Las Cruces Bulletin - November 2, 2018
Use wisdom when voting for our leaders
On two Tuesdays in October, Temple Beth-El sponsored candidate forums for several local and statewide races. At each of these events, I offered a brief introduction based on insights from Jewish tradition.
At the first forum, I quoted from the prayer for our country in the prayer book of Conservative Judaism, Siddur Lev Shalem: “Our God and God of our ancestors ... RABBI KAROL Seeking Harmony may each of us fulfill our responsibilities of citizenship with care, generosity, and gratitude … May our … elected leaders … exercise their responsibilities with wisdom, fairness, and justice for all. Fill them with love and kindness and bless them that they may walk with integrity on the paths of peace and righteousness.”
At the second forum, I turned to Exodus Chapter 18. In that passage, Moses’ father-in -law, Jethro, encouraged his son-in-law to appoint deputies to help him lead the people and to serve as judges when disputes arose. Jethro suggested that these potential leaders be capable, trustworthy, and honest (spurning ill-gotten gain), and that they do right by God and by their fellow community members. I also shared insights from Leadership in Turbulent Times, a new book by Doris Kearns Goodwin, in which she chronicled the lives of four American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Goodwin traced their development as leaders, describing, in detail, the traits they nurtured early on that stood them in good stead throughout their lives and careers. Early in his time in public life, Abraham Lincoln revealed “a number of traits associated with leadership – ambition, motivation, resoluteness, language skills, storytelling gifts, sociability.” He was also known for his adept use of humor. In one case, when his oratory led him to hurtfully mimic an opponent during a campaign event, Lincoln realized he had gone too far. He apologized, and Goodwin explained, “For years afterward, the memory of that night filled Lincoln ‘with the deepest chagrin.’ Increasingly, though not always, he was able to rein in his impulse to throw a hurtful counterpunch. He was after something more significant than the gratification of an artfully delivered humiliation.”
Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated, at the beginning of his political career, “a remarkable willpower, intellectual vitality, irrepressible liveliness, wide-ranging interests, and a growing gratification connecting with people from different backgrounds and stations in life.” He moved from, at first, focusing only on his views and opinions to realizing the benefits of collaborating with many legislative partners.
Franklin Roosevelt was bright and optimistic from his youth. He had a keen ability to look at a problem or challenge and work through its issues to arrive at a solution. His personality and temperament led him to connect with people in ways that drew them to him. Over the years, he learned the value of cooperation and humility.
Doris Kearns Goodwin recounted how Lyndon Johnson, as principal of an elementary school (during a year-long break from college) in Cotulla, Texas, “employed every leadership attribute he already possessed – indefatigable energy, ability to persuade, willingness to fight for what he wanted, intuition, enterprise, and initiative - to enlarge opportunities for his students and to improve their lives.” It was, according to Goodwin, empathy that drove Johnson’s work with the students and their families. At most any time, it is important to consider the essential traits that we want to see in ourselves and in the leaders we choose. May we always make our decisions related to leadership with understanding and wisdom.
