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THE WEEKLY SIDRA- VAESCHANAN
Rabbi Moshe Greebel
“To understand a parable, and a proverb; the words of the wise, and their riddles.” (Mishlei 1:6)
The fascination of the Mashal (parable), is that via a narrative or simple story, a point becomes much more easily understandable. Basically, people are more entertained by the accounting of an incident, than they are by listening to clinical facts. In this week’s Sidra, we are presented with a very worthy of note Mashal, as brought down in the text K’hilas Yitzchak, which deals with the following P’sukim (verses) in this week’s Sidra:
“But HaShem was angry with me for your sakes, and would not hear me….. …..For you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Y’hoshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people…..” (D’varim 3:26-28)
The next Passuk (verse), the beginning of chapter 4, is a continuation of the above:
“Now therefore give heed, Yisroel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you…..” (ibid. 4:1)
What exactly is the relationship these P’sukim have one with the other? And, what is this expression of ‘Now therefore give heed, Yisroel’? This can be understood, through the following Mashal.
A supreme military commander, a general, once inspected his troops, who were assembled at attention before him- divisions of infantry, field artillery, tanks, etc. As the general went down the line, he carefully inspected, and gave his approval to each and every division. Yet, one particular division caused the general to stop in his tracks.
“Is this a proper division?” called out the general in disgust. “This is the worst military division I have ever seen! Captain! Front and center!”
As the commanding officer of that division approached, and stood at attention, the general firmly stated to him, “You are relieved of duty!” To the rest of the soldiers, he then ordered, “All divisions, at rest!”
Later, while the soldiers of this division were at rest in their tents, they all came to the conclusion that the complaint of the general was not directed at them. For, they assumed, they were properly disciplined and trained soldiers. The objection of the general must have been directed against the captain alone. And, that is why he was relieved of duty.
The next day, when all the divisions stood at attention before the general once again, he announced, “The officer who was relieved, will be replaced by Captain So and So!”
But, the soldiers of that division soon saw that their new commanding officer was nothing like their previous captain. The new captain was a lowly and uneducated simple fellow, who would never amount to anything. Now, the soldiers understood that the general’s objection was directed against them, not their previous captain, who was replaced with an inferior officer for an inferior division.
This then, is what Moshe told the B’nai Yisroel, prior to his demise. You might be inclined to say that the reason HaShem will not allow me into Eretz Canaan, is because of my own shortcomings, while you are innocent of everything. ‘But HaShem was angry with me for your sakes!’ It is through you who have grievously sinned, that HaShem punishes me!
The proof to this is ‘But charge Y’hoshua, and encourage him’ to be the next leader of the B’nai Yisroel. For, it is known that Y’hoshua was not as great as Moshe, as we see in the Gemarah Bava Basra 75a:
“The elders of that generation said, ’The countenance of Moshe was like that of the Sun; the countenance of Y’hoshua was like that of the moon.’”
Therefore, if the shortcoming was in Moshe, HaShem would have replaced him with someone greater.
Now, while Moshe was known for being the most modest man on the earth (see Bamidbar 12:3), he would still have said this to the B’nai Yisroel, for their own good, so that they would realize how much the fault in them needed to be rectified.
‘Now therefore give heed, Yisroel, to the statutes and to the judgments’ means that now that Moshe rebuked the B’nai Yisroel for his being barred from Eretz Canaan through their infractions (not his), they should once again dedicate themselves to the performance of the Torah and its Mitzvos.
And so, considering ourselves faultless and without guilt, while we conveniently blame others, is always a bad assumption. The true Y’rei Shamayim (fearer of heaven) constantly looks deep within himself all the time, in order to detect and root out any failings. For, prior to correcting others, we must first be certain of standing on firm ground ourselves. The Gemarah in Bava M’tziya 59b tells us:
“Rabbi Nassan said, ‘Do not taunt your neighbor with the blemish you yourself have.’”
We must always and constantly be about the business of ridding ourselves of our faults through honest self introspection, and creating a Kiddush HaShem (sanctification of HaShem) with all our words and actions.
May we soon see the G’ulah Sh’laimah in its complete resplendency- and in our times.
Good Shabbos.
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