Challenging the Myth

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

When Hashem showed Moshe the various afflictions called Tzoraas, Moshe became fearful. Hashem told him, “Do not worry. The ultimate goal of Tzoraas is to bring about goodness.” In what was does the affliction of Tzoraas bring about good?

One type of Tzoraas is when the affliction appears on a person’s home. The owner will notice a certain type of discoloration, and will report it to the Kohein. The Kohein instructs the homeowner to remove all the contents from the house, and then he comes to issue a ruling on the Tzoraas question.

The commentaries explain that one of the reasons that a person’s home would be afflicted with Tzoraas is because he is stingy and does not lend out his belongings. When people ask him for things he says he doesn’t have. When Tzoraas afflicts his house he removes the contents of the house, and suddenly it becomes clear that he does have the assets in question. Perhaps he was lying about not having things because he was stingy. Or, perhaps he really didn’t realize how many assets he had. He lived with a myth that he couldn’t, until he saw his belongings spread in front of him in his front yard.

Sometimes it takes some special revelation to make us aware of the resources that we really have.

I am reminded of the story of a man who arrived at a hotel late at night, exhausted from a long day of travel. He walked in to the hotel asking for a room, but the clerk told him that there are no rooms available. Drawing on his last reserves of strength, the traveler smiled pleasantly and asked, “If the President of the United States would come right now, do you think you would be able to find a room for him?” Intrigued, the clerk looked over the room reservation list and said, “Yes, if the President of the United States would show up now, I think we would be able to find a room for him.” Whereupon the traveler said, “Well you have my word. The President is not coming tonight… So you can give me his room.”

One of the functions of Tzoraas is for Hashem to alert us to the resources and capabilities that we have. Maybe we didn’t realize that we have so many hammers, can-openers, toys or assets. But it is only if we realize our capabilities that we can begin to utilize them properly.

Sometimes Hashem can’t simply expose our assets for us to notice. Sometimes He must actually trick us so that we can reach our fullest potential.

A few years ago, in a densely populated Jewish community, the local charity fund issued a significant number of checks to help needy families out for the holiday of Pesach. This charity fund happens to be one of the largest in the region, and as in previous years the total of donations and disbursements was truly staggering.

Behind the very significant operation was a wise lady who kept track of how much money was coming in in donations, and how much was going out in family disbursements. Everything was going according to plan, except that this year, about a week before Pesach, the lady realized that she had miscalculated. Somehow she had lost track of how much money had actually been donated, and she had authorized checks and disbursements $70,000 more than the Fund actually had.

At this point it was irrelevant whether she had made the mistake because she didn’t take into account the economic changes, or simply because Hashem caused her to err. Either way, the situation was a serious one, and she immediately sought Rabbinic council. She explained, “In the forty years that I have run the Charity Fund we have distributed millions of dollars, and never once did I bounce a check. This year the need has been very great, and somehow I miscalculated and authorized $70,000 more than we actually have. What should I do?”

Amazingly, the Rabbis involved insisted that she continue to distribute. An emergency chain call went out to the community alerting people of the situation and informing them of the locations that they could drop off their donations. Within days the community came through with over $100,000.

When I heard this true story I found it most instructive. The lesson is not that we should spend money that we do not have. The lesson is that sometimes Hashem will play a trick even on the wisest, most thought out, responsible person, causing a mistake to be made to expose the real potential of a community. The recipients were truly needy, but no person could have anticipated that the community was capable of such generosity. Only by a Divine orchestrated mistake did the community find out what assets and commitment they truly possessed.

When Moshe saw the afflictions described in this week’s Parsha he was fearful. But Hashem responded, “Do not worry. The purpose of the affliction is to bring out the best in people- to help them rethink things and to see what they are capable of.”

No wonder, that when a Jew encounters challenging times his attitude is, “This too is for the good.” Somehow, Hashem is dispelling a myth that I have about myself, and is guiding me to bring out the goodness that is within me.

©  2016 by TEACH613™