Kevin Bemel ·
How to Guarantee Your Legacy
Parsha [Passage of Scripture] Nugget [Precious Idea] Pinchas Mattos-Masei – Numbers 30:2-36:13
Sometimes I have to touch on difficult subjects. Hopefully I won’t make you uncomfortable asking this, but do you ever wonder how you’ll be remembered after, as Shakespeare says, you shuffle off this mortal coil? When a friend or colleague faces a life threatening illness or the death of a loved one, it prompts reflection on the legacy a person leaves behind. In parshas Mattos, there’s some guidance on how to build one:
“And Novach went and conquered Kinas and its surrounding villages, and called it Novach after his name.” (Numbers/Bamidbar 32:42)
This Sabbath is a double parsha. The first, Mattos, discusses how to take a vow, the war against Midian and its aftermath including how to make utensils kosher, and the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and half of Manasheh asking to have their portion of land on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
The second parsha, Masei, reviews the journey taken by the Israelites from Egypt through the wilderness, ending up at the border of the land of Israel. Also, it gives instructions on how the land will be divided and for designating cities for the Levites and Cities of Refuge as well as who is eligible to seek safe harbor in them.
In the above verse we learn that as part of settling on the eastern side of the Jordan, Novach captured Kinas and her suburbs and renamed it Novach after himself.
He wanted to ensure he would be remembered throughout the ages. But if you study a map of the Middle East there is no city or town of Novach there today. In a similar vein, do you know the story of the person after whom the town you are from is named? Such memorials built from stone seem like they will exist forever and testify to a person’s greatness. But most times it doesn’t work out that way. Historian Will Durant says:
How, then, do you create a legacy? The Creator hopes you will do good deeds for others in such abundance your name will stand as examples for future generations. Study to gain wisdom, do acts of kindness, and give tzedakah (loosely translated as charity) all in such measures that others will copy your behavior. Your name will become synonymous with exemplary conduct and generations hence will invoke it to motivate others to do the same.
Perhaps the best contemporary example is Mother Teresa, whose many acts of kindness and sacrifice made her immortal. But you need not reach such a level. Think about your own family. Do you have an ancestor who everyone in your family remembers as considerate and caring? Wouldn’t it be nice if future generations of your family held you in their hearts the same way?
I have good news for you: It’s completely in your control to make this happen. Blessings!
What do you want your legacy to be? Please comment below.
Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. It is named after the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.
What verse in the Old Testament would you like to know more about? Ask a question and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!
