OU Israel Center Torah Tidbits - Parshat Pinchas 5782

‫ב"ה‬

ISSUE 1476 JULY 16TH '22 ‫י"ז תמוז תשפ"ב‬

‫פרשת פינחס‬

PARSHAT PINCHAS AVOT CHAPTER 1

'‫יפקד ה‬ ‫אלקי הרוחת‬ ‫לכל־בשר‬ ‫איש על־‬ ‫העדה‬ ‫ טז‬,‫במדבר יז‬

Dear Torah Tidbits Family Rabbi Avi Berman

Executive Director, OU Israel

page 4

Perfect Peace

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles Faculty, OU Israel Center

page 26

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

04 06

Dear Torah Tidbits Family Rabbi Avi Berman Aliya By Aliya Sedra Summary Rabbi Reuven Tradburks

in the Western Negev 40Shemitah Rabbi Ezra Friedman Shmuel 42Simchat Rabbi Sam Shor Chassidut and Religious 44Moshe, Zionism Rabbi Moshe Taragin Egypt 48Visiting Rabbi Daniel Mann Soloveitchik: Honoring 52Rabbi Parents Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

a Hateful Heart 12Avoiding Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb and the Still, Small Voice 16Elijah Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l The Prophets 22Probing Rabbi Nachman Neil Winkler Boost of Self Confidence 24ARabbi The Y- Files Weekly Comic Shalom Rosner 56 Netanel Epstein Perfect Peace 26Rebbetzin Shira Smiles Torah 4 Teens By Teens 58 Ayelet Spira Cohen // Aharon Only 28IfRabbi Rosensweig Judah Mischel

32

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

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MATOT

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DEAR TORAH TIDBITS FAMILY RABBI AVI BERMAN

Executive Director, OU Israel

Children are a precious gift from the Borei Olam, placing a tremendous responsibility on parents to infuse their home with Torah values, and raise children who can identify and embrace their purpose and mission as members of Am Yisrael. Fortunately, in Torah we can find parenting lessons that have withstood the test of time, paving an eternal path for us to follow.

In Parshat Pinchas, Moshe counts Am Yisrael in preparation for entering Eretz Yisrael.

Notably, the Torah lists every shevet (tribe), along with the names of their children. We might feel that such a detailed description is superfluous. Why not summarize the sum total of all the men over 20 years old (which amounted to 610,730, excluding the Leviyim)? In addition, the letters yud and hey were added to the names of each family.

Why was this change made?

While providing the overall numerical count might have given us an appreciation for Am Yisrael’s growth, the detailed listing of each shevet and their children teaches us an important lesson. While every member of Klal Yisrael contributes to the larger Am, each family is made up of a mix of people who bring their unique strengths and personalities when serving HaShem. Taking this one step further, the letters added to the names of each family unit are yud and hey.

We learn from this that when a family is built upon a foundation of Torah, HaShem can rest 4

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

among them and bring upon them endless bracha and shefa. As children of HaShem, each and every one of us is precious to Him. For those fortunate enough to raise families here in Eretz Yisrael, the daily hustle and bustle can pull us away from focusing our time and attention on our children. But we live in a country that recognizes the importance of chinuch habanim. More specifically, molding children to be avdei HaShem is a value that is recognized and upheld by yeshivot throughout the country, with Torah serving as a foundation upon which educational programs are built. It is therefore particularly special when parents are given the opportunity to experience yeshiva through the eyes of their child, soaking in the environments that are actively contributing to the growth of their children.

My wife and I spent this past Shabbat with our son Eliyashiv in his post-high school program, Yeshivat Hesder Elon Moreh, along with the rest of the shiur aleph families. The Shabbat was organized in such a way that parents could experience the lives our children lead within the walls of the yeshiva from start to finish. Fathers davened beside sons in shul. We sat at their designated makom in the Beit Midrash to learn together with our son’s chavrutahs. During Shabbat dinner and lunch, families were grouped together by chavruta so that the boys could meet each other’s families, and parents could schep nachas seeing their sons thrive. Parents were also encouraged to attend shiurim led by the

school’s rabbanim, including Rav Eliyakim Levanon, the Rav of the Shomron and the Rosh Yeshivah.

By the time Shabbat was over, my wife and I returned home on a high. Not only did we feel inspired by the atmosphere of Torah and avodat HaShem that surrounded us, but we also felt closer to Eliyashiv. Getting a small glimpse into his world allowed us to appreciate the yeshiva’s ethos that is actively shaping our son into the man he is becoming. On a personal note, as someone who has had the zechut to learn in yeshiva, sitting in the Beit Midrash with Eliyashiv surrounded by the roar of voices sharing words of Torah brought me back to precious memories.

This week’s Parsha is yet another reminder of the importance of recognizing the responsibility we have as parents to embrace the individuality of our children and find educational institutions that can help us mold them into bnei Torah. With the help of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, may we merit to see our children follow in the paths of our Avot, find meaning and comfort in their yiddishkeit and continue to find opportunities to grow into active members of Klal Yisrael. Davening that everyone’s Tefilot come true.

Wishing you all an uplifting and inspiring Shabbat, Rabbi Avi Berman Rabbi Avi Berman Executive Director, OU Israel aberman@ouisrael.org

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KI TEITZEI PINCHAS ALIYA-BY-ALIYA SEDRA SUMMARY Rabbi Reuven Tradburks Director of RCA Israel Region 1st aliya (Bamidbar25:10-26:4) Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon halted the plague. He will merit the covenant of peace, of priesthood. Those killed by him were Zimri, the prince of a family of Shimon and Kozbi, the daughter of a prince of a family of Midian.

Harass the Midianites due to this enticement.

G-d instructs Moshe and Elazar to take a census of the men over the age of 20.

Our parsha is the parsha of transition.

Aharon has died. Elazar has taken his place.

Moshe is told he too will die before entry to the Land. He will appoint his successor. It is in this context that we encounter Pinchas’ slaying of a mixed couple: a Jewish man and a Midianite woman. And not just any man and woman; dignitaries, leaders of their respective families. Pinchas jumps into the breach and slays them.

Does this story ring a bell? Has there been a story in the Torah of a mixed couple,

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

dignitaries, a Jew and a non-Jew? And where someone just cannot tolerate this and jumps violently into the breach slaying the people?

The story of the rape of Dina by non-Jewish man Shechem. And into the breach jumped Shimon and Levi, slaying the males of the city. Yaakov was not happy, for that was not his way. Here too. Who is Pinchas? The grandson of Aharon, the descendant of Levi.

But Aharon is the epitome of peace. Look at the meanderings of leadership: Yaakov favored peace while his sons Shimon and Levi favored violent albeit principled action.

Levi’s great grandson Aharon favored peace while his grandson favored violent albeit principled action. Such is life. Sometimes the grandchildren go in their own way. Contrary to the legacy of their grandparents. And that is the crucial importance of this story and this parsha. Transition. New leadership. Sometimes like the old. And sometimes not. But leadership it is.

2nd aliya (26:5-51) The census of each tribe is done, listing the families and the census count of each tribe. The census total is 601,730 men over the age of 10.

Though the summary of this aliya is rather terse, it is in fact a lengthy aliya of 47 verses.

The purpose of this count is to prepare for the dividing of the Land, instructions for which are in the next aliya. But, in addition, it is part of the unfolding transition of power.

This story is the repetition of the story of the census done by Moshe and Aharon. The repetition of stories in Tanach is often to indicate that the new generation is doing a fine job of following in the footsteps of the old. Or not doing a fine job. Or doing a different, but equally fine job. Here, what was

then is identical to what is being done now.

The difference is in the census takers: then it was Moshe and Aharon, now it is Moshe and Elazar. Elazar’s role as the new Kohen leader is taking root.

3rd aliya (26:52-27:5) The Land is to be divided according to this census; those with more, receive more. Though the Land lots are given by lottery. The tribe of Levi is enumerated, though they will not receive Land allocations. None of those of the census of Moshe and Aharon are alive for this census, save Yehoshua and Calev. The 5 daughters of Zelophchad question Moshe and Elazar: though our father left Egypt, he has no male heirs to enter the Land.

Why should his name be forgotten? Let us claim his portion. Moshe brought their query before G-d.

The claim of these daughters is a legitimate claim. In the narrative of transition of leadership, Elazar is getting his first lesson from Moshe: we don’t know it all. Nothing wrong with a leader, even Moshe, saying “I don’t know”.

4th aliya (27:6-23) Moshe is told that the daughters of Tzelophchad are correct; their father’s portion will be allotted to them. Moshe is told to ascend the mountain and peer at the Land of Israel for he will not enter it. Moshe asks for a successor. G-d instructs him to transfer his leadership to Yehoshua in front of all the people. He did so in front of Elazar and all the people.

This is a devastating moment for Moshe.

His entire mission as leader is to lead the people to the Promised Land. That is what he was told at the burning bush; lead My people to the Land. Yes, at this moment of profound

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personal disappointment, he thinks about transition. The mission is far greater than the man. If I am not the one to lead them, then let’s find another.

This transfer of leadership, from Aharon to Elazar, from Moshe to Yehoshua teaches us 2 things; about leaders and about the Jewish people. If a leader is motivated by his legacy, by his accomplishment, then when told he will not achieve his goal, he would kick and scratch to preserve his goals. When the leader is motivated by serving his people, well, then it’s entirely different; the people can be served just fine by me or by someone else. Moshe cannot allow the news of his end to preoccupy him. His role is to lead the people. And if he will not, he wants to ensure someone else will.

