Parshat Pinchas

Parshat Pinchas
Tammuz 21, 5773 ~ June 29, 2013
by Jay Koppelman

Mo Robinow was having a bad day. Over the years, he’s taken quite a few hits, but he’s always hit back hard and fast and then moved forward. This time was different. Mo was having a very, very bad day.

He’s sitting in shul next to his good friend Michael and they’re chatting in whispered conversation while the Chazzan is chanting Meshabarach. When the Chazzan is finished, the Rabbi says, “So many of you seem restless today. Your conversations have become distracting. Why not step outside for a few minutes and then come back in when you’re ready for prayer.”

Nobody gets up to leave as a hush spreads across the congregation. But then Mo turns to Michael and says, “Come outside with me so we can finish our conversation.”

Michael knows that Mo takes his davening seriously so he knows that Mo’s got to unload. So he says,  ”Sure. Come on. Let’s go.”

So they step outside under a dreary, overcast sky. It’s quite chilly and looks like it’s about to rain.  Michael starts by asking, “OK Mo. What’s going on? This isn’t like you. What’s bothering you – Helen, the kids, what?”

Mo answers, “No. Nothing like that. It’s my work. They want me to step down. I started this company nearly 40 years ago. It was my idea in the first place. Well maybe I got the suggestion from Oshman – he’s Chairman of the Board -- but nothing would have come of it if it weren’t for me driving this damn thing forward every step of the way. It’s been a long struggle. Some years it felt like we were wandering around in the desert and we’d never find our way out. Oshman was always demanding. He wanted this and he wanted that and I had to deliver. I play second fiddle to no man – but with Oshman, it’s something else. He’s one tough guy and very hard to please. Yeah, he and the board helped but I had to argue with them too.  And then there were all the naysayers and back biters and trouble makers. And now that we’ve grown into a real business and we’re just about to go public, now they want me to step down? And not just step down. They want me to retire. I can’t believe it. They want me out of the way. I lead them out of the desert and we’re finally about to cross the river and me, they want out of the way. I don’t get it.”

Michael waits quietly, but just before Mo can speak Michael says, “So what did Oshman say? That’s a pretty big decision. Did he even explain it?”

“Oh, he had an explanation alright. Oshman had all the answers. He said I had done an incredible job shepherding the company from start-up to maturity. He said I had molded a horde – or did he say a herd -- of unskilled, stiff-necked workers into an accomplished, motivated workforce. He said I was exactly the right guy at the right place at the right time. But he was blunt too. He said there were times that I angered him. And now it was time for me to step down, to turn the reins over to someone else. He said that my experience was just what was needed all these years of building but now that we were going public an entirely different set of skills would be needed. And then he said --  even now I can’t really believe he said it --  that as the public face of our company, my stutter and speaking skills would be a liability. Now that hurt. So then I asked him who would take my job. He said Josh Benin. I said, ‘Josh Benin? He’s just a kid.’  He paused for just a moment and then said, ‘Mo, are you kidding. He’s not a kid anymore. Sure, he was when you started him here, but not anymore. He’s got great energy. He’s demonstrated an aggressive leadership style. He’s got chutzpah and he makes the right public impression. You should be proud that you have so successfully developed Josh’s talents. The credit for that too goes to you. He will do you proud.’”

Michael asks, “So what did you say to that? What could you say?”

“Well, it’s not like I’ve never won arguments with Oshman before. But I knew I wasn’t going to win this one. It was a done deal. So I suggested to him that OK, Josh could take the lead, but I was still needed to run the machinery. He could sit in the driver’s seat but I was still the best at keeping everything running under the hood.”

Mo continues, “Then Oshman said, ‘Mo, you’ve earned so much loyalty and not just from your management team. Our entire workforce knows you and holds you in the highest regard. You have been, you are now and as long as you remain anywhere in this organization you will be the “go-to-guy”. No. Josh needs you to transfer every bit of your official authority to him. And, more than that, he needs you to transfer to him every last bit of the personal loyalty that you have earned over these many years. This is your last and perhaps most important remaining responsibility.  Fulfill this last responsibility and you will retire with great honor and a hefty retirement package including more than a handful of stock options. Your efforts and all that you have accomplished will not be forgotten.’”

Michael presses for more so Mo continues, “So what could I say? I take them all the way to the river’s edge and now I can’t cross? I feel dead inside – and discarded.”

Michael shapes his thoughts carefully before saying, “Mo, we’ve been friends for a long time. I think I understand how you feel. But I want to tell you that Oshman is right about a lot of things. First, he’s right that you should step aside. Next, he’s right that you have done an incredible job. And lastly he’s right that you are due and will receive, besides the retirement package and stock options, the very great honor to which you are so richly entitled. And I want to tell you something else too. I want to tell you that you are a most remarkable man. Understand that Mo. You are a very great man.”

The two of them went on for a little while longer until they were finally distracted by the chanting of Kaddish. And with that they returned quietly to the sanctuary and reverently to their prayers. 

Hashem said to Moses, “Take to yourself Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lean your hand upon him. You shall stand him before Elazar the Kohen and before the entire assembly, and command him before their eyes. You shall place some of your majesty upon him, so that the entire assembly of the Children of Israel will pay heed.”   Pinchas 27:18-20