Loyalty

We learn about another aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu’s deep concern for the Jewish people, in Parshat Pinchas. When he is told that he will not be entering Eretz Yisrael, Moshe was concerned that the appropriate leader would succeed him. He wanted to be certain that the new leader would set a good example by leading the nation into battle. He needed to be one who understood the different personalities of the people. It seemed that Hashem added to the list of qualifications by looking for the one individual that showed unwavering loyalty to Moshe. The Midrash says that Yehoshua got the job because he served Moshe faithfully. He was the one who set up the benches and mats in preparation for Moshe’s lectures. The other elders were ashamed to lower themselves to do such menial tasks. Later, they realized that there is no substitute for such loyalty, and Yehoshua was the correct choice to lead the nation. There is a direct connection between הכרת הטוב, recognizing the good people do for us and loyalty. Our loyalty to Hashem and עם ישראל, must never be compromised.

בנות צלפחד

The Midrash says in the Sifrei that the Daughters of צלפחד gathered together to seek advice from one another. They felt that an injustice was done in their not being given a portion of land because they were female. They came to the conclusion that they would get justice if they would bring their case before Hashem. They thought that if matters were left to a human court, they would show favoritism to men. But Hashem’s mercy is on everyone. We say this in אשרי three times a day that רחמיו על כל מעשיו, that His mercy is on all creations. This may be the very reason why they were considered, חכמניות, clever women. They saw that priority was given to men because they had more Mitzvot to observe than women. They realized that only Divine wisdom could solve the problem at hand in a fair way. We also need to remember that we never lose by putting our trust in Hashem.

ובני קרח לא מתו

A census was taken after the tragedy of the sinning with the daughters of Midian. Most of the 24,000 who perished in the plague, were from the Tribe of Shimon. When the census began, the Tribe of Reuven was counted first. In this instance, the incident with Korach is mentioned, as דתן ואבירם, who participated in that rebellion, were from Reuven. We are then told that although the ground swallowed up Korach and his congregation of 250, his sons did not die. The Pasuk clearly says, ובני קרח לא מתו. We are also familiar with several chapters of תהילים that begin with the words, למנצח לבני קרח, a song to the sons of Korach. The Gemara in סנהדרין says that the sons of Korach did Teshuva before the earth swallowed them up, and a special place in גיהנום was established for them from where they sang praises to Hashem. There are two explanations to these Psalms being attributed to the sons of Korach. One is that David found ancient manuscripts singing praises to G-d. David incorporated them into תהילים and gave בני קרח credit for them. A second explanation is that the Prophet Shmuel descended from Korach and his grandsons were Levites that performed in the Temple after David’s time. They were great musicians and David turned to them to accompany his psalms with their music. He, therefore, gave the sons of Korach credit for some of his psalms. Admittedly, all of this is very puzzling and difficult to understand.

Difficult Being Pinchas

The actions of Pinchas were met with a great deal of controversy. The Yerushalmi in Sanhedrin said that there were those who wished to excommunicate Pinchas for his actions. If not for Hashem letting everyone know that he was granted כהונת עולם, priesthood forever, they may have acted incorrectly. Until that point, he was not officially a Kohein. The sons of Aharon were given priesthood when Pinchas was alive and he was not included until he did his heroic act. Despite the fact that Pinchas goes down in history as a great hero, it should be understood that he was on a very high level. One cannot take the law into his hands as Pinchas did, unless he is on that level of sanctity. It is highly unlikely that there exists anyone in this world like that. After all, Pinchas and אליהו הנביא were one and the same.

Act in a Way that is Pleasing to G-d

Shavua Tov. The Netivot Shalom uses Parshat Pinchas to create a theme that we must act in a way that is pleasing to Hashem. He quotes the Zohar who says that nothing is more abhorrent in the eyes of G-d than one who has relations with an ארמית ( non-Jewish woman). Apparently, Pinchas understood this and put an end to this desecration. What also seems to be unpleasing to Hashem, is when there is no unity among the Jewish people and there is causeless hatred, שנאת חינם. It’s as if He is saying, “I can tolerate it when you sin against Me, but I cannot tolerate when you harm one another.” King David in Tehillim describes another behavior not tolerated by G-d. This comes from the words, וימאסו בארץ חמדה, and they despised the pleasant land. Those who speak negatively about Israel, as the spies did, are not tolerated by Hashem. Aharon Hakohen taught us this principle, when he said, הייטב בעיני ה׳, will this ( his eating of the Sin Offering after his sons died,) would this be pleasing in the eyes of G-d. The lesson here is to always act in a way that is pleasing to G-d.

