apologize. They have failed to do so whether by choice or forgetfulness so I am here to remind them there is still time. If anyone reading this knows any of these rabbis, feel free to share this with them and let them know if they need help, I can draft the letter after which they can all sign. Or they can do the work themselves and show the world and our people, what real Jewish leadership looks like.

Unfortunately, I fear they will let us all down again.

I hope I am wrong.