by R. Yosef Serebryanski
(Numbers 23:9) “They are a nation that dwells apart, and with nations are not reckoned.” Hashem chose the Jewish nation for a specific purpose. This designation does not apply to other nations. Although Jews might mix and mingle with the people of other nations, this special purpose is often not recognized or respected by other peoples.
Another way to translate the verse is: “They are a nation that resides in a place of unity, and even being with the nations does not change it.” Another way to translate the end of the verse is: “and (regarding integration) with the nations, the negative effect must be considered.” When one tries to exert a positive influence on someone or something it can evoke an equivalent opposite reaction. This raises the question of how to be successful at fixing the world when at the same time things are being broken. This is why our job is to complete our task. True balance can only be achieved by the Creator.
Discussions that attempt to make intellectual agreements are futile if one party wishes to destroy the other. People who are filled with hate and desire destruction will not change. The nations might have destroyed each other if they did not have the Jews as a common object of hatred. The sages proclaimed that Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people, so that the world would not be destroyed. The other nations will never be able to extinguish the Torah or Jewish nation for if they did, they would also cease to exist.
(Numbers 21:27-28) “Therefore the makers of parables would say: Come to Cheshbon, let it be built and established the city of Sichon. For a fire went forth from Cheshbon, a flame from city of Moav, it consumed Ar of Moav, master of the heights of Arnon.” The Hebrew word that is used for “makers of parables” is “moshlim,” which also means “rulers”. While the word “Chesbon” used here is the name of a city it also means “accounting”. One meaning of the name of the people called “Sichon” is “talk, conversation”. The verse can then be read as: “Therefore the rulers (including those who rule over their nature or feelings) would say, come make an accounting, build and establish your words. Thus, if you cannot invest yourselves in peaceful intentions, a fire will come forth as a result of your use of words.”
The Sages teach that proper accounting means accounting based on a universal view of the reason you were created. That view is not dictated by the material matters of this world but the spiritual reason that your soul came to this world. Conversations of agreements that attempt to block Israel from completing its mission ultimately bring further destruction in its wake.
Hashem has a chosen purpose for every detail of our existence. Darkness and light are [art of the delicate balance that the Creator has instituted in this world. All opposite movements of this world are intentional in their existence, as they only exist by the will of the Creator. The existence of the Jewish people ahs proven to be a key factor in the world’s preservation. Thise who seek to protect that existence are themselves protected. Those who seek to destroy it end up destroying their own people. Civilizations have come and gone. Those who self-proclaim eternal greatness eventually learn that they are not the ones in charge.
When the Jewish people allow themselves to be used exclusively for Hashem’s purpose, they will flourish and bring blessings to the world. It is incumbent on us to continually focus on our connection with the source of life in each moment of our existence. The focus takes us beyond the limitations of the physical and even of the spiritual to reveal the Creator in our world. In this way we bring the future into our present reality with the revelation of the Moshiach.