TRIBUTES to RABBI RIM

Talks given on June 13, 2008 celebrating Rabbi Rim’s Tenth Anniversary with Temple Shir Tikvah

Ten Year Anniversary Remarks

by Stu Koman

Single name reference is reserved for the most special people.
In the entertainment world, you have Aretha, Madonna and Mariah; Sting and Bono and Mick. (We can just leave Britney out of this discussion for now.) In the world of politics, you now have Barack who we hope is a latter day Abe or maybe a Winston. In sport, it has to be Tiger who followed Michael, both preceded by the great Ali.

At Shir Tikvah, we have our Rim.

Rim is at once larger than life and exceedingly ordinary: a rare combination of pedestal worthy intellect and “let’s go have a beer” approachability for the young and, shall we say, the “less young” rest of us.

I’ll never forget the impression he made on my daughter at her first Purim Service. On this occasion, Rim, channeling Liberace, was dressed in a purple outfit complete with cape and headdress. Kyra spied him from afar and grew more and more excited as he made his way around the sanctuary, her excitement spilling over into paroxysms of joy as he drew close: “Mama, mama she cried over and over, it’s Barney, look it’s Barney!”

Kathy was mortified as she hustled Kyra to the back. This certainly was not proper decorum at her Yeshiva, Christ the King, in Rutland Vermont; I can’t imagine this scene at my own Ner Tamid in Baltimore either; there wasn’t much shakin’ going on unless a lulav and etrog were involved!

But, we all know, Rim would have been quite pleased with himself for providing yet another congregant with a highly personal way to attach him or herself to our religion.

With that “diva” moment in mind, I’d like to move to the main subject of this talk. The topic is “Leadership” and specifically how it relates to Temple Shir Tikvah and Richard Isaac Meirowitz.

On the short list of books considered to be CEO must reads over the past ten years is a book named Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t. It’s written by a former Stanford Business School professor named Jim Collins who asked a simple question: what does it take to attain and sustain greatness as an organization. Jim’s research team gathered extensive data on about 30 companies, half selected for meeting certain “greatness” requirements and a second sample of similar size companies in similar businesses who were well known and respected but who didn’t quite achieve or sustain as well over time. Among the findings of the study was one which they were wholly unsuspecting:

“The research team, (I’m quoting from the book jacket) was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.”

What did they find?

A picture of a person that did not match the stereotypic image of the CEO; In fact, (quoting again) “larger than life, celebrity leaders who ride in from the outside are negatively correlated with going from good to great.”

Let me briefly describe what they called the two sides of the Level 5 Leader — the “Executive” who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

Embodying professional will, a Level 5 leader:

• Acts as a catalyst in the transition from good to great.
• Displays unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long term results, no matter how difficult.
• Sets the standard for enduring greatness; will settle for nothing less.
• Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results.

The list of attributes for personal humility is as follows:

• Demonstrates compelling modesty, shunning public adulation; never boastful
• Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards not inspiring charisma, to motivate.
• Channels ambition into the organization, not the self.
• Looks out the window not in the mirror, to apportion credit for success.

Now, here’s what just happened while I was reading that list of descriptors. All of us except Rim were checking the boxes and saying to ourselves — yep, he got that one or sounds like Rim or I can see that in time. Rim was saying, “geez, I really wish I could be like that.”

A lot has been written on the subject of leadership, especially in recent years, but it is the work of Robert Greenleaf that I think best describes the essence of Rim as a leader. In 1977, Greenleaf coined the phrase “servant leadership” and here is what he said:

“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead… The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons, do they grow while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to serve?”

And, of course, since every theory or model in this arena has to have its own list of defining attributes, please consider this list:

Dawm, sephardayea, kinim, awrov, dever, shecheen —

oops, sorry…wrong list

Listening, empathy, healing

Awareness, persuasion,

Conceptualization, foresight, stewardship

Commitment to the growth of others

And, how appropriate for us — building community

Check, check, check — every box; no question.

I’d like to end with an additional thought here, one that I believe Rim would wholeheartedly endorse. Great leadership is not strictly about the Leader. It’s as much about those who are led and the dynamic of trust and mutual respect that evidences itself in the outcomes of this relationship; in our case — the caring deeds, the spiritual awakenings, the diligence and perseverance of our lay leadership, the joyful teaching of our children. One could easily make the case, I think, that we have “Great Followership.” But I’m certain Rim would call it, “a Great Partnership.”

So, to the wisdom of Collins and Greenleaf, I would add just this: Right person, Right place, Right time, and

Shehechayanu — How fortunate we are to have reached this day together!

—Dr. Stuart Koman