And this is a powerful lesson about the Jewish people. As great as Moshe, Aharon and Miriam are, the Jewish people will be fine without them. The transition teaches us that; the Jewish people are far bigger than their leaders. The promise to the Jewish people will live on with new leaders.

5th aliya (28:1-15) The Communal Offerings. There are specific offerings for specific occasions that are My bread, My pleasant aroma.

Daily: 2 lambs, one in the morning, one in the

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

evening, accompanied by flour with oil and wine. Like was brought at Sinai. Shabbat Mussaf: 2 additional lambs with their flour, oil and wine. Rosh Chodesh Mussaf: 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, with their flour, oil and wine and 1 goat sin offering.

Every day there is an offering done in the Temple, the daily offering of a lamb in the morning and in the afternoon. Very simple.

On special occasions there is an additional offering, the Mussaf. The special occasions include Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and in the upcoming aliyot, all the holidays of the year.

This description of the Mussaf offerings is read in shul the most times of any Torah reading over the course of the year. It is read for every Rosh Chodesh and as the Maftir for every Yom Tov – 35 times a year in Israel, 38 in chutz laaretz. I have appended a chart at the end of this article – borrowed with a little adjustment from the Artscroll Chumash at the end of this Parsha. You will note that the Shabbat Mussaf is different than every other one. It is simply a daily double; 2 lambs. No bulls, rams or goats. Makes you wonder if the talmudic statement that we have a double neshama on Shabbat and the halacha that we have 2 challot – is that an aggadic statement, a midrashic flair, or is it merely extending what the Torah itself says? The Mussaf is a double. So too, our soul double. As does our enjoyment, our challa, double.

6th aliya (28:16-29:11) Pesach is on the 14th of the 1st month. On the 15th begins the 7-day holiday of Matza. The first day is a holiday. The Mussaf for each day of Pesach:2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs, with their flour, oil and wine and 1 goat sin offering. The 7th day is a holiday.

Shavuot: the new grain offering is brought.

but you could possibly them.

For when Mussaf: same as Pesach.do Rosh Hashana: is a itholiday, comes a today communications from G-d, you of Teruah. Mussaf: the same as are irreplaceable, one theunique, others except only 1 bull,sui notgeneris, 2. Yom Kipofpur: a kind. is a holiday, a day of affliction. Mussaf: same as Rosh Hashana.

This exchange presents a fundamental The daily tamid and the Mussaf offerings principle of the Torah: that G-d speaks are communal; brought on behalf of the to Moshe in a way that He does not, nor entire nation of Israel. There would never will He in the future ever do again with be an announcement in the Mikdash that anyone else. When Moshe says that people today’s Mussaf is being sponsored by Sarah come to him seeking G-d, what he means Cohen in honor of her granddaughter’s bat is: I have access to G-d. He speaks to me. mitzvah. Can’t do it. The notion of a com(Speaking to G-d isn’t the trick; the trick is munal approach to G-d may explain the when He answers back.) Similarly, when anomaly of the placement of this section.

Moshe says that he teaches G-d’s law, what Didn’t we have a pretty exhaustive descriphe means is that G-d communicates those tion of the sacrifices in Sefer Vayikra? Why laws to him and to no one else. is this section about sacrifices out of place, delayed tilvery here?well Because it prime fits intopurpose the theThis could be the of the endFor, of Bamidbar.

Bamidbar ofmatic thisflow Yitro story. in the very next is the national march theTorah, Land. But story, the giving of to the theJewish very livingtheme and Jewish society is both personal same of Moshe’s uniqueness as and the communal.

We pursue G-d personally.

We one to whom G-d speaks is central. do our mitzvot. And we will occupy a par3rd aliya Mosheour heard. ticular place in the(18:24-27) Land of Israel; little He chose judges, with only plot of Land that we just described in the the most difficult cases brought to previous aliyot. But, in addition, we are part him.

Moshe sent Yitro home. of this people. As a people we have a unique G-d; and He with Part Itrelationship takes anwith honest leader to us. accept of the terrible disappointment of the creepsuggestions to improve. Moshe displays his ing alienation of Jews from Israel that we are honesty and humility – if the suggestion is witnessing in our time is the complete dissigood, embrace it. Just as Yitro accepted the pation a sense of being a part of aOne people, news ofofthe Exodus and affirmed G-d,a binding to the fate of the people.

That is what so too, Moshe admits he could improve his is symbolized by the communal offerings. system.

Two men of honesty and humility.

7th aliya (29:12-30:1) Sukkot: the 4th first aliya (19:1-6) The people day is a holiday.

Mussaf: 13 camped the Sinai desert oppobulls, 2inrams, 7 lambs with their the mountain.

Moshe asflour, oil site and wine and 1 goat sin offering. nd the mountain. G-d told him: tell cended The 2 day of the holiday has the same Musthe you12 will listenThe to Me, keepisMy safpeople. except If only bulls.

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bulls. Each of the 7 days has one less bull, with all the other offerings the same. Shemini Atseret: is a holiday. Mussaf: the same as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Olah Offering

Chatat Sin Offering

Day

Bulls

Rams

Lambs

Goat

Weekday Daily not Mussaf

0

0

1morning 1 evening

0

Shabbat

0

0

2

0

Rosh Chodesh

2

1

7

1

Pesach (all days)

2

1

7

1

Shavuot

2

1

7

1

Rosh Hashana

1

1

7

1

Yom Kippur 1

1

7

1

Sukkot Day 1

13

2

7

1

Sukkot -2

12

2

7

1

Sukkot – 3

11

2

7

1

Sukkot – 4

10

2

7

1

Sukkot – 5

9

2

7

1

Sukkot – 6

8

2

7

1

Sukkot – 7

7

2

7

1

Shmini Atzeret

1

1

7

1

STATS 41st of the 54 sedras; 8th of 10 in Bamidbar Written on 280 lines (rank: 2nd) 35 Parshiyot; 10p 25s (2nd most) 168 psukim 2nd (2nd in B'midbar) 1887 words 9th (2nd in B'midbar) 7853 letters 4th (2nd in B'midbar)

MITZVOT Contains 6 of the 613 mitzvot, all positive. One of only six sedras that have only positive mitzvot 10

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

Immediately apparent from this chart is the groupings: Pesach and Shavuot, the uniqueness of the extra offerings of Sukkot, and the pairing of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and oddly enough, Shmini Atseret.

HAFOTRAH PINCHAS 1 MELACHIM 18:46-19:21 The prophet Eliyahu is the focus of this week's haftorah. According to tradition, Eliyahu shared the same soul as Pinchas, the hero of this week's Torah portion. They also both zealously fought on Hashem's behalf, while disregarding the dangers involved.

Following the showdown on Has HaCarmel, which led to the execution of the Baal priests, the evil Queen Izevel issued a death sentence for Eliyahu. Eliyahu fled to the Judean desert and asked Hashem to take his life. While he slept, an angel awoke him and provided him with food and drink. Reenergized, Eliyahu went for forty days until he arrived at Mount Horev (Sinai), and he slept in a cave on the mountain. And the word of Hashem came to him and asked him for the purpose of his visit. "And [Eliyahu] said: 'I have been zealous for G‑d, the Lord of Hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant. They have torn down Your altars and they have killed Your prophets by the sword, and I have remained alone, and they seek my life to take it."

Eliyahu was instructed to leave the cave

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and stand on the mountain: "Behold! G‑d's Presence will pass." There was a great and strong wind splitting mountains and shattering boulders, but Eliyahu realized that Hashem was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake followed by fire, but again Eliyahu understood that not in the earthquake nor the fire was G‑d. After the fire there was a subtle silent voice, and Eliyahu realized that the Divine Presence had appeared.

G‑d asked Eliyahu again for the purpose of his visit, and Eliyahu repeated his earlier response. G‑d instructed Eliyahu to go to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram and Jehu as king of Israel and to anoint Elisha as a prophet in his stead. These three would continue Eliyahu's battle against the Baal.

Eliyahu followed the instructions and he immediately found Elisha and recruited him as his aide and eventual successor.

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is reluctant to send Yishmael away and seeks with YishBYYitzchak RABBI DR. TZVIreconciliation HERSH WEINREB OUmael Executive Vice President, Emeritus and seeks to bless Esav.

THE PERSON IN THE PARSHA

Avoiding a Hateful Heart Love is an emotion. It is a feeling, often a very passionate one, that we have toward another person, creature, or object.

Our Torah speaks of the love we are to have for each other, for the stranger in our midst, and for the Almighty. Scripture alludes to the love a man and woman have for each other as a feeling akin to a divine flame, a passion as powerful as death itself, an emotion which cannot even be quenched by many waters (see Song of Songs 8:6-7).

Giving is an action. Sometimes it is prescribed action, such as charity to the poor.

“Give, yes give to him, and let your heart not begrudge what you give to him.” (Deuteronomy 15:10) Often the giving is voluntary and

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6th Aliya (25:1-11) Avraham marries Keturah; they have 6 sons. All that Avraham has goes to Yitzchak; these are sent eastward with gifts. Avraham takes many forms: of tangible gifts,and or dies at age 175; he Giving is buried

by Yitzchak of time, of compassionate words, or ofYitzchak careful Yishmael in Ma’arat Hamachpelah. listening. is blessed by G-d: he lives in Beer L’chai Roi. The question has been asked, “Do we give The transition from Avraham to ec tio to those whom we love,While or, perhaps, we Yitzchak is complete.

G-d hasdobeen love thosepartner to whom What comes a silent inwe thisgive?” parsha, here He first?

