Parashat Pinchas

What we need to take from Parashat Pinchas is the understanding that a person has to live with the thought: “How much do I realize that whatever I do is paving the way of fixing for the whole world. Whatever I do I have to ask myself: is this deed helping the world to progress towards its fixing or am I just doing it without caring what it will do to my soul or to the world?”
Let’s assume you are fixing your soul with it, but do you also care what’s going to be with your children, your grandchildren? What’s going to be with the rest of the people? Do I act in the world from the thought of how my own soul is going to be saved or am I also thinking about how my actions are going to influence other people around me and the general fixing towards the redemption of the world?

I was just sitting and drinking something in the hotel with my daughter, Dari.  While we were sitting there we hear a young lady playing piano and singing a song.  The melody was so beautiful.  So after a few minutes she passed by our table.  I said, “Ah, you know, the music was so beautiful.  We invited her to sit down. Dari liked her and started talking to her.  I asked, “When are you playing again?”  She said, “I wont be playing here again, that’s it.”  “Why?” I asked, “Because there were a lot of ultra orthodox Jews in the audience sitting there, drinking coffee.  They complained that a girl is singing.”  So I told her the following story.
One of the holiest spiritual teachers we had, the holy reb Meir’l Premishlaner once came to a city.  And you know, when reb Meir Premishlaner wanted to eat meat he would ask the butcher to show him the knife. He would look at the knife and if he didn’t like it, do you think he would say to the butcher, “Gevalt, the meat is really not kosher.  Every meat you butchered is treif.”  No! that’s not what he would say. You know what Reb Meir’l did?  First of all he would ask the butcher, how much money he makes a week. let’s say five rubles. Then he would right away arrange a meeting with some Jews.  He would say, “Yidden!  I need to guarantee five rubles a week.  And after he guaranteed him five rubles a week, he would say to the butcher, “I want you to forgive me, I think you need to take some time off to learn how to be a better butcher, so while you are learning I’m giving you salary, so you can learn peacefully without worrying for your familys living.”

Based on Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s Teaching

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