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When I first began my tenure at Or Shalom, I learned that we are the same age.

Both birthed into this world in 1991, there feels to be something truly serendipitous in the way we’ve grown into one another.

For this means that while Or Shalom was in its incubation in Betsy Strausberg’s living room, I, too, was incubating inside of my mother, who is here tonight. When Or Shalom was sorting out its internal identity and its broader identity vis-a-vis the San Francisco community and the Jewish world, I was a child, too trying to sort out my place in this world. When Or Shalom made the decision to affiliate as a Reconstructionist community in 2008, I was an adolescent, firming up my identity and my frameworks for relating to the world. As Or Shalom moved from place to place, throughout San Francisco, seeking home, I too bounced around the country and the world, living everywhere from Portland to Jerusalem, seeking an aligned home base in which to land. And, as Or Shalom found a home in Bernal Heights and began seeking a new rabbi, I was ordained into the role of Rabbi. Or Shalom and I have been life-cycling together for over 30 years, in parallel. And now, our paths have converged. 

When I was in my early twenties and throwing all of my life force toward community organizing, I learned of the term “leader-full.” What we were striving for, in our movements, was not traditional leadership. It was a leader-full movement. Movements in which everyone had a role and was a leader in their own right. Where there was organization, but not hierarchy. Webs and circles of support, but no center. Leaders at the front of the room, and leaders behind the scenes. For we recognized that none of us could do it alone. And, to truly succeed, we deeply needed one another, and the diversity of skills and experience we each offered.

I think Or Shalom figured out this model of being leader-full earlier in its development than I. But coming to Or Shalom this past year felt like coming home, in this sense. To a community that recognizes that the betterment of the world starts here–in the way we choose to organize ourselves. In a structure that needs, honors, and uplifts the gifts of each individual person.

In this week’s Parshah, Parshat Shoftim, we learn of how the Israelites envisioned leadership and a leader-full society. The parshah details the duties and responsibilities of four different types of leaders within the community: Judges, Kings, Priests and Prophets.

It begins with Judges. The role of the judge, ultimately, was to render rulings that promoted justice within the society they were attempting to build. They did so by having access to the Law as written in the Torah, and applying its logic to any situation that arose. However, unlike our contemporary, American justice system, it was not the role of the Judge to see through their judgements. Once a judgment was made by the judges, the onus moved to the people to execute the judgment. So the role of ‘judge” was to adjudicate and determine, but not to execute, judgment. 

Our parshah goes on to detail the role of the King. Contemporarily, when we think of a King, I think we do so according to the logic of the British monarchy or other European monarchies with which we are familiar. We think of an all-powerful person, beholden to no one, wealthy beyond measure, seen to be the representative of God on Earth and therefore above or beyond the law in some way. However, the way the Torah details the role of the King is quite fascinating. It quite literally says that a King is unnecessary, but the people may choose to have a King if they feel it will make them fit in better among nations of their day. But, a king must not be all-powerful. Rather, the parshah goes to great lengths to detail the ways the King’s power should be limited. He does not promulgate law, but is subject to it. His wealth and displays of power must be severely circumscribed. His primary responsibility is to educate himself in the ways of the moral teachings so that he can hold himself to the highest moral standard. So he can model for the people what living in line with the word of the Divine can look like. He becomes an exemplar not of power, but of humility.

The parshah then goes on to share about priests. It does not say much about the role of priests–likely because much of the Torah has already gone to great lengths to describe the specifics of the sacrificial system for which the priests are responsible. But rather, in our parshah, it talks about the legal protections we must render for the priests, as, unlike all other peoples, they have no right to land, and, therefore, no access to food without the direct support of the larger community. So, when talking about the priests in our parshah, they are not talking about the responsibilities of the priests, but rather the responsibilities of the rest of the Israelite people to care for the priests. For only by being cared for by the wider community are they able to perform their function of offering to the Divine Source on behalf of the people.

Lastly, the parshah details the role of the prophet. In many ways up until this point in the Torah’s narrative, Moses has served in all of these leadership roles himself, but especially so in the role of Prophet. For the role of prophet, according to our Parshah, is to be a channel for the communication of the Divine Will to the people. Throughout all their time wandering in the desert, this was Moses’s primary responsibility. But once he is gone, the people will continue to need these channels. For it can be easy to veer off course in the pursuit of justice. Prophets come into being to remind us to course-correct.

So, ultimately, our parshah details four kinds of leaders. The judges, who act as the interpreters of the Divine word. The king, who acts as the exemplar of Divine morality. The priests, who tend to Divine needs. And the prophets, who communicate the ever-unfolding Divine will. 

But, I think, what this parshah is ultimately pointing to is that, underneath all of these kinds of leaders is a fifth and most important form of leadership, and that is that of the people. The judges' judgments would be useless if the people were not there to see the judgment through. The king’s modeling would be irrelevant if others, too, were not held to the same standard. The priests could not tend to the Divine, if they, in kind, were not tended to by the people. And the prophet would be speaking into the void without a people to hear, listen, and respond accordingly.

Some people think of a rabbi as a judge. As one deeply learned in Jewish law, and able to interpret and apply it in day-to-day life. Some people think of a rabbi like a king–a charismatic leader. A moral exemplar. Some people think of a rabbi like a priest–one whose role is to focus on tending to the divine forces in the universe. And some people think of a rabbi as a prophet–one who receives ongoing revelation of what is right and what is just in this world, and speaks truth to power.

And all of these things are true. Rabbis do, and should, play all of these roles. But when I think of the role that I aspire to play as Or Shalom’s rabbi, it is that of “the people.” For, as a former organizer, I sincerely do believe that true power lies with the people. The power that affects change, the power that makes for liberation, is one that only comes through collectivity, rather than any one individual charismatic leader. So, my ultimate aspiration is to be of you. One of you. And together, we will all serve as judge. King. priest. Prophet. people.

So close your eyes for a moment. Tap into the leadership power that lives inside of you. What offering brings you to life? What unique skills and passions do only you bring to this community? And how can I support you in tending that gift? How can we support you in tending that gift? And how can we support us in becoming the most leader-full congregation possible?

Open your eyes and look around. We are all that we need to thrive.

From my early beginnings, from a continent away, I have grown up alongside this community, without even knowing it. Now, I join you, as one of you, and together, we will continue to make this community beautiful.