The love for one another, or the giving completes the generational transfer – He wo to him orYitzchak. her? blesses The Jewish people will an question wasYishmael. asked by Rabbi ElibeThis Yitzchak and not yahu Dessler in the first volume of his be 7th Aliya (25:12-18) The generaposthumously published writings, known fa tions of Yishmael are as Michtav Me’Eliyahu. Rabbi Dessler was a th Yishmael His prominentenumerated.

20th century educator anddies. thinker hi descendants from Europe, Egypt toworked Assyria.in who was borndwell in Eastern Yishmael’s storyhis is brief.

He has numerEngLand, and spent last years in Israel. ica ous and powerful offspring.

The The question is truly an ancient one,brevity posed th by many philosophers from both within and

BY RABBI outside of the Jewish tradition. It is the quesRav, Beit Knes tion of whether feelings motivate actions, or whether actions stimulate feelings.

When Avraham addresses the people of Cheit, trying to The“Ger American and(23:4) psycholoV’Toshavphilosopher Anochi Eimachem” “A Stranger an This seems to be a contradiction.

If one is a stranger tha gist, William James, had a definite answer to is no longer a stranger. What did Avraham mean? this question. He believed that first we act, The Magid of Dubno (Jacob ben Wolf Kranz 1741-1804) andthis based our actions, feel.

Act tenseon situation in order to,we both, state his joytruth and be said, on the one hand, “I am a Resident’ due to G-d’s fully, dance and sing, and you will feel joy.

Act promis need your agreement to purchase a plot. In other words, Av despondent, in they solitude and fret, and you “strangers”,sit while understood him as saying that “the will feel James’ knowntrue in to his Thedepressed. peace was kept, and theory Avrahamisremained Shabbat Shalom textbooks as the James-Lange theory.

A SHORT VORT

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Within our own tradition, the medieval author of the Sefer HaChinuch, enunciated a similar belief centuries before James. He asserted, “Acharei hape’ulot nimshachim halevavot, the heart follows one’s actions.”

If it is true that feelings of love derive from loving and giving behaviors, then it must also be true that feelings of hatred derive from hateful and violent behaviors.

Thus, we can understand an otherwise puzzling passage in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Pinchas.

Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron the peace-loving High Priest, commits an action of zealotry. A Jewish man named Zimri parades his Midianite paramour, Kozbi, before the “eyes of Moses and the eyes of all the congregation of the children of Israel.”

(Numbers 25:6) Pinchas swiftly, almost impulsively, grabs a spear and thrusts it through the two of them, killing them instantly. That episode is narrated at the very end of last week’s Torah portion, Parshat Balak.

This week, we read of the Lord’s response to Pinchas’ action. He commends it, saying that Pinchas “has removed My wrath from upon the children of Israel.” (ibid. 25:11) And the Almighty proceeds to reward Pinchas with “My covenant of peace.” (ibid. 25:12) In his commentary on this phrase, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin (d. 1892), dean of the famed Yeshiva of Volozhin, expresses surprise at this reward. After all, Pinchas acted violently, militantly. Shouldn’t his reward be a medal of war, a prize for zealotry and Family and Friends Congratulate

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courage? Why a covenant of peace?

Rabbi Berlin, who is known by the acronym formed by the first letters of his long name as the Netziv, answers eloquently: “Because it is the nature of actions such as those of Pinchas, who killed another person by his own hands, to permanently leave behind strong feelings of hatred upon the heart of the perpetrator, therefore was the blessing of peace bestowed upon him so that he should always remain gentle and peace-loving and not develop into a cruel character.”

Violence contaminates the soul, regardless of whether or not the violent acts are justified.

This is why soldiers, when they are debriefed after battle, need special counseling. They need to be able to put the actions that they performed, even for reasons of self-defense, behind them so that they do not

develop permanent feelings of hatred and cruelty.

How well do I remember the words of Golda Meir, soon after the Six Day War, who said that she could forgive Israel’s enemies for everything, but not for the fact that they made warriors out of Israel’s sons. She knew that once a person serves as a soldier in war, even in defense of his country, he will likely struggle for the rest of his life to make sure that he does not remain a warrior at heart.

All of us may have been guilty even unintentionally at one time or another of some sort of cruelty to others. We must be sure that those cruel actions do not result in “cruel hearts.” We must be sure that we do not let the influence of actions which we legitimately perform in extreme circumstances become a permanent part of our character.

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on the Weekly Parsha from COVENANT & Thoughts RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS ZT"L CONVERSATION

Former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

May the learning of these Divrei Torah be ‫לעילוי נשמת‬ HaRav Ya'akov Zvi ben David Arieh zt"l

‫לעילוי נשמות‬ ‫פנחס בן יעקב אשר וגולדה בת ישראל דוד אייז ע״ה‬ ‫עזריאל בן אריה לייב ומעניה בת יצחק שרטר ע״ה‬ Dedicated by Dr. Robert Sreter DDS., M.S.

Elijah and the Still, Small Voice Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Why are you here, Elijah?’ He replied, I am moved by the zeal for the Lord, God of Hosts…” The Lord said to him, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.

After the wind was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire – a still, small voice. (I Kings 19:9-12) In 1165, an agonising question confronted Moroccan Jewry. A fanatical Muslim sect, the Almohads, had seized power in Morocco 16

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

and was embarking on a policy of forced conversion to Islam. The Jewish community was faced with a choice: to affirm Islamic faith or die. Some chose martyrdom. Others chose exile. But some acceded to terror and embraced another faith. Inwardly, though, many of the ‘converted’ continued practising Judaism in secret. They were the anusim, conversos, Crypto-Jews, or as the Spanish were later to call them, the marranos.

To other Jews, they posed a formidable moral problem. How were they to be viewed? Outwardly, they had betrayed their community and their religious heritage.

Besides, their example was demoralising.

It weakened the resolve of Jews who were determined to resist, come what may. Yet many of the Crypto-Jews still wished to remain Jewish, secretly fulfilling the commandments and, when they could, attending the synagogue and praying.

One of the converted addressed this question to a Rabbi. He had, he said, converted under coercion, but he remained at heart a faithful Jew. Could he obtain merit by observing in private as many of the Torah’s precepts as possible? Was there, in other words, hope left for him as a Jew? The Rabbi’s reply was emphatic. A Jew who had embraced Islam had forfeited membership in the Jewish community. He was no longer

part of the house of Israel. For such a person to fulfil the commandments was meaningless. Worse, it was a sin. The choice was stark and absolute: to be or not to be a Jew. If you choose to be a Jew, you should be prepared to suffer death rather than compromise. If you choose not to be a Jew, then you must not seek to re-enter the house you deserted.

We can respect the firmness of the Rabbi’s stance. He set out, without equivocation, the moral choice. There are times when heroism is, for faith, a categorical imperative. Nothing less will do. His reply, though harsh, is not without courage. But another Rabbi disagreed.

The name of the first Rabbi is lost to us, but that of the second is not. He was Moses Maimonides, the greatest Rabbi of the Middle Ages. Maimonides was no stranger to religious persecution. Born in Cordova in 1135, he had been forced to leave, along with his and our next step will be to plant a fruit family, some thirteen years later when the tree. I never thought of myself as being the city fell to the Almohads. Twelve years were agricultural type, but the feeling of settling spent in wandering. In 1160, a temporary and planting a portion of Eretz Yisrael, has liberalisation of Almohad rule allowed the been truly euphoric. Iy”H, when we plant family to settle in Morocco. Within five years our tree, and eat the fruits that will grow he was forced to move again, settling first in one day, I think we will be able to truly the Land of Israel and ultimately in Egypt. appreciate that unique Kedusha found in Maimonides was so incensed by the Rabthe fruit of Eretz Yisrael! bi’s reply to the forced convert that he wrote conclude, you your Tu B'shvat aTo response of when his own.

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Maimonides’ reply, the Iggeret ha-Shemad (‘Epistle on Forced Conversion’), is a substantial treatise in its own right.1 What is striking, given the vehemence with which it begins, is that its conclusions are hardly less demanding than those of the earlier response. If you are faced with religious persecution, says Maimonides, you must leave and settle elsewhere. ‘If he is compelled to violate even one precept it is forbidden to stay there. He must leave everything he has and travel day and night until he finds a spot where he can practise his religion.’2 This is preferable to martyrdom.

Nonetheless, one who chooses to go to their death rather than renounce their faith ‘has done what is good and proper’3 for they have given their life for the sanctity of God. What is unacceptable is to stay and excuse oneself on the grounds that if one sins, one does so only under pressure. To do this is to 1 An English translation and commentary is contained in Abraham S. Halkin, and David Hartman. Crisis and Leadership: Epistles of Maimonides (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1985) pp.

15-35.

2 Ibid., 32.

3 Ibid., 30.

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

profane God’s name, ‘not exactly willingly, but almost so’.

These are Maimonides’ conclusions. But surrounding them and constituting the main thrust of his argument is a sustained defence of those who have done precisely what Maimonides has ruled they should not do. The letter gives Crypto-Jews hope. They have done wrong. But it is a forgivable wrong.

They acted under coercion and the fear of death. They remain Jews. The acts they do as Jews still win favour in the eyes of God. Indeed doubly so, for when they fulfil a commandment it cannot be to win favour of the eyes of others. They know that when they act as Jews they risk discovery and death. Their secret adherence has a heroism of its own.

What was wrong in the first Rabbi’s ruling was his insistence that a Jew who yields to terror has forsaken their faith and is to be excluded from the community. Maimonides insists that it is not so. ‘It is not right to alienate, scorn and hate people who desecrate the Sabbath. It is our duty to befriend them and encourage them to fulfil the commandments.’4 In a daring stroke of interpretation, he quotes the verse, ‘Do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.’ (Proverbs 6:30) The Crypto-Jews who come to the synagogue are hungry for Jewish prayer. They ‘steal’ moments of belonging. They should not be despised but welcomed.

This epistle is a masterly example of that most difficult of moral challenges: to combine prescription and compassion. Maimonides leaves us in no doubt as to what he believes Jews should do. But at the same time 4

Ibid., 33.

he is uncompromising in his defence of those who fail to do it. He does not endorse what they have done. But he defends who they are. He asks us to understand their situation.

He gives them grounds for self-respect. He holds the doors of the community open.

The argument reaches a climax as Maimonides quotes a remarkable sequence of midrashic passages whose theme is that prophets must not condemn their people, but rather defend them before God. When Moses, charged with leading the people out of Egypt, replied, ‘But they will not believe me’ (Exodus 4:1) ostensibly he was justified.

The subsequent biblical narrative suggests that Moses’ doubts were well founded. The Israelites were a difficult people to lead.

But the Midrash says that God replied to Moses, ‘They are believers and the children of believers, but you [Moses] will ultimately not believe.’ (Shabbat 97a.)

Maimonides cites a series of similar passages and then says: If this is the punishment meted out to the pillars of the universe, the greatest of the prophets, because they briefly criticised the people – even though they were guilty of the sins of which they were accused – can we envisage the punishment awaiting those who criticise the conversos, who under threat of death and without abandoning their faith, confessed to another religion in which they did not believe?

In the course of his analysis, Maimonides turns to the Prophet Elijah and the text that usually forms this week’s haftarah. Under the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, Baal worship

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had become the official cult. God’s prophets were being killed. Those who survived were in hiding. Elijah responded by issuing a public challenge at Mount Carmel. Facing four hundred of Baal’s representatives, he was determined to settle the question of religious truth once and for all.

He told the assembled people to choose one way or another: for God or for Baal.

They must no longer ‘halt between two opinions.’ Truth was about to be decided by a test. If it lay with Baal, fire would consume the offering prepared by its priests. If it lay with God, fire would descend to Elijah’s offering.

Elijah won the confrontation. The people cried out, ‘The Lord, He is God.’ The priests of Baal were routed. But the story does not end there. Jezebel issues a warrant for his death. Elijah escapes to Mount Horeb. There

he receives a strange vision, as seen as the beginning of this week’s essay. He is led to understand that God speaks only in the ‘still, small voice’.

The episode is enigmatic. It is made all the more so by a strange feature of the text.

Immediately before the vision, God asks, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ and Elijah replies, ‘I am moved by zeal for the Lord, the God of Hosts….’ (I Kings 9:9-10). Immediately after the vision, God asks the same question, and Elijah gives the same answer (I Kings 19:13-14). The Midrash turns the text into a dialogue: Elijah: The Israelites have broken God’s covenant God: Is it then your covenant?

Elijah: They have torn down Your altars.

God: But were they your altars?

Elijah: They have put Your prophets to the sword.

God: But you are alive.

Elijah: I alone am left.

God: Instead of hurling accusations against Israel, should you not have pleaded their cause?5 The meaning of the Midrash is clear. The zealot takes the part of God. But God expects 5

Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 1:6.

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

His prophets to be defenders, not accusers.

The repeated question and answer is now to be understood in its tragic depth. Elijah declares himself to be zealous for God. He is shown that God is not disclosed in dramatic confrontation: not in the whirlwind or the earthquake or the fire. God now asks him again, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’

Elijah repeats that he is zealous for God. He has not understood that religious leadership calls for another kind of virtue, the way of the still, small voice. God now indicates that someone else must lead. Elijah must hand his mantle on to Elisha.

In turbulent times, there is an almost overwhelming temptation for religious leaders to be confrontational. Not only must truth be proclaimed but falsehood must be denounced. Choices must be set out as stark divisions. Not to condemn is to condone. The Rabbi who condemned the conversos had faith in his heart, logic on his side and Elijah as his precedent.

But the Midrash and Maimonides set before us another model. A prophet hears not one imperative but two: guidance and compassion, a love of truth and an abiding solidarity with those for whom that truth has become eclipsed. To preserve tradition and at the same time defend those others condemn is the difficult, necessary task of religious leadership in an unreligious age.

Covenant and Conversation 5782 is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l.These weekly teachings from Rabbi Sacks zt"l are part of the ‘Covenant & Conversation’ series on the weekly Torah reading. Read more on www.rabbisacks.org.

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T

he haftarah selection for this Shabbat might be regarded by some to be the “perfect” haftarah. In the 21 p’sukim of this 19th perek of M’lachim A, (the precise number of verses that our ancient scholars recommend as the proper length for a haftarah – 3 p’sukim for each of the aliyot on Shabbat) we read the fascinating episode in the life of Eliyahu HaNavi as he flees from Queen Izevel (Jezebel), attempt to kill him and journeys to Har HaElokim/Har Chorev (Sinai) at Hashem’s command.

In relating the complete story, the author (Yirmiyahu HaNavi, according to our tradition) carefully details the many events leading up to G-d’s confrontation with the great prophet: his flight from Shomron, his departure from Be’er Sheva (where he leaves his attendant behind) and his short stay in the wilderness, where he falls asleep under a solitary rotem tree (bush?). We even learn the details of Eliyahu’s dream there and the provisions he takes with him for his journey to Har HaElokim as charged to him by Hashem.

There is little of this story that is omitted, as it includes the conversation Eliyahu has with G-d - a conversation, in fact, that is repeated word for word- and the given the mission of anointing a new ruler over Syria (Chaza’el), a new King over Israel (Yehu) and a new prophet to succeed him (Elisha).

This “perfect” haftarah also teaches important lessons for its readers, lessons we’ve discussed in past articles such as the comparison of Moshe and Eliyahu – both who stood at Har Sinai at the mouth of a cave (“b’nikrat hatzur”) to hear G-d’s words and who fasted 40 days and forty nights to receive that divine visitation – and the contrast, as well as the comparison made between Eliyahu and Pinchas – both considered “kana’im” (zealots) – and their differences.

Almost the “perfect” haftarah - in number of verses, detailed story, and moral lessons.

Almost….but not quite.

You see, there aren’t 21 verses…there are 22. And it is not taken from the 19th chapter alone. Before we read of the interesting,

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more about inspiring patient self-control than physinformative, story, we read a seemical might.

It ispasuk found in the tracingly random that hasTalmudic no connection tate Kiddushin 40a,story where the is told whatsoever to the and is,tale therefore, about afrom certain Zadok, who resists omitted the Rabbi perek itself! the attempts a particularly The haftarahof begins with the lastpowerful verse of noblewoman to lead astray.

He exerts chapter 18 which tellshim us that Eliyahu, after moral strength, and to him the Talmud approving the unparalleled power and control pliesheaven the following biblical verse: "Bless the over and earth in a dramatic display Lord, Othe Hisgathered angels, mighty creatures who before masses, after subsedo His bidding, ever to His and bidquently destroying theobedient false prophets ding. Blesspriests, the Lord, all His hosts, His seridolatrous Eliyahu runs before the vants who do His will."

(Psalms 103:20-21) royal chariot and, filled with divine strength (inspiration?), he outpaces the King and Isaac's way recognizes the necessity for reaches the palace before the royal entougreat patience and forbearance. If we rage. And this is the “important” event that adopt Isaac's way, we must be prepared our Rabbis chose to start the haftarah - an for a lengthy process before our challengevent that appears to have no connection es are resolved. In the words of Rabbi whatsoever to that which follows.

May the Torah thiswhich issue ofhave TT Abraham Isaaclearned Kook, from words The haftarah seems to be even more be in loving memory and ‫לע"נ‬ our dear been memorialized in a popular song, "An “imperfect” that we thought!are in Kislev parents whose yahrtzeits eternal people does not fear the long and Unless we turn to the words of R.Shamshon Doris Weinberger a"h arduous path."

Raphael ‫ד' כסלו‬Hirsch: -‫דבורה לאה בת יחזקאל שלמה ע"ה‬ “Never is since the days Moshe hasfola Patience necessary forofthose Max Weinberger z”l who prophet stood before his people .with such an low Isaac's way.

But a wise woman taught ‫ כ"ז כסלו‬-‫אלימלך בן דב ז"ל‬ aura of lofty power….He had just brought a us that patience is but another name for Greatly missed by their children, whole back to was public loyalty to God…. hope. nation That woman Jane Austen, who grandchildren and great grandchildren with their enthusiastic put these words into shouts:…’Hashem the mouth of oneHu of Rav Aryeh and Dvora Weinberger HaElokim!’

– ‘Hashem alone is G-d!’ the characters in her great novel, SenseAnd, and Bernie and Leah Weinberger in the presence of the King…..he killed Sensibility: "Know your own happiness.

Menachem and Hannah Katten the prophets Ba’al….and then, [just asgive he had You wantof nothing but patience—or it a announced] the longed-for came down more fascinating name: callrain it hope." in torrents. At that moment….he stripped In observance of theand Shloshim friendin himself of his glory ran asofa our footman Leib Berren z"lto show front of Yehuda the royal carriage.

[All of this] Menachem Weinberg a shiur theRav people that there is to bewill no give worshipping in his memory "Heroic Joy" of the prophet [and so that] there must be no Monday 23ofNovember/ 8 Kislev eclipsing ofevening, the Work God”.

7:30pmthat the true greatRav Hirsch understood Zoom Meeting: 8980 1519 ness of the navi was his853 humility.

His ability Password: Yehuda to step down from the loftiest heights to do

Hashem’s bidding. And the entire haftarah Exclusive! teaches us precisely that. Eliyahu’s need to flee from the Queen, to abandon himself to loneliness, to fast, to thirst and to travel in the desert for forty days and nights right after his greatest triumph…simply to fulfill G-d’s bidding.

For that is what his mission was. Understand that at the end of the haftarah Eliyahu Rehavia-Talbieh quiet Radak is charged to choose on a successor, to prepare spacious 4 room a mission most difforBeautiful, “early retirement”, luxury 2.5 to baths, ficult forunit, him complete, yet, in the final 2 floor, Shabbat elevator, psukim of our haftarah he indeed does. large succa terrace, And is that not part of the message of the storage + parasha as well? The message is given to covered parking.

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RABBI SHALOM ROSNER

Rav Kehilla, Nofei HaShemesh Maggid Shiur, Daf Yomi, OU.org Senior Ra"M, Kerem B'Yavneh

A Boost of Self Confidence In Parshat Pinchas there is a census of the nation that contains a pattern distinct from others listed in the Torah. Each shevet is referred to by a sort of nickname with the addition of two letters to their name. For example, ‫בני ראובן חנוך‬ ‫ – משפחת החנוכי‬The sons of Reuven: Chanoch, the Chanocite family… (Bamidbar 26:5). Why is a letter hei added at the beginning and a letter yud added at the end of the name?

Rashi explains that by tracking their genealogy so carefully, highlights that their lineage remained pure. The other nations of the world may hypothesize that since their ancestors were slaves, the Egyptians likely violated the women and the resulting children are no longer pure descendants of Avraham. The Torah adds the letters yud and hei – which spell God’s name, to indicate that God testifies to the purity of the nation.

We may ponder, do these additional letters added to the names of the leaders of the shevatim actually have any impact on what other nations think or believe? Furthermore, why are these extra letters inserted here in Parshat Pinchas and not included in the census conducted in Parshat Bamidbar?

Rabbi Frand in his sefer The Power of a Vort, cites an explanation offered by the Tolna Rav. There is a gemara (Sanhedrin 107) that dissects 24

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

David Hamelech’s plea for forgiveness following his misdeed with Bat Sheva, based on Tehillim 19:14. He begins with ‫ שגיאות מי יבין‬Who can discern mistakes? - thereby asking for Hashem’s forgiveness. Then he states: ‫מנסתרות נקני‬ -cleanse me from unperceived transgressions. ‫ גם מזדים חשך עבדך‬from intentional transgressions restrain your servant. Finally, David requests: ‫ אל ימשלו בי‬- may they not rule me. The gemara explains that the last request was a plea that the sages not speak negatively about David. Why is David Hamelech so concerned about what others say about him? Did he have a fear that negative PR could harm his reign?

The Tolna Rav explains that a person who perceives himself in a negative manner becomes easy prey for the yetzer hara. A person who believes in himself, who views himself as a ben Torah, will be able to confront his evil inclination and declare “how can I engage in that act, it is beneath me”. However, a person with low self esteem may contemplate “I am nothing anyway, so no big deal if I sin a little here and there.” David Hamelech was concerned that if people spoke negatively of him, it may lead him to think of himself as a rasha and then a self-fulfilling prophecy would send him on a downward spiral into a moral abyss.

The insertion of the letters hei and yud to highlight God’s seal on each shevet’s authenticity may have no impact on the other nations of the world. That is not their purpose. Rather, it is for us to believe in the purity of our lineage, so we are motivated to preserve it. Perhaps

the reason it appears now and not previously is because we are now in the 40th year and there is a new generation. The previous generation that lived through the exile and exodus, had first-hand knowledge of what transpired and could dismiss any statements made by the other nations about the Jewish women as vicious rumors. The new generation required some assistance in order to be able to dismiss the other nations’ claims and so Hashem surrounded the Jewish families with his name to testify that their roots are pure.

In a similar manner, Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik in his sefer Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind, notes that the word tochaha is derived from the word hochaha, which means “proof” or “demonstration.” Offering rebuke means proving or demonstrating to another that he can do much better, showing him that the action is beneath him and that Hashem believes he is above such behavior. Proper tochaha, then, means lifting someone up, not, God forbid, putting them down. That is also why the pasuk uses the word “amitecha” (your fellow). Tochaha should be a friendly reminder that such behavior is not becoming of the person receiving rebuke.

It is important that one maintain self esteem and self confidence in their avodat Hashem. As the Slobodka philosophy dictates- adam “man” is derived from the term “adame lo” – to be like Him. To mimic God one has to exalt confidence and seek to achieve greatness. However, this should be done while considering the position of Novardok – that adam “man” is derived from the word adama – dirt and should remain modest and humble like the lowly earth. May we be able to achieve the proper balance between these two philosophies so we can maintain self esteem and humility simultaneously.

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REBBETZIN SHIRA SMILES Faculty, OU Israel Center

Perfect Peace We are used to seeing Hashem act middah keneged middah, Hashem metes out justice measure for measure whether for reward or punishment. It is therefore perplexing and difficult to comprehend the reward given to Pinchas, a ‘brit shalom,’ for acting zealously.

Wouldn’t we think that zealotry is the antithesis of shalom? How can it be the most fitting reward for what he did?

Rav Pincus, in Tiferet Shimshon, explains how the reward Pinchas received was indeed one of measure for measure. Had Hashem’s anger continued to rage against Am Yisrael for their travesty, the tribe of Shimon would have been in peril of total annihilation. This would put the entire nation of Israel in danger of breaking down since our wholeness is dependent on the presence of all twelve tribes serving Hashem as a unit. In acting for Hashem’s honor, Pinchas reconnected Hashem and His people, reigniting the love and

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reestablishing peace between them. Thus, we see how truly fitting it is that Pinchas received the gift of everlasting peace.

Rav Rivlin in Sefer Haparshiot highlights Pinchas’ love and concern as the genuine motivating force behind his act. Indeed, he saved thousands of people from dying by acting zealously. His reward indicated that his intentions were noble, not motivated by anger or negativity. Similarly, we are taught that Hashem chastises those who He loves. In a discussion on the churban Beit Hamikdash, Rav Tzvi Meir Silverberg creates an imaginary monologue of Hashem, kaviyachol, as He tells His beloved people to hold on to the image of the keruvim embracing each other, embed it in their minds as an everlasting memory of Hashem’s intense love. That although there inevitably will be pain and suffering, Holocausts, and Pogroms, always know that Hashem’s love is eternal and forever. Never does it convey the slightest quality of vindictiveness or malice.

In Meged Yosef, Rav Sorotzkin takes another

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

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approach. He recalls the Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh’s comment regarding the destrucMENACHEM PERSOFF tion Consultant, of an Ir Nidachat, a city that is filled ial Projects OU Israel Center with idol worship. The Torah promises that rsoff@ou.org Hashem will grant mercy to those who wipe out such a city. It is important to remember, say the Ohr Hachayim, that our actions can create habitual behavior, causing us to repeat those actions that have become conditioned within us. Hence, Hashem promises the blessing of mercy to those who, although motivated by spiritual striving, did kill an entire city, to offset such an effect. Here, Rav Sorotzkin teaches, Pinchas was compensated with a gift of peace to prevent any further violence that may result in the aftermath of his zealous act.

Rav Dovid Hofstedter in Dorash Dovid, quotes the Siftei Kohen, who understands the concept of ‘shalom’ as the harmonious interrelationship between the elemental forces within a human being. It is when the primordial energies of fire, water, wind, and dirt work in tandem together to generate the ideal productivity of man. Pinchas acted with an inner sense of balance and sheleimut and knew which force to employ in that specific moment to preserve the harmony of Klal Yisrael. He was therefore rewarded with an outer gift of shalom.

Let us make this our goal as well. Let us seek to blend the various elements within ourselves to live with a sense of inner peace and harmony.

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RABBI JUDAH MISCHEL

Mashpiah, OU-NCSY Executive Director, Camp HASC Author of Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva (Mosaica 2021)

If Only Rav Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky, shlit’a, a prolific educator and talmid chacham, is mashgiach ruchani of Yeshiva Gaon Yaakov and the menahel of Yeshiva Orchos Torah in Bnei Brak. Part of the leadership of Chinuch Atzmai, he is a dedicated talmid and was a trusted confidant of Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt’l.

One Erev Rosh Chodesh, in response to a particularly challenging time for the Jewish community, Rav Mishkovsky’s wife, Rebbetzin Chaya, joined a special Yom Kippur Katan service at a local shul in Bnei Brak, where women gathered for a day of tefillah. There she met the tzadeikes Rebbetzin Tamar Shteinman, a’h, the wife of the Gadol haDor. After the powerful davening concluded, Rebbetzin Tamar turned to her younger counterpart, and in a voice wavering with emotion exclaimed, “Do you see how many tears were shed here today?

This shul was filled with brokenheartedness… tzaros upon tzaros…. There are so many struggling and waiting for a yeshua, a salvation!”

Carrying the heavy burden of people’s pain, suffering and hardships, Rebbetzin Shteinman was barely able to maintain her composure.

“All of us here are pleading with Hashem, davening from the bottom of our hearts for a million different things — safety, health, shiduchim, shalom bayis, parnassah… Oy! But if only we had some seichel! If only we asked for the 28

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

one yeshua that will bring all the others with it!

If only we truly understood that all of our tzaros will cease with the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash and the coming of Moshiach!”

