THE PROMISE OF A LEADER
The philosopher Nietsche had a sharp eye for encapsulating a moral truth:
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”
Be careful with what you say. Don’t say anything you won’t keep. And keep anything you say.
In his “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey writes: “Integrity includes, but goes beyond honesty. Honesty is … conforming our words to reality. Integrity is conforming reality to our words—in other words, keeping promises and fulfilling expectations. This requires an integrated character, a oneness, primarily with self but also with life.”
If this applies to each of us, it especially applies to our leaders, or would-be leaders. They bear an enormous responsibility for the words that they utter. Their audiences are entitled to assume that they mean the words they say, and to draw appropriate conclusions from them.
As Avtalyon, one of the early Sages and Heads of the Sanhedrin, said: “Chachamim, Hizaharu Bedivreichem! – Sages, be careful with your words!” (Pirkei Avot 1:11)
The first of our two parashot, this week, opens with Moses addressing first the heads of the tribes, and then the children of Israel, on the laws of vows and oaths. In particular, he stresses the injunction lo yachel devaro, ‘he may not break his word’.
Why are the tribal leaders instructed first?
Rabbi Moses Sofer of Pressburg, the 19th century leader of Hungarian orthodoxy, shrewdly observes that it is the leaders who need the most reminding of these laws. Prior to getting into power, they will make all sorts of promises. Sadly, many turn out to be empty words once they enter office!
The fabric of friendship and of society is maintained when people keep their word. It unravels when they don’t. These words resonate loudly in our world today. The parasha refocuses us on our core values of integrity. When the world around us confuses, the Torah is unequivocal: whoever we may be, our words matter and we are responsible for them.