B"H

Tuesday, Tammuz 20, 5778 / July 3, 2018

This week’s Parsha, Pinchas, is named after Aaron’s grandson, Pinchas.

It was through Pinchas’ courageous action that a plague, which took the lives of 24,000 Jews stopped. As a reward, G-d gave Pinchas and his descendents G-d’s covenant of Shalom-peace.

The covenant of Peace which G-d gave to Pinchas was that from then on he became a Kohen. Although his father and grandfather were Kohanim, Pinchas himself was not a Kohen until this time.

In this Parsha we read about the counting of the Jewish people before going into the Promised Land. It is the fourth time in the Torah that the Jewish people are counted. The first was when they left Egypt; The second time was after they sinned with the Golden Calf; The third counting was after they built the Tabernacle and the counting in this Parsha, is the fourth count.

All the men over the age of 20 were counted. In each of the four counts there were at least 600,000.

The first three counts took place approximately within the first year after the Exodus. This last count took place forty years later, at the end of their 40 years in the desert, as they were getting ready to go into the Promised land.

Every counting had to do with a special event which warranted the counting. The first one was when they left Egypt. The purpose was to show that although Jacob came to Egypt, 210 years earlier, with only 70 people, by the time of the Exodus they were six hundred thousand.

The second count was after they sinned with the Golden Calf, when many of them died. As a result G-d wanted Moshe to count them to know how many were left. The third counting was after the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was erected and G-d rested His glory on the people, He told Moshe to count them again. Between the second count and the third was about a half year.

The fourth counting, the one in this week’s Parsha, was after a plague killed 24,000 people.

Q. G-d knew their numbers without counting them, why did He command Moshe to count them?

A. Our sages tell us that all these counts was to show and express G-d’s love for them.

Our sages explain this with the following parable: A shepherd was attending to his master’s flock, when a pack of wolves attacked and ate many of the sheep. After the attack the owner told the shepherd to count how many sheep were saved. This is because the owner loves and cares for his sheep. Each and everyone is precious to him. G-d also instructed Moshe to count the Jewish people to know how many survived, thus expressing His love for His people.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Thursday, Tammuz 22, 5778 / July 5, 2018

This week's Parsha, Pinchas, takes place as the Jewish people were getting ready to enter into the Promised Land after spending 40 years in the desert.

In the Parsha, Moshe asks G-d to appoint a leader over the Jewish people; "A leader who will go out before them and who will come in before them; one who will lead them out and who shall bring them in; so that the congregation of the L-rd will not be as sheep which have no shepherd."

G-d then commands Moshe to place his hands on Joshua (Yehoshua), "And you shall put from your honor on him, and he shall lead the Jewish people and bring them into the land."

Our sages compare Moshe to the sun and Joshua to the moon. While they were both great luminary figures, Moshe was greater than Yehoshua.  Also, just as the brightness of the moon is a reflection of the sun, so too, Joshua's powers were bestowed upon him by his master, Moshe.

The story is told of ten Hungarian rabbis who had been summoned to the royal palace to discuss issues involving Jewish community matters. The ten rabbis came from different parts of the country and some of them had not seen each other before. Before the formal meeting with the ministers, they decided to appoint one rabbi as their formal spokesman.

All of the rabbis were prominent figures and great Torah scholars. At the same time, they were very humble so each one tried to appoint someone else for this task.

One of the rabbis was Rabbi Yehuda Assad, a noted Torah scholar. Pointing to a rabbi along the side of the room, he said, "I nominate this one, whom I'm seeing now for the first time. From his face I can see that he is very wise. I'm sure he will make a favorable impression on the ministers."

The rabbis turned to the figure to which he was pointing to and were amused. The walls were completely covered with mirrors, and Rabbi Yehuda had been pointing to the one figure he had never seen before... himself! Rabbi Yehuda Assad never looked in a mirror before and had no idea that he was looking at himself.

"Agreed!  We all agree," responded the other rabbis. Rabbi Yehuda Assad couldn't refuse and he successfully led the group.

Although Moshe himself didn’t lead the people into Israel, yet he found consolation in the fact that it was his most trusted student, Joshua, who brought the Jewish people into the Promised Land. For just as the brightness of the moon is a reflection of the sun, so too, Joshua's leadership was a reflection of Moshe. To quote our sages, “As long as Joshua was alive it was as if Moshe lived.”

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Friday, Tammuz 23, 5778 / July 6, 2018

In this week’s Parsha, Pinchas, we read that G-d tells Moshe to appoint Joshua to take over the leadership of the Jewish people, after Moshe’s passing, and to lead them into the Promised Land.

This takes place at the end of the forty years in the desert. G-d says to Moshe, “Go up Mount Avarim and view the land which I gave to the Children of Israel. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people (will die) just as Aaron your brother was gathered.”

Moshe knew that he was not going to bring the Jewish people into the land. He said, “G-d, appoint someone capable over the congregation, who will go out before them and who will return in front of them, so that G-d’s congregation will not be like sheep who have no shepherd.” Moshe was hoping that one of his two children will become leader after him.

But G-d chose Joshua, who was Moshe’s faithful student. Joshua never stepped away from Moshe’s tent. He was always at Moshe’s side ready to fulfill any commandment Moshe gave him.

When Moshe went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and was up on the mountain for forty days, Joshua stayed at the foot of the mountain all that time. When Moshe came down the mountain with the Tablets and broke them as a result of the people worshipping the Golden Calf, Joshua had no idea what was happening, as he stayed by the mountain all this time waiting for Moshe to come down.

There is a connection between the Parsha and the first chapter of Pirkei Avot which we learn this Shabbat. The Parsha mentions Joshua and the Pirkei Avot mentions Joshua. The chapter begins, “Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua.” 

Q.Why did G-d say to Moshe, “You too will be gathered to your people (will die) just as Aaron your brother was gathered.” In what way was Aaron’s death different than the ordinary person?

A. When it was time for Aaron to pass away, G-d told Moshe to go with Aaron up to Mount Hor Hahar. There they went into a cave in which there was a bed. Moshe told him to lie down on the bed, to straighten out his hands and feet, to close his mouth and shut his eyes. In that instant, G-d tool Aaron’s soul with a kiss. There was no pain and suffering. When Moshe saw this he too wanted to die the same way. G-d now granted Moshe’s wish; “You will be gathered just as Aaron.”

Q.What does Moshe mean, “G-d, appoint someone who will go out before them and who will return in front of them.”

A. Moshe wanted a leader who will lead the people and not a follower. A true leader is one who leads in the right path, not one whose goal is only to be liked and accepted by the people.

SHABBAT SHALOM

Montrealcandle lighting time: 8:27 / Shabbat ends 9:42