Lessons in Human Relations from this Week's Parsha

In my humble opinion, we can learn two interesting lessons in human relations from this week's parsha, neither of which is related per se to the parsha's namesake, Pinchas. 

Firstly, the daughters of Tzelafchad ask Moshe Rabbeinu for a portion of the land. Their father having died for his own sins, they, the daughters, did not have any means of inheritance because they had no male siblings. They appealed to Moshe Rabbeinu, saying, "Why should we be maltreated?" In Hebrew: למה יגרע. Why should we be worse off? That expression is used twice in the Torah; it's likewise used by the Jews in the desert who were not able to bring their Paschal sacrifice because of ritual impurity. There, too, they use the very same Hebrew words, למה יגרע. Moshe Rabbeinu tells them, too, "Wait here, I will ask Hashem, and give you an answer immediately." In both instances, Moshe Rabbeinu, perhaps unlike the court systems we know, petitioned Hashem, and provided an answer right away. Why? Because when a person feels maltreated, they need to be assuaged immediately. 

Likewise, we see Moshe's sensitivity in asking Hashem for a new leader for the Jewish people who knows the sensitivities of each and every Jew. He calls Hashem the "God of Spirits," the God who can provide a leader who knows the spirit of each and every Jew. 

May we have the wisdom to learn from the humility of Moshe Rabbeinu, BS"D. 


Comments

  1. Ra'anan ElozoryJuly 2, 2021 at 1:49 AM

    Nice. It also made me notice that "assuage" & "persuade" share the same etymology of "sweet," something to note.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yoav Gedalia BarthJuly 5, 2021 at 12:07 AM

    Very nice, I definitely didn't know that.

    ReplyDelete

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