The “Make-Up” Holiday
When a community of Jews is involved in a Mitzvah it introduces an element of holiness that is truly infinite. No matter how many excuses we may have for separating ourselves from the communal effort, it will not make up for the lost spiritual gain. LIGHT FROM THE FUTURE ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
The Value of Life
There is one Holiday that can be celebrated twice. This Holiday, known as Pesach Sheni-The Second Passover—allows one who was precluded from the observance of the first Passover to observe it a month later.
The circumstances behind this “make-up” holiday are recorded in this week’s parsha: There were a number of people who were ritually defiled because they had been involved in the burial of some dead people. According to Jewish law, one who comes in contact with a dead body becomes ritually unfit. This simply means that they cannot enter into the holy Temple, or partake of any consecrated offering.
The spiritual reason for this exclusion is to impress upon us the value of life and that holiness resides where there is life. The absence of life, ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA where G-d’s vitality is obscured, is in direct conflict with the offerings to Him that are all about experiencing one’s closeness to G-d.
Diminished
However, these individuals could not make peace with the idea that they would be excluded from such an important celebration and they complained to Moses saying: “Why should we be diminished?” Their argument was that not only were they not privileged to be a part of the celebration as all others were, but that this actually diminished them;
their spiritual stature was reduced.
At first glance their argument was inappropriate. There are many instances in which the Torah tells us that certain people are exempted from certain obligations and celebrations. Yet, one does not find many cases where people complained and their arguments were accepted.
What was so different about this situation?
Selflessness Should Not Be Punished
The individuals who became defiled because they were involved in the burial of the dead did this as an act of kindness for others, not for their ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA own benefit. Indeed, burying the dead is regarded as the ultimate act of kindness since one does not expect to receive anything in return from the recipient of this kindness.
If they were just involved in some neutral pursuit, or even in the pursuit of a mitzvah that involves one’s own self-enhancement, they would not have complained. They would have appreciated the fact that there are tradeoffs. By virtue of their involvement in one effort they might be preventing their involvement in something else.
However, these individuals could not fathom how, in light of their sacrifice for others, they could lose their ability to get closer to G-d.
How could selfless behavior for another render one ineligible for the
Paschal Sacrifice and all the spiritual benefits that it entailed?
Community Minded
Perhaps one can add another point. Their selfless act meant that they were not thinking of their own individual spirituality. They were community conscious. Why then, they argued, should they be treated as “exceptions” to the communal effort associated with the Paschal lamb. They did not want to be left out of the communal effort.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
And indeed, G-d concurred with their argument. When one goes out of his or her way to help another individual, that person will not end up losing. One way or another, G-d will provide this individual with an opportunity to make up whatever they may have lost.
There are several lessons that come to mind:
The first is that there is no real substitute for the Mitzvos we do in a communal setting. A community is not just the sum total of its constituents. When a community of Jews is involved in a Mitzvah it introduces an element of holiness that is truly infinite. No matter how many excuses we may have for separating ourselves from the communal effort, it will not make up for the lost spiritual gain.
This thought can help us understand the words of Hillel in Ethics of the Fathers (Chapter 2): “Do not separate yourself from the community.”
The problem with this statement is that it was inserted into the
Mishnah that features a statement of his descendent, Rabban Gamliel, some seven generations later! His statement reads: “Fulfill His will as if it were your own… Nullify your will before His will…
What is the reason for adding Hillel’s admonition to not separate from the community with his descendant’s teaching to conform to G-d’s will?
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
In light of the above, it may explain that Rabban Gamliel was talking of the need to subordinate your own individual interests to G-d’s will.
Hillel is then quoted because he takes this idea to the next step, subordinating your will to that of the community. Even when it would seem that your own spiritual interests can best be served by your personal journey, there are times when you must subordinate it to the community.
You Never Lose
There is yet a second lesson, a powerful one that is particularly pertinent to our times.
We are living in the last days of the dark exile, on the very threshold of the age of light and Redemption. However, at the end of the night, the darkness is even greater than before. As a result of this darkness many Jews have lost their spiritual vitality. Their souls are concealed; their connection to G-d obscured.
There are those, however, who are more fortunate and have not lost their connection to their heritage. Their practice of Judaism is vibrant.
When they survey what has happened around them and they see the
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
spiritual carnage, they may be hesitant to stop and help those individuals who have lost their zest for Jewish life.
One argument, specifically, is usually heard: “How can I help these less fortunate Jews? If I take away time from my Torah studies, I may lower my position in life. I will be precluded from participating in Jewish experiences that require more intense involvement.”
Our parsha comes to dispel this line of reasoning.
When people are involved in efforts to help restore life to others, they will never be losers. G-d will always provide them with opportunities to make up anything that they may have temporarily missed.
As a result of the complaint that those who had participated in burying the dead lodged, not only were they given another opportunity to observe Passover that year, but from that time onward any Jew, for whatever reason, could make up the Passover observance.
In other words, not only did their sacrifice not deprive them of the opportunity to bring the Paschal offering, it gave them additional merit. From that time onward every Jew could correct their past, even if their failure to bring the offering was due to less than idealistic concerns.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
In these days, every effort to assist others with their Jewish awareness and observance can only provide the final thrust into the period of Moshiach.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behalosecha by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
