The problem with being a leader is that power is addictive. At one point or another, leaders inadvertently fall for their own PR, forget to think about the needs of the people and think more about themselves and their own desires. They lose touch with the people they lead, who become “the little people” to their swollen egos.

I don’t think most leaders plan this. It comes with the territory. Too many people surrounding them are anxious to please, anxious to tell the leaders how wonderful, important, and wise they are. Trusted advisors inadvertently become “yes” men and women. I don’t think they plan it either. It just seems to happen.

Which makes the story of Moses’ behavior in this week’s Torah portion both impressive and instructive.

God informed Moses it was time for him to die (Numbers, chapter 27). Moses protested, not because he didn’t want to die, but because he was worried about the possibility of the Children of Israel being leaderless.

He told God, “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.”

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted, “That, surely, is saying the same thing twice. If you go out before the people, you are leading them out. If you come in before the people, you are bringing them in. Why then say the same thing twice? The answer comes from a direct experience of leadership itself. One of the arts of leadership – and it is an art, not a science – is a sense of timing, of knowing what is possible when.”

Rabbi Sacks understood that a wise leader knows how and when to lead. And when to step aside.

And Moses understood that his job was to do more than merely step aside. Once God announced that Joshua would be the next leader, Moses lay his hands on Joshua before all the people, passing along the mantle of leadership so that all could see.

I don’t know if that is why the United States inaugurates each new president outdoors, but it is a good practice. It invites everyone to watch the transfer of power, lets us all be witnesses.

Regardless of how you feel about the respective candidates for president, I hope that all Americans can appreciate the humility and love of country exhibited by President Biden this week. For a man who has been a politician for over 50 years, moving steadily up the leadership ladder until he reached the highest office in the land, to voluntarily step aside is truly remarkable. He set aside his own ego for the benefit of the people.

May we be blessed with leaders whose dedication is to the people and not their own egos.