The Smell of Justice
As we approach the final journey into the Messianic Age, we must orient ourselves towards a greater understanding of the needs of others. We should be able to judge others favorably by giving them the benefit of the doubt. To cultivate this positive trait, it is crucial that we also cultivate a deeper awareness of G-d in our lives and try to see thing from His broad and multi-dimensional perspective, not from our own myopic and limited outlook.
Life’s 42 Journeys
This week’s Parsha delineates the forty-two journeys the Jewish people made from their departure from Egypt until they reached the banks of the Jordan River.
Our Sages have suggested that these forty-two journeys are representative of the journeys each and every one of us makes in his or her own lifetime. The changes that we experience in life and all of life’s vicissitudes can be characterized by the forty-two journeys that are described in this week’s Parsha.
Similarly, our Sages have suggested that these forty-two journeys represent the journeys the Jewish people have made from the beginning of their history until the end of time.
In every journey, it is important that we have a goal. It is imperative that we know what is the end result of the journey and where are we heading.
The Last Journey: Jordan Jericho
The answer to this question in the context of the forty-two journeys is the very last place the Jews encamped before crossing over into the Promised Land: “The Jericho-Jordan.” The very last journey of the Jews in the desert took them to the banks of the Jordan River opposite the city of Jericho.
In rabbinic literature, however, the words “Jordan and Jericho” are said to be an allusion to the special characteristics that are associated with the ultimate Jewish leader, the Moshiach (Messiah). The intimation here is that all of our history will ultimately lead to a period of peace and goodness that will be ushered in by this great Jewish leader- Moshiach. But, we still must understand what is the connection between Moshiach and the Jordan and Jericho?
The prophet Isaiah (Chapter 11) describes one of the attributes of the Moshiach as one who will be imbued with a “sense of smell that is inspired by his reverence for G-d.” Based on this verse, the Talmud (Sanhedrin) states that one of the ways to test that an individual who makes the claim to be the Messiah is to see whether he is able to judge by virtue of his sense of smell. (Morach v’da’in). When Bar Kochba — the great warrior who rebelled against the Romans and declared himself to be the Messiah after some initial spectacular victories — was tested whether he had the capacity to judge in this manner and failed, the rabbis realized that he was not the Messiah.
The words “Jordan” and “Jericho” in Hebrew are etymologically related to the two words of judge and smell.
Accordingly, our last journey, the final destination of the Jewish people in their long and arduous history is the Messianic Age that will be ushered in by a Jewish leader whose distinction is that he can judge by his sense of smell, intuitively, without the benefit of witnesses and other forms of evidence.
At this point we may ask what precisely is this power? And what lesson can we learn from it?
Olfactory Judgment
When we base our judgment on the testimony of witnesses or other forms of evidence, we only get a two dimensional view of the facts. For now, judges have no other choice and must go by the evidence, as it appears to them. In the words of the Talmud: “A judge can only go by what his eyes see.”
However, Moshiach will be endowed with the spiritual power to see things three-dimensionally. He will know, when called upon to judge others, what the entire story is, whether or not there were extenuating circumstances. In short, he will see the entire picture and judge accordingly. Invariably this will mean that he will be able to judge more fairly and more compassionately.
How does Moshiach achieve this advanced state of “smell”? It is by virtue of his heightened state of awareness of and reverence for G-d that enables him to see things through G-d’s prism rather than his own.
As we approach the final journey, “Jordan Jericho,” or the Messianic Age, we must orient ourselves towards a greater understanding of the needs of others. We should be able to judge others favorably by giving them the benefit of the doubt. To cultivate this positive trait, it is crucial that we also cultivate a deeper awareness of G-d in our lives and try to see thing from His broad and multi-dimensional perspective, not from our own myopic and limited outlook. At that point, we will have ignited the spark of Moshiach within us that will ultimately lead to the true and complete Redemption with Moshiach at our head.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Matos-Masei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
