Romi Morales
At the age of 30, Joseph goes from being a prisoner to being the second in command, after Paroh in what was the regional power of the time, Egypt. This shows us an essential skill in every person who wishes to run after a vision: in order to fulfill great dreams, a leader must always know how to assume responsibility. From some examples of the parashah Miketz we will try to think how these menages can help us to learn the difficult art of assuming responsibility, also for when we lead the Tnua.
Assume responsibility before.
Paroh has two disturbing dreams (seven fat cows, they devour seven lean cows and seven fat ears of corn, they eat seven lean ears of corn) but there is no one in the palace who can interpret them. After being recommended by the minister of cups, Joseph is brought in front of Paroh to clarify the meaning of them. After listening to them, Joseph explains: “The two dreams are really one. The next seven years will be seven years of great abundance in Egypt, plus the following seven years will be very difficult years”. Joseph understands the problem ahead and is not content just to give a diagnosis of the situation. Immediately after giving his interpretation, he hastens to propose to Paroh a solution so that the years of famine will not be fatal. Joseph takes responsibility “before” the problem arises and chooses to be an active part of the solution. What happens next is no less surprising. Paroh understands that there is no one close to him who has the tools that Joseph has to manage the conflict they have to face. And for that reason, he decides to appoint him as his second in command. Yes, the one who until a few hours ago was a prisoner. Yes, to that young man who is only 30 years old. Yes, to that foreigner, who shares neither his beliefs nor his faith. Thus Joseph, as he had dreamed 13 years earlier, became one of the most powerful leaders of the time.
The relationship between Joseph´s attitudes and what we promote as part of our philosophical conception of education is extremely close: The youth movement is an expression of adolescent independence. It is a reaction against the conventional, it expresses a critique of the situations of the present, and it possesses a yearning to correct and create a better society for the future. The youth movement, responsible for its role, is not content to assume a position of sterile criticism: it leads its chanijim on the path of creativity and action. This translates into taking challenges in a changing and dynamic world with the responsibility we have as an educational and formative entity” (Darkenu, p.18).
Another element that encourages this type of attitude is the Tnautit moratorium. By moratorium we mean the possibility that Tnua gives us to learn from experience. However, experience is not the same as experiment. In other words, to learn from experience and not pay the real price for our mistakes in real life, there is a process we must follow: first diagnose, then plan and then carry out our plan, paying attention to the needs and changes in the context in which we are working. In other words: to use the benefit of the moratorium, we must do everything in our power to reduce the possibility of problems arising or affecting others. If after that, problems come, then we must learn for the future. This is to intervene and educate in leadership with responsibility.
Also from Paroh’s attitude, there is another value on which we educate and which sustains our vision of leadership in the Tnua: humility. Recognizing that the leader does not have all the answers nor possesses the only truth is a central element within the tnuati framework, if we want to keep it democratic. Assuming that, when leading, we do not always have all the necessary tools and, therefore, we need others to achieve the established goals, is an act of necessary, deep and honest responsibility. In Paroh, humility is also expressed in the attitude of greatness he shows in perceiving the difference with Joseph not as a threat, but, on the contrary, as something that enriches both parties and brings them closer to success.
Educating our chaverim and chaverot to become responsible leaders, who are willing to take the risk of bringing solutions even when the problems have not yet arrived at our doorstep, is one of the most important missions we have in the process of moving forward and building a better world.
Assume responsibility during.
Joseph diagnoses, plans and after the first seven years he works meticulously to manage the resources in an intelligent and efficient way. With the seven years of famine he manages in the same way, managing to turn Egypt into a fundamental center for the survival of all the people in the area. Thus, when the crisis reaches Eretz Cnaan, Yaacov asks his sons to travel to Egypt to buy wheat.
This event triggers the reunion between Joseph and his brothers, although they still fail to recognize him.
Joseph’s way of acting leaves us great lessons for our leaders in the Tnua. With him we see that assuming the responsibility of leading in happy times is extremely important. In this time it is possible to advance, to organize, to gather resources and achievements, to prepare our tzevet by giving them multiple knowledge that will allow them to be ready to strengthen the years of prosperity and to take advantage of the years of crisis with intelligence and wisdom. Likewise, assuming the responsibility of leading the Tnua in difficult times is extremely valuable. Our Tnuati history shows us that it is thanks to those who did not give up and continued to persevere even in the darkest times (Shoah, dictatorships in the Diaspora, pandemics, wars in Israel), that we have been able to reach moments of profound success, among them, our 100th birthday.
Asumir responsabilidad después.
Despite the fact that 13 years have passed, Joseph quickly recognizes his brothers when they come to him to buy food. Before the unexpected reunion he asks himself if anything has changed in them, if they feel the same as before, if they regret anything, if they could turn back time if they would act the same way as they did years ago. Joseph cries several times in this Parasha, and while there are many questions and mixed feelings in his heart, he does not dare to ask. Instead, he puts his brothers in a situation similar to what they went through together and waits to see their reaction. To his surprise, they take responsibility and regret leaving Joseph to cry alone in a deep, dark pit. From here Joseph will prepare a plan to reveal his identity to his brothers and reconcile with them.
Assuming leadership is not an easy task. As is well known, those who do, are generally more likely to make mistakes than those who choose not to act for fear that things will not go as expected or desired. Even having the best intentions, sometimes we hurt those we love the most in the eagerness to achieve that dream that we saw so clearly at some point. But part of being a responsible leader is to assume when we were not accurate in our actions, is to recognize that there are things that perhaps we should have done differently because then, probably, the course of history would have been better, or happier, or healthier. Assuming responsibility means identifying when we made a mistake and promising ourselves to make every effort to prevent it from happening again in the future. This requires an education that fosters values such as ethics, humility, truth, coherence, integrity, honesty, among others. We need a platform that helps us to put each of these concepts into practice. We need a Tnua in which we can practice putting into play its DNA rich in moral values as an ultimative compass in those moments of uncertainty, when we are not clear about the best path to follow.
By way of conclusion.
In this article we saw how assuming responsibility is an indispensable element in the formation of the leaders of the future. We saw that assuming responsibility is not always easy. It requires multiple knowledge, skills and abilities that we do not necessarily have from birth, but that we have to learn over time. And we also saw how fortunate we are to have an educational framework such as Tnua, which teaches us to be strong and courageous enough to, despite everything, choose to learn the difficult but very important art of assuming responsibility, before, during and also after.
