I dotting, Inactivity and Inspiration

The process for choosing a leader for the largest faith community in the world has begun in Rome. I would like to think that what would be uppermost in the minds of the selectors is identifying who is the most compassionate, most committed to justice and charity, most devout, tolerant, spiritual, sensitive, wisest, boldest, noblest visionary candidate. I would imagine there are other practical qualities that are being considered seriously, such as something as mundane as management skills for example. This is a good time to think about the role of spiritual and moral leaders of significant faith or values based institutions broadly and for me personally. In particular, beyond vision and guidance how important are management skills to implement the vision and the ability to run a compliant, accountable organisation? How much of a priority is to be still and to contemplate? All of these issues are deemed to be important in the Torah reading this week in the portions Vayakhel-Pekudei[1].

The first conflict is between the priorities of action vs. stillness. Moses has a temple to build and there is great excitement, should this activity pause for the Sabbath rest? A robust argument could be made for action to take priority. Surely, ‘since the temple symbolised God’s presence among the nation, its creation should take precedence over the Sabbath. Perfection (would presumably) lie in action rather than rest. Action seems a much more eloquent witness of faith than merely the absence of work[2]’. This argument is repudiated in God’s command to Moses in the midst of the discussion about the temple that the Sabbath rest must be observed[3]. Lesson one inverts the famous action oriented saying to advise us: “don’t just do something, sit there!”, at least for one day out of seven.

The tension between institution building activity and quiet contemplation plays out in a lovely Midrash that presents it as a conversation between the Sabbath and God. The Sabbath says “Master of the World, you created me from (the time of) the six days of creation and you sanctified me, now you are instructing the Jews about matters of the tabernacle but my name you don’t mention. Perhaps, out of the love Israel has for making the tabernacle they will desecrate me”. Immediately, God turned to her and told Moses to write about the Sabbath in this portion that deals with the work of the tabernacle to show that it’s construction does not override the Sabbath …[4]” I take this as a message that while “doing” and building is important, a spiritual endeavour must include an emphasis on retreat and reflection.

While quiet time helps us stay true to ourselves, building institutions is really important and exciting work that occupies many page of the Exodus. After Moses went up on the mountain and was with God for forty days and nights, not even eating or drinking[5] as he received the law and the most amazing revelation at Mt Sinai, he goes on to build a physical building to contain the vision, the relationship with God and the message.

I think Moses would have hoped this could be his focus, but this is not to be. He has the scandal of the Golden calf. What an incredible let down, by the people he was so committed to helping. These were the people who were meant to be on his team. What have they done?! Yet this too is part of leadership, to support the flock and be there for them in their struggles with their human frailties.

Photo by Mrs. L. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nosmoking/ 

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After the drama of the Golden Calf, Moses deserved a holiday. Instead he threw himself into the construction of the Tabernacle. Yet, another challenging task was still ahead of him, the extremely practical and mundane task of accounting for the donations. Moses is focused on the following bits of information. “the gold of the waving was twenty nine talents, seven hundred and thirty shekels in the holy Shekel[6]The silver of the community numbers was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy five shekels in the holy Shekel. One hundred talents of the silver were used for casting the sockets of the Holy and the sockets of the dividing curtain; one hundred sockets out of one hundred talents, one talent for each socket. And out of The one thousand seven hundred and seventy five [shekels] he made hooks for the pillars, and he covered their tops and banded them…” and on and on it goes.

According to commentary, a bookkeeping error meant that Moses was very worried about a 1775 shekel discrepancy which is the reason for the word “the” in the preceding verse, after that particular bit of expenditure was identified. Moses was elated when this accounting problem was solved[7].

This work is not fulfilling or exciting yet it is required. Like Moses, I embrace it and accept the great importance of doing right and being seen to be doing right. The compliance, governance and audit responsibilities all come with the territory and are part of the sacred work. Once these are attended to, other matters of worship and vision can be realised. This is as true for me as it is for the next pope.

