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LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
by Rabbi Dovid Green
It's always healthy to take stock. To review past accomplishments positive and the inevitable,
negative. Though we always try to set our sights ahead to be able to achieve, one needs on
occasion, to look back to examine where we came from so as to direct us (or redirect us) to where
we want to go. A healthy recommendation.
This week's portion contains a review of the accomplishments both positive and negative, of the
Jewish people from the time of the exodus from Egypt till they were about to enter the holy land. A
new era was about to begin. Moshe needed to give the necessary direction to the people he would
soon be taking leave of. How would he insure that it would received in the most effective way?
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin explains in his book Love Your Neighbor this important factor in human relations
as shown in the Torah.
"MOSHE SPOKE TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL...AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN SICHON KING OF THE
AMORITES, WHO DWELT IN CHESHBON, AND OG, THE KING OF BASHAN, WHO DWELT IN
ASHTASROS AT EDREI" (Devarim 1:3,4)
The sages teach that here when Moshe "spoke" to the Jewish People, it was words of rebuke.
Rebuke is most effective when it can be perceived as being sincere. The Torah emphasizes that
Moshe rebuked the Jewish people _after_ he had smitten Sichon and Og. Moshe reasoned, that if he
rebuked them before they entered at least _part_ of the land, they might wonder what their leader
had against them and what good he had done for them since "it must be that he does not have the
power to bring us into the land". Moshe therefore waited until after he had conquered part of the
land before giving the necessary rebuke. (a paraphrasing of Rashi)
"Had the people felt that Moshe's rebuke was insincere and that he had ulterior motives, his words
would have been ineffective. A person will only accept rebuke if he feels that the rebuker has his
best interest in mind."
"We also see from here that timing is a major factor in rebuke. In many instances by waiting for an
opportune time to deliver admonition, a person will be more successful than he would have been
had he admonished earlier."
Each attempt at communication and helpful well-timed direction will bring multiple results we might
not have imagined! The ripple effect, we are taught is called "mitzvah goreres mitzvah" - one mitzvah
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Torah.org Love Your Neighbor
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creates (the opportunity for) another mitzvah". May we all cultivate healthy peaceful relationships
with others!
Good Shabbos
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