Dear Friends,
“When the plague was over…”
Thus commences the core of this week’s Torah portion. Apparently, there was a plague which had
ravaged the Israelite people at the end of their 40-year trek in the desert, and which is briefly and
tangentially mentioned twice at the end of last week’s Torah portion, and twice at the outset of this
week’s portion. And then, our verse: “When the plague was over…” (Num. 25:19)
Interestingly, this is the shortest verse in all of Torah – in Hebrew it is but three words: When (the)
plague (was) over.
What do we learn?
Apparently there was a plague and about 24,000 Israelites succumbed (Numbers 25:9). Then, the
Israelites moved on, readying themselves to enter the Promised Land. Thus, the mention of the plague
is merely a marker in time, such as, “Back when I was in high school,” or “When Reagan was President.”
What I learn from this is that when we are amid the predicament, it is all consuming and subsumes
every action and interaction.
When I had cancer in 2004 and was hospitalized and under treatment, everything which I did for a
matter of months was a measurement of that reality. Whether it was the first time I shaved after
surgery, or my first walk up the driveway, or my being told, “I’ll see you again in six months;” every
interaction was contextualized by being amid cancer treatment and recovery.
Yet, today, a decade and a half later, having cancer and those episodes have become but markers in
time. They are reference points, like, “When the plague was over…”
Hence, for us today: we are amid the predicament. It consumes and subsumes our daily behaviors,
concerns and contexts. Yet, there will come a time – and Jewish history comes to remind us that
situations pass, even the most dire situations do pass – and we will look at this condition as a frame of
reference, a context, a marker in time.
Of course, until then, we must be wise and cautious, prudent and responsible, because the plague is still
among us. But, in some years hence, it is my prayer that we will open the Torah and read this littlest of
all verses, and exhale a giant sigh, a sigh that is longer than the verse itself, and offer, “When the plague
was over…”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
“When the plague was over…”
Thus commences the core of this week’s Torah portion. Apparently, there was a plague which had
ravaged the Israelite people at the end of their 40-year trek in the desert, and which is briefly and
tangentially mentioned twice at the end of last week’s Torah portion, and twice at the outset of this
week’s portion. And then, our verse: “When the plague was over…” (Num. 25:19)
Interestingly, this is the shortest verse in all of Torah – in Hebrew it is but three words: When (the)
plague (was) over.
What do we learn?
Apparently there was a plague and about 24,000 Israelites succumbed (Numbers 25:9). Then, the
Israelites moved on, readying themselves to enter the Promised Land. Thus, the mention of the plague
is merely a marker in time, such as, “Back when I was in high school,” or “When Reagan was President.”
What I learn from this is that when we are amid the predicament, it is all consuming and subsumes
every action and interaction.
When I had cancer in 2004 and was hospitalized and under treatment, everything which I did for a
matter of months was a measurement of that reality. Whether it was the first time I shaved after
surgery, or my first walk up the driveway, or my being told, “I’ll see you again in six months;” every
interaction was contextualized by being amid cancer treatment and recovery.
Yet, today, a decade and a half later, having cancer and those episodes have become but markers in
time. They are reference points, like, “When the plague was over…”
Hence, for us today: we are amid the predicament. It consumes and subsumes our daily behaviors,
concerns and contexts. Yet, there will come a time – and Jewish history comes to remind us that
situations pass, even the most dire situations do pass – and we will look at this condition as a frame of
reference, a context, a marker in time.
Of course, until then, we must be wise and cautious, prudent and responsible, because the plague is still
among us. But, in some years hence, it is my prayer that we will open the Torah and read this littlest of
all verses, and exhale a giant sigh, a sigh that is longer than the verse itself, and offer, “When the plague
was over…”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
