Healing leadership: Parshat Ha’azeinu

Abstract

We usually think of leaders as ambitious drivers, people who stand in the front of the room, take charge, and direct others towards a particular goal. If they are kind and respectful, they engage followers with that kindness and respect. If not, their service can be fueled by the need for dominance and authority. Thoughtless ambition can result in callousness, ruthlessness, narcissism, and exploitation. In this week’s Torah reading, we find a remarkable description of God that challenges this dominant paradigm: “See, then, that I, I am the One. There is no god beside Me. I deal death and give life; I wounded, and I will heal. None can deliver from My hand” (Deut. 32:27). ___God’s singularity, tied into life and healing, models a different leadership modality – that of Healer. In this verse, when God hurts people, God also brings solace and comfort. If God acknowledges that God hurts people, how much more so can be do the same. Now, we, too, must heal the wounds we create.