Our sedra recounts the holy zealotry of Pinchas. Facing a deadly plague afflicting Klal Yisrael in which thousands died, the righteous leader rose up, took action and saved the Nation from suffering. David haMelech sang a praise in tribute to the heroism of Pinchas: ‫ינְחס ַוי ְַפ ּלֵל‬ ָ ‫ַעמֹד ִּפ‬ ֲ ‫ ַו ּי‬:‫ֵפה‬ ָ ‫ָץ־בָם ַמ ּג‬ ּ ‫ֵיהם ו ִַּת ְפר‬ ֶ ‫ַו ּי ְַכ ִעיס ּו ְּב ַמ ַע ְלל‬ :‫ֵפה‬ ָ ‫ַת ָעצַר ַה ַּמ ּג‬ ֵּ ‫ו‬ They provoked [God] with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

Pinchas stood up and executed justice, and the plague was stopped.

(Tehillim, 106:29-30) In Gemara Sanhedrin (44a), Rebbi Elazar notes that it doesn’t say va-yitpallel, ‘and [Pinchas] prayed,’ rather, vayefallel, “and he executed judgment.” And this teaches‫שעשה‬ ‫פלילות עם קונו‬, that he entered into a judgment together with his Creator.

When casting Zimri and Cozbi down, Pinchas thus addressed God: “Ribbono Shel Olam! was it not because of these sinners that 24,000 members of the Jewish People fell?”

Rebbe Mendel of Vitebsk, zy’a, resonates with Rebbi Elazar’s insight: in seeing the suffering of the Nation, Pinchas was pained by tzaar haShechinah, the fallen state of Hashem’s honor. His motivation was ‫קנאת ה׳‬, Divine zealousness in intense empathy and oneness

with the Creator. When Klal Yisrael suffers, Hashem’s Presence suffers, so-to-speak. This is intolerable to a tzadik — as it ought to be for any feeling, believing Jew, as well.

Based on Tehilim 8:6, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches, ‫ הן ברוחני הן בגשמי‬,‫כל מה שחסר לאדם‬ ‫החסרון הוא בהשכינה‬, “Everything that a person lacks is actually a lack (of wholeness) in the Shechinah…” ‫בודאי יהיה לו צער גדול ועצבות‬, “Surely, realizing this fact will be a great pain and bitterness…” ‫כי המלך בעצמו מספר לי החסרון שלו‬, “for the King Himself has divulged to me his own sense of lack!” (Likutei Moharan, 89).

Surely, sensing the pain of the Shechinah will make one yearn greatly for Her wellbeing and motivate a radical action: '‫ׂוֹת לה‬ ‫ַעש‬ ֲ ‫ֵעת ל‬ ‫ָת ָך‬ ֶ ‫ ֵה ֵפר ּו ּתוֹר‬, “It is a time to act for Hashem, for they have violated Your teaching (Tehillim, 119:126). Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Mesilas Yesharim, 19) describes this fierce empathetic yearning and active response as an essential element in our individual spiritual development and national identity. As the Zohar teaches, ‫איזהו חסיד המתחסד עם קונו‬, “Who is a chasid, a pious one? One who does kindness, is mit’chased, with their Maker…. “...Behold, such a chasid, besides the service which he does in performing mitzvos with the proper intent, will certainly feel actual pain over the exile and the destruction of the Beis haMikdash, because these cause a ‫מיעוט‬, a ‘diminishment’, so to speak, of Hashem’s honor. He will long for the Redemption because then the honor of God TUVIA ANDY HAAS

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will be exalted… He will always pray for the redemption of Israel and the return of Hashem’s honor….” ‫ואם יאמר אדם מי אני ומה אני ספון שאתפלל על גלות ועל‬ ?‫ המפני תפלתי יכנסו הגליות ותצמח הישועה‬,'‫ירושלים וכו‬ ‫ לפיכך נברא‬:)‫ כאותה ששנינו (סנהדרין ל"ח‬,‫תשובתו בצדו‬ ‫ וכבר‬,‫אדם יחידי כדי שכל אחד יאמר בשבילי נברא העולם‬ ‫נחת רוח הוא לפניו יתברך שיהיו בניו מבקשים ומתפללים על‬ ‫ ואף שלא תעשה בקשתם מפני שלא הגיע הזמן או מאיזה‬,‫זאת‬ .‫ הנה הם עשו את שלהם והקב"ה שמח בזה‬,‫טעם שיהיה‬ “...One might say: ‘Who am I, and what importance am I, that I should pray about the exile and Jerusalem? Will the exiles be gathered and the salvation sprout because of my prayers?’ But the answer to his question is obvious, as we have learned: “The human being was created alone so that each person should say, ‘For my sake the world was created’” (Sanhedrin, 37a). It brings gratification to God that His children desire and pray for this. And even though their request may not be fulfilled, whether because the proper time has not yet come or for some other reason, nevertheless, they have done their part and HaKadosh Baruch Hu rejoices in this!”

Indeed, if only we would believe in our prayers and our ability to actively effect change and bring about the Redemption… and to ‘bring’ wholeness and joy to the Divine Presence in this world.

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

Sunday, July 31st, 7:30pm at the OU Israel Center

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TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

The Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (OU-JLIC) is seeking talented, passionate couples interested in campus leadership.

There are two types of openings for the coming year: 1) Full-time rabbinic couples for campuses in North America and Israel.

2) Fellowship for Campus Professionals Our training fellowship for couples interested in joining OU-JLIC within the next 1-2 years, which gives fellows exposure to campus work and priority in the interview process.

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OU KASHRUT RABBI EZRA FRIEDMAN PAGE BY Director, The Gustave & Carol Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education

Shemitah in the Western Negev Shemitah is only obligatory in the Land of Israel, although not all parts of modern-day Israel have the same status in relation to shemitah. During this current shemitah it is quite common to see produce labelled “olei mitzrayim” or “grown in the Negev’’. The eastern Negev, meaning directly south of the Dead Sea, is certainly considered part of Eretz Yisrael regarding shemitah (see Halichot Sadeh 88). However, the shemitah status of the western Negev, specifically the area that is south west of Ashkelon, including the Gaza Strip and the border with Egypt, is in dispute.

Is the western Negev part of the Promised Land?

In parashat Mas’ei (Bamidbar 34:4-5) the Torah delineates the borders of the Promised Land. Early authorities disagree on where is the western border of Eretz Yisrael. As can be seen on any map, the coast of Israel curves south of Ashkelon.

The dispute is whether the area south and west of Ashkelon is part of Eretz Yisrael or if the border is from Ashkelon in a straight line down to the Arava. In the latter case, the Gaza Strip and parts of the Eshkol 40

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

regional council would not be part of the Promised Land. The Merkevet HaMishna (Chug Ha’retz Ha’shalem p.129) ruled that the area southwest of Ashkelon is not part of the Promised Land. However, that is a minority opinion, and other Poskim maintain that the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas are within the boundaries of the Promised Land (see Mishnat Yosef 2:47).

The status of the western Negev Although it is accepted that the western Negev is part of what Hashem promised to Avraham Avinu and to Am Yisrael in the desert, other factors can affect the status of this area as it relates to shemitah. In halacha, in order for a part of Eretz Yisrael to be obligated in the mitzvot that are dependent on the Land, it must have been conquered and distributed to Am Yisrael (Kidushin 36:b). In ancient history, there were two conquests in the settling of Eretz Yisrael. One was when Yehoshua Bin Nun conquered the Land, and the second was when Ezra HaSofer resettled it prior to the building of the second Beit Hamikdash.

Historically and halachically, it is known that Ezra HaSofer did not conquer all of the areas that Yehoshua had settled. Halachically the first conquest of Yehoshua was abrogated once Am Yisrael was sent into exile, thus only the areas settled by Ezra have full halachic significance. Although our Sages declared that areas that were settled by Yehoshua but not settled by Ezra

The OU Israel Gustave & Carol Jacobs Center for Kashrut Education was created to raise awareness and educate the public in all areas of Kashrut in Israel. Rabbi Ezra Friedman, a Rabbinic Field Representative for the OU is the Center's director.

still have the mitzvot of the Land, the obligation is of a lower level. These areas are called olei mitzrayim in halachic literature.

Regarding shemitah, some poskim maintain that there is no issur of sefichin in olei mitzrayim areas (Mishna Lemelech 4:27), and others add that heter mechira is more acceptable in these areas (see Minchat Chinuch 94).

Regarding the western Negev, three opinions exist regarding its status. According to Tosafot (Gittin 2:a), the western Negev has the status of olei mitzrayim since it was never re-settled by Ezra HaSofer. Malbushei Yom Tov (Kuntris Chovat Karka 17) rules that the western Negev was never conquered and has the status of chutz la’aretz (areas outside of Israel), a position based on early authorities like the Rash Sirilio (Shevi’it 6:1). According to both these opinions there is certainly room to be lenient regarding shemitah observance, including planting, kedushat shevi’it and other halachot related to shemitah in the western Negev.

The third opinion, the most stringent one, is that of Chazon Ish (3:32). He rules based on a unique explanation in the Rambam that both Yehoshua and Ezra HaSofer settled the western Negev, such that there is no difference between the western Negev and central Israel. Chazon Ish also did not accept any archeological or historic evidence regarding the settlement patterns

the ancient Land. As such, even areas that are slightly distant from the western Negev would still have the same status. In short, according to Chazon Ish, all laws of shemitah apply in the western Negev and there is no room to be lenient.

