{"id":63184,"date":"2019-09-19T11:33:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T08:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63184"},"modified":"2023-04-14T14:32:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T11:32:30","slug":"tackling-transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/tackling-transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Tackling Transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[858,931,402,822,540],"acf":{"old_id":"63184","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":40788,"related_cahpter":"311","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Sometimes succession is harder than starting from scratch","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our rabbis tell us, \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kol Hatchalot Kashot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (All beginnings are hard).\u201d I would argue that even harder than beginnings are transitions. Standing at a starting point, all options are open and the possibilities seem endless. (Just ask those involved in the Silicon Valley startup industry). However, when one enters at a point of transition, one inherits history, baggage and everything else that comes with having a past.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Succession and transition, especially when one follows a successful and well-liked leader, are particularly challenging. In 2 Kings Chapter 2 we see such a struggle with succession. Elijah the prophet has served as the messenger of God for as long as the Israelites can remember. They have relied on his voice, his miracles and his style of communication for decades \u2013 even if they have not always heeded his voice. And now the time has come for Elijah to end his tenure as prophet.\u00a0 Elisha, his successor, senses his master\u2019s imminent departure and refuses to leave Elijah\u2019s side, repeatedly hushing the people who try to speak to him about this impending loss. He can\u2019t bear to even acknowledge what is about to take place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sensing Elisha\u2019s state of mind, Elijah presents him with a \u201cgenie moment.\u201d Elijah is prepared to grant Elisha one wish before he departs. Elisha asks for twice the spirit of Elijah to rest on him. What precisely this means is a matter of considerable debate, but it seems clear that his request revolves around wanting the spirit of Elijah to remain with him and in some capacity continue to play a role in Elisha\u2019s prophetic life as he takes over.\u00a0 Like many new leaders, who follow a beloved and charismatic figure, Elisha is scared. Yet, his solution is to resist the change altogether by in some way hoping Elijah\u2019s spirit will continue in him as he takes on this new leadership role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What would it have looked like if Elisha had instead asked for strength to help him be his own, new type of prophetic leader? Ron Heifetz, one of the experts on adaptive leadership, teaches us, \u201cWhat people resist is not change per se, but loss.\u201d What would Elisha\u2019s prophetic tenure have looked like if instead of trying to replicate Elijah he had done the work of fully acknowledging and confronting this loss? Perhaps that would have made it less of a traumatic transition and more of a new beginning, ripe with endless opportunities and possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>image: Transitions, by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63185,"id":63185,"title":"2kings2-Schachter-DoorsasTransitions","filename":"2kings2-Schachter-DoorsasTransitions.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings2-Schachter-DoorsasTransitions.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/tackling-transitions\/2kings2-schachter-doorsastransitions\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings2-schachter-doorsastransitions","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63184,"date":"2019-09-19 08:32:43","modified":"2019-09-19 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