Leadership Lessons from the Life of Moses

No Jew can speak for all Jews; no Christian can speak for all Christians; no Muslim can speak for all Muslims. Our three faiths lack a unified voice. We all march to the sound of different drummers. 

Those drums become cacophonous, though, when the three faiths interface because, historically, we are rarely on the same beat. We have been at war with one another for centuries, and in many places in the world today, we still are. Sometimes we call each other names; sometimes name-calling leads to people being hurt or killed. There have been very few years without war somewhere in our mutual history. 

 Can we put an end to a seemingly endless cycle of hatred and violence? And if so, where do we begin? 

One Jew, one Christian, and one Muslim believe it all begins with leadership. Many world leaders today have grown entitled and lazy. Too often, our collective futures are in the hands of demagogues who use toxic weapons of hatred and fear to gain power and keep it. Some leaders start with the good of their people at heart, but luxury and flattery warp the good that is within until they become heirs to history’s worst despots and tyrants. 

Time may be running out for our small, fragile, and overpopulated planet. If we are living on a powder keg, then fanning the sparks of suspicion and prejudice will never end well. The time to act was a million years ago, but we lack a time machine. Those of us living today can only take responsibility for future yesteryears. Otherwise, we court our peril. 

 If we speak as mere individuals, we risk our voice being drowned out by the perpetual yawn of the cynical status quo. But one Jew, one Christian, and one Muslim speaking as one voice could thunder like millions yelling into a canyon. It is possible to sing from the same hymnal if we focus on our shared beliefs. 

This one Jew, this one Christian, and this one Muslim believe there is only one human race, that God is one, that the same God inspires us all, and that we share a destiny. Our common enemy is not each other, but rather, those who decry that there is nothing divine about Creation, nothing sacred worth honoring, and that we should worship riches, power, sex, or human celebrities that serve as idols. 

We also have a choice on how we treat each other, and that the past does not have to be prologue. As Jews, Christians, and Muslims, we are all spiritual descendants of Abraham and disciples of Moses. Abraham was a man of peace, and Moses was a liberator and lawgiver who found the path to the Promised Land. If we let him, Moses, our standard role model of leadership, will guide us to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah:

“Nation shall not raise a sword against another nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.” 

Honoring the story of Moses does not mean we are forced to tell the story only one way, or that we are only allowed to learn one lesson. In this book, three individuals— Jew, Christian, and Muslim — have joined hands to hold one pen, and though we may write from different minds, it is from the same heart.

May the Almighty illumine our eyes and show us the path to a new Promised Land where we all can live as brothers and sisters. 

Amen.

From the Preface (slightly edited) of How Millennials Can Lead Us Out of the Mess We're In: A Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian Share Leadership Lessons from the Life of Moses Hardcover – Abridged, October 20, 2020

by Mordecai Schreiber (Author), Iqbal Unus (Author), Ian Case Punnett (Author)