Therefore, those who speak in parables would say: “Come to Heshbon; may it be firmly built and well-founded as Sihon’s city. (Bamidbar 21:27)

The story is told about Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, that after finishing a shiur, he pondered together with his talmidim which test is greater: The test of being rich or the test of being poor? He explained the challenges that each group has: A poor person finds even a small donation difficult. A rich man finds it difficult to part with his money, and he is also obligated to impress his friends, and so on for both parties. After the culmination of their discussion, they all seemed to agree that the poor person has the easier test. A few hours later on that same day, one of his talmidim came with his face flushed and distraught. The Maharal Diskin asked him what the matter was, and the talmid told him, “I just received news that I have won a lottery and I am now a rich man! After that which we discussed this morning, I don’t feel up to the challenge.” The Maharal Diskin explained to him that he has nothing to worry about, for in general the people who are rich don’t recognize the test that they have, and that lack of awareness causes their downfall. On the other hand, you already understand and appreciate the dangers of wealth, so you can surely handle this test.

I heard this approach personally from my father Z”L the first time I had to slaughter a male chicken (which is stronger than a female) during my training to be a shochet. As I was about to slaughter the chicken, it kicked my hand that held the knife, resulting in a deep cut in my cheek. When I came home that day, my mother Z”L was beside herself, and said emphatically, “You cannot go back for this is far too dangerous!” My intuition taught me that my father would probably have another approach and when my mother said she would speak to my father I felt a little at ease. When he came home and she showed him what happened to me, his response was quite surprising. He said, “Baruch Hashem that is all that happened. Now you can continue learning to be a shochet!” He then explained, “I was worried that you did not understand how dangerous that knife is. Something very serious could happen. I have no doubt that now you know the danger involved and you will be careful”. Learning from our experiences to not make the same mistake twice is a very important lesson. This is true whether the original mistake was our own or someone else’s. Forewarned is forearmed.

The verse says, “Therefore, those who speak in parables would say: ‘Come to Heshbon…’” This refers to the war where Sichon and his army surprisingly won against what was considered the stronger army of Moab. What are the lessons that are supposed to be learned from this victory? Some could conclude that it was the superior might of Sichon; others could conclude that Sichon’s victory was only due to G-d’s design. In fact, after the Six-Day War in 1967, these were the two positions that people took.

In this week’s parsha, the Har Zvi tells us that we are supposed to figure out what Hashem is trying to teach us. Sichon and the Emorites made the wrong cheshbon (conclusion) and assumed that the victory was due to their superior army. The truth was, it was by the Hand of G-d in order to make them feel bigger than they really were. This then gave them the audacity and confidence to fight with the Bnei Yisrael, and made the Bnei Yisrael’s victory over them that much more impressive.

We too, especially at this time, read current events and think that we understand what the right conclusions are to derive from what we see happening around us. Chazal urge us that we should look at it from G-d’s point of view, and then we then may see things with a totally different perspective.