FINE BALANCE
Dear Family,
I hope everyone is well.
Pesach and Chanie are in Eretz Yisrael, and I heard that they at the Kotel at the same time when Prince Philip visited! I wonder who was the more important British citizen there that day! Yerushalayim should be speedily rebuilt in our days!
A theme that kept recurring this week was the trials and tribulations experienced by the Jewish people in general through history, and which also reflects in the individual life of each of us.
In this week's sedra, Balak, we see Balak employing Bilam to curse and destroy the Jewish People.
But Hashem was with us, protecting us, and instead forces Bilam to give us blessings of the highest order relating to our Final Redemption through MASHIACH!
However at the end of the sedra Balak and Bilam do manage to negotiate a weakness via the women of Moav and Midian, arousing the anger of Hashem and the death of twenty four thousand Jews.
Then the Daily Rambam was speaking about the Laws of a Gentile who wants to become a Jew (ger), and how the Bet Din speaks to him.
They inspect his background, ask him why he wants to convert?
They tell him that the Jews are afflicted, crushed, subjugated, strained, and suffering comes upon them.
They tell him the fundamentals of Faith, and the punishments that may come about through disobeying the Commands, but he is also told of the rewards for their observance.
We tell him that The World to Come is hidden away only for the righteous - they are the Jews.
The fact that you see Israel suffering difficulty in this world, reflects the good that is hidden away for them. Because if they will receive an abundance of good in this world, their hearts may become uplifted, and then err, and lose their reward of The World to Come.
And so how do we manoeuvre between all these 'contradictory' forces and emotions in our lives, of suffering, poverty, wealth, doing what is right, not erring, and understanding what lies behind it all?
I think a nice answer came in the Mashiach Day by Day of yesterday, which describes why it is Dovid Hamelech's dynasty from where MASHIACH will arrive.
Dovid exemplified 2 seemingly opposite qualities.
On the one hand he was the epitome of kingship, because he was naturally exalted and aloof.
On the other hand, Dovid was selected to be the king because of his humility and willingness to submit to Hashem's will.
He did not care about what others thought of him, or politics, or favours, due to his humility. He only did what was right and what would bring honour to Hashem. (and with much strength)
And his heir was King Solomon, which shows additional qualities of the dynasty. He had great wisdom, and in his era there was much peace and prosperity.
So it looks like the answer is a combination of humility, strength and wisdom! - lots of homework for us, but then we get it all BEH!
Gut Shabbos to all.