Olyvea Akres – Year 11

Mia Shapiro – Year 11

BeMidbar Sinai

Liv: This week’s parashah, Bemidbar Sinai, reveals the nitty gritty of how the Mishkan, which is like a portable shul, was assembled and disassembled, as well as the 1^st steps to forming an army.

To build this army, God told Moshe to conduct a census, with the intention of counting all the people who could be part of the army – all men between the ages of 20 and 60. Each of the 12 tribes had a leader who helped Moshe do the counting.

Mia: Also in this parashah, God discusses how the people of Israel camped and traveled in the desert. When the Israelites began traveling, the Levites would take apart the Mishkan, carry it to wherever the next camp was, and set it up again. The camp was arranged in a very specific way:

• In the center was the Mishkan.
• Around the Mishkan was the camp of the Levites, divided into 3 groups.
• The people who carried the Mishkan’s vessels (the altar, ark, menorah, etc.), camped to its south.
• The people who carried the curtains and roof coverings, were to the west, and the sons of Merrari, who carried the walls and pillars, camped to the north.

Liv: In front of the Mishkan’s entrance way in the east were the tents of Moshe, Aharon, and Aharon’s sons. Around the Levites were camped the rest of the People of Israel, in 4 groups.

Mia and I thought about the significance of this parashah, as it relates to the role of leadership within a community or group. At the beginning of the parashah, the title leadership was placed upon members of each tribe. God said to Moshe: “And with you shall be one man from each tribe; a man who is a leader”.

Mia: Each tribe had 1 designated leader but we thought that there must have been more than 1 person who was qualified to do this job and who exhibited characteristics of leadership in each tribe. So we were led to the question –  what is the difference between someone who’s capable of managing others as opposed to one who can lead them?

So, what qualities does a leader have that earns him/her the honorary title of leader. A leader requires the consent of those he/she wants to lead.

A leader is only a leader if others follow him/her. If they don’t want to follow – or do so against their will – then these people are merely being managed and not being led. True leaders have a drive to succeed for not only themselves but others around them.

Liv: We are sure that almost everyone at some point has wanted to change something or make a difference beyond oneself, but to think that you could carry out this change independently is impossible. To achieve true and lasting change you always require the consent, will, and desire of others to follow a leader to accomplish a larger mission.

Mia: With this new knowledge of the difference between management and leadership we can reflect on our own lives. By asking ourselves what can we do to grow and evolve into a leader, we have the opportunity to mature and look beyond what’s ‘important’ in our lives today.

Liv and Mia: So this week we challenge you to not sweat the small stuff and to truly think about what you can do to become a better you and a better leader. Forget about the new phone policy at school that you’re angry about, and forget about your summer tan which is rapidly fading and invest time into your personal growth. If you want to be recognised as a leader, as were those by Moshe, start with yourself.