{"id":30499,"date":"2025-07-18T15:42:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/?p=30499"},"modified":"2025-07-18T15:45:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:45:41","slug":"parshat-pinhas-your-particular-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/parshat-pinhas-your-particular-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Parshat Pinchas: Your Particular Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parashat Pinchas In this week's Torah reading called Pinchas, we find the order of inheritance and the division of the Land of Israel between the different tribes. This idea has an important lesson in the service of Gd .life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

==============================================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the striking novelties in this week's Torah reading, You pinch<\/strong> (named for Aaron's grandson), is the entire order of inheritances<\/strong>. The portion does not deal only with a person's property\u2014who receives it when he passes away, whether it goes first to sons and, if there are no sons, to daughters, and so on. It also details how the Land of Israel itself was divided<\/strong> among the various tribes, the actual people who entered the Land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Torah is never merely a book of stories; each narrative must carry a teaching for daily life. What lesson lies inside this seemingly technical description of apportioning the Land?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inner Meaning of \u201cEretz Yisrael\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Sages ask why the Promised Land is called Eretz Yisrael<\/strong>. The Hebrew word eretz<\/em> (land) is linguistically linked to ratz<\/strong>\u2014ratzon<\/em>, will<\/em>. Thus, Eretz Yisrael<\/em> represents each person's desire (or lack thereof) to fulfill G-d's will<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To \u201clive in the Land of Israel\u201d on a spiritual level means to live in a state where one actively wants<\/strong> to carry out G-d's wishes. You can be thousands of miles away geographically\u2014say, in Argentina\u2014and still be \u201cin Israel\u201d in this sense if your will is aligned with His.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Story from the Third Chabad Rebbe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson \/ Tzemach Tzedek once had a devoted chasid who desperately wanted to move to the Land of Israel<\/strong>. Living in Russia in the 1800s, he repeatedly begged the Rebbe for a blessing to go. The Rebbe consistently refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, when the chasid pressed again, the Rebbe answered him in Yiddish:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMach doh Eretz Yisroel.\u201d<\/strong>
Make here, in the place where you are, the Land of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, wherever you are, live on the level of Eretz Yisrael<\/strong>\u2014live with the yearning to fulfill
G-d's will. That is what the Land truly represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Land Was Divided by Lottery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Torah describes the division of the Land of Israel, it says it was done by lottery<\/strong>. Each tribe received its portion through what seems an irrational process<\/strong>: completely random territory allocations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, serving Gd in general is the opposite of random. A person usually grows methodically: start with the easiest mitzvot, then learn more, practice more deeply, and so on. It is a highly rational, orderly path<\/strong>, not \u201cdo whatever you want.\u201d So why does the Torah teach that our \u201cservice of Gd\u201d\u2014symbolized by Eretz Yisrael\u2014was apportioned by lottery?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Obligations vs. Your Particular Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone shares a general workload<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n