Ziggy Letschert - Dvar Torah

Shabbat Shalom! My Torah portion is Vaeira which can be found in the book of Exodus, the second book of the five books of the Torah.

My Torah portion just so happens to be a part of the Torah we all know very well because it's the part we do during Pesach, the part about the 10 plagues, when the Jews are slaves in Egypt and God chooses Moses to lead his people out of slavery.

Studying this portion was fascinating because Pharaoh’s reaction to the 10 plagues was a very interesting lesson in what makes a bad leader and what makes a good leader. After each plague, instead of letting the Jews go, Pharoah hardened his heart and kept the Jews enslaved, bringing incredible suffering to his own people.

At first when I heard this concept of hardening one’s heart I didn’t really understand what it meant but Rabbi Greg kept talking about it and I soon realised how important the concept is especially when it comes to leadership. The idea is that you need to have a soft heart to be a strong leader. At first it doesn’t seem to make sense but if you think about it, if Pharoah wouldn’t have hardened his heart he would have realised how much suffering he was bringing to his people and would have agreed after the first plague to let the Jews go and would have saved his people so much suffering.

Here in South Africa we have one of the best examples of how having a soft heart is important for great leadership. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail and when he was released he should have had a very hardened heart but he didn't. He didn't want to be like the people that put him in jail. They hardened their hearts and allowed apartheid to ruin our country. Nelson Mandela kept a soft heart and showed strong leadership by telling everyone in his first speech that all South Africans of all colours are welcome in South Africa and never again will one group of people be allowed to oppress another group of people.

This was such an important lesson for me because so often on the playground I have seen how people including myself think they are leaders by being rude and unkind. I have now learnt that being a leader means having a soft heart and considering everyone's feelings before making a decision.

I’m grateful for having this torah portion and having learnt this lesson. I might not be a world leader but everyone needs to be a leader at some point in their life and the world would be a better place if everyone follows this rule.

Shabbat shalom