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Orchard of Delights
take many lifetimes and thousands of years to work itself out, but
every thought, word, and action is ultimately accounted for and paid
back measure for measure. Only God knows exactly how, when, and
where, this will occur. Yet we can often see quite clearly why certain
things happen to us and what the causes and effects of our actions
are. Sometimes though the reasons for why things happen are not
so obvious at all. When all is said and done, it is important to know
that our thoughts, speech, and action effect not only ourselves, but
our children and our children’s children. Though in this section we
have not discussed the effect positive behavior has, the principle of
“measure for measure” certainly applies to rewards meted out for
positive behavior as well. This realization should give us good reason
to measure our deeds carefully so that merit and goodness rain upon
us and all our descendants.
££A Disagreement A Disagreement
£A Disagreement A Disagreement A Disagreement
A Disagreement
££
Not for the Sake of Heaven
Not for the Sake of Heaven
Not for the Sake of Heaven
Pirkei Avot (5:20) declares that:
Any disagreement that is for the sake of Heaven will
endure, but any disagreement not for the sake of Heaven
will not endure. What is a dispute for the sake of Heaven?
The arguments between Hillel and Shamai. What is
a dispute that was not for the sake of Heaven? The
argument of Korach and his company [against Moses].
At first glance this teaching seems counterintuitive. Logic would seem
to dictate that an argument for the sake of Heaven would finally be
resolved, since both parties are interested in arriving at the truth
and, therefore, reaching a resolution. In contrast, a dispute not for
the sake of Heaven would never be resolved since at least one of the
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Beha’alotcha
have been through, God has never let us completely fall and has time
after time saved us and scattered our enemies.
Ironically, within a very short time Moses himself would need his
prayer answered. In the narrative following these two verses, the Torah
recounts how the people complained about the manna (the heavenly
bread) and the lack of meat. In a moment of obvious discouragement
and futility, Moses cried out to God: “I alone cannot carry all this
people, for it is too heavy for me. And if this is how you deal with me,
then kill me now” (Numbers 11:14-15). Moses’ request that God kill
him is startling when compared with the lengths to which he went to
defend the Jewish people after the sin of the Golden Calf. There, he
even exclaimed that God could wipe him out of His book if He would
not forgive the people. Here though, Moses seems to have suffered a
severe “fall.” However, God recognizes Moses plight and legitimizes
his complaint by appointing seventy elders to assist him.
All the elders became prophets as Moses conferred upon them the
spirit of prophecy. When two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, began
prophesying in the camp, Joshua ran to tell Moses, assuming that he
would stop them. According to the Sifrei, Joshua’s concern stemmed
from their prophecy that Moses would die and Joshua would bring
the children of Israel into the Land. Even though at this point in the
Torah’s narrative, the people were very close to entering the Land
of Israel with Moses as their leader, Moses’ complaint and request
to die if he did not receive assistance are immediately followed by a
prophecy that he would die before entering the Land. In a sense, both
Moses’ complaint and prayer function as self-fulfilling prophecies
with regard to both himself and the nation, for he died in the desert
and did not lead Israel into the Promised Land. Furthermore, God
has always prevented the nation of Israel from being completely
annihilated by its enemies.
The Talmud teaches that one of the Mashiach’s names will be
yenon, a name that sounds very much like the letter nun (Sanhedrin
98b). The Mashiach, like King David, will experience many falls and
will deliberately descend in order to redeem all the fallen sparks of
holiness trapped in the impure shells and illusions of this world. The
Ba’al Shem Tov explains that in order to elevate others who have
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