Being a Jew Means Being a Leader

It is all so glaring. 

The contrast between Noach who walked with God, and Avraham who walked before Him speaks volumes. Avraham prayed, Noach did not. We have no prayer that Noach cultivated or endowed humanity with. In the most dire of circumstances, it was his silent obedience and acquiescence more than anything that defined his legacy, one that seems to go hand in hand with the alcoholism that ensued later. One who believes in a change mentality doesn't fall to the depravity and despair of drunken nakedness and a feeling of a lack of control. 

Yet, one thing that seems to need larger attention is that without Noach, there never would have been an Abraham. They don't necessarily represent opposing modalities to life, but rather evolutionary ones. Avraham was NOT chosen to save the world from the raging floods; that wasn't his essence or identity, and truth be told he wouldn't have been able to do it. 

The same type of contrast is often used in Tanach classes to distinguish between King Saul and his material and spiritual heir, David. We all know that Saul sought David with his dear life and tried to kill him at every opportunity he could. Some may argue that Saul was spineless, refusing to solidify his kingship, yet truth be told, again, without Saul who pioneered the idea of kingship, who struggled with the notion of lording over his fellow man, obviously in their best interest, David, and what he represented, never could have come about. 

And likewise, the same failures that David made as a leader, it was Solomon the wise who would correct, creating a path of his own based on the flaws of those who preceded him. Solomon, in his wisdom, solidified his leadership right away, accepting not even the merest semblance of threat from either within or without, something David refused to do with his warring sons who lacked guidance from him about who would be the next leader. 

In other words, "We don't have to finish the work" - lo alecha hamlacha ligmor - but each of us has to step up to the plate, in Avraham's fashion to try to leave the world slightly better. 

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