In this week’s parshah the Torah describes the copper snake that Moshe Rabbeinu erected on a pole, and how those who had sinned and had been bitten by a snake had only to look at this copper snake and be healed.
The Meshech Chochmah points out that when describing how “whenever a snake bit a man...” the Torah uses the word vehayah—and so it was. Chazal teach us that the word vehayah generally describes something positive and happy. What is positive about a person being bitten by a snake, even if he is eventually healed? Would it not have been better if the man had never sinned, never been bitten by a snake, and never needed healing in the first place?
He answers that the Torah states that “everyone who was bitten by a snake” was healed, which includes people who were already sick with some illness before sinning and being punished with a snake bite. When they looked at the copper snake, they were healed of their previous disease as well, and this was reason to rejoice.
Many families, perhaps even most, have at least one “challenging child,” who has a variety of issues that aren’t always easy to deal with. With one it can be an academic challenge, with another it’s behavioral, and so on. Sometimes, when dealing with one issue, parents find that the other issues suddenly clear up too, even though they’d had no idea how to solve them. Sometimes a child who is getting “help” for a known challenge actually ends up being helped more by the additional attention now being given to him, and the concern everyone is now showing for his welfare, which then leads to a vast improvement in all other areas of his life as well. Indeed, a new problem can be a blessing and reason for happiness. We must trust in Hashem and believe that every challenge is for the good.
