Don’t Go At It Alone

This Dvar Torah was originally published in Torah && Tech, the weekly newsletter I publish together with my good friend Ben Greenberg. To order volume one of Torah && Tech containing the first year’s worth of Divrei Torah or to subscribe to get the weekly issue delivered straight to your inbox click here.

Burnout.

We’ve all been there. We start a new job, the work is interesting, we’re eager to prove ourselves, we take on more and more responsibility. By the time our bodies let us know we’ve bitten off more than we can chew, we’re already in way over our heads; the coming crash is inevitable.

In Parshat Beha’alotcha, we read about the Jews doing what Jews do best; Kvetching.

At one point, Moshe can’t handle it anymore and cries out to G-D in a rare outburst:

“Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes that You place the burden of this entire people upon me? …I cannot carry this entire nation alone, for it is too hard for me. If this is the way You treat me, please kill me if I have found favor in Your eyes, so that I not see my misfortune.”
— Bamidbar 11:11–15

What was G-D’s response? Get some help!

“Gather seventy of Israel’s elders… and I will draw upon the spirit that is on you and put it upon them; they shall share the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear it alone.”
— Bamidbar 11:16–17

Very often, we try to be the martyr. We’re convinced we’re the only ones who can put out the fire or carry the deploy.

If we just learn to let go and delegate, we will discover that not only will our own mental health improve, but our team health will improve as well. Others will learn to do the jobs we think only we can; knowledge silos will be eliminated, and our team’s “bus factor” will improve dramatically!

Remember, even Moshe had to learn to delegate!

Shabbat Shalom,

Yechiel