Why “Doing It All” Is Not Leadership - Yisro
- Avroham Y Ross
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
The project I call Spreading Torah has always been mostly a solo operation. Over the years people have helped in different ways, but the writing, the website, the tech problems, and the fundraising all fall on me. At the end of the day, it is my creation. Lately I have been thinking about how different that feels from work. At Ohel, I am part of a team and I have been learning how to delegate more. For years my default setting was simple. If something needed to get done, I would just do it myself because explaining it felt harder. That habit probably grew from running Spreading Torah alone for so long. Now that I am handing things off more often, I have noticed a quiet sadness that comes with feeling less involved. Deep down I know I cannot do everything myself and that the program will accomplish more when I delegate, yet there is still a part of me that misses being in the middle of everything and holding every piece of the puzzle.
This week’s parsha begins with Yisro visiting Moshe and finding him sitting alone judging the people from morning until night while everyone else waits. It is easy to imagine how necessary that must have felt. Moshe was guiding a nation and transmitting Torah, and handing that responsibility to others probably felt like risking something sacred. Yisro points out that a system built around one person is not sustainable. The solution was not for Moshe to step away, but to appoint leaders and create a system that could increase the impact, allowing the nation to function without depending on a single bottleneck.
I keep coming back to the realization that the work runs better and I am happier when I am not the only one doing it, even if my ego has a hard time admitting it. Letting go does not mean caring less. Sometimes it means caring enough to build something that can grow beyond you. If you have ever struggled to hand something off at work or at home, you probably know how uncomfortable that can feel. Maybe this week is a good time to notice where we are holding on too tightly and consider who might be waiting for the chance to help carry the load.
Good Shabbos
All the best!
Avroham Yehudah Ross