DO YOU ACCEPT RUSTY PENNIES?

Once there was a well-to-do but miserly man who refused to give Tzedakah. Collectors came and went and every time without fail he would offer them a rusty coin. And every time without fail, the collectors groaned and moved on, leaving him with his coin and they with their cause.

“The Alter Rebbe” is how Chabad Chassidim refer to the Rebbe who founded Chabad and led until his passing in 1812. The Alter Rebbe once visited this miser and to the man’s surprise, graciously accepted the rusty coin, offering his sincere blessing in exchange for the paltry contribution. When the Rebbe turned to leave the man called him back and increased his gift, eliciting yet another blessing from the Rebbe. Eventually, the man happily donated the entire sum the Rebbe was seeking.

Our family friend Rabbi Dr. Chaim I. Drizin once pointed out:

The great reaction was all because the Rebbe noticed what he did, not what he didn’t do.

The Rebbe blessed him for what he gave instead of begrudging what he did not give.

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Ironically, in today’s rough and tough world, an approach like the Rebbe’s might be called soft or naïve. It is often mistaken for timidity and weakness, an unwillingness to speak the truth to those who need to hear it. 

But how many people preceded the Rebbe with stern looks and words for this miser and what had they accomplished with their boldness? He remained a miser and they remained without his Tzedakah!

What the Rebbe did is the duty of every leader (and who is not a leader in one capacity or another?) The job of a leader is not just to promote and enforce values. The leader has to see those values in the people. 

What is the difference between a dictator and a leader? A dictator imposes values on people. A leader helps people become their own values. Sometimes gently, sometimes firmly, but never separating between the people and the values.

If a person possesses no generosity, why would he ever want to behave generously? Because you glare at him and condemn him? Because Tzedakah is a Mitzvah in Torah, the Rebbe knew that generosity had to be in this man’s soul as well since the Torah and the soul are one. By helping the man realize his own capacity for generosity, the Rebbe led. And since the Rebbe led, the miser followed.

But you need to truly, genuinely see that rusty coin as a degree of generosity. 

And to see that you need the massive inner strength that it takes not to be blinded by the overwhelming selfishness.

And to do that you need to deeply, deeply care about the person.

And that’s a leader.

Thus in this week’s Parshah G-d charges Moses, Aaron and the tribal princes – the fourteen busiest and most important Jews - with the seemingly menial job of counting the number of Jewish people. Because it is not just about determining a number; it’s about exuding the love and concern that it takes to make each person feel counted, valuable and beloved. 

Can we do that with our children? Our students? Our employees? Our circle of friends?

That’s what leadership is all about.

Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom!