BS"D
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT EMOR
17 Iyar 5767/4-5 May 2007
THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE RIGHT JOB
In the book the Kuzari, the king of Kuzar asks the Rabbi: Being that the Jewish people have been chosen by G-d to be a light until the nations, would it not have been better if G-d would have created all the peoples in this world as a “priestly nation”, and not just the Jewish people? In that way, all mankind could be on a high spiritual level. The Rabbi answered: Would it have been better if all stones were mountains and all mountains, trees? Would it be better if all trees would give off fruits? The point is, that in this world there are many different levels, each one needed at the level one is on, and in order for the world to function each one must do its job.
Now imagine, for a moment, if all the trees in the world gave off dates: Where would that leave the figs or the olives, or how would we keep the doctor away if we did not have apples? Or, what about bananas? I mean, everyone loves a nice banana. Where, then, would that leave us, for man cannot live by dates alone. Obviously, then, mankind needs all the different types which G-d created for us, and each tree must fulfill its purpose in this world so that the world will be the perfect place which G-d intended it to be.
So, too, with the nations of the world. G-d, in His ultimate wisdom, created the nations of the world, and the Jewish people He created as a priestly nation to guide the nations of the world on a spiritual path. And within the Jewish people, there are twelve tribes, each with its own attributes and way of approaching the A-mighty. Even further, we have the tribe of Levi and the priests who are set aside to work in the house of the L-rd. So, we see just how many levels G-d created in His world, all needed and all with their own job to do; most important, each one must do only his own job for the system to work. Imagine if all the people wanted to be the king, or all wanted to be the High Priest - that just would not work. Only the right man for the right job - that is the only system that can work.
So we find in our parsha, the laws regarding the priests: Which one can work in the Holy Temple and which one was disqualified. So strict were the laws, that if a priest who was disqualified went to work in G-d's House, he would suffer the death penalty. We find that during the 410 years that the First Temple stood, there were only about 18 High Priests who worked, but during the time of the Second Temple, when the High Priesthood was bought with money, people who were not qualified to be the High Priest nevertheless took office; there were over 300 High Priests! They were not the right men for the job; some were not even priests!
Today, too, unfortunately we have been plagued with leaders who should not be in office or leading the country. We find over the past ten years that not one of our Prime Ministers was able to hold on to the job that they were elected to do. Now I don’t know exactly where our Prime Minister Olmert or our “beloved” clown of a Defense Minister Peretz should be, but in office is certainly not the place for them! Maybe they could look into the local jail or zoo, but certainly they are not the right men for the job! It's time to put the right man in office: One with the fear of Heaven on his lips and the love of G-d in his heart. It's time for another David, King of Israel to arise.
With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen
