D’VAR TORAH- JOSEPH
Be prepared for one can be called to leadership in a moment’s notice. If you don’t believe me ask Joseph well since he’s not around why don’t you ask your local grocery clerk or hardware store employee. As Joseph was suddenly taken from a jail uniform to a crown so have many of the people we least expected during this Pandemic. Individuals who have gone above the call of duty to provide us with the items we normally took for vantage such as face masks to toilet paper are some of the new leaders of today. Today we put a crown on the nurse who stayed with those who were sick when they’re were real no preventative measures that we knew of. In the past it was those that hit a ball, sang a song that dazzled us but today many of us realize the real leaders are among us and many are sitting in this room today. How many of us have been called to duty in this Shul being here to pray even at risk to ourselves when other’s were unable too. While others have been called to lead a family when we least expect to.
It would have been easier for Joseph and us to be called on to lead when things were going our way but often it occurs after many a hard day why? As the great philospher Brantley Gilbert quotes hard days help us develop our own inner strength. They give us the will to live with a purpose we never would have had if difficulty didn’t throw a wrench in our life’s. They teach us who really we owe allegiance to and insure we were less about our outer beauty then what is in our own hearts and souls. Difficulty times sharpen us to become the leaders we were called to become but during such times we never thought we would become.
Leadership comes to us when we least expect it so how do we prepare ourselves for such moments? Maybe we should follow Joseph’s lead and stay humble while that crown is being placed on our head. G-D truly knows what we are capable of, when such times will be called and we must answer with humility, character, strength as well as a faith that shines through it all. We also must be willing to pass that crown onto others when our time has moved on. Joseph shows us how to act when we have been chosen for such roles and know that it can occur at a moment’s notice.
FOOTNOTE-This is a work in progress that I hope to be ready to show the world in December
