In what was to be his final speech on the day before his assassination, the Reverend Martin Luther King declared: “I just want to do God’s will and He has allowed me to go up to the mountain and I have looked over, and I have seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will…”

In Parashat Pinchas amid the passion of Pinchas, the second census, a debate about the inheritance of daughters (of Zelophehad) in the absence of sons and a lengthy calendar of public sacrifices, one can find one of the most moving pieces of Torah as Moses prepares to invest Joshua with authority.

Moses is confronted with God’s decision that Moses and his generation will die in the wilderness, and at this moment Moses is not concerned with self-pity or with the fairness of the decree but rather turns his mind to the future leadership the Children of Israel will need.

Moses acknowledges that military prowess will be necessary for the conquest of Canaan and wholeheartedly and without reservation Moses passes his authority to Joshua, laying both hands upon him — in a manner similar to later rabbinic ordination.

Sometimes violent death as in the case of King may lead to a gap in leadership but in the United Kingdom the passing of national leadership from a Prime Minister to a Leader of the Opposition who will become the new Prime Minister is an understated but remarkable and seamless process (as we saw earlier this month), which remains a cornerstone of a successful democracy.

In parashat Pinchas there is a tripartite process to the succession of Moses by Joshua. Moses seeks a successor and God selects Joshua but his commissioning takes place by Eleazar, the High Priest, in the presence of the entire community.

Utilising this method, Joshua retains the authority of his predecessor and has the moral qualities which God has identified but is affirmed by the public recognition which successful leadership requires.

Leadership may arise by divine selection, public election, selfless volunteering or simply being in the right place at the correct time but, while its responsibilities should never be taken lightly, it is a Jewish obligation to serve by leadership when the opportunity arises.

As Midrash Tanchuma declares: “One who withdraws from public life and says ‘What have I to do with the burden of the community, or with their disputes; why should I listen to them? Peace to you, O my soul’ — such a person destroys the world.”

It is a Jewish obligation and a democratic necessity to serve in leadership roles when invited to do so.