I hope everybody enjoyed their Pesach break.
Ours was nice. Busy, but nice.
My 16-year-old son has officially entered the "Israeli Teenager" stage in life, which means, the special "Hiking Hormone" kicks in (it eventually calms down when the person dies).
So, when he came to me and asked if he can go with his friends to a particular place, I had no choice but to say yes.
"There's no way to get there by bus, so how are you guys planning on getting there?"
"Simple. We'll hitch rides with complete strangers"
"Okay, sounds safe. And what exactly is at this location?"
"A bridge."
"A bridge?"
"Yeah, a bridge."
"And what are you going to do with a bridge?"
"Jump off of it."
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, go right ahead," I replied, as if this is the most normal thing in the world to do. Which it is, of course... if you're Israeli.
To be fair, said bridge crosses the Jordan river and is a popular place for Stupid Males to jump off of.
In the end, my particular Stupid Male did not jump off the bridge.
They had no problems getting rides from people, because that's what you do here, and he was able to make it there and back without any problems. However, while they were on the bridge getting ready to jump, there was another Stupid Male there, whose wife was below, yelling, screaming, and crying for him not to jump, since the water level wasn't very high (my wife would have stayed silent).
In the end, they all, thankfully, listened to her, and instead spent the time swimming.
I feel that this is one of those "Only in Israel" moments that you simply cannot get anywhere else, and as a parent, you need to just let it go...
This week's parsha discusses the all-so-fun topic of purities and impurities. When do people and things become impure, how to become pure, etc. Some of these impurities, such as the famous "tzaraas," are physical in nature, but have spiritual roots.
One of the signs that a person has this is when the hair around the area of the tzaraas will turn white. And when he is considered impure, he has many rules and regulations put upon him, which separates him from the rest of society, until he can purify himself.
Fine. Yet, we learn in a pasuk (13:13), that when a person is completely covered in this tzaraas, compared to localized places on his body, instead of being considered impure, he is actually labeled pure! For those paying attention to the parsha, you should be wondering why this is so.
Rav Shimshon Pinkus offers a wonderful explanation.
The Rambam writes (Hilchos Malachim 6: 7), that in war, when you surround your enemies, you should not surround them from all four sides, rather, you should leave one side open for them to escape.
This seems to go against standard military logic. However, when you think about it, it makes sense. When people are completely surrounded, they have no choice but to fight with all their strength and abilities. However, when they are given a way out, they are more likely to either take the opportunity to escape, or fight until they feel that they have no chance of winning, and will then retreat. Clearly, it's the first group, those that are completely surrounded, who are more dangerous, because they have nothing to lose.
One of the main reasons that the Russians fought with such ferocity against Germany, besides the fact that they were Russian, was because Hitler earlier on gave orders to execute Russian prisoners, rather than keep them alive. Once news of this reached the Russian lines, they knew that for them, it was all or nothing.
Similarly, in the current situation. In previous wars between Israel and their Arab neighbors, the Arabs were fighting to rid Israel of Jews or reconquer their land. But, above that, they still wanted to personally live. And that is why, in each war, the Arabs had no problem surrendering. However, today the Palestinians have a "We Love Death more than You Love Life" mentality. They welcome death and therefore will be more than happy to throw away all rules of war, making them far more dangerous.
But there is also a spiritual reason for this.
There is a general rule in the Torah: Hashem gives mercy for those being chased. The Midrash writes, "even if the chaser is a tzaddik and the person being chased is evil," Hashem will always show mercy to those being sought after.
So, if the enemy is in their city with no way out, even if they are our enemies, they will receive an extra measure of mercy from above.
So too this person covered in tzaraas. He doesn't have a little, he doesn't have a lot, he is completely covered in it. Whatever sin he did to bring this on himself, it doesn't seem that he has even done teshuvah for it. Yet, at that particular point in time, Hashem has mercy on him, and gives him the status of pure.
As I am writing this, another thought came to mind.
Perhaps we can learn this lesson a little further.
When a person is steeped in sin, whether it be all sorts of sin, or perhaps a particular sin he cannot seem to shake, and he feels that there is no way out, it's THEN, when he's surrounded by despair, does Hashem give him an extra dose of mercy, which he can use to pull himself out. So, even when it seems that all is lost, one should keep in mind that Hashem gives mercy to those who are being pursued, even if the pursuer is self-doubt and guilt.
With that, I wish you all an amazing Shabbos!