Hating Evil

The Netivot Shalom discusses the evil of the Midianites and how they were prepared to defile their daughters in order to weaken the Jewish people. There were two stages in dealing with them. In this week’s Parsha, the commandment was צרור את המדינים, despise the Midianim. And in next week’s Parsha, נקום את המדינים, take revenge against the Midianim, by waging war against them. We are taught that we must identify evil and its perpetrators. And then we must hate the evil, and distance ourselves from it. As long as we have any condoning or connection to those who do evil, that negative force will still be capable of attaching itself to us. This is necessary in order that we have true דבקות, cleaving to Hashem. Any evil that attaches to us, will prove to be a hindrance towards achieving this דבקות.

Jewish Unity

The Netivot Shalom makes an interesting observation regarding the destruction of the בית המקדש. He notes that the First Temple was destroyed because of גילוי עריות, שפיכות דמים, and עבודה זרה, immorality, murder, and idol worship. The exile that followed lasted seventy years. The Second Temple was destroyed because of שנאת חינם, causeless hatred. The exile that followed has now lasted 1950 years and has not yet ended. The conclusion to be made from this is how important אחדות, or Jewish unity is. If we would like to see the גאולה, redemption, there must be a much stronger effort to create this unity. This is a wake up call telling us that we must learn to work together. All of the factionalizing into all kinds of groups, is really bad for the Jewish people. The period of the Three Weeks should also be a time of reflection as to how we can unite religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, and Chareidi and Dati Leumi. This will clearly help to bring Mashiach.

Longing for the Temple

The period of בין המצרים, “the three weeks”, begins this Thursday with the Fast of שבעה עשר בתמוז. The Netivot Shalom has a fascinating interpretation of the significance of this period. He begins by expressing the need to feel the loss at not having a functioning Temple. The mourning we are to particularly feel at this time is that a Jew should not feel שלם, complete without our beloved בית המקדש. There is a story told of a Chassidic Rebbe who listened to a disciple complain of all of his troubles that he was suffering. The Rebbe was a little annoyed with his incessant complaining. The Rebbe asked him if he thought for one moment the pain that was felt by going another day without sacrificing the daily קרבן תמיד. Therefore, the first stage at preparing for this difficult period ahead, is to first focus at the great loss of not having a Temple functioning in Jerusalem. More to follow.

A Most Troublesome Time

The Netivot Shalom describes the incident of Bilaam’s curse, as the most troublesome period during the entire time the Jews were in the desert. This was even more serious than the sin of the Golden Calf. Bilaam had almost succeeded in creating a complete disconnect between Hashem and the nation. When Jews are not connected to their source, the Al-mighty, they are vulnerable and are able to be weakened. There was a certain paralysis among the people. Moshe, himself, was frozen as they challenged him and said that the taking of Midianite actually began with him, when he took Tzippora. ( That incident occurred before the giving of the Torah.) It was only Pinchas and his total מסירות נפש, giving of himself, that saved the day. The lesson to be learned here is that we must never allow ourselves to be disconnected from Hashem. This דבקות is essential for our very survival.

24,000

A very strange commentary by the Netivot Shalom is that the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva were a גילגול, reincarnation of the 24,000 men who died in the plague mentioned in פרשת בלק. This is very puzzling, as the students of Rabbi Akiva were immersed in Torah, and the 24,000 in Moshe Rabbeinu’s time had committed the double sin of idolatry and having relations with Midianite women. The explanation as to the connection between the two incidents is that they both represent a disconnection with עם ישראל. It is obvious that when one gives in to his passions and commits serious offenses, he forgets that he is part of the Jewish nation. He now becomes a separate entity and all that matters are his needs being satisfied. In the case of Rabbi Akiva’s students, their sin was שנאת חינם, causeless hatred. They did not show respect to one another, and they lost their sense of being part of עם ישראל. Disconnecting from the Jewish people is a very serious offense. This was what was in common to the 24,000 both in Moshe Rabbeinu’s time as well as Rabbi Akiva’s.

