This week’s parsha contains many laws dealing with other people’s property and damages. I would like this week to discuss an interesting law about damages caused by a hole dug in the ground. The Torah states that if a person digs a hole and a donkey or ox falls into it and dies, then the person that dug the hole is held liable to pay for the damages caused. Chazal, our Sages of blessed memory, learn that this is only if the hole is 10 tefachim deep (a tefach equals about 4 inches). If an animal falls into a hole that is less than 10 tefachim and dies, then no one is liable to pay for the damages. The question is brought up what happens if a person digs a hole that is 9 tefachim deep and then someone else comes along a digs the final tefach to make it 10 tefachim deep. Who is liable to pay for the damages? Is it the person who did almost all of the digging or the person that completed the 10 tefachim? The answer is that the person who dug the final tefach is the one that is held liable, even though the majority of the digging was done by someone else.

A great lesson can be learned from this: the person that completes the job is the one that is credited with doing it.

There’s a scary commentary that I once heard that really brings out this point. Who is credited with bringing Yosef’s bones through the desert for forty years and then burying him in Eretz Yisroel? We know that Moshe took Yosef’s bones out of Egypt and traveled with it for the forty year. Unfortunately, though, Moshe was not allowed in Israel and therefore, Yehoshua (Joshua) took the bones into Eretz Yisroel and buried Yosef there. Chazal say because of this, Yehoshua is the one that is given the credit for carrying the bones and burying Yosef. Even though Moshe carried the bones for forty years and Yehoshua only did a small task at the end, Yehoshua gets all of the credit! The person that completes the job is given the credit as doing the whole job.

Many projects are started but people do not see them through to the end. A person has a great idea and starts working on it, but for one reason or another, they start working on something else. It is very important to make sure not to let that happen. When a project is started, make sure to complete it. You do not want another person to take all of the credit away from you! If you work hard at doing something, make sure that you complete the task.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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