In Parshat Vayelech, Moses, who knows he is about to die, is at a defining moment – he has recently outlined curses that will befall the people if they abandon God, and he has minimal time left on earth to mobilize not only the people before him, but also scores of future generations, to enduringly seek God and the Torah. A daunting task at best.
The steps Moses takes to mobilize the people in the final moments of his life are similar to steps outlined in a leadership practice called “public narrative,” designed by Professor Marshall Ganz of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Professor Ganz coaches leaders worldwide to inspire collective action by speaking to the collective about stories of the self (the leader), us (the collective), and now (the urgency of acting right now).
Ganz finds roots for this practice from the subjects of Hillel the Sage’s famous reflective questions:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? (Self)
But if I am only for myself, what am I? (Us)
And if not now, when?” (Now)
