Our sages ask, why if the Jewish nation as a whole commits a sin does the atonement for their actions fall primarily on their leaders.  Why do the leaders make amends for a sin that they never committed?  One explanation offered is that frequently people in a position of authority believe that one set of ethics applies to them, while there is another set of rules for those that they are leading. In this week's parsha we come to understand that if leaders feel this way, they miss the mark of what it means to be a leader.

In the real world, those in any "organization" typically follow the example of those who are in charge.  Our children pick up all our habits - good and bad - our coworkers pick up the behavior of their bosses, and the Jewish people followed the example of those who led them.  And when the Jewish people erred, G-d knew that their behavior was a direct result of the actions being done by those who were leading them.  If the people sinned, our Rabbis explain it was likely due to the environment that was created by the leaders.

In our own lives, we all play some sort of leadership role.  And the behavior of those we lead will always be a direct result of our own behavior.  If a child answers the telephone and is told by his parent who is standing right next to him to tell the caller he isn't home, the child then internalizes this behavior.  So when the parent tells this child the following week that he or she should never tell a lie, the child now faces a serious internal conflict.  On one hand, he wants to listen to his parent.  But, on the other hand he also wants to emulate the actions of his parent whom he respects.  Does he listen to what he says, or do as he does?

Our sages teach us that people will usually follow actions they see over words they hear - and this is why the leaders had to bring atonement when the Jewish people committed a sin.  G-d tells us that the reason the people sinned was that the breeding ground for the negative behavior already existed.

So this Shabbat we learn, people will follow what we do over what we say. If we want to instill a certain type of behavior in others, then we must create the environment for it to happen.  Not by declarations, but by embracing and living the desired behavior ourselves.  May this Shabbat begin our transformation.