By Dylan Schwartzberg
Parshat Beha’alotcha
This week’s Torah portion is Beha’alotcha. In this Torah portion, the Israelites continue to travel in the desert, and the Jewish people are preparing to make a sacrifice to mark the first anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt. Moses has to tell the people that some of them cannot make the Passover offering, because they are ritually impure as a result of coming into contact with a dead body a few days before.
The Passover offering was important to the Jews, and the people who were told that they could not make the offering were frustrated and disappointed. Moses then went to God and explained the situation, and God granted a second day to make the Passover offering a month later, for people who were not pure enough to offer it the first time. The commentary in the Etz Hayim teaches that the opportunity for a second chance always exists if you seek it out.
In my opinion, the story teaches that even if you can’t be part of something at a specific time or in a specific way, you need to keep in mind that tomorrow is another day and your chance will come again soon. It might be someone else’s turn today, but you should not feel disappointed or jealous of their opportunities, and instead you should remember that your turn will come again soon. You should not dwell on negativity, but instead be open to another opportunity. In other words, everyone experiences good days and bad days, and some days will be hard while others will be easy and successful. That is just the way it goes. The Jewish people were given a second chance and they were able to make the important sacrifice as they had hoped. This story makes me think about times when I felt disappointed or frustrated by something that I wasn’t able to do or by a situation where I felt that I was at an unfair disadvantage. The story of God giving the Israelites a second chance reminds me of the fact that second chances are important and that you should not lose hope simply because you don’t get something right the first time you try.
The Israelites also complained about the manna that God was sending them in the desert and how they missed the meat that was given to them in Egypt. The manna could taste differently depending upon the intentions and belief in God of the person eating it. This led me to think that life is similar to manna because if you have a positive attitude about things and you appreciate what you have, then your life will be like ice-cream flavored manna every day. But if you are negative and fail to appreciate what you have, then your life will be one big pile of chicken manna always wishing for the meat from Egypt.
Dylan Schwartzberg is a rising eighth grader at Krieger Schechter Day School.
