Coining JulY 19 THE JEWISH NEWS Viewers Guide To The Olympic Games A pull-out-and- save section with stories, informa- tion and photographs that enhance your Olympics viewing pleasure! 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RABBI ALON TOLWIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS T his week's sedrah is unique because it is the only one named in honor of a Jew who did something good. While there are sedrahs whose names are shared with evil gen- tile prophets, some whose names are action verbs, skin conditions or places, this is the only one which is named for a righteous Jew. This is psychologically odd. If I were an ancient priest who was trying to convince people to accept my book, it would behoove me to name a few chapters in honor of their leaders. For that matter, I might even write one or two more complimentary things about the Jews and their leaders. Yes, it is quite odd that the au- thor doesn't do this. Here is Pinchas, truly one of the great leaders of the Jewish people. In an act of incredible heroism, in a time when every- one else, including Moshe, had given up, Pinchas saved the Jew- ish people. It ought to come as a surprise that Moshe is told to ap- point Joshua rather than Pinchas as his successor. Compared to Pinchas, Joshua doesn't seem to warrant the attention. Are there any hidden talents or leadership skills that Joshua had, unreported, that Pinchas lacked? In this world it is clear that the "Pinchases" get the attention. Do the people who attract the at- tention deserve the mantle of leadership? Very possibly this week's por- tion places the appointment of Joshua next to the acclaim of Pin- chas to contrast what a real leader should be (Joshua) as corn- - -pared-to-what we think a leader should be (Pinchas). This is not meant to belittle, in any way, Pin- chas' mighty act. But it may il- lustrate that not every war hero is qualified to be president. We are told that Joshua's greatness was that he was a pas- sionate lover and student of Torah. Though it might sound wimpy in contrast to the act of Pinchas, it is the essential ele- ment needed for leadership. What is leadership? Ulti- mately it is the ability to consis- tently make the right decisions about day-to-day needs. If our choice is between a Joshua who consistently makes good, sound Alon Toiwin is the executive director of the local office of Aish HaTorah. decisions in every situation but is weak in crisis or a Pinchas, good in crisis but not wise on dai- ly matters, we need to choose the Joshua. A society cannot move into a future by surviving crises. It has to be able to deal with routine, day to day reality. Dealing with crisis is the special skill of Pin- chas. He was even better in this than Moshe. But a crisis, by its very nature, is a unique and pass- ing event. Most of the time, so- ciety is not in crisis. Therefore, the true leader has to be trained to lead a society in times of non- crisis. This was Joshua. He trained and learned as he could from the Torah, the instruction book of life to prepare himself for day to day dealings. It stands to reason: If you want a leader who is best go- ing to lead a society, pick a leader who has studied the instructions first. We've all dealt with or heard questions such as "what would you do if your child came home and told you 'X or 'Y'?" Or, "what would you do if you found out you had 'A' or TT disease?" They make great talk show fodder or after dinner discussions. Preparing for a crisis is our way of talking and sounding mean- ingful. But how many people really prepare for the non-crisis? How many people sit at the dinner table and ask how they can make the very act of eating meaning- ful? How many talk shows raise the question, "is day-to-day life meaningful when there isn't a cri- sis?" Dealing with the non-crisis world is more real than dealing with the crisis-laden one. We are often inadequate in the face of the non-critical situations. This in- adequacy allows problems to ac- cumulate to the point where they eventually reach crisis propor- tions. We surely must learn to deal with non-crisis situations since these are the most common. The one who understands this dy- namic is the one best able to lead people, including himself. To ap- point a permanent leader whose only skill is crisis prevention is to ask for inevitable chaos when the crisis subsides. For this reason, Joshua was evidently the best choice for leader. Only our modern-day preoccupation with crisis could c_\ N