B"H
Thursday, Tammuz 21, 5781 / July 1, 2021
In this week’s Parsha, Pinchas, we read that G-d tells Moshe, “Go up Mount Avarim and see with your eyes the Land which I have given to the children of Israel. After you have seen it, you too, will be gathered to your people [you will die] just as your brother Aaron was gathered.” The Torah then states the reason for Moshe’s dying in the desert and not going into the Promised Land. For not sanctifying G-d’s name by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it.
Upon hearing that he was soon to die, Moshe says, “G-d, appoint a man over the community who will go forth before them and who will lead them out and bring them in, so the community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” G-d tells Moshe, “Take Joshua, a man with spirit. Bestow some of your radiance on him, so that the entire community will hear and respect him.”
Although, Moshe’s actual passing is told at the end of the Torah, at the time of his passing a few months later, yet the Torah mentions it here in this Parsha.
Q. Why did G-d tell Moshe about his passing in this Parsha?
A. In this Parsha we read how the five daughters of Tzelafchad came before Moshe asking for their father’s share in the land to be given to them as an inheritance because he had no sons. Moshe brought their case before G-d and G-d told him that they were entitled to their father’s inheritance. When Moshe heard that he was to give them their father’s share in Israel, he figured that he will be going into the land. Thus, G-d told Moshe that the decree against him going into Israel still stands and instead, Joshua will lead the people into Israel.
Q. Why didn’t one of Moshe’s sons inherit the leadership of the Jewish people? Why Joshua?
A. Joshua was Moshe’s most trusted disciple. He is also called Moshe’s servant. Joshua was always at Moshe’s side. During the entire time Moshe was on Mount Sinai, Joshua stayed at the foot of the mountain waiting for Moshe. When Moshe came down with the Tablets and heard the singing and dancing to the Golden Calf, he asked Joshua what that noise was, but Joshua had no idea what it was all about. Due to being so dedicated to Moshe, he merited to inherit the mantle of leadership from his master.
Q. Why, every time the Torah tells us about Moshe not going into the Promised Land, it also mentions the reason - the sin of hitting the rock? Wouldn’t it be better for Moshe if the Torah did not repeat it?
A. Our sages tell us that it was Moshe himself who asked G-d that every time his not going into Israel is mentioned, his sin should also be mentioned. This was so no one may think that his punishment to die in the desert was like the rest of the people who died in the desert because they refused to go to Israel. Moshe wanted it to be known that his dying in the desert was due to the sin of his hitting the rock and not like the other 600,000 people who died in the desert because they refused to go to the Holy Land. Moshe wanted everyone to know his tremendous love for the Land of Israel.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Friday, Tammuz 22, 5781 / July 2, 2021
This week’s Parsha, Pinchas, is named after Pinchas, son of Elazar and grandson of Aaron, the High Priest. The Parsha begins with G-d giving Pinchas the covenant of peace, by proclaiming him to become a kohen (priest). Although the Torah says that all Israel is a holy nation, yet, there are various levels of holiness. The kohen is a higher level of holiness, which qualifies him to perform the service of G-d in the Holy Temple.
In fact, most of the High Priests in the Holy Temples were descendants of Pinchas.
Q. The priesthood is referred here as, "The covenant of Shalom – peace." What is the connection between “the covenant of peace” and being a kohen?
A. In the first chapter of Pirkei Avot (Chapters of our Fathers), which we recite this Shabbat, Hillel the Elder says, "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow and bringing them closer to the Torah."
Aaron was Pinchas’ grandfather. Loving peace and pursuing peace was the characteristic of Aaron the High Priest. When G-d made Pinchas a Kohen, He expressed this gift by giving him the covenant of peace, which represents the priesthood.
The three-fold priestly blessing, which is recited by the kohen during the holidays and in Israel each Shabbat and in many places in Israel each day, ends with the blessing of peace: "May the L-rd bless you and guard you. May the L-rd make His countenance shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the L-rd turn His countenance toward you and grant you Shalom-peace."
Q. G-d rewards in accordance with the good deed performed - measure for measure. How does the reward of “covenant of peace” fit with the act which Pinchas did, for which this reward was given?
A. Pinchas was rewarded here for his heroic act of killing a leader of the tribe of Shimon, when he sinned with a Midyonite woman. By killing him, Pinchas stopped a plague which already killed 24,000 people. Not everyone agreed with what Pinchas did. Many of the tribes criticized Pinchas for doing this. They said that Pinchas was motivated by anger and not for the sake of saving the Jewish nation. Thus, G-d rewarded him with the covenant of “peace,” to show that Pinchas’ act was an act of peace.
There is another lesson here: G-d rewards Pinchas for his act by making him a Kohen, but expresses His reward with words, "Covenant of Peace." This is to tell Pinchas, and by extension to all leaders, that as a leader of the people, although there are times when force is required, it should be used only in extreme cases. All other times, the approach of peace/Shalom is the better and proper way.
