English Blog

The world watched horrified this week as the tragedy of the sinking Costa Concordia seized our screens. Eleven have perished, twenty one are still unaccounted for and the blame is being laid squarely on the captain's shoulders.

Francesco Schettino, was born in 1960 in Meta Campania. In 2002, after attending the Nautical Institute at Piano, Schettino joined Costa Cruises first as an official in charge of security and then moved up to become second in command before being promoted to the rank of captain on the newly launched Costa Concordia.

Schettino had trained for years to captain a ship; his qualifications included how to take appropriate action in a time of crisis. But alas, when push came to shove, the cowardly captain did not hesitate to shirk his responsibility.

In fact, the first person to call for help was a passenger; the captain himself did not make a distress call until 49 minutes after the impact, saying, "Va bene (OK), let's declare distress." The recordings reveal a man apparently out of control, incapable of displaying the kind of decisiveness needed from a ship's captain in ordinary circumstances, let alone a disaster such as this.

His version of events involves him falling off of the ship as it listed.  Whatever the case may be, he clearly abandoned his vessel and saved his own skin, making a hasty retreat by cab back to his hotel while thousands of passengers and crew remained stranded on the stricken craft. Schettino allegedly even refused to return to the ship to oversee the evacuation after being ordered to do so by the coast guard.

His years of training all amounted to this moment--the defining moment of his career-- yet when it faced him he failed miserably. Imagine the irony: you spend practically your entire life preparing for a single moment, and when it arrives it totally passes you by.

Every one of us was placed here in this world for a purpose and a mission.  We spend our whole lives preparing for it, but don’t necessarily know when our moment will arrive. We attend school. We absorb the life lessons of our parents and teachers. We sit through college. Little do we know, that very mission could be one single Mitzvah. As the Baal Shem Tov says, our souls may have descended from Heaven to this world for 70 years just in order to do one favor to a fellow Jew.

Moshe Rabbeinu observes his very own sinking ship in this week’s parsha. His flock, the Jewish people, are drowning in Egypt. Pharaoh is callously throwing their newborns into the Nile. Each day sees the slaughter of 300 Jewish children in whose blood Pharaoh bathes- an apparent cure for his leprosy. Matters deteriorate further when Pharaoh withholds straw from the Jewish slaves, ordering them to find their own with which to make mortar, in addition to producing their daily quota of bricks. The exile has become unbearable, yet the captain does not abandon his vessel. He could have easily saved his own skin and returned to his own house and family. Instead  Moses protests, "My G-d, why have You done evil to this people?"  He begs and pleads on their behalf and eventually G-d redeems the nations.

When our pinnacle moment arrives, we can’t mess up. We must rise to the occasion. What will you do in your moment of truth?

I was studying Torah with a dear friend this week and following the session, he made his way to the subway to catch a train home. While innocently sitting on the train minding his own business, a total stranger approached him and punched him smack in the face. Such an astounding thing has never happened to him in his life. Instinctively he punched his attacker back. The subway doors opened right then, preventing a great commotion. 

America is in the process of electing a new president. An ordeal that is nothing but a big boxing arena. Everybody is out to see who can land the hardest punch, for he who punches the strongest is crowned the victor. It is a messy procedure because of the dirt that is smeared on rival candidates’ profiles. If a politician wants to gain popularity, he shamelessly punches his contender in the face rather than portray himself as a viable nominee. A true head chooses the respectable route to gain the nation’s esteem; he exhibits the qualities of a leader and demonstrates his virtues, thereby elevating himself without quashing his opponents.

As a small child, Reb Zalman Aharon (the Raza), the older brother of the Rebbe Sholom Dov Ber of Lubavitch (the Rashab) often complained that he was noticeably shorter than his younger brother. One day, the Raza sneaked up behind his brother and pushed him lightly into a small ditch. As the Rashab stood up in surprise, the Raza seized the moment and pointed out that now he was taller. Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, the father of the two boys, observed the entire episode. The Rebbe asked for a chair, ordered the Raza to stand on it, and asked him, “Tell me, who is taller now?” The Raza answered excitedly that yet again he was taller. “Aha!” said Rabbi Shmuel. “There you are! To be bigger than your friend, there is no need to pull him down. Simply elevate yourself!”

Indeed it was by this principle that Israel’s greatest leader, Moses, conducted his life. In this week’s parsha when G-d revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush and requested that he confront Pharaoh and ultimately lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses immediately protested and asked G-d to elect a more suitable candidate. "Who am I to go to Pharaoh and to take Israel out of Egypt?" Our politicians would do well to learn the trait of humility from Moses. By portraying an opponent as a suitable and worthy candidate, rather than lowering himself, he proves his worthiness as a leader.

The principle ought to be applied in our personal lives. A friend of mine complained bitterly to me this week. He owns a successful restaurant that has provided nicely for him and his family over the last couple of years. Several months ago a restaurant opened up next door his place. Things started going downhill so he began to subtly bad-mouth the other place to his customers. I advised him to shape up his own place instead of belittling his neighbour… the superiority of his restaurant will automatically attract business.

When you get punched in the face, don’t punch back, straighten your shoulders and show them what you’ve got. It takes a unique strength of character to step back and walk away.The kind of strength of character that defines a real leader.