At the end of Parashat Emor, the Torah tells an upsetting story about a man from Beneh Yisrael who got into a fight, and as a result, he publicly cursed Hashem, Heaven forbid. The Rabbis explain that he had lost a court case against his fellow, and he was so angry that he went into public and blasphemed the Name of G-d. Moshe Rabbenu did not know how to respond, and Hashem spoke to Him and taught that somebody who commits such a terrible act must be put to death.
There is much to say about and to learn from this incident. For one thing, this man’s behavior shows us the precise opposite of how we are to react to an adverse situation, when things don’t go our way. He cursed Hashem – teaching us that the right thing to do in times of challenge is to have emunah, to trust that Hashem is leading us the right way, and that every difficult situation is an opportunity for us to grow and learn so we become greater people.
But there is also another aspect of this story that is worth considering.
This is one of five instances in the Torah where a situation arose and Moshe did not know how to respond. The others are:
· When the מקושש עצים publicly desecrated Shabbat, and Moshe did not know how he should be punished. Hashem said that the man should be put to death.
· When the daughters of Tzelofhad, a man who had died with no sons and only daughters, asked to receive the portion in the Land of Israel that had been allotted to him. Hashem said that they indeed should receive their father’s portion, establishing this as the halachah in cases where a man dies and leaves only daughters.
· When a group of people could not offer the korban pesach because of their state of impurity, and they asked Moshe for the opportunity to offer the sacrifice. G-d established the halachah of פסח שני, whereby people who cannot offer the sacrifice on Pesach can do so the next month, on the 14th of Iyar.
· When a man named Zimri committed a public sin with a woman from the nation of Moav, Moshe did not know how to respond, until Pinhas arose and killed the violators, based on an exceptional halachah authorizing a zealous person to kill the violators in this kind of extreme situation.
These were all unpleasant, unwanted situations that arose, and which resulted in the teaching of new mitzvot. In all four instances, kedushah was added to the Jewish People because of something terrible, or at least undesirable, that took place.
Winston Churchill said: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” When we confront an unwanted situation, our reaction must be to keep moving forward, to do the best we can, trusting that somewhere in this situation is an opportunity for achievement and growth. These five stories in the Humash of times when Moshe Rabbenu needed to learn a new halachah shows us that problems and crises are actually opportunities to learn more, to lift ourselves higher, and to become better people.
Instead of falling apart in hard times, like the blasphemer in our parashah, let us instead try to find the opportunity within even difficulty, and turn every situation we find ourselves in into a meaningful and valuable learning experience.