The Ordinary Man From The Tribe of Dan: Inspired By Torah Portion Pinchas
By Rabbi Michael Levy
Courtesy of The New York Jewish Week
Part One
Time: About 2245 on the Jewish calendar (3500 years ago.)
Place: Hebron, Israel
Poor Dan!
Eleven of Jacob’s twelve sons had two or more children. Benjamin had ten!
The twelfth son, Dan, had one son, Chushim, who was deaf. Like many parents today, Dan might have worried, “What will be the future of my disabled child?”
The phrase “special needs child” hadn’t been invented yet. On his own, Chushim, trying to be ordinary, would communicate “What’s going on?” when he didn’t understand a situation.
When Chushim’s esteemed grandfather Jacob passed away. Jacob’s brother Esau, that old troublemaker, claimed that he had first rights to the single gravesite remaining in Machpelah, the ancestral burial site. Chushim’s uncle Naftali was sent off to find the appropriate legal documents.
Chushim inquired about the delay in Jacob’s burial. When he was told about Esau’s interference, his solution was a bit drastic. He beheaded Esau.
Nobody was terribly distressed or displeased. Apparently, Esau had it coming to him.
Father Dan was in a fix. His only son was deaf, and possessed, shall we say, a bit of a temper. “Oy, NOW what will happen to my disabled child?”
Part Two
Time: 2,488 on the Jewish calendar
Place: The Plains of Moab, Across the Jordan from Jericho, Israel
The generation that left Egypt traveled in the desert for forty years. They did not merit entering the Promised Land.
2488 was an exciting year for the next generation. They were poised to cross the Jordan and conquer Israel. AS we read in this week’s Torah Portion, God commanded that Moses and the High Priest Elazar conduct a census.
“These were the descendants of Benjamin, totaling 45,600 (Numbers 26, 41.) “These were the descendants of Dan… (Through the Shuchamite (derived from Chushim) family, totaling 64,600 (Numbers 26, 42-43.)
We don’t know the details, but Chushim must have found a wife who admired him—deafness, temper and all. Together they raised a thriving family.
A Very Old “Jewish Normal”
In whatever civilization it lived, our Jewish nation has always “bucked the trend.” Surrounded by idolaters, we worshipped one God. In a society where men always dominated, the women of Israel had a place in shaping our history. In a world where the firstborn son assumed the mantle of leadership, many Israelite leaders were not firstborn sons.
Let us apply this very Jewish “old normal” to Jews with disabilities. If we leave room for God, Jews with disabilities need not resign themselves to “special futures,” included but yet on the sidelines.
Like Chushim, Jews with disabilities can strive to lead “ordinary lives,” knowing that God, and not statistics or misguided societal attitudes, is behind the scenes, determining their destinies and the destinies of their descendants.