Here is a dvar torah I wrote on this week's Parsha. I had initially wanted to write about the responsibility that the nation had to prevent the Mekalel but looking through some sources, I ended up with the exact opposite conclusion.<br>
<br><br><p>At the end of this week’s Parsha we come across an interesting story.
A man, born to a Jewish mother (from the Tribe of Dan) and an Egyptian
father, gets into an argument with one of the other Jews. In the course
of the disagreement he pronounces the name of Hashem and curses Him. The
people bring the man to Moshe and place him in jail while Moshe asks
Hashem for advice. God instructs them to take the man out of the camp,
to have the people who heard him curse Hashem place their hands on his
head and then stone him to death.</p>
<p>The Midrash, filling in some gaps in the story, tells us that the
argument was about whether this man was entitled to place his tent with
the rest of the Tribe of Dan, since tribal association is patrilineal.
The Dan-ites didn’t want this man camping with them, and are backed by
Moshe, who rules that the Dan-ites have the right to not allow him in
their camp. The man leaves Moshe in frustration, continues his fight
with someone else in the camp, and ultimately curses God.</p>
<p>This Midrash is quite hard to understand. Even if Dan wasn’t
obligated count the blasphemer as a member of their tribe, wouldn’t it
still have been a good gesture to allow him to stay there? He didn’t
really have anywhere else to go, as he surely didn’t belong to any of
the other tribes! </p>
<p>Further, even if he wasn’t a particularly nice person and they were
justified in not wanting him around, why did the Jew allow the
blasphemer to pick a fight with him? It was surely possible for them to
handle this situation without getting drawn into one-on-one quarrels
with him, and the man’s temper would not have flared to the point of
cursing Hashem. There seems, however, to be no criticism levied against
Dan or the man who argued with the blasphemer.</p>
<p>Rashi (citing a different Midrash) makes a very insightful comment
when analyzing the punishment given. What is the point of having the
people who witnessed the event place their hands on the blasphemer’s
head? We don’t see this action in other places that stoning is
discussed. Rashi says that they placed their hands on his head to tell
him “דמך בראשך ואין אנו נענשים במיתתך שאתה גרמת לך” (“Your blood is on
your own head! We are not to be punished for your death, for you brought
this upon yourself!”).</p>
<p>The lesson here is clear. This is man who comes from a broken family,
who was pushed around by the people he considered the members of his
Tribe and was provoked further by another individual. Yet ultimately he
alone is responsible for his actions and must take full responsibility
for them.</p>
<p>How many times do we blame our circumstances for mistakes we make?</p><a href="http://mydvar.com/2010/04/taking-responsibility/">http://mydvar.com/2010/04/taking-responsibility/</a><br><br><br>Shabbat Shalom,<br>
Liron<br><br>PS I am looking for other people who are interested in writing Divrei Torah from time to time for <a href="http://mydvar.com">mydvar.com</a>. If you're interested, please let me know off list.<br><div style="visibility: hidden; display: inline;" id="avg_ls_inline_popup">
</div><style type="text/css">#avg_ls_inline_popup { position:absolute; z-index:9999; padding: 0px 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 240px; overflow: hidden; word-wrap: break-word; color: black; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; line-height: 13px;}</style>