Space Mountain

A few year’s ago, I went on Space Mountain, which is a roller coaster in the dark, at Walt Disney World. It was the first time I had been on a roller coaster in a couple of years. When I came off, I turned to my brother-in-law and said that I had forgotten how rough roller coasters were. He said to me that the only reason this ride feels rough is because we were in the dark. If the lights were on, it would feel like a baby ride. (Later, I found out the ride never goes faster than 32 miles per hour — truly not a rough roller coaster!) I thought about this statement of my brother-in-law and realized that it is a metaphor for life. In this world, we are riding around in the dark and it feels like a rough ride. In the World to Come, the lights will be on and we will ride on the same journey. Only this time, everything will be as clear as day. We think we are going through so much suffering, but we are following a clear path. Only, we are currently in the dark.

Why am I writing a story about Space Mountain to start Divrei Simcha on Parshas Emor? It is because of a drasha that a rebbe at Yeshiva Toras Chaim told me.

At the end of the parsha, we learn about a blasphemer that takes Hashem’s name in vain. He was immediately thrown into jail. Rashi points out (Vayikra 24:12) that he was in a jail by himself, even though there was another person that was in jail at that time. The other person in jail was the “stick gatherer” who piled sticks on Shabbos. The reason for the separate cells is because the stick gatherer deserved death, but the method of his killing was not yet determined, while for the blasphemer, it was not determined yet if he deserved death or not. The blasphemer eventually did get the death penalty though. Why did they need to be in separate cells for a short period of time?

The rebbe from Toras Chaim taught me that we do not give people any extra amount of suffering. At this point, the blasphemer was not the same type of criminal as the stick gatherer. It was not known if he would get the death penalty. Therefore, the blasphemer was not put in the stick gatherer’s cell because we need to be concerned for his feelings. He could have become very worried being in the same cell as someone on death row, when he might not have been as bad. The blasphemer was a terrible criminal, but Moshe still had enough kindness to care for his feelings. How much must we care for other peoples’ feelings and try not to cause them any extra suffering! And let’s remember Space Mountain. Hashem cares for us and is leading us down a clear and straight path. Sometimes we may feel like we are going through terrible suffering, but we need to remember that Hashem has a course set for us. We are not going to get a drop of extra suffering.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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By Rabbi Yaacov Seltzer
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