Thought For The Day
Thought For The Day
A young man walked down the beach at dawn, and noticed an old man ahead of him
picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea.counting..1..2...3...4.
Finally catching up with the elder man, he asked him why he was doing this?
The answer he was told was " the stranded fish would die if left until the
morning sun".
"But the beach goes on for miles and there must be millions of starfish"
countered the young man. "How can your effort make any difference?" The old
man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to the safety of
waves and said…." MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THAT ONE"
In this weeks Torah portion, G' commands Moshe to count the Jewish people.
And this is exactly the message of the counting….each and every one of us
counts!! We count as individuals we count as a family and we count as a
society!
Not only do we count on a personal level but every action that we do counts
as well
The question still begs to be asked, 'It is clear that each and every
person and action is important however why is it so important that Moshe
count the people by their tribes, by their camps and collectively??'
Rav Moshe Feinstein points out from here a profound lesson in man's
conduct. We must act with the same level of moral high ground no matter
what situation we find ourselves in! There are those who are more careful
in their behavior in private, but publicly do not seem to care what others
will say. On the other hand, many are extra cautious in public but more lax
at home. Even within the 'public' domain, ones actions may vary..if one
finds themselves in a smaller group where they are already known, they may
ease off a little.or some will lose themselves only in a larger group...
The message here is clear. We must constantly act properly and exhibit the
same moral conduct whether it be in private as symbolized by the counting
of the individual or in small groups (counting of the tribes) or even if we
find ourselves in a larger group (counting of the camps).
Each one of us is important, however don't let the enormity of the workload
prevent you from doing what only YOU can..'one starfish at a time'
Shabbat Shalom
Moshe
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Rabbi Moshe Mayerfeld
Campus Director
Jewish Learning Exchange
moshem@jle.org.uk
Work-0181-458 4588
Mobile-07971 328 260
