Our Torah leaders do not merely teach us the Torah’s laws and matters of policy. They direct us how to live our lives according to the dictates and within the parameters of the Torah. They show us how to live within the spirit of the law, and not merely within the letter of the law.
The Torah instructs us to adhere to the word of the sages even if we feel they have erred. “According to the teaching that they will teach you and according to the judgment that they will say to you shall you do; you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left” (ibid 17:11). Sifrei expounds, “Even if they will tell you about the right that it is left, and the left that it is right [you must hearken to their instruction].”
It is noteworthy that Sifrei’s example – regarding right and left – is a matter of direction and perspective, for one person’s right is the left of the person standing opposite him. On a deeper level, Sifrei is teaching us that if our leaders tell us right is left, they are teaching us that we are viewing the matter backwards. We are seeing right and left inversely because we are viewing it from the wrong perspective.
Entering the Mishkan, the Shulchan is on a person’s right side while the Menorah is on his left. It seems incongruous that in the Beis HaMikdash the vessel representing physical success was on the right side (symbolizing priority), while the vessel representing spiritual greatness was positioned on the left.
The Bais Halevi explained that the vessels were positioned that way when one entered the Mishkan. However, after one had walked through the Sanctuary and experienced the embrace of G-d’s Presence, as it were, and then turned to leave, the Menorah was on his right while the Shulchan was on his left. The experience of being in such proximity to holiness was sufficient to shift one’s perspective and priorities.
In the center of every town in Europe there was a clock hanging from a tower. Most people would say the clock was high up so everyone could see it. Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l noted that there was an added reason why the clock was so positioned. If the clock was lower and more accessible, a passerby may notice that the clock was two minutes faster than his watch. So he would walk to the big levers behind the clock and simply move them two minutes ahead. A minute later another fellow would walk by and see that the clock was three minutes slower than his watch. So he too would reset the clock to match his watch. Throughout the day the time on the clock would constantly be changing, as every person ensured that the clock was set correctly according to his own watch.
But if the clock was high up and inaccessible, a passerby who noticed that the time on the big clock does not match the time on his watch will have no choice but to change his watch. Because of its position, the big clock set the standard, and not vice versa.
Rav Hutner explained that this is the perspective we must have of our leaders. A Torah leader is not a politician who alters his rulings or tailors his words to pander to the fancies of his constituents. He is not seeking votes. A Torah leader is interested only in the unadulterated pursuit of truth. Therefore, his followers have to subjugate their views and opinions to his, not vice versa. He is the proverbial clock that towers above all else and thus everyone lifts their gaze towards him.