| Small Steps Lead to…
In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Bamidbar, the Torah enumerates the number of men in Shevet Binyamin right next to the amount of men in Shevet Dan. As with everything in the Torah, this is significant, and has a profound lesson for all of us.
Dan only had one child, a son named Chushim, who was hard of hearing. Binyamin had ten healthy sons. An observer at the time might have said or thought to himself that not much will come of Dan’s Shevet. They will surely be very few, and certainly in comparison to Shevet Binyamin.
The Torah tells us that in actuality, it was just the contrary; through Binyamin’s ten sons, Binyamin’s descendants numbered 35,400 men, while Dan’s Shevet had almost double, a staggering 62,700! The lesson is clear; never give up on any child [and teenager or adult for that matter], as big things start small!
The above I heard in the name of the Chofetz Chaim.
‘Big things start small’ is an idea that can be applied not only in the physical world, but in the spiritual world as well. When one starts to improve oneself spiritually, even in small ways, if one is persistent and steady, it can morph into big changes.
Being that Rosh Chodesh has just passed, this is the opportune time to get off to a fresh start in working to improve ourselves, and into being better and more special people.
May we all work slowly but surely, on improving our relationship to Hashem and in keeping the Mitzvos, and may those small changes transform into large improvements; as we head toward the Yom Tov of Shavuos where we will relive the special covenant between us and Hashem. |