Produce from the western Negev Many later authorities concur with Tosafot, ruling that the laws of shemitah are obligatory in the western Negev but only at a lower level (see Maharit 47). Following this opinion, some kashrut organizations certify the planting, cultivation, and distribution of produce in the western Negev during shemitah. Aside from the lower level of halachic obligation in this area, the produce is grown in greenhouses (in the ground). Sometimes with the addition of the heter mechira, an arrangement that might be more acceptable on western Negev Land. All of these factors combine to provide room for leniency.

Although there is much dispute regarding this option and one should discuss the issue with a local orthodox posek, there is certainly room to be lenient regarding eating such produce as a guest in other people’s homes, and as well as not needing to treat the produce with kedushat shevi’it.

Kashrut Questions in Israel?

Call or Whatsapp Rabbi Friedman at 050-200-4432 OU ISRAEL CENTER

41

SIMCHAT SHMUEL

BY RABBI SAM SHOR

Program Director, OU Israel Center

T

his Shabbat coincides with the seventeenth of Tammuz. The seventeenth of Tammuz is usually commemorated as a fast day, which is moved this year to Sunday following Shabbat. The 17th of Tammuz marks the beginning of the period of the Three Weeks which of course culminates with Tisha B’Av. During these next three weeks, as we both reflect on the tragic events of Churban bayit and many other difficult episodes in the annals of Jewish history, we must also look to the future. This entire period we are meant to look inward and work to bring change in this world in order that we should merit to see the Beit HaMikdash be rebuilt.

Indeed every single day we recite these words three times asking Hashem to rebuild Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash.: “Uvnei Oto B’Karov BYameinu Binyan OlamMay you Rebuild it in our days, so that edifice may stand for eternity” The great Chasidic Master, Reb Naftoli Tzvi of Ropschitz zy’a suggests an important

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idea in understanding this bracha. The word B’Yameinu can be understood to mean either in our days, or alternatively with or through our days!

The way we spend our days, what we do with our days, can either contribute to building the Beit HaMikdash, or chas v’shalom prevent its completion. The Ropshitzer’s keen insight, spells out for us the sacred task which really we are charged to fulfill each and every day, and with increased fervor during these three weeks.

Similarly, Rabbi Avraham Schorr shlita, in Sefer HaLekach V’Halevuv points out that during these days of Tamuz and Av it is particularly important to work on our speech, the words we use, the things we say, the way we speak to one another and about one another.

Our Chazal teach us that the Second Temple was destroyed due to Sinat Chinam. Rav Avraham Schorr explains that unwarranted hatred is rooted in, is the result of inappropriate speech.

Yehi Ratzon, during these three weeks of reflection, may we merit to heed these two powerful teachings, and may the growth we will iy’h achieve in each of these areas help bring about that brighter tomorrow we have been waiting for- for so, so long....

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GEULAS YISRAEL

BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN Ram, Yeshivat Har Etzion

Moshe,Chassidut and Religious Zionism It was a moment of crushing finality. Moshe had been sentenced to die without entering his coveted Land of Israel. Perhaps, he hoped, the decree would be reversed. Perhaps the impressive string of military victories was a harbinger of a change in policy. Sadly, Moshe was informed that the bitter decree will stand and that he will not pass across the Jordan river. The righteous have little margin for error. Their relationship with Hashem is that sensitive and delicate. Everything of grandeur and elegance always is.

Moshe’s first response to this devastating news is courageous. Heroically, he doesn’t attend to his personal affairs, but, instead, worries about finding a capable successor.

There are plenty of scholars, prophets and judges suited to replace him. What deeply concerns him though, is identifying a leader with the emotional versatility to encompass a diverse population. Moshe deeply understood the complexity of the human condition and

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the frailty of religious compliance. His leadership exhibited extraordinary range: he faced off against Pharo, split the sea and scaled the heavens. Just the same, he prayed for sinners, and restored the confidence of a broken people. Imagine leading a hopeless and broken nation through 38 years of desert futility and inevitable death!

Moshe could walk with angels just as he could comfort castaways, and he was desperate for a successor with the same breadth and range. Fortunately, Hashem selected the perfect candidate- someone who had personally witnessed these traits in Moshe. Yehoshua, Moshe’s prize disciple was appointed as his successor.

It is easy to be a leader for the righteous and the holy. It is more difficult to understand the complexity of life and to embrace different levels of religious commitment. It is easy to be a Rebbe for tzadikim, not so easy to be a Rebbe for every Jew. The Chassidic Revolution Moshe set the tone for Jewish inclusion throughout history. No Jew is ever too far gone for redemption or reentry. Sin, no matter how severe, doesn’t disqualify halachik Jewish status. Even conversion out of Judaism doesn’t affect Jewish status; once a Jew always a Jew, and no sin, however severe, disqualifies a Jew from our collective destiny. Moshe’s leadership model of patience, tolerance and optimistic hope has always shaped Jewish history.

In the 18th century, Chassidut radically revolutionized Jewish identity. We aren’t just forged in the image of God but are imbued with a Divine essence known as ‫ה ממעל‬-‫חלק אלו‬ ‫ממש‬. Therefore, Jewish sanctity is impregnable. No matter how severely a Jew sins or how far he veers from religion, he still stands in the presence of Hashem. You can’t run away from yourself, and, as an element of Hashem is lodged within us, we can’t run from Him either.

This dramatic revolution of Jewish identity was crucial to our survival during a very gloomy and depressing period of our history.

In the 18th century, Central European Judaism was deeply splintered, disorganized, and financially impoverished. Many Jews were no longer drawn to classic Torah study, which seemed unattainable to the common man. The new message of Chassidut lifted our national spirit: As Hashem resided in each Jew, saints and sinners alike were now included in Jewish experience. It may be more difficult to discern Hashem in some Jews but an aspect of Him is always there. This grand doctrine affirmed the potential for repentance, but also asserted inclusion of every Jew even before any religious improvement or revision.

Sadly, the 19th and 20th centuries would radically transform Chassidut itself. Two traumatic events would convert Chassidut from an ideology of inclusion into a culture of insulation. The first trauma was institutionalized secularization. It was one thing to accept an individual wayward Jew who fell into religious malfunction. He still possessed the inner element of Hashem and should be embraced. What happens, however, when large groups of Jews don’t innocently fall into religious breakdown, but actively secede

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from ritual and community? The splintering of Classic Judaism in the 19th century was unforeseen to the original Chassidic thinkers of the 18th century. Not only were these splinter groups institutionalizing, but they were also organizing into movements which competed with the traditional leadership for resources, communal influence and political power. The average shtetl was overwhelmed by an all-out war between traditionalists and newly formed Jewish alliances, all vying for the same resources. Did these Jews still possess that “inner element” of Hashem? Even if they, could traditional Jews or Chassidim, still live side-by side with them?

For many Chassidic groups the answer to that question was decided in 1948, when the State of Israel was established by these same secular groups. Watching our long-awaited dreams being hijacked by secular Jews “stressed” the doctrine of inclusiveness. Chassidut turned inward and away.

But it wasn’t just secularization that led to insularization. The Holocaust disproportionately eviscerated Chassidic communities.

Entire Chassidic fraternities were annihilated, and many other branches were severely depleted. As Chassidut was lodged primarily in Central Europe, it faced the full onslaught of the Holocaust. Seeking to rebuild, restock and “respirit” itself, Chassidut turned inward into itself, and away from cultural inclusion.

The ideas of Chassidut continue to affirm the holiness of every Jew, but most Chassidic communities are tightly woven into

insular societies with little direct contact with those “other” Jews. One obvious exception is Chabad which, in this respect, is a throwback toathe original inclusiveness of Chassidut.

Most descendant from the Davidic line who be branches known as “Sar Shalom”, the ofwould the other have turned inward.

Prince of Peace (see Ch. 9; 5-6 or the final Zionism and Neo-Chassidut verses on the haftarah for parashat Yitro).

History is full of irony.

Secular Zionism But too often forgotten is the second promcaused classic Chassidut to retreat from incluise included in this haftarah: “v’nogsayich siveness, but also led to the flourishing of tzdaka”, righteous rulers.

Chassidic ideas in a different sector. Religious Zionism views the State as an instrument But when Yishayahu speaks of righteousness he does not refer to religiosity that have we of Jewish inclusion. Secular Jews may often define as practicing rituals, studying abandoned ritual and tradition, but through Torah or davening No.Israel, The promise commitment to the daily.

State of they still of righteous of “nogsayich tzadaka”, identify withrulers Land, people and history. does not refer to their relationship with Through the State of Israel, they remain the Al-mighty but with their treatment of incorporated within Jewish destiny. Classic others. It refers to honesty, trustworthiness Chassidut theorized about inclusion and proand justice. Our promise of a perfect world vided a different lens through which to view demands tzdaka – and it is something we religious malfunction. Zionism has provided must demand today as well. an actual instrument for inclusion of “wayYou see, this is exactly how the navi began ward” Jews. his sefer.

For he condemned Israel This is part of when the reason that Chassidic ideas for her sins he asks what happened to have experienced a powerful renaissance in Yerushalayim that “once was filled with the religious Zionist community. Ironically, justice, and righteousness once dwelled neo-Chassidut is flourishing specifically in there” and when he closes his message a society which embraces the State of Israel. he tells them “Tziyon b’mishpat tipaThese transformative ideas continue to prodeh-v’shaveha b’tz’daka”, Zion will be vide a lens through which to view Jews who redeemed through JUSTICE and her penidon’t classic religion. While Chastentsadhere throughtoRIGHTEOUSNESS sidut may have provided the lens, the State of Our ideal world can only be built through Israel has provided the container to include justice and righteousness. every Jew regardless of their religious level.

