The Haftorah for Parshas Korach
Contains Shmuel’s rebuke to the Jewish people for their demand that he appoint a king to rule over them. As part of his effort to show them that their request was inappropriate, Shmuel called out to Hashem and asked Him to bring a thunderstorm, and his entreaty was successful. What message was he trying to convey by doing so?
Rashi explains that Shmuel wanted to show the people that just as he could miraculously change the weather by davening, so too he could save them from their enemies through his tefillos, in which case they did not need a king to lead them so long as he remained alive. Nevertheless, Shmuel could have chosen any miracle to make this point. Why did he specifically choose to make it rain? The Abarbanel explains that some of the people argued that the fact that Hashem responded to their call for a king by selecting Shaul for the position (Shmuel 1 10:21) demonstrated that He approved of their idea.
In response, Shmuel sought to show them that Hashem guides us in the direction we wish to be led (Makkos 10b), and if we stubbornly insist on doing something that is not in our best interest, He allows us to do so. As proof, Shmuel showed them that even though it was the harvest season – when rain is harmful – if he sincerely davened for a thunderstorm, his prayers would be answered. In other words, the fact that Hashem gives a person something he requests does not necessarily mean that it is good for him. Just as a summer storm is detrimental, so too was their demand for a king, and the fact that Hashem granted their petition did not prove otherwise.
Rav Yisroel Reisman suggests that for this reason, when we bless the new month on Shabbos Mevorchim, we ask for, חיים שימלאו כל משאלות לבנו לטובה – “a life in which our heartfelt requests will be fulfilled for the good.” Shlomah writes in Mishlei (14:12): יש דרך ישר לפני איש ואחריתה דרכי מות – “there is a way that seems right to a man, but at its end are the ways of death.” Since we may daven for something we think we want that could actually be detrimental, we append a supplication that Hashem give us what we request in a way that will be truly good for us.
Rav Avrohom Yaakov Pam commented that many times in life, we become convinced that we must get a certain job or pursue an appealing shidduch or be accepted into a specific school, yet the harder we try, the more inexplicable obstacles arise that sabotage our increasingly frantic efforts. In these frustrating situations, we should remind ourselves that the unexpected complications might be Hashem intervening to save us from becoming our own worst enemies.
As a humorous illustration of this concept, an aspiring psychiatrist arranged to tour a local mental hospital. He entered the first room and observed a broken man sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall and saying over and over again “Nechamaleh, Nechamaleh, Nechamaleh.” He went outside and asked one of the nurses about the man's problem.
In a regular year, this year, however, due to how Rosh Chodesh falls out we won’t be reading this Haftorah.
The nurse told him that the patient dated a woman named Nechamaleh and was madly in love with her and was devastated when she spurned him and turned down his marriage proposal. Unable to handle the rejection and move on with his life, all he could do was repeat her name over and over again. The visitor felt bad for the patient and decided to go into the next room. To his surprise, he saw another man sitting on his bed, staring at the wall and saying “Nechamaleh, Nechamaleh, Nechamaleh.” After leaving the room, he went back out to the nurse and asked, “Is that another guy who got rejected by the same Nechamaleh?” The nurse responded, "No, that's the guy who married her.” (R’ Ozer Alport)
