Mercy is the key

 

כי תישא  Ki Siso 

Why is this Parshe not in sequence?

First, there is the Mitzwa of counting Bnei Yisroel, and then there are the two instances of Moshe climbing the mountain and sitting with G!d. And inbetween those two, there is already an Instance where Moshe meets G!d in his tent. So, why do we need a “Tent of Meeting”, is Moshe’s Tent not enough?

Rashi, Or Hachaim HaKadosh, state that the sequence of events here is all wrong. First there was the sin of the Golden Calf, then there was the counting here described, then there were the second Tablets, and only then was the building of the Mishkan.

 

When commanding this count, the language is very strange, and somber. “When you lift off (or up) their heads, to count the People, do it by way of a Giveaway”.

There are many teachings to be learned from this posuk.

It is forbidden to count jews stam, without very serious reason.

Counting

What does this mean, lift off their heads?? Kill them, behead them?

Indeed, Or Hachaim Hakadosh tells us in the Name of Chasa”l, that, if we do not behave, this is what is going to happen, we will die (prematurely).

And if we do behave, we will be lifted up. And then he goes on, saying: But even if we misbehave, and we come to HIM with our heads bent towards the ground in shame or fear or remorse, HE will lift us (our heads) up, and we will live.

And then, we see this unfolding in the whole sequence of the following psukim in the parshe. Moshe ascends the mountain, he is late in coming down by a few hours, Skiddy Bnei Yisroel let themselves  be lured into the Sin of the Golden Calf. 3000 die (those directly involved in Idol Worship), and the many (some more than 600’000) are left in shame, remorse and anguish (those who did not protest, stood by, were indifferent).

The first Tablets broken, the spirits broken, Aharon, the great Aharon in disgrace, all seems lost.

And Moshe is told to return to the mountain, and is given the 13 Attributes of Mercy, without which no human being could live even for one second.

And Moshe attains the highest possible level of Humanity ever reached!

Just imagine, the Maker of the Universe tells you:” here, come sit next to me, I prepared this special, protected spacey, so you won’t get burned by love when directly gazing at me. I will cover your eyes while passing, and then you may see my back. This is the very maximum any Human can possibly experience without his Neshome immediately getting stuck to me in eternal love and departing from the body”.

And this happened, after His people gravely sinned, broke the covenant, went astray. Albeit they repented, why should a husband take back an infidel wife, or vice versa?

This is some great Mercy!!

And what is our takeaway?

HaShem gave us the gift of Forgiveness, one of the most precious gifts of all, when he unveiled to Moshe the 13 Attributes of Mercy.

He not only gave them to us to ask HIM for mercy. They are a gift to be applied on ourselves and our surroundings daily:

The world is designed such, that, as our chasidische master sZl. Menachem Mendel from Kotzk said:

There is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

HKBH wants us to learn by error, failure, falling down, .. And Then Pick Up The Pieces, Learn From It, and become – real jewish heroes!!

So, in life, we often mess up, the Yetzer gets the better part of us and makes a total joke of our Selves. Nothing works, we got it all wrong, we feel terrible, losers, failures.

Then we pick ourselves up, make amends, forgive ourselves and others, ask others to forgive us,  and reach heights we could not dream of without the failure.

May we by application of the power of the 13 Attributes of Mercy that have been given to us to live, find favor in the eyes of our loved ones, our foes, all of Am Yisroel, HKBH, and bring about the Mashiach ben Dovid.

 

And in connection to the Megilla:

Why is it that some of Hamans children became Jews and their descendants learned in the Yeshivot in Bnei Brak? Wasn’t Haman a son of Agag the Amalekite? Isn’t Amalek the eternal foe to be relentlessly pursued and killed? How come his Kids were allowed to even stay alive, let alone become Jews themselves?

Haman, in his time as General of Achashveiroshs Army, sold himself as a slave to Mordechai, in order to raise the funds to pay his soldiers.

Subsequently, the whole Megilla story unfolds, and Hamas is hanged with his wife and her 10 sons. However, since a slave loses his ancestry, and becomes the property of his Master, Haman lost his status as Amalekite.

This opened up the path of Giur for his remaining 198 children from other women.

What do we see here?

HaShem Ysborach caused Haman to lose his status as Amalekite, so his Children could find refuge under the Shechinas Wings, and earn eternal life!

What kind of enormous Chesed is this!?!!

Ha Shem does not want the downfall of his foes, HE wants their RETURN to HIM!

And here we see the connection to the 13 Aspects of Mercy given to Moshe his second time around on the Mountain. If HaShem has such degrees of Mercy for non-jewish enemies of His Children, all the more so HE will have mercy on his beloved People.