Portraits in Leadership: Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai

Enroll Today!! For more info visit http://myjli.com. Lesson Two: THE COURAGE TO LEAD How much are you willing to risk for the chance to preserve what is most precious to you? It does not take courage to rise to a challenge that you know you can win. It takes great nerve, however, to move forward with total confidence in untested territory, knowing that the slightest hesitation will ensure loss. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai, for all his gifts and talents, was referred to as the youngest of the students of Hillel. Living as he did through the time of the destruction of the temple, it would have been easy for him to defer the difficult decision-making to others. Yet he rose to the challenge, undergoing great personal risk to negotiate with Rome and trade the loss of the temple for the survival of the academy.