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[1] Exodus 35:1-40:38

[2] Abarbanel cited in Leibovitz, New Studies in Shemot Exodus, p.655

[3] Exodus 35:1-3

[4] Midrash Hagadol cited in Torah Shlaima, Vol 23, p.3

[5] Exodus 34:28

[6] Exodus 38:24

[7] Midrash Tanchuma 7

Public Servants - Accountability and Scorn – Wisconsin & Sinai Pekudei

Accountability is on the agenda. With an election looming in the Australian state of NSW, Australian school results displayed on the My School website, and out of Wisconsin a storm brewing over public servants. I am not across the details in the US situation, but it seems like Class-warfare organised by the party serving the interests of the “self-made” rich and of 'true American rugged individualism” against the union affiliated “other” of the public sector.  The public servant as an underpaid political punching bag is one ethical problem. As a public servant myself, in the sense that I work for a non-profit with substantial government funding, I can empathise with my colleagues. I also want to think about the obligations of the public servant. First among these is the principle of “you shall be clean in eyes of God and man[i]”.

Accountability meets some resistance from some people involved in public service. Teachers in the US for example thought it ridiculous that a principal should be able to decide on the basis of performance, who to retain and who to fire[ii]. I once suggested that Jewish schools have an external committee to oversee them. The wife of the head of a cluster of religious institutions that might be affected by my proposal, angrily asked me “would you like to have someone looking over your shoulder?!” Yes, I replied, I would be very happy to be held accountable for my level of performance against objectives that I had some say in formulating. Still regrettably, there is reluctance to adopt the highest standards of governance in some religious institutions.

Jewish sources point to both greater or lesser requirements for accountability. We have the example in a mishna of the priest entering the temple treasury who was forbidden to have a hem in his clothing so that no one would suspect that he stole anything[iii]. He was even required to have someone talk to him as he went in to ensure he could not put any coins in his mouth[iv]. Yet the concern in this Mishna seems to be less about ensuring honesty and more about removing suspicion. 'Lest he become poor and people will say that he became poor as punishment for stealing...lest he become rich and people will say that he became rich from the temple treasury'. This concern with suspecting the innocent is also expressed in the principle that “one who suspects the innocent, is punished with lashes on his body[v]”. Yet, the conclusion of the Mishna is the principle that a person must (be seen to be) fulfilling his obligations by the people just as one must fulfil his obligations by God.

We have two very different priorities here, maintaining a positive view of public servants and keeping them honest. In the code of Jewish law, this tension plays out in differentiating between someone who is deserving of public trust. In his/her case the community must not make calculations with the one in charge of charity ...because they do it in (good) faith[vi]. It is merely “good to for them to give an accounting, this is with the upright...if someone is not “Kosher”, or has been appointed through intimidation and strength, they must give an account”[vii].

The case of Moses, supports both perspectives. He saw fit to commission an audit of his spending of communal funds. “These are the accounts of the tabernacle (temporary desert temple), the tabernacle of testimony that was commissioned by Moses, the work of the Levites by the hand of Itamar the son of Aaron the Cohen”[viii]. One way of reading this text is that Moses initiated an Audit but had Itamar do the audit[ix]. Although Moses was a treasurer on his own he called others and calculated by their hand as it says, these are the calculations by the word of Moses, (that is) by the word of Moses (but) by the hand of Itamar”[x].

This reading is at odds with the understanding that the meaning of “by the hand of Itamar” is that he was the one managing the work[xi] and therefore responsible for the accounts that would be audited. Not only was the “Auditor” very close to the work itself, he was also the son of Aaron, the brother of Moses, the nephew of the person seeking the audit! It would seem to be a bit less than a fully independent Audit[xii]. This would be consistent with the view of accountability as a method of removing unjustified suspicion rather than addressing substantial concerns. While the collection of charity needed to be carried out by two people, even two brothers were allowed to collect it[xiii]. 

Perhaps also reflecting the conflicting considerations about accountability, we have the odd situation that while the silver is fully accounted for in terms of what it was used for[xiv], this is not the case with the gold[xv]. A range of explanations are given for this difference. The silver is detailed because at this point its use was complete, but some gold was still going to be used in the creation of the priestly garments[xvi]. Alternatively, the silver was contributed by all the Jews as a compulsory contribution, so an audit was needed, while the gold was given by wealthy generous people who did not care about an audit[xvii].  A third view is that the silver was easy to audit and also easy to become the subject of suspicion as it was used for only two things and both were visible, while the gold was spread among many objects[xviii]. All of these approaches are plausible if we see the audit as managing perceptions about people we have chosen to trust rather than  keeping people honest.