Synagogues and Houses of Study

Shavua Tov. We read today of how Bilaam’s curses turned into blessings. We see from the blessings a hint to the curses that he intended. One of the most famous verses of the Parsha is מה טובו אהליך יעקב, “How goodly are your tents O’ Jacob.” Aside from the standard interpretation that Bilaam was impressed with the modesty of the Jewish people, that no tent faced the other, there is a second explanation. In essence, the strength of the Jewish people in the Exile, are their synagogues and houses of study. Bilaam reluctantly praised Israel for these בתי כנסת and בתי מדרשות. These holy places are what kept the Jewish people alive during their bitter Galut. The Gemara adds that in the future in the time of Mashiach, if these places of worship and Torah study were for the sake of Heaven, they will be transplanted to Israel. There will be no other remnants of the Exile. Bilaam understood this but Hashem turned his curse into a blessing.

Bilaam’s Strategy

The Netivot Shalom gives an unusual explanation as to Bilaam’s strategy in harming the Jewish people. His ultimate goal was to prevent עם ישראל from ארץ ישראל. Bilaam realized that the שלימות, completeness or perfection, of the Jewish nation was only in the land of Israel. If they would lose their merits to enter the Land, it would also prevent Hashem from having a דירה בתחתונים, a dwelling place in the lower world. This entire evil plot was not to allow goodness, holiness and spirituality, to exist on earth. The Jewish people would then not be able to fulfill their ultimate purpose of teaching morality to a very mundane world. We see that the real strength of the Jewish people comes when they are dwelling in ארץ ישראל, and serving Hashem in His dwelling place on earth.

Conquering Sichon

The incident of conquering Sichon came about after they had conquered מואב. Israel was not supposed to attack מואב, because they descended from Lot. But once they were out of the picture, Sichon was able to be taken over. The city that was conquered was called חשבון. The story tellers predicted Sichon’s attack of מואב and taking over of חשבון. They did not anticipate Israel’s victory over Sichon. There is a play on words of the words of the story tellers. The Pasuk reads על כן יאמרו המושלים בואו חשבון, the מושלים were story tellers who would give a משל. They said to come to חשבון. The homiletic interpretation was that the מושלים referred to those who rule their Yeitzer. And the חשבון referred to a חשבון הנפש, of doing serious soul searching. The end of the Pasuk hints that one who does so, will have prepared himself for this world and the next. So much is learned from an incident that seems to have been written in code.

Fear of עוג

The end of Parshat חוקת tells of how Moshe Rabbeinu fought singlehandedly, the two giants, סיחון מלך האמורי and עוג מלך הבשן. The Gemara asks why Hashem needed to reassure Moshe before he fought עוג, but did not need such reassurance when he fought. The reason why Moshe feared עוג and not סיחון, was because he thought that עוג had special merits. He knew of the incident back in Avraham Avinu’s time when Lot was taken prisoner in the battle of the four kings verses five kings. It was עוג who informed Avraham of the capture that allowed him to save his nephew. We see how no good deed goes unrewarded. Hashem told Moshe not to be afraid and this is how the Golan Heights became part of Eretz Yisrael.

Complaining for Nothing

The incident of the attacking snakes, was a situation of מידה כנגד מידה, measure for measure. The evil nature of snakes is such that they bite and place their venom even when there is no gain. Most animals of prey kill for food. The snake kills for the sake of killing. Similarly, the complainers of being sick of the Manna, complained for no real gain. It was complaining for the sake of complaining. The Manna was literally soul food. It could taste like anything they wanted. Complaining that brings no benefit is counterproductive. We are taught to work on ourselves that we be שמח בחלקו, happy with our lot in life. This brings us to אהבת ה׳, as we feel so grateful to the One who provides us with all of our needs. We are always meant to strive to go higher, and there is no contradiction if we try to make our present situation even better. But we must know that complaining for the sake of complaining brings evil upon us in the form of snakes.

