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Parsha Ponderings – Matos

וידבר ד’ אל משה לאמר: נקום נקמת בני ישראל מאת המדינים, אחר תאסף אל עמך

And God spoke to Moshe saying: Avenge the vengeance of the Israelites against the Midianites, after which you shall pass on.

In instructing Moshe to launch retaliatory action against Midian, God makes a point of informing him that his death would follow shortly thereafter. The linking of these two events by none other than God, suggests an affiliation which runs deeper than mere chronology. Indeed, Chazal tell us that God was actually making Moshe’s death contingent upon his taking up arms against Midian. Thus, Chazal commend Moshe for launching the war without delay, despite the fact that he could have gained some precious time by stalling.

Yet what did Moshe’s death have to do with the war on Midian? Why could his own passing not take place until he had successfully avenged Midian’s crimes against the Israelites?

To answer these questions, we must look back to the original circumstances which led God to bar Moshe from entering the Land and decree upon him an early death. Although the precise cause is a matter of great debate among the early commentators, both Rashi and Rambam seem to be of the position that Moshe’s “sin” at Meriva was related to an unwarranted display of anger.

It has therefore been suggested that it was incumbent upon Moshe, prior to departing this world, to rectify his actions by channeling that very anger toward a cause which truly warranted righteous indignation- the avenging of Midian’s hideous crimes against God and His nation.

Yet the question still lingers: Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Moshe to rectify his actions by engaging in some form of nature-defying act of anger suppression, rather than give expression to the very trait with which he sinned, albeit in constructive fashion?

Apparently not.

The highest form of perfection lies not in learning to suppress the traits which drive us to negativity, but in gaining control over those traits so that we may maneuver them at will, rather than be maneuvered by them. Suppressing the trait of anger, or any other trait for that matter, is far easier than utilizing it while retaining full control over the parameters of its implementation. Were he to have merely suppressed his anger, Moshe would have thus fallen short of true rectification. . It was only by re-calibrating his anger that he was able to die a man with his every trait in order, fully expressive of all that God sought to express in Creation.

We must learn to streamline, rather than stifle,

fine-tuning our traits, trifle by little trifle.

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