14 May EMOR: FINDING THE OPPORTUNITY IN EVERY CHALLENGE

At the end of Parashat
Emor, the Torah tells an
upsetting story about a
man from Beneh Yisrael
who got into a fight, and
as a result, he publicly
cursed Hashem, Heaven
forbid. The Rabbis explain that he had
lost a court case against his fellow, and he
was so angry that he went into public and
blasphemed the Name of G-d. Moshe
Rabbenu did not know how to respond,
and Hashem spoke to Him and taught
that somebody who commits such a
terrible act must be put to death.
There is much to say about and to learn
from this incident. For one thing, this
man’s behavior shows us the precise
opposite of how we are to react to an
adverse situation, when things don’t go
our way. He cursed Hashem – teaching us
that the right thing to do in times of
challenge is to have emunah, to trust that
Hashem is leading us the right way, and
that every difficult situation is an
opportunity for us to grow and learn so
we become greater people.
But there is also another aspect of this

story that is worth considering.
This is one of five instances in the
Torah where a situation arose and Moshe
did not know how to respond. The others
are:
• When the mekoshesh eitzim
publicly desecrated Shabbat, and
Moshe did not know how he should
be punished. Hashem said that the
man should be put to death.
• When the daughters of Tzelofhad, a
man who had died with no sons and
only daughters, asked to receive the
portion in the Land of Israel that
had been allotted to him. Hashem
said that they indeed should receive
their father’s portion, establishing
this as the halachah in cases where
a man dies and leaves only
daughters.
• When a group of people could not
offer the korban pesach because of
their state of impurity, and they
asked Moshe for the opportunity to
offer the sacrifice. G-d established
the halachah of Pesach Sheni,
whereby people who cannot offer

the sacrifice on Pesach
can do so the next month,
on the 14th of Iyar.
• When a man named Zimri
committed a public sin
with a woman from the
nation of Moav, Moshe
did not know how to
respond, until Pinhas
arose and killed the
violators, based on an
exceptional halachah
authorizing a zealous person to kill
the violators in this kind of extreme
situation.
These were all unpleasant, unwanted
situations that arose, and which resulted
in the teaching of new mitzvot. In all four
instances, kedushah was added to the
Jewish People because of something
terrible, or at least undesirable, that took
place.
Winston Churchill said: “A pessimist
sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every
difficulty.” When we confront an
unwanted situation, our reaction must be

to keep moving forward, to do the best
we can, trusting that somewhere in this
situation is an opportunity for
achievement and growth. These five
stories in the Humash of times when
Moshe Rabbenu needed to learn a new
halachah shows us that problems and
crises are actually opportunities to learn
more, to lift ourselves higher, and to
become better people.
Instead of falling apart in hard times,
like the blasphemer in our parashah, let
us instead try to find the opportunity
within even difficulty, and turn every
situation we find ourselves in into a
meaningful and valuable learning
experience.