Moshe’s Hitting the Rock

The episode of Moshe Rabbeinu hitting the rock is very puzzling. The Netivot Shalom has a different take from the traditional view of Moshe’s sin. There is a quote from חז״ל that says regarding Tzaddikim, אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מביא תקלה על ידם, that Hashem will not bring misfortune to the Tzaddik, as they are protected. For this reason, the Netivot Shalom is of the opinion that Hashem never intended that Moshe enter Eretz Yisrael. Had Moshe built the Beit Hamikdash, it would never have been able to be destroyed. Knowing that the Jewish people would ultimately sin, their punishment would have been much more severe. It was actually Hashem’s mercy that He took out His wrath on a building of wood and stones, instead of on His people. So it looks like the hitting of the rock was part of Hashem’s ultimate plan to protect עם ישראל. It is interesting how there are so many ways to interpret the Torah.

Attach to Holiness

Shavua Tov. The Netivot Shalom speaks about selfishness, materialism, and arrogance, as three distinct negative traits, that create distance between the individual and Hashem. He also clarifies that there are two distinct forces in the world. There is the כח הקדושה, the force of holiness, that comes with cleaving to G-d, and the force of evil that attaches itself to the סיטרא אחרא, or, the Dark Side. These forces are not so apparent to the average individual, but they are there. When one gives in to his Yeitzer, and becomes selfish, materialistic, or arrogant, he attaches himself to these negative forces. This is why we say that evil people, even in their lifetime, are considered as if they are dead. They are no longer able to contribute anything positive to the world. We must place ourselves in the best possible position to grow in spirituality as we attach ourselves to righteous individuals and focus on doing Mitzvot and serving Hashem faithfully. We will then be protected by Hashem’s great love, that will bring us a great feeling of joy and contentment.

Lessons of פרה אדומה

There are many lessons to be learned from the פרה האדומה, the Red Heifer. We are well aware of it being the most difficult law of the Torah to understand, but much can be learned from this law. The Red Heifer purifies from the highest level of טומאה-coming in contact with the dead. When one is in a state of impurity, he becomes separated from his דבקות, closeness, to Hashem. The Netivot Shalom says that the 613 Mitzvot, are actually 613 עצות, pieces of advice, as to how a person can achieve this דבקות. Therefore, not only does טומאה distance a person from Hashem, but עבירות, sins, also create such distance. Another lesson learned from פרה אדומה, is how one must strive to acquire Torah with great diligence. There is a well known play of words when it’s written, זאת התורה, אדם כי ימות באהל, “this is the Torah regarding one who dies in a tent.” From this we also learn that this is the essence of Torah. When one dies for Torah by pushing himself to study in trying circumstances, he will be able to see its fruit. A final lesson is that death represents an end to our ability to accumulate Mitzvot. We must use our time on this earth wisely, so that we will merit the rewards that await us in the next world. פרה אדומה is, indeed, a very special Mitzva.

Tough Being a Leader

We learn from the incident of Korach, how difficult it is to be a public figure. Anyone in a position of power, is open to a great deal of scrutiny. His every move is examined with a fine tooth comb. We see this to hold true for two of our greatest leaders, Moshe Rabbeinu and Shmuel Hanavi. Both made statements that everything that they did, was above board. They did not use their position for personal gain in any way. This is why it’s written in Pirkei Avot, אהוב את המלאכה ושנא את הרבנות, love the work, but hate the leadership. Aside from having to deal with detractors, who are constantly looking to find flaws, the leader has to work extra hard to remain humble. He must not let his power get to his head. And on top of all of that, the Jewish people are a tough, stiff necked nation. We must tip our Kippas to our truly, great leaders.

תרומה ושליחות

Parshat Korach lists some of the special gifts given to the Kohanim and Leviim. One of the Kohein’s gifts is תרומה. This is given directly to one’s favorite Kohein, and it usually represents two per cent of one’s crops. We also learn from the laws of תרומה, that there are certain Mitzvot where one can appoint a שליח, messenger, to act on one’s behalf. This is learned from the words, כן תרימו גם אתם, so shall you and also you, take off Teruma. This awkward, repetitive, wording teaches us about the שליח. The extra word, ״גם״, teaches that שליחות only applies between Jew and Jew. It also means that a Jew cannot be a שליח for a non-Jew, either. Once a non-Jew asked a Jew to buy him חמץ on Pesach. The Jew assumed he could make the purchase because he would not own the חמץ. However, since a Jew cannot be a שליח for a non-Jew, he did, in fact, violate the prohibition of possessing Chametz on Pesach. All of these laws of שליחות, are learned from תרומה.