It is also significant that according to some view the Audit was undertaken in response to the rumour mill. Moses heard the Jews talking about him behind his back... they were saying “look at his neck, look at his thighs, (how fat they are), he eats from the Jews, he drinks from the Jews” and his friend replies, “the man that controlled the work of the tabernacle, you don't think he will be rich? When Moses heard this he said, “by your life, when the tabernacle is finished I will make a calculation with you.[xix]

In the process of the Audit, there appeared to be a discrepancy between the income and expenses in relation to the silver. Moses is relieved and elated when the forgotten 1775 shekel are discovered, having been used for to make the silver hooks on the pillars [xx]. “immediately,  Moses gave 15 praises to the Holy One Blessed Be He, these are in Yishtabach (the morning prayer), song, praise etc. corresponding to these are 15 times the word “Blessed” in Baruch She-amar (also in the morning prayer) and 15 Vavs in Emet Vyatziv, true, and upright[xxi]...The word Vav in hebrew is the name of a letter that means “and” when used as a prefix but also means  hook, the discovered missing item that enabled the accounts to be reconciled.  

Those of us who are privileged to serve the public, deserve fair reward for our efforts not scorn and innuendo, equally we must do our part to earn and keep the trust of the people we serve.   

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[i]     Numbers 32:22, this principal is also applied to the handing out of jobs. Moses tells the Jews, see God called, by name, Betzalel (to be chief architect and designer of the tabernacle)…when Moses came down he told the Jews, this is what God told me…they asked and who will do all this? They started to find fault with Moses and said, God did not tell Moses to make the Tabernacle through Betzalel, but Moses himself appointed him because he is his relative, Moses; a king, Aaron his brother, high priest, his sons, vice Cohanim, Elezar the prince of the tribe of Levi, the sons of Kehot (the clan or extended family that Moses was part of), carry the tabernacle (eg. It’s holiest objects) and (now) this one, controls the work of the Tabernacle…Moses said I have done nothing from my own mind, only God has told me, and he shows them, see God has called by name, Betzalel (tanchuma, cited in Studies in Shemot, Exodus, Nehama Leibowitz)

[ii]    http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2053510,00.html, Joe Klein in Time magazine,24/2/11 “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been trying to negotiate a deal whereby layoffs, if necessary, would not be made on a last-hired, first-fired basis. "So you'd rather have them lay off the more experienced teachers?" a Wisconsin teacher asked me. No: teachers should be hired and fired and paid according to their ability. "But who judges that?" the teacher asked. Their employers do, I replied. The teacher scoffed; the idea that school principals should be able to decide who should be part of their workforce seems incomprehensible to most teachers — and yet that sort of accountability is at the heart of any system that aspires to excellence.”

[iii]  Talmud Shekalim, (mishna) 8a, similar laws in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, laws of Tzedakah, 257:1

[iv]   Talmud Shekalim 9a

[v]    Talmud Shabbat 97a, Yoma 19b

[vi]   Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah. 257:2

[vii]  Rema comment on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, based on the Tur

[viii]          Exodus 38:21

[ix]   Nachshoni, Y,  (1988), Studies in the Weekly Parsha, Sh'mos, Artscroll, p. 607, based on the Midrash that follows.

[x]    Shemot Rabba 51:1,

[xi]   Rashi on Exodus 38:21, “By the hand of Itamar”, he was the one who was appointed over them to give to each family the work that was for them.

[xii]  Although one meaning of the Mishkan of Testimony is that God testified that all was in order with the accounts, which is the best clean audit one can get.

[xiii]          Tur Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah laws of Tzedoka 256

[xiv] Exodus 38:27-28

[xv]  The text dealing with the audit of the gold (38:24), tells us the amount collected but gives no details about what it was used for. Rashi and Rashbam, assert that the gold was audited, but give no explanation for the absence of detail. 

[xvi] Klei Yakar on Exodus 34:1

[xvii]         Rabbi Yonoson Eybshutz, cited in Nachshoni, Y (1988), Studies in the weekly Parsha, Sh'mos, Artscroll, Brooklyn, p.  606

[xviii]        Lvush HaOrah,

[xix] Old Tanchuma 4, cited in Torah Shlaima, Vol 23. p.55

[xx]  Tanchuma 7

[xxi] Daat Zekainim Ubaalei Hatosafot on Exodus 38:21