The Metaphysical Ecosystem – A Timely Lesson About Our Fragile World

The late Peter Marshall was an eloquent speaker and for several years served as the chaplain of the US Senate. He used to love to tell the story of the “Keeper of the Spring,” a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.

The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water. The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer.” By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man’s services.

For several weeks, nothing changed.

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped of and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Mind your own business” is a very popular phrase in today’s world. But are we really meant to actually mind our own business?

It is true that some people have the bad habit of peeping into other people’s matters such as eaves dropping, offering unwarranted comments and talking ill of others in their absence. Such habits bring in a lot of strife between friends or neighbors.

If we develop the habit of minding our own business, these things can be avoided. “The life of others is not an open window for others to peep in,” says an unknown quote, “You tend your garden and I will tend mine. Good fences make good neighbors is very much applicable for all those who want to mind their business. Minding your own business is the best way to live a hassle free and peaceful life. Live and let live. This idiom, I must point out, is grossly simplified and overstated.

The fact of the matter is that none of us live in a vacuum; clearly, our actions cannot be seen as a series of isolated incidents. More realistically, they are equivalent to the sequential moves in a game of chess, the ramifications of which affect the entire make up of the board and ultimately the outcome of the game. Our every action in life has far reaching ramifications with regards to the entire universe and all of mankind.

The above mentioned impact speaks of more than the mere good or harmful effects that stem from our physical behavior. It is indeed a multilateral phenomenon. Its reverberations reach well beyond that which can be seen or felt with our fleshly senses.

The following tale of the Baal Shem Tov delivers the current point poignantly.

A resident of Mezibuz had a quarrel with another. Once, while in the Baal Shem Tov’s shul, he shouted that he would tear the other fellow to pieces like a fish.

The Baal Shem Tov told his pupils to hold one another’s hands and to stand near him with their eyes closed. Then he placed his holy hands on the shoulders of the two disciples next to him. Suddenly the disciples began shouting in great terror: They had seen that fellow actually dismembering his disputant. – Hayom Yom

The above narrative demonstrates how every human behavior, or even expression, has a critical affect – either on a physical or spiritual plane. While we may not immediately see or feel the consequences of a given behavior, it to be sure, has a long-term consequential impact on our lives, as well as on society as a whole.

What is then being suggested here is that there exists a behavioral Eco system of sorts. And that every member of society can affect the balance of this system by what he or she emits into the atmosphere by way of human expression.

The reality is that the world is one big boat and if someone decides to drill a hole, even if only under his own seat, we are all in for a rough ride. Accordingly, we each have an obligation to interfere with the destructive actions of our fellow shipmates. While turning away in the other direction might buy us some time, it does not stop the ship from sinking.

While this may seem like plain and simple logic, the fact is that it is not. There is a natural tendency to want to keep one’s nose clean and stay out of trouble. How often do we look away when we see blatant evil, thinking: “Why should I get involved, it’s not my problem after all?” Well, besides for being selfish, what we fail to realize is that it is indeed our problem, because of the reverberating nature of evil – because we are all, in the end, in the same boat.

One of the basic fundamentals of Judaism is that Kol Yisrael arevim zeh lazeh. A Jew does not live isolated from the rest of the world, nor can he be concerned merely with his own existence and survival. Jews must reach out and give of themselves to their fellow Jews. We have always been taught to bring our light to those who are still in the dark; to enlighten those who have not as yet had the opportunity and privilege to be on the inside.

And yet the argument to “Mind your own business,” can be heard from a plethora of sources, not only from those who stand to gain from it directly, but from passivism ideologists, as well as conspiracy theorists.

Passivism, aka moral relativism, is a pervading syndrome in our culture for which our universities have become bastions. The logic ranges from, “There is no such thing as evil,” to, “We have no right to impose our definition of good and evil upon people who are not of a like mind.”

The conspiracy theorists, on the other hand, cast doubt and suspicion into the motives of anyone who dares to take a stand against the actions of any particular ideology or group, suggesting that they possess impure if not selfish motives. In fact this is precisely the argument against Pinchas, as related in our Parsha whose name is Pinchas.

At the end of last week’s Parsha, following G-d’s instruction to eliminate the Israelite men who were led astray by the Moabite women, we read about an Israelite Prince from the tribe of Shimon, by the name of Zimri, who acted in a particularly egregious and immoral manner.

Claiming that since Moshe was allowed to marry the daughter of the Priest of Midian, he too ought to be allowed a Midianite woman, he proceeded to consort with a Midianite woman named Cozbi in front of the Tent of Meeting in defiance of the express Heavenly order.

By bringing the Midianite woman into the camp “Before the eyes of Moshe and before the eyes of all the congregation of the children of Israel,” Zimri publicly flouted Moshe’s authority, hoping thereby to unleash the floodgates of illicit relations. He aimed to abolish the Divine barrier between the holy and the profane.

While the humble Moshe stood amidst the entire leadership in a state of shock and consternation over the public scandal, a young unassuming man by the name of Pinchas swung into action, decisively and confidently he ends the lives of the Prince and the Midianite woman at the very entranceway to the Tent of Meeting.

His bald-faced vigilantism gave rise to civil unrest. A highly charged dispute erupted among the people as to whether his actions were justified or murderous. According to the Talmud the Elders of Israel sought to excommunicate Pinchas (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 9:7). The tribe of Shimon was particularly irate over Pinchas’ self styled justice, since Zimri was their tribal leader.

