Parshat Vayikra
Candelighting 3/14/08 - 6:44 PM (DST New York City)
Parshas
Vayikra
Admitting Wrong
Rabbi Chaim Lobel
(Leviticus;
Chapter 4, Verse 22) “When a leader sins, and commits one from
among all the commandments of G-d that may be done,
unintentionally, and becomes guilty.”
During the
times of the Mishkan and Holy Temple, if one sinned
unintentionally, he brought a Korban Chatas – a sacrifice
atoning his action. The same law applies to a leader that
sinned, except a leader sacrifices an unblemished male goat
while all of Israel atones with a young bull.
Rashi comments
on the wording of the verse, “When a leader sins.” The Torah
uses the word “Asher” which is the root of the word “Ashrei”-
praiseworthy. Rashi explains the Torah is praising the
generation that has a leader who sets his heart to atone for his
unintentional sin. Rashi continues, “How fortunate would a
generation be if a leader would not only admit and atone for an
unintentional mistake but would even admit his intentional
sins?”
The Gur Aryeh
(Maharal from Prague) comments on and explains Rashi. The fact
that a leader is able to regret his past actions, in a public
setting, proves he is not embarrassed to admit wrong. The leader
does not say to himself, “How could I confess? I am too
important.” A leader needs to be humble and not view himself
above others. Certainly, a leader may not exalt himself due to
his position. Therefore, the people are fortunate to have such a
leader whose kingship will endure.
The Gur Aryeh
makes the point that a leader will be successful if he posses
this virtue. The Torah is not just writing this about public
officials; even our most righteous leaders need to work on their
humility. It is self evident that such a character trait is hard
to come by. Not admitting wrong, by itself, is an imperfection.
For the rest
of us, being able to admit wrongdoing is necessary to build
successful relationships with our friends, spouses, family,
children and G-d. Learning humility is a great place to start.
***
Rabbi Chaim Lobel is the
Rabbi of Young Israel of Aberdeen, Congregation Bet Tefilah,
Aberdeen, NJ.
http://www.yiaberdeen.com/index.html
