From coast to coast, we can boast of those who rank upmost.

In New York and San Francisco, two Jewish government officials are winning praise for a host of accomplishments. Each has dived head-first into one of the most challenging positions in the nation, and each is being acknowledged for tenacity and integrity. 

On the East Coast, Jessica Tisch, 44, New York City's Police Commissioner, is being lauded for her fierce commitment to public safety, her stand against bias crimes, and her unwavering support of law enforcement in an environment where the police have been demonized and eviscerated. It is very rare for every New York City mayoral candidate in a heated race to pledge to keep an incumbent police commissioner, but that is what both the public and law enforcement wanted, according to the pollsters. Ms. Tisch, before being appointed police commissioner under Mayor Eric Adams, served as his Sanitation Commissioner, performing magnificently in an inglorious role, and prior to that she worked at the police's counterterrorism bureau. 

And on the West Coast, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, 49, is slowly but surely reviving that city from the brink of urban disaster. Mr. Lurie, a moderate democrat, was elected the mayor of a city being abandoned by homeowners and businesses, and certainly tourists. By focusing on tough issues ignored by previous leaders, he is making progress and enjoying an unheard-of 73% approval rating. Mr. Lurie began his career by founding the Tipping Point Community, which raised over $500 million from private donors for education, housing, employment, and family wellness. He successfully led the 2016 San Francisco Bay Area Superbowl Bid Committee, and ensured that 25% of revenue was designated to local non-profits to help fight poverty. In 2018, Lurie committed to raising $100 million in two years to reduce chronic homelessness in San Francisco by 50%.

What is notable about both hard-working officials is that neither Tisch nor Lurie need these demanding jobs to pay the bills. Both police commissioner and mayor belong to dynasties that are in the lucrative field of amassing wealth. Tisch is the daughter of Merryl and James Tisch, chief executive officer of Loews Corporation. The Tisch family owns roughly one-third of Loews (insurance, hotels, oil drilling, and pipeline transport). In 2024, Forbes estimated the family’s net worth at approximately $10.1 billion. Tisch's husband and two children would survive just fine without her NYPD salary. Daniel Lurie is less affluent - compared to Tisch. His father, Rabbi Brian Lurie, was the executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. After his parents divorced, his mother Mimi married Peter Haas, a member of the Levi Strauss family (denim, Dockers). According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Lurie's net worth was estimated at almost $47 million in February 2025. Perhaps this is why he turned down his $360K mayoral salary and requested to be paid $1 instead. 

Jessica Tisch and Daniel Lurie could easily have gravitated toward the philanthropic social circuit: soirees, fundraising banquets, golf tournaments, tribute dinners, with plenty of costume changes and glamorous charity-related travel. But instead, they have both set aside their upper crust upbringings and devoted themselves to public service. This is something that money cannot buy and it gives new meaning to the term "earning" a living. What is the root of this brand of leadership?

וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

But you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.

This preamble to the Ten Commandments identifies the twin cores of our identity as a nation: we are priests and we are holy. The majority of commentators understand this as a clarion call for mitzvah observance. We are endowed with a special status, a unique role which comes with unique rules. Holiness is achieved through separation from the rest of the world; we can influence and elevate the other nations by holding fast to our commandments which distinguish us. Our task is not to directly preach and engage, but to magnify God's name through retreat. And parallel to holiness is the obligation of priestliness, which bespeaks ritual service and strict adherence to protocol. While all of this captures the essence of what it means to be a kohen, Rashi points us in a surprisingly different direction:

ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים. שָׂרִים, כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר "וּבְנֵי דָּוִד כֹּהֲנִים" (שמואל ב ח')

But you shall be to Me a kingdom of כהנים — i. e. officials, just as you say, (II Samuel 8:18) “And the sons of David were כהנים”

It is critical to see the context of this pasuk in Shmuel Bet in order to arrive at Rashi's translation:

וַיִּמְלֹךְ דָּוִד עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיְהִי דָוִד עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה לְכׇל־עַמּוֹ׃

David reigned over all Israel, and David executed true justice among all his people.

