“RABBI’S MUSINGS (&
AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh
Parshas Pinchos
Pirkei Avos – Perek 6 ---
13 Tamuz 5774/July 11, 2014
This year
Camp Dora Golding built a magnificent Shul/Bais Medrash in the heart of its 156
acre campus. The area around the perimeter of the shul was roped off so that
the grass which was planted there could grow. When camp began two weeks ago,
there was nothing but fertilized mud visible there. But within a few days
little spurts of green were visible. After a week and a half the grass was
noticeably growing.
For the
last few days however, our area has been hammered by downpours of rain.
Although much of the grass is still growing, there are noticeable places where
the deluge of flowing rain destroyed the potential growth. Although it’s
annoying, it’s not such a major issue because the grass can simply be
replanted, and will grow within a short few days.
Contrast
the growth of grass with the growth of a tree which can take years to fully
mature. When a tree reaches its full height it towers majestically over the
surrounding area, its branches spreading far beyond it, and its roots firmly
taking hold deep beneath the earth in all directions. In addition, unlike grass
which any child can rip out of the ground nonchalantly, it is a great challenge
to chop down a tree, and an even greater challenge to uproot all of the
branches beneath.
In the
Song of Shabbos, Tehillim 92, Dovid Hamelech compares wicked evildoers to
grass. “When the wicked bloom like grass and the doers of iniquity blossom – it
is to destroy them till eternity.” The wicked are numerous and seem to dominate
in all directions. Yet like grass one strong deluge can flood them all out
perpetually.
The
righteous on the other hand, are compared to mighty trees, firm and strong. “A
righteous man will flourish like a date palm, like a cedar in Lebanon
Dovid
Hamelech concludes that the righteous – like the palm and the cedar – will
never whither. Because they are so deeply rooted in the ground they draw
nourishment from the minerals and waters beneath even as they age. So too the
righteous, even as their bodies physically atrophy with old age, they continue
to be vibrant and in love with G-d, His Torah, and His world. They never
forfeit their vitality and spirit, because they remain firm and committed in
their faith.
Throughout
the six day week we do not speak about this lofty perspective, because it’s
hard to decipher truth from mirage when in the thick of the bog. But on Shabbos
when we view the world from a celestial perspective, with a divine
point-of-view, we strengthen ourselves by reminding each other that all of the
wickedness and iniquity that surrounds and abounds is merely grass in the hands
of G-d. And when the moment comes when G-d decides to eradicate all of that
evil, it will happen at an unbelievably frenzied pace - as happened with the
rapid fall of communism in the early 1990s. When it happens the mighty cedars
and date trees will proudly watch the destruction of the miniscule grass which
G-d will trample and destroy.
Hopefully
the grass in front of our beautiful shul will grow lush and enhance its
aesthetic beauty. But if rain does destroy our grass, or if we see grass dried
out in the summer heat, it will serve as a reminder to us that “Your enemies,
Hashem… shall perish”; on the day when our nation will live in peace and
security and Hamas and all of their nefarious friends will be destroyed
forever.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum