My husband, Rav Berg, once told me a story about two great friends.
There was a man who was sentenced to death. Before he was taken away,
the
condemned man begged the king, “Please allow me three days’
time to put my affairs in order and to make sure that my family is taken
care of.”
“How will I know that you will come back?” asked the king.
Almost immediately, the condemned man’s best friend raised his hand
and said, “I will take his place. If he doesn’t come back, you
can hang me instead.”
Three days passed, and the condemned man had not returned. When it
came
time for the hanging, the king’s guards turned to the man who had
offered himself as a substitute and said, “You will have to take his
place.”
Just before the noose was slipped over the man’s head, a voice
suddenly rang out in the distance. “I’m here! I’m here!
Stop! Stop!” The condemned man ran forward from the crowd to take his
rightful place on the gallows.
At this point, however, the friend had already made up his mind to
die
in the first man’s stead. “You were late,” he said.
“So maybe this was meant to be my destiny. You have a family who
needs you. I’m alone, already here and ready to go.”
The two friends argued back and forth, each one choosing to die for
the
other. Seeing this, the king declared a stop to the hanging, saying,
“My sentence was meant for one man, but I see that if I were to kill
one of you it would be as though I were killing two people. Both of you
can
go free.”
The point of the story? Because each friend was willing to face death
for the other, the judgment was removed from both.
Now obviously most of us, thank God, will never be in such an extreme
situation. Still, there is a message here about the unlimited power of
unconditional love. This week’s portion, Bamidbar, allows us the
ability to go against our doubts and to understand that our spiritual
growth is not determined by how much we learn or even by how much we
pray;
it’s determined by how much we’re prepared to extend ourselves
for others.
You know the word “Kabbalah” actually means “to
receive.” In our lives, we have little problem with receiving. The
problem lies with what happens on the other side. Often times, the
people
that are – or appear to be – the most successful are also the
unhappiest because they haven’t found the balance between what they
have and what they can share and do for this world. This week, may each
and
every one of us have the ability to tap into our fruitfulness –
whether it be time, money, or talent – and find ways to share it with
the world.
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