וְיוֹאָב בֶּן־צְרוּיָה עַל־הַצָּבָא וִיהוֹשָׁפָט בֶּן־אֲחִילוּד מַזְכִּיר׃

Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;

וְצָדוֹק בֶּן־אֲחִיטוּב וַאֲחִימֶלֶךְ בֶּן־אֶבְיָתָר כֹּהֲנִים וּשְׂרָיָה סוֹפֵר׃

Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was scribe;

וּבְנָיָהוּ בֶּן־יְהוֹיָדָע וְהַכְּרֵתִי וְהַפְּלֵתִי וּבְנֵי דָוִד כֹּהֲנִים הָיוּ׃        

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.

First Tzadok and Achimelech are called kohanim, and then David's sons in the very next pasuk as well? Clearly, the latter "kohanim" cannot mean ritual priests. This leads Rashi, Radak, and others to translate kohanim as:

רַבְרְבִין הֲווֹ

They were prominent people.

Or, as the Metzudas David explains:

כהנים היו. רוצה לומר: היו ראשים ושרים

[David's sons] were priests. This means to say: They were leaders and officials.  

Rashi takes this understanding of "kohanim" and injects it back into the pasuk in Yisro:

וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ

But you shall be to Me a kingdom of leaders and a holy nation

Our national ideal calls for both separation (kadosh) and engagement (kohanim). Within our value system is to gravitate toward careers in which we serve the interest of greater mankind. Taking up elected or other leadership positions is a valid expression of ממלכת כהנים according to Rashi. We certainly cannot abandon the kedushah of mitzvos and a halachic life. But devoting one's self to public service when one has the means to live a life of leisure is an authentic expression of Jewishness.

The Ibn Ezra sees indication of this truism in a later use of the verb לכהן (Shmos 28:41):

וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם אֶת־אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וְאֶת־בָּנָיו אִתּוֹ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֹתָם וּמִלֵּאתָ אֶת־יָדָם וְקִדַּשְׁתָּ אֹתָם וְכִהֲנוּ לִי׃

Put these on your brother Aharon and on his sons as well; anoint them, and ordain them and consecrate them to serve Me.

The ultimate purpose of this service, as Sforno explains:

כִּי תִהְיוּ מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים לְהָבִין וּלְהוֹרוֹת לְכָל הַמִּין הָאֱנוֹשִׁי לִקְרֹא כֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם ה', וּלְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד, כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה עִנְיַן יִשְׂרָאֵל לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, כַּאֲמָרוֹ "וְאַתֶּם כֹּהֲנֵי ה' תִּקָּרֵאוּ" (ישעיהו סא:ו), וְכַאֲמָרוֹ "כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה" (ישעיהו ב:ג)

For only you will be a kingdom of priests, by teaching and instructing all of mankind to call out in the name of God and for all to serve him together. This was to be a forerunner of what will happen in the distant future as predicted by the prophet Isaiah 61:6 “and you will be proclaimed ‘priests’ of the Lord.” This is also the true meaning of כי מציון תצא תורה, “the Torah emanates from Zion.” (Isaiah 2:3) This statement is attributed to the nations of the world at that time.

While not occupying an elected position, columnist David Brooks - as a thought leader and public intellectual - consistently expresses this priestly moral influence. Society desperately needs chastising prophets to spread the truth and identify vacuous creeds. In his magnificent farewell column in the New York Times this week, Brooks wrote:

The most grievous cultural wound has been the loss of a shared moral order. We told multiple generations to come up with their own individual values. This privatization of morality burdened people with a task they could not possibly do, leaving them morally inarticulate and uninformed. It created a naked public square where there was no broad agreement about what was true, beautiful, and good. Without shared standards of right and wrong, it's impossible to settle disputes; it's impossible to maintain social cohesion and trust. Every healthy society rests on some shared conception of the sacred - sacred heroes, sacred texts, sacred ideals - and when that goes away, anxiety, atomization, and a slow descent toward barbarism are the natural results. 

We can and should be proud of our prophets and priests utilizing their talents for the greater good from sea to shining sea.