“Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’. ” With the implication that if the nations are unimpressed with the Jewish people’s spiritual “wisdom and understanding,” that there is a fundamental failure in our Torah observance.
Herein lies a profound principle regarding our relationship with the Creator; that even in situations where individuals act in ways very far from godliness, HaShem is behind the scene advancing His own agenda. The brothers, together with Yosef and Ya’akov, were gripped by their personal grief, while HaShem was laying down the guidelines for the future redemption of Am Yisrael. The lesson to be learned is that when catastrophe strikes, look beyond the immediate grief and try to discover the invisible hand of HaShem. You will probably not succeed, but the very attempt is an affirmation of your belief in the intimate relationship between the Creator and His chosen creations – Am Yisrael.
Going into the 40th year of the Jewish nation’s presence in the desert, Moshe had plans for entering the land together with his brother Aharon and sister Miriam. He believed that after his demise, one of his sons – Gershom or Eliezer – would take his place as leader of the nation; because they were brought up under his personal tutelage and were the closest to Moshe in thought and in deed. Moshe also believed that his resting place would be a magnet for all Jews to gather and pray to HaShem – an everlasting testimony to the Exodus.
But as well as Moshe thought he understood HaShem, his understanding did not even scratch the outer surface of Hashem’s intellect and planning.
What was the historic role of the Kohanic family, and what is it today? The answer, I believe, is found in the episode of Pinchas. The essence of the Kohanic personality is to be responsible for the nation, overriding his personal interests.
I believe that it is not a matter for psychologists or psychiatrists why men so steeped in Judaism choose to be alienated from our historic and religious source of Eretz Yisrael. The answer lies in our parasha of Chukat.
As always, I say to my brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael: offer thanks to the Creator for giving us a holy soul of Eretz Yisrael and permitting us to see and feel that which others do not.
