Thursday, June 6, 2013

PARSHAS KORACH 5773


“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Rosh Chodesh Tamuz - Parshas Korach
29 Sivan 5773/June 8, 2013
Pirkei Avos – perek 4

The beautiful month of June has finally arrived. The comfortable weather that New Yorkers flock down to Miami to find during the winter has finally made its way up the East Coast. [A quick shout out to our friends in Florida who are melting in the heat. Good luck with that; see you in New York soon!] 
During this time of year one appreciates the beauty of landscaping. Many homes boast meticulously manicured lawns with colorful bushes and flowers adorning the front of their yards. I should also mention that while most of us in suburbia have to mow our lawns or employ a service to do so, I have friends in Brooklyn who cut their lawn with a pair of scissors once a month. 
As any homeowner is aware, grass grows very fast and therefore has to be mowed consistently. It will look neat and trimmed for only a short while before it starts looking unkempt again.
Last week we noticed that our grass was unusually high and looked somewhat messy. I called our landscaper who reassured us that it was only because of the inclement weather that lingered for a few days that they didn’t mow our lawn. But they would be back soon enough. Indeed, by the next afternoon it was mowed neatly.
It’s quite fascinating that a whole yard covered in grass can be cut in a relatively short amount of time. Contrast that with other yard work which can be much more tedious and take far longer. For example, tree stumps and branches left over from hurricanes and storms can take weeks, and in some cases months, before being completely disposed of.
Dovid Hamelech compares the ascent of wicked to positions of prominence to wildly growing grass (Tehillim 92:8). It may appear incredibly thick and strong in such a short time, but in the long run they are utterly and completely destroyed. Like grass which is so easily felled and cut down, so do the wicked eventually fall and fall hard. 
Perhaps the greatest example of this was the sudden and rapid fall of the impenetrable Iron Curtain in 1991. The great and mighty Soviet Union was disbanded quicker than anyone could have fathomed. It was truly a divine landscaping!
We have many implacable foes who strike fear within us. We don’t see how we will ever triumph over the threats of so many surrounding and abounding enemies.
And yet Dovid Hamelech reminds us that all we need is the right landscaper! 
     
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Good Chodesh,
    R’ Dani and Chani Staum

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