Behaalotcha: Exempt? No Thanks!

The commander of the elite special operations unit summoned two of his very best soldiers. “Come immediately,” he said, “for some very important people are waiting for us.” Even for soldiers who are accustomed to all types of different orders around the clock, this seemed strange. They wondered who could possibly be waiting for them with no prior notice at their very classified mountaintop field headquarters at 2:30 AM. They flew out of their cots, asked no questions and were in the commander's office seven minutes later.

The commander hosted four distinguished guests in his bunker – the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the Commander-in-Chief and the Chief Intelligence Officer. They told the two soldiers to sit down. Sparing formalities, the Commander-in-Chief began to brief them. “Men, you've been chosen for a mission that is more than top secret. You've been training for months for this mission without even knowing the ultimate purpose of what you were really preparing yourself for up here in this particular terrain and on this section of the frontier. We have solid intel that the terrorist leader has left his hiding place and will show up tonight after sundown in a village ten kilometers across the border. We need to dispose of this arch-murderer without starting a full-scale war. This is a dangerous mission, for you must cross the border and move through hostile terrain in broad daylight. Yet, we must seize this opportunity for it may never arise again. You both know how to prepare the ambush and make the hit. Your commander has personally recommended you two as the ones capable of getting the job done. I reemphasize – this is highly risky. You could get killed or even worse, captured. You can opt out if you wish…”

“No way, sir,” one of the two said with conviction, “I'm in.”

“Me too,” said the second soldier.

The intelligence officer began to brief them. The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, both former special ops veterans themselves, added their comments and wished the soldiers success. The Commander-in-Chief told them how much their countrymen depend on them and appreciate their dedication. Their unit commander itemized particular preparatory details and told them that they would be on high alert at 1100 hours and embark at 1700 hours. The terrain would be difficult but fortunately, the air-force meteorologists forecast a heavy fog that would help them reach their objective without being detected.

The two special-ops commandos did their best to rest, but they couldn't. They ate, prepared their gear, and reviewed the mission orders and the intel over and over. They learned the topography map by heart. They felt like the springs being wound tighter and tighter as each minute of waiting transpired…

Two hours before embarkation, the unit commander entered the isolated underground bunker where the two soldiers were on standby. “Breathe easy, men – the mission's off!”

The first soldier protested: “That can't be, sir! Why?”

The commander sighed, “I have no idea – the Commander-in-Chief called and said that the Prime Minister changed his mind.”

The second soldier breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his training and his proficiency, he knew how touch-and-go this mission was. He was glad that it was called off, unlike his comrade…

The first soldier literally had tears streaming down his face. He too knew that he might not live to see the next day, but he welcomed the opportunity to overcome all fear, external and internal obstacles, and to express – with actions and not words – his total dedication to his country. He wasn't looking for cancelled missions or exemptions…

The Torah in this week's portion talks about the pallbearers who carried Joseph's coffin[1]. Since they were rendered ritually impure, having come in contact with a dead body, they were exempt from participating in the korban Pesach, the Pascal sacrifice. They come to Moses and said, "…why should we forfeit?" (Numbers 9:7). We don't want exemptions! We too want to participate in this mitzvah. Moses asked Hashem what to do. In their virtue, the Jewish People were blessed with an additional mitzvah – Pesach Sheni – where if someone was ritually impure on Pesach, he would receive an additional chance to make the Pascal sacrifice a month later on the fourteenth of Iyar.

Like the soldier who loved his country so much, a person who really loves Hashem doesn't want exemptions. He welcomes any opportunity to serve Hashem “with all his heart and with all his might” as we say daily in the Shema prayer. So too, we ask Hashem to rebuild the Holy Temple soon so that we will be able to perform the many mitzvoth that can only be done there. Let us all cry out, “Why should we forfeit?” and pray to see the full redemption of our people in the nearest future, amen!

[1]    According to a second opinion, these were Mishael and Eltzafan, who carried their dead cousins Nadav and Avihu out of the Holy of Holies (see Succah 25b-25a and Yalkut Shimoni, Behaalotcha)