In the opening of our Parsha, G-d puts a resolute end to the simmering undercurrent. The Almighty establishes Pinchas’ righteousness for all time, by tracing his lineage to Aharon the Kohen. Pinchas is further credited with halting the plague that had broken out as a result of the lewd conduct on the part of the Israelites. Finally, he is rewarded with nothing less than the covenant of Peace and eternal Priesthood:

“The Lord Spoke to Moshe, saying, Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the priest has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by displaying his zealousness for me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in my zealousness. Say, therefore, I grant him my covenant of Shalom. It shall be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelites.” (Numbers 25:10-13)

The Torah’s description of Pinchas’ action, Moshe’s inaction, and G-d’s reaction raises some intriguing questions: Why for example, was it Pinchas of all people who rose up to take vengeance into his own hands? Was he animated by selfish malice or by high conscience?

Rashi, citing the Midrash, asserts that damming assertions were in fact cast upon Pinchas by the Tribe of Shimon, with regards to his true motivation for slaying their prince. Pinchas, they sullenly alleged, was the maternal grandson of Yisro. This same Yisro, they noted, had once been an idol-worshipper who was in the habit of fattening calves for sacrifice – an act of supreme cruelty.

After all, bemoaned the Shimonites, what can be more cruel than to appear to be acting in someone’s favor; feeding him well, only with the ultimate mind of slaughter? It was undeniably the streak of cruelty that he inherited from his grandfather Yisro that had motivated him toward his zealous behavior.

In light of these accusations, asserts the Midrash, we can appreciate why the Torah underscores Pinchas’ genealogy: “Son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the priest.” As Rashi tacitly points out, the crucial emphasis here is on Aharon’s character. For aside from his priesthood, Aharon is remembered as one who “Pursued peace and caused love to descend between contending parties.”

The Torah’s intent is to establish that, in his act of zealotry, Pinchas was not the “Grandson of Yisro” but the “Grandson of Aharon.” He was not driven by cruelty but by a burning religious zeal. When strife set-in between Israel and their heavenly Father, Pinchas the lover of his brethren and the lover of peace, took it upon himself to turn it around, as the verse states, “Pinchas . . . has turned My wrath away from the children of Israel.”

It was his particular nature which he inherited from his grandfather Aharon that led him of all people to remove the cause of the bitterness between G-d and His people.

Pinchas did not even consider the danger to himself. Given Zimri’s tribal support, he could have easily been killed. He furthermore risked forfeiting his place in the world to come, which might have been the case had he been wrong. “Pinchas expounded” says the Midrash, “A horse goes to war risking his life for his master, how much more so should I risk my life for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One Blessed Be He…” (Shemos Rabbah 33:5).

His concern for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the Jewish people was so great that he was willing to risk his life in two worlds in order to eliminate the threat. For this he is awarded G-d’s “Covenant of peace.”

The story of Pinchas contains pertinent lessons; relevant for all time and place. The foremost lesson of Pinchas’ zealous actions and its Divine glorification is that there is a time to stand up for what’s right regardless of what the consequences might be. It is a virtue and blessing to help shape or influence the lives of other people.

Public opinion and public approval is not the ultimate compass for what is right and what is wrong. There are rights and there are wrongs that are not established in the court of public opinion. Despite popular culture, there are some things that are objectively good and things that are objectively bad, and when facing such issues we cannot afford to “Mind our own business,” lest the ship sink.

In relating the story of Pinchas the Torah alerts us to the fact that when minding peoples business you are likely to become disliked and unloved. In fact, it is very likely that people will cast aspersions regarding every aspect of your behavior, from your motive to your choice of words or weapon to the expression on your face. They will try to defame and besmirch you and even demonize you in any way possible, but we dare not be intimidated, lest the ship sink.

It is natural to want to be liked; not to upset people, to keep the peace, but often in trying to please everyone in all things, we wind up twisting ourselves into contorted shapes. When it comes to doing, what we know in our gut, is the right thing, what other people think about us is ultimately none of our business. (This is where we ought to truly mind our own business). While it is “nice” to be highly thought of by others, it is far more beneficial, and far more achievable to be highly thought of by oneself.

People pleasers often harbor deep felt resentment. It is impossible to make everyone happy with the choices we make. If you worry about getting everyone’s approval, you’d never get anywhere. If you let what others think of you become your business, it will consume all of your time and energy, draining you of the ability to move on in your life.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate being completely ignorant of others feelings, but rather their thoughts about you. You cannot change their mind by constantly worrying and stressing about what they think of you. What you can do, is be the person you are truly meant to be and feel comfortable with that. More than comfortable though, be the person that you want to spend your time with. Forget the thoughts about you from others and concentrate on the thoughts you have about yourself.

The Talmud tells us that Pinchas is Elijah. This is to say that the Profit Elijah is a reincarnation of Pinchas. We know that Elijah is the harbinger of the final redemption.

It is Pinchas who stopped the plague and brought down peace upon Israel, and it is Pinchas and his incarnation Elijah (and all those who occupy themselves with the work of Elijah – the heralding of Moshiach) that will put an end to this dark exile and hasten the final and ultimate redemption, may it be speedily in our day!