RABBI WEIN ON CHARISMA

Charisma – the ability to attract others and make them believe in your persona, abilities and charm – is a much sought after commodity in today’s society. In the famous fable regarding the tortoise and the hare, even though the tortoise eventually wins the race, we would still, in the main, wish to be the hare. We love the flash of brilliant insight, the devastating quip, the broad permanent smile, the warm embrace and the hero worship that characterize the person who possesses that elusive quality of charisma. Charisma, unlike scholarship and moral values, cannot be taught. One either has it or one does not. Yet, like all other seeming blessings, charisma carries within it seeds of self-destruction. The charismatic personality is likely to succumb to the temptation of believing all of the adulation showered upon him or her. In the triumphant parades of the Roman emperors, a servant rode along in the emperor’s chariot and whispered to him amidst the din of the cheering throngs a reminder of his past failings and future mortality.