This Shabbat we bless the new month, Menachem Av. Rosh Chodesh will be next Shabbat, July 10.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 8:28 / Shabbat ends: 9:44
Monday, Tammuz 25, 5781 / July 5, 2021
This Shabbat we read two Parshiot of the Torah, Matot & Masei, the two final portions of the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar). With this week’s Torah reading we will conclude the fourth Book of the Torah.
Parshat Matot begins with the laws of vows (Nedarim). "And Moshe spoke to the heads of the Tribes of Israel, saying, ‘This is what the L-rd has commanded; When a man makes a vow to the L-rd or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bind, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all which came out of his mouth.’"
This Parsha teaches us the significance and implications of the words we speak. Speech is a very powerful tool. The creation of the universe, as told in the beginning of the Torah, came about through words! “G-d said, Let there be light” and so on. “G-d created the universe with ten sayings,” tell us our sages in the Mishna. Words have the power to build or to destroy.
The third of the Ten Commandments is, "Do not utter the name of the L-rd your G-d in vain." This is a prohibition which is associated totally to what we say.
Q. If one makes a vow not to keep a mitzvah or to commit a sin, are they obliged to keep their vow or not?
A. In that case the vow is not valid, and they are prohibited to keep their vow. The reason is that, as Jews, we have already vowed at Mount Sinai, over 3000 years ago, to keep and observe all the Commandments. Thus, our vow to G-d to keep all His commandments precedes any other vow one may make not to observe the mitzvot.
Q. “He shall not break his word; he shall do according to all which came out of his mouth,” How can one make sure to never transgress the above mitzvah? After all, we are only human, and we may forget our pledge or may not have the means to honor our commitment?
A. This is why our sages say that when making a pledge to do something or to give to charity etc., we should add the words, “Bli Neder,” which means, “without a vow.” For, even with the best intentions of committing to do something, one never knows if they will be able to honor their commitment.
Q. Why did G-d command the laws of vows in this Parsha, just before Moshe’s passing?
A. The water supplied to the Jewish people throughout their 40 years in the desert came from a well imbedded in a rock, which travelled with them. After Miriam passed away, the rock stopped giving water. G-d told Moshe and Aaron to seek out the rock and speak to it to give water. But Moshe hit the rock instead. In punishment for not doing exactly as G-d told them, G-d made a vow that Moshe and Aaron will not go into the Promised Land and die in the desert. Although Moshe prayed many times that G-d rescind this decree, it did not help. Thus, G-d tells Moshe here the importance of keeping a vow.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Tuesday, Tammuz 26, 5781 / July 6, 2021
In the second chapter of Pirkei Avot (Chapters of our Fathers), which we will recite Shabbat, the Talmudic sage Rabbi Eliezer tells us as follows: ”The honor of your fellow should be as dear to you as your own; Do not be easily angered; Repent one day before your death.”
“The honor of your fellow should be as dear to you as your own” – The simple meaning is, that another person’s honor should be as important to you just as your honor is to you.
However, there is another explanation, which is illustrated by the following story: Rabbi Shmelke was a great Torah scholar, who was invited to Niklosburg to accept the rabbinical position of that city.
Before addressing the crowd for the first time, Rabbi Shmelke asked for a private room, were he can spend some time to prepare himself. Everyone thought that he was tired and wanted to rest, before addressing the crowd.
A while later, someone went to call on the rabbi and bring him to synagogue for his first address to the congregation. To the man’s surprise, when he came to the room, he heard the rabbi speaking. Knowing that there was no one in the room, he was curious and peeked through the keyhole. He saw the rabbi pacing back and forth in the room and talking to himself. He was saying, “Shalom Rabbi Shmelke.. Thank you, Rabbi Shmelke.. What a great speech you gave, Rabbi Shmelke..” Not wanting to embarrass the rabbi, he left and waited for the rabbi outside.
Later, Rabbi Shmelke went to the synagogue, where he gave his speech. Everyone was amazed at his brilliance and clarity of thought. He was unanimously accepted as Rabbi of Niklosburg.
The man who overheard the rabbi speaking to himself was bothered by what he saw. He had to ask the rabbi, the meaning of it all. “Rabbi, I happen to have overheard you praising yourself. What was the point of it all?”
Rabbi Shmelke replied: “I was worried that after my lecture, people will come over to thank me and praise me, I may become proud and haughty. I was worried that I may transgress the mitzvah of being humble. So, I went into a room and sang my own praises. The more I did it, the more I could not stand it. I realized how foolish and meaningless it is to be praised by yourself. Now that I felt bothered by being praised, I knew that when people will praise me afterward, it won’t affect me, just as my self-praise didn’t mean anything to me.”
Concluded Rabbi Shmelke: “This is what Rabbi Eliezer teaches us in Pirkei Avot: ‘The honor of your fellow should be as dear to you as your own.’ In other words, when your fellow gives you honor and praise, consider it as if you would praise yourself! It should notaffect you to the point where it takes over your humility. It should be as insignificant to you as self-praise.”
Our sages say, “Whoever runs away from honor, the honor chases after them; But one who chases after honor, the honor runs away from them.”
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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