The greatest leadership legacy: Parshat V’zot ha-Brakha

Abstract

What endures when a leader leaves us? ___A lyrical passage in the Jerusalem Talmud informs us that when certain scholars died, their expertise and uniqueness died with them. When Ben Azzai died, for example, diligent students ceased to exist. When Ben Zoma died, Torah interpreters ceased. When Rabbi Yehoshua died, goodness ceased from the world (JT Sota 9:16). The list of scholars and the gaps they left are lengthy. This does not imply that there would never again be diligent students, expounders of Torah, goodness in the world or the many other virtues and skills discussed. It suggests that these traits and behaviors were associated with particular rabbis, and the world was significantly diminished without them. This is what is lost, but the Talmud here does not tell us what endures after a leader dies.