Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani said: Whatever the leaders do, the masses also do. How is that? The Nasi rules that something [previously forbidden] is permissible. The President of the Court then says: If the Nasi has ruled that the thing is permissible, shall I forbid it? Then the masses say: The judges ruled that this thing is permissible; why should we forbid it? Who then caused the whole generation to sin? It is surely the Nasi, who was the first to sin. Rabbi Simlai said: It is written, For their mother played the harlot, she that conceived them has done shamefully. [This verse alludes to the leaders] who make a mockery of their own words before the ordinary people. How? If the sage expounds in public the prohibition against lending money on usury and he himself lends his money on usury, he teaches “you shall not rob,” and yet he himself robs; “you shall not steal," and he himself steals. Rabbi Berekiah also said: Once, a man who had his kettle stolen went to complain to the judge about it and he found it upon the judge’s oven. –Devarim Rabbah II:19
In our faith, our leaders must be meticulous in their behavior as they become the exemplars of how the people will eventually behave.
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