Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Kassorla
Parshat Devarim
Ripple Effects
This D’var Torah has been dedicated in the memory of
ר׳ אלחנן יעקב ז״ל בן ר׳ שמואל פנחס
ר׳ אלחנן יעקב ז״ל בן ר׳ שמואל פנחס
This week’s parsha marks the beginning of the Nation's preparation to settle in the Land of Israel. With the people about to enter, Moshe Rabbeinu stands before them, addressing them for the last time. Through veiled references, Moshe scolds the nation and prepares them for the journey ahead.
In his speech, Moshe alludes to the sin of the Meraglim. Within this allusion, he also mentions his fate from the episode of מי מריבה (the Waters of Strife) where Moshe, instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, hit the rock. G-d penalized Moshe for this, and so he was prohibited from entering the land.
Moshe says: ״גם בי התאנף ה׳ בגללכם לאמר גם אתה לא תבוא שם״ – “With me as well, Hashem became angry because of you, saying: You too shall not come there ” (1:37).
At first glance, we see something peculiar here. When Moshe references his own punishment, it sounds as though he is placing the onus upon the nation: “Hashem became angry because of you.” This appears uncalled for – why would Moshe blame others for his own infraction? This kind of behavior does not seem congruous with what we would expect of a man of Moshe’s stature.
Surely, Moshe Rabbeinu did not rebuke the people this way with the intent of avoiding responsibility, or out of personal anger towards them. No – if he “blamed” them, it must have been because, as their leader, he had a message for them. What is the message he could convey by saying “...because of you”?
Furthermore, the commentators struggle to understand why Moshe puts the episode of the Mei Meriva within the context of the sin of the Spies. Seemingly they are two distinct and unrelated episodes – what is the connection between them?
The truth is that there is nothing in this world that is disconnected. To understand this, we need to look no further than to the mathematical concept of “The Butterfly Effect.” This is the notion that small causes can have far-reaching effects. The Mathematician Edward Lorenz (the one who coined the phrase) explained it as follows: “The fluttering of a butterfly’s wing in Rio de Janeiro, amplified by atmospheric currents, could cause a tornado in Texas two weeks later.”
But this idea goes back even farther. The German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) wrote: “You could not remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby…changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole.” (The Vocation of Man - 1800)
All things are interconnected, and all things affect each other. If this is true in the physical realm, how much more so in the spiritual! All of our actions – our aveiros as well as our mitzvos – have an incredible impact on the world around us.
Rav Yisrael Salanter was said to have remarked that “if we strengthen our observance of Shabbat in Lithuania, it will prevent a fellow Jew from desecrating the Shabbat in Paris.”
Perhaps Moshe was trying to relay this message of spiritual connectivity to the nation. By mentioning his infraction in the context of the episode of the spies and saying that his mistake was due to them, Moshe was teaching that his actions and theirs are interlocked. The implication of this being that if one person (i.e. Moshe) sins, it stems from an “air” of sin in the world and among the nation.
It is important for the Jewish People to know that when they err, it is not limited to just them; rather it has an effect on the entire nation, even the greatest among them. It has an effect on the entire world. No action is in a vacuum, and when we realize how serious and important our actions are, we can take more responsibility for them.
But rather than focus on the negative, let us instead use this idea as source of strength for us this Tisha B'av. It should steer us away from the debilitating thought that our actions will accomplish very little, because we see from the parsha the exact opposite: our actions, no matter how big or how small, have a tremendous impact.
If each one of us takes upon ourselves to love another Jew just a little more, it will have extensive ripple-effects on the entire nation. If we each do just a little better in our daily routine, it can be the catalyst to overarching change in our world. A little bit goes a very long way.
If we personally cry out to Hashem to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash, with each person’s help, perhaps we will not have to see Tish’a B’av this year.
Shabbat Shalom
