Self Destruction – the Only Destruction (adapted from Rabbi Y. Jacobson)
An intriguing midrash in this week’s Torah portion relates a small but profoundly meaningful episode that transpired during the genesis of the universe, one with timeless relevance 5766 years later.
On the first Tuesday of creation, the Bible reports, the earth — and all that it contains — emerged. “And the earth brought forth vegetation, herbage yielding seed after its kind, and trees yielding fruit”.
Yet, according to the midrash, all this changed with the discovery of iron, one of the most common elements on earth, making up about 5 percent of the earth's crust. Those invulnerable trees now shuddered at the prospect of being destroyed by metal ax blades. The trees understood full well that against the mighty iron ax they had little chance to survive.
Upon hearing their laments, the midrash relates, the iron retorted: "Why are you trembling? As long as you don't provide the wood for the axes' handles, you will remain immune fromharm."
In other words, the iron was telling the trees that it would be incapable of destroying them without their assistance. If the trees failed to contribute their wood for the ax handle, the iron's efforts to destroy them would be futile.
This exchange between the iron and the trees is, obviously, to be understood metaphorically. What is the symbolism the rabbis are attempting to convey to us?
The message can be summed up as such:
No one — that is no one — can cut us down in life without our own consent!
Sure, people can be obnoxious, selfish and insulting; they can be tough, rude and difficult. But their attempt — consciously or subconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally -- to cut us down, is their business. It is we who decide whether to grant them the permission to actually fulfill their intent. It is we who must, each and every time, empower them to destroy your mood, demolish our self-worth and paralyze our soul.
So let’s not let the “trees” assist the iron in implementing its lethal goals!
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick