Our Own Promised Land

Pinchas

Num. 25:10 - 30:1

Précis: This parasha begins with a reward for Pinchas’ zealotry in slaying the offending adulterers at the conclusion of the previous parasha. His reward is the hereditary High Priesthood for his family. The parasha continues with a second census conducted by Moses, with war being declared against Midian. The laws of inheritance are amended to provide, at least in certain cases, for daughters to inherit their fathers’ estates. Joshua is appointed the successor to Moses as leader of the People. The parasha then shifts to details of daily sacrifices, offerings for the new moon, and Festivals.

Num. 27:12–14 “God told Moses, ‘Ascend these heights of Abarim and view the land that I have given to the Israelites. When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your kin as your brother Aaron was. For in the wilderness of Zin, when the community was murmuring, you disobeyed My command to uphold my sanctity in their sight by means of the water.’”

            Moses is ordered to climb the heights and observe the land he will not be permitted to enter. In front of him is the goal for which he has striven for more than four decades, now out of reach. It seems almost cruel. While Moses had been told that he would not be entering the Land, this knowledge has now become concrete before his eyes. He knows that his greatest desire will remain forever out of reach. Somehow, he finds the strength to accept this.

            We all have dreams which we strive for, often for lifetimes of effort. Every step we take along life’s long journey seems to have as its purpose the attainment of some ultimate goal – our own versions of reaching a “Promised Land.” Perhaps it is a benefit of retirement that the pressure to succeed seems to abate, at least a bit. But that urge to succeed remains.

            Unlike Moses, our “Promised Land” remains unknowable, and like Moses it is not promised. The best plans of each of us go awry. How can we cope with disappointment over our own failure to achieve what we had hoped for? Here, Moses teaches us to understand that the goal is not really the important part of life. What we are, and who we are inside, and how we cope with what is real are the most important parts of life.