Parshat Pinchas: Only One Job - Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

a number of years ago a unique manuscript came to light in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities the manuscript was a previously unknown work by one of the early rishonim the early commentators its existence came to the attention of a certain Jew who we will call rip Shalom rip Shalom made it his business to track down and publish such manuscripts rip Shalom made overtures to the Egyptians they were unresponsive undeterred rep shalom went to work he galvanized every source of pressure he could bring to bear he lobbied senators in Washington members of parliament in Westminster in London eventually the Egyptians were prepared to listen to the Jewish people the manuscript was priceless to the Egyptians it was worth three quarters of a million dollars three quarters of a million dollars is not a paltry sum by anyone's estimation Absalom didn't flinch and in due course the money was paid and the manuscript delivered and with great eagerness from Shalom and his team of experts gathered around as the manuscript was opened silence fell upon the room and so the first time in centuries the holy words of the manuscript greeted the eyes of those who truly knew their meaning and significance and then one of rib shalem's colleagues leant forward to examine a certain line and in doing so his coat brushed against a large Styrofoam cup which held a full cup of hot coffee the material of the coat barely grazed the cup but it was enough its entire contents spilled on the delicate manuscript and within seconds the manuscript had become a sudden undecipherable mess the man who'd spilled the coffee slumped into his chair with his head between his hands the room was filled with the deafening silence after a few moments rip solemn walked over to the man put his hand on his shoulder and said to him don't worry we'll get you another cup of coffee a Jew has only one job in his life to do the will of Hashem up to the moment that the coffee was filled with columns job was to publish the manuscript after it was filled this job was not to get angry the job doesn't change only the context at the end of the previous parsha Ballack we read that Pincus took a spear in his hand and slew zimri Ben solo a prince of the tribe of shimmer together with a Midianite princest called cosby at the beginning of this partial the toe refers to Pincus as the Son of Allah saw the son of our own the Cohen and the Torah specifically links PIMCO's to our own his grandfather the job of our own every current is to create some peace between the Jewish and God actually solemn is not adequately translated by the word peace Shalom means a state of wholeness of completion sometimes we create solemn through gentle acts of kindness mercy and sometimes we create Shalom only through intransigence and in parent cruelty the common denominator however is that our entire job in life is to do the will of God whether that may be through gentleness or zealotry or by offering another cup of coffee [Music] [Applause]