What an erudite fellow is Rabbi Sacks.
I don't always agree with his political commentary, but his Torah commentary is magnificent and his breadth of knowledge of secular and Jewish sources is tremendous.
I urge you to read this article about power and influence.
It's wonderful.
"Power works by division, influence by multiplication. Power, in other
words, is a zero-sum game: the more you share, the less you have.
Influence is a non-zero-sum game: the more you share, the more you have."
"Not all of us have power, but we all have influence. That is why we can
each be leaders. The most important forms of leadership come not with
position, title or robes of office, not with prestige and power, but
with the willingness to work with others to achieve what we cannot do
alone; to speak, to listen, to teach, to learn, to treat other people’s
views with respect even if they disagree with us, to explain patiently
and cogently why we believe what we believe and do what we do; to
encourage others, praise their best endeavors and challenge them to do
better still. Always choose influence rather than power. It helps change
people into people who can change the world."
"Kings had power—including that of life and death (see Joshua 1:18).
Prophets had none, but they had influence, not just during their
lifetimes but, in many cases, to this day. To paraphrase Kierkegaard:
when a king dies, his power ends. When a prophet dies, his influence
begins."
Tomorrow night is the start of the Jewish Shavuot holiday, which I really love.
More about Shavuot here.
