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What Moses and the Torah Can Teach Us About Leadership Today
Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law (1659), by Rembrandt. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Over and above the spiritual and ritual laws of the Torah, there are themes of leadership that run through all five books, sometimes overtly and sometimes subtly.
An obvious example are the chapters we have been reading (Bemidbar from Chapter 11 to Chapter 28) in which the leadership of Moses was constantly challenged.
There were mass protests against Moses (Bemidbar 11). And then (Bemidbar 11:26) two men, Eldad and Medad, were prophesying outside the Tabernacle.
Joshua saw this as a challenge to Moses, and wanted to get rid of them. Moses replied that he would be happy if everyone was a prophet and had the Divine spirit. Then Miriam and Aaron attacked Moses (Bemidbar 12), publicly claiming that God spoke to them too and throwing back at Moses his own words: “We are all holy and God has spoken to us too.”
After the failure of the scouts to recommend invading Canaan, the people then threatened to stone Moses (Bemidbar 14). There followed a rebellion over food and manna, and Moses had to justify himself by insisting he had never personally gained anything from his leadership. The most serious challenge was from Korach (Bemidbar 16). Yet even after Moses was vindicated, there was another rebellion over water — and then Moses hit the rock instead of speaking to it. This led to his death before entering Canaan.
These incidents show the constant challenges that Moses had to face. They illustrate the nature of leadership and its pitfalls — and how quickly admiration can turn sour. Moses is very much a reluctant leader and pleaded not to be given his role. Yet he stepped up to the challenge and struggled constantly with the stiff-necked children of Israel who on the one hand accepted his remarkable persona, yet time and again, wanted to appoint another leader and go back to Egypt.
It is amazing that only twice did Moses lose his temper (at least as recorded in the Torah). God’s punishment — that Moses could not enter Israel — can be understood as a lesson that nobody, however great, is indispensable, and that we all have our limitations.
There are other examples of Moses being willing to deal with specific requests and issues when necessary. And he is described as being a man of humility, the humblest of men (Bemidbar 12:3).
When Moses is sentenced to die, he immediately concerns himself with succession and turns to God (Bemidbar 27) and describes the qualities of leadership — “appoint someone from the community who will go out before them and come in before them and lead them forward.”
A man of the community and yet above them. Yet he did not ask for his sons to succeed him. God replied that such a man was Joshua. He led the battle against Amalek. He was with Moses at Sinai, and he had apprenticed himself to Moses to learn from him. and saw when to be aggressive and when to be compliant.
This theme of leadership and its challenges, recurs throughout the Bible particularly with regard to King David — and the challenges of authority as well as the family. We learn when to stand firm and when to accept one’s limitations — to be humble, not arrogant and not take advantage of one’s position. But the ideal is to combine spiritual with physical strength and humility.
There is no perfect political system, just as there is no perfect leader. Throughout our history we have found different ways of governance and different forms of leadership — different schools of rabbis, sects, and subdivisions. Now probably more than at any other time in our history, we need leaders with humanity, humility, and the strength to lead us into a new promised land.
The author is a rabbi based in New York.
The post What Moses and the Torah Can Teach Us About Leadership Today first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.