And it ishistory up to us create that world.

Jewish isto ironic.

You just have to pay attention.

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FROM THE VIRTUAL DESK OF THE

OU VEBBE REBBE RAV DANIEL MANN

Visiting Egypt Question: I am considering sightseeing in Egypt. Need I be concerned with the Torah’s prohibition of returning to Egypt?

Answer: We will not address the safety and national considerations of such a trip.

We discussed when it is proper to leave Eretz Yisrael for any destination in Living the Halachic Process VI, G-2. (Not every place in present-day Egypt is in halachic Egypt (see Rambam Melachim 5:7)).

There is much classical discussion of the phenomenon of big Jewish communities in Egypt and great rabbis who lived there, including the Rambam. Distinctions found there are helpful regarding our less discussed question of sightseeing. The Torah mentions three times that Bnei Yisrael should cease contact with Egypt. Only one is in a clear halachic context, the prohibition of the king having too many horses because it draws people to Egypt (Devarim 17:16). Yet the Mechilta (Beshalach I:2) refers to three warnings and three communities who violated it and were harshly punished. The gemara (Sukka 51b) also speaks of the impressive community of Alexandria, attributing its demise to this prohibition. The Rambam (ibid. 7-8) codifies the prohibition.

The one explicit limitation on the prohibition in Chazal appears in the Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 10:8). It is forbidden to go to settle 48

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

in Egypt, but it is permitted to go for commerce. Although the Torah (Devarim 17:16) refers to acquiring horses (i.e., commerce), the Ramban (ad loc.) explains that extensive trade for the king causes representatives to move to Egypt. The Rambam (ibid. 8) says broadly that it is forbidden only to go to be mishtakeia (in the Haggada, it means a long stay).

Why did the Rambam, Radbaz, and others live in Egypt for many years? The Radbaz (ad loc.) says that if one goes without intention to stay permanently, it is not a full violation to stay, and the Sultan would not let the Rambam go. The Radbaz justified his own long stay as done to teach Torah and noted that he eventually left. Thus, the Radbaz stretched the Yerushalmi’s leniency to the maximum, so that the Rambam was covered but the Talmudic community of Alexandria was not.

Rabbeinu Bachyei (Devarim 17:16) suggests that the prohibition was based on the fact that the Egyptians of Moshe’s times were particularly corrupt (see Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvot, Lav 46), and the prohibition was not designed to continue after that period.

Along similar but more halachic lines, the Semag (Lav 227) suggests that it was forbidden only as long as Egypt was inhabited by the Egyptian nation, which was exiled in later biblical times. Indeed, the nation is the apparent focus of one of the p’sukim (Shemot 14:13). The historic account of Egyptian exile is the subject of machloket, but the Rambam

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(Issurei Biah 12:25) accepts it. However, the gemara and the Rambam assume that the prohibition applies after that point.

The Yereim (309) suggests that the prohibition only applies to those who come from Eretz Yisrael to Egypt, and not if they come from other countries. This distinction has basis in the main pasuk, which says “not to return on this path again,” and distinguishes nicely between the Rambam and the community the gemara discussed, but its logic is unclear.

The Ritva (Yoma 38a) continues this direction, saying that the prohibition applies only when Jews are able to live in a strong community in Eretz Yisrael, as opposed to when the people are anyway forced to be scattered throughout the world (see Yeshayahu 27:13).

Which leniencies apply to contemporary sightseeing? The S’mag (different nation) applies. The Yereim (leaving from Israel?)

applies to some Jews. The Ritva (anyway in exile) does not apply (see Tzitz Eliezer XIV:87). While the post-Talmudic distinctions are more difficult to rely upon, the Yerushalmi’s idea, that only settling, not commercial trips, is forbidden, is a strong one. Rav Ovadia Yosef permitted Israeli reporters to go to Egypt (Yechaveh Da’at III:81). Therefore, it should be fine, unless one says that you need a good reason, equivalent to commerce, for it to be permitted.

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Laws of the Three Weeks The three weeks between the fast of the Seventeenth of Tamuz and Tisha B’Av are a period of gradually intensified mourning. This period can be subdivided into three smaller groupings: 1) From the seventeenth of Tamuz until Rosh Chodesh Av; 2) From Rosh Chodesh Av until the week on which Tisha B’Av occurs; and 3) The week during which Tisha B’Av occurs. The latter two periods together are referred to as the “nine days.”

Laws applying to the entire Three Weeks • During the three weeks, one may not shave or take a haircut.

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RABBI AARON Editor, Torah Tidbits GOLDSCHEIDER

Rabbi Soloveitchik: Honoring Parents The Torah dictates two explicit requirements regarding a child’s obligation toward their parents: Kibbud (honor) and morah (fear/awe).

The language found in the decalogue states that there is a precept of kibbud: “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you upon the Land which the Lord your God gives you” (Devarim 5:16; see also Shemot 20:12). A second precept of morah finds expression in Vayikra (19:3): “You shall fear every man, his mother and his father.” The precepts of honoring and fearing were enumerated among the 613 mitzvot as two separate commandments, since they are related to different acts.

How do the two obligations differ? The Talmud says: “What is implied in the principle of honoring one’s parents? One is to provide his

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parents with food and drink, lead them into the house and out if they are old and infirm” (Kiddushin 31b). The Talmud continues and spells out the basic components of the morah relationship: One is not to sit or stand in his father’s place, contradict his words or decide contrary to his opinion.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik succinctly elucidated two mitzvot: “The practical components of kibbud u-morah are easily identifiable and lend themselves to precise formulation: kibbud equals welfare service, morah equals observance of proprieties.” In other words, the first area (kibbud) is about appropriate actions regarding the care for the parent, the other (morah) about sensitive behavior and careful respect which must be shown. (Family Redeemed, pp. 130-133) The Rav now turns to a concept that he often analyzes regarding the performance of any given mitzvah. There is the outer deed (maaseh hamitzvah) and the inner experience (kiyum hamitzvah). It is not uncommon, says the Rav, that outer deed and inner experience do not always match. Regarding the mitzvah of honoring one’s parents this can also pose a challenge, “Thus one person might act properly toward his or her parents on an external, behavioral level while remaining emotionally cold or indifferent to them on the inside…Formally his relationship is immaculate. Yet inwardly he feels contempt for them and considers himself superior to the old folks.” (Family Redeemed

p. xxvi and p. 130). The other side can also be true: An individual may experience love and respect, but not act upon these feelings.

The ideal realization of kibbud u-morah, honor and fear, is attained when one not only performs the technically correct outer deeds, but when these behaviors express his or her own proper inner attitude.

One’s Ultimate Existence: “When one honors or reveres his natural parents, father or mother, he, ipso facto, honors or reveres God…What is transient fatherhood and motherhood if not a reflected beam of light coming to us from from beyond the frontiers of the cosmos, and what is paternal or maternal concern if not the echo of the great concern of the Almighty?” (Ibid.)

“Whenever Rav Yosef heard the footsteps of his mother, he would say: Let me rise because the Shechina is coming (Kiddushin 31b).

Behind every mother, young or old, happy or sad, trails the Shechina. And behind every father, erect or stooped, in playful or stern mood, walks Malka Kadisha, the Holy King.

This is not mysticism. It is Halacha. The awareness of the Shechina results in the obligation to rise before father and mother” (“Torah and Shechina,”in Family Redeemed, p.168) Two additional Talmudic stories express a similar notion: “It is said “Honor your father and mother” (Shemot 20:12) and it is also said “Kabbed et Hashem me-honcha, Honor the Lord with your substance” (Mishlei 3:9). Thus Scripture compares the honor due to parents to that due to the Omnipresent (Kiddushin 30b).” Second, “Our Rabbis taught: there are three partners in a person, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, the father and the mother…”

(Kiddushin 30b) All the aforementioned citations allude

to the divine dimension embedded in one’s existence. With this unique perspective in mind there devolves upon the child an awesome responsibility to extend unlimited kibbud and morah towards parents.

The Rav noted that while the notion of kibbud is found in the context of other relationships (i.e. kavod habriyot), Morah is generally employed to describe a relationship with the Almighty. “The ideal of self-denial for the sake of the parent has emerged with the norm of mora. My commitment to him/ her is unqualified, my duty supreme. The norm of morah summons me to even take on the burden of his/her suffering. Morah demands…reverence…in experiencing a unique dependence upon him/her (one’s parents) which can only be understood if placed within a metaphysical transcendental realm.” (Family Redeemed, p. 152)

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Real Life Rescues Saving The Life Of a Collapsed Motorist

1221

Last Monday evening, just after 5:00 p.m., a man in his 60s was driving on Jerusalem Boulevard in Holon and stopped at a traffic light just before the turn onto Highway 4. Cars began to stop behind him as they waited for the light to turn. All of a sudden another driver saw the man slump forward against his steering wheel. The bystander got out of his car and called for other people to help. A group of motorists exited their respective vehicles to see what had happened and whether they could assist.

About 20 minutes earlier, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Dov Rinkoff had decided to leave work early as he was feeling tired and unproductive. Working in Holon as a software engineer, Dov got into his car and began to drive down Jerusalem Boulevard heading toward the highway so he could go home to his family in Kiryat Gat. Dov was one of the drivers in the line of cars behind the collapsed driver.

“When I saw the commotion take place in front of me I knew some sort of emergency was taking place,” Dov recounted. “I was about ten cars back from the incident and I saw a bunch of people get out of their cars and start running forward. While I didn’t see an accident, I figured that someone was in need of help so I got out of my car, grabbed my medical kit, and ran to the first vehicