Influencers

One who brings merit to the many, will not be the cause of sin; One who causes the many to sin will be denied the means to repent. Moses attained merit and brough merit to the many; therefore the merit of the many was attributed to him, as it is said, “He carried out the Lord’s righteousness and His ordinances with Israel.” Jeroboam sinned and caused the many to sin; therefore, the sin of the many was attributed to him, as it is said “For the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit” (I Kings 15:30).

The bottom line for Jewish organizations, businesses, synagogues, or schools cannot be fully measured in membership, finances, or grades. Jewish leaders are also responsible for the physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being of their constituents. The rubric of success, according to this Mishna, is to bring “merit to the many.” This is exemplified by Moses, who taught and influenced the Israelites to follow God’s righteous laws. A failure of Jewish leadership, as demonstrated by the wicked king Jeroboam, occurs when a leader himself sins, and causes others to sin as well.

Robert Greenleaf’s influential model of servant leadership serves as an illustrative construct to exemplify Moses’ leadership. In a review of the literature Nathan Eva and colleagues summarize the essence of servant leadership:

Servant leadership is a holistic leadership approach that engages followers in multiple dimensions (e.g., relational, ethical, emotional, spiritual), such that they are empowered to grow into what they are capable of becoming. It seeks first and foremost to develop followers on the basis of leaders' altruistic and ethical orientations (Greenleaf, 1977). When followers' well-being and growth are prioritized, they in turn are more engaged and effective in their work.  

Moses led with humility. He selflessly and tirelessly worked for the betterment of his people, teaching and influencing towards fulfillment of “the Lord’s righteousness and His ordinances with Israel.”

One of the primary ways a leader influences is through role modeling. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory proposes that people primary learn through witnessing others. We are particularly influenced by those in authority and leadership positions. When we see others do morally worthy acts, we feel a sense of what Jonathan Haidt terms “moral elevation.” Through moral contagion, we feel uplifted and inspired to emulate their example.

The Mishna claims that the one who brings merit to the many will not “be the cause of sin,” and one who causes many to sin, will be denied the opportunity to repent. Commentaries struggle with fundamental concepts such as freewill and repentance. For the former, even someone who does well, should still be capable of turning bad and causing himself or others to sin?  For the latter, shouldn’t someone always have the capacity to repent?

Most commentaries soften the black and white expectations of our original assumption. There is no guarantee that the righteous will not sin, nor that the sinner cannot repent. With few exceptions, such as Pharoah, everyone can repent for themselves. The challenge of causing others to sin is the even if the leader repents, those he influenced may not. The full repentance process, writes Rabbi David HaNagid, would require influencing the followers to repent fully as well. On the other end, the merits of someone who has influenced others for the good will not be wiped away even if he or she eventually sins. The latter failure does not inherently negate the original benefits.

Other commentaries suggest that while God would never take away a person’s free will, He could potentially arrange situations where it would be more or less likely for a person to sin or to repent. Rabbi Yosef Yavetz writes that God will arrange for the righteous leader to be protected from harmful situations. Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller proposes that while God provides divine assistance in helping a standard sinner repent, He would not do so for the influential sinner.

Rabbi Samuel de Uceda presents a fully naturalistic, psychological reading of the Mishna’s formulation. People who influence others to do good, would internalize this as part of their identities. They would avoid sinning and causing others to sin because of the internal and external shame and embarrassment that would come about if their reputation was damaged. Adding a behaviorist and humanistic spin, their virtuous actions would be positively reinforced, leading to intrinsic motivation, and striving for an upward spiral of spiritual and moral behavior.

The wicked person would be so caught up in the snare of evil that the slippery slope would bury him or her into making continual bad decisions. Albert Bandura, quoted previously for his work on social learning, also studied the psychological mechanisms underpinning people’s immoral behavior, which he describes in his book Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves. Through cognitive justifications and rationalizations even good people can slide into iniquitous and debauched behavior. Once engaged, the addictive properties of negative passions, instincts, and drives will steer the wicked to their downfall. His friends, allies, and acquaintances will reinforce the negative behavior, and not allow him to extricate himself.

Immoral leaders have the power to influence by tapping into the “worse angels of our nature.” Moral leaders model righteousness. They care about the physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being of others. They internalize this as part of their authentic personality making it more likely that they will pursue this path of virtue themselves and continue to influence others positively. Following Biblical precedent, this Mishnah is encouraging those of us who are leaders to be moral leaders, and those of us who are followers, to be upright followers, choosing to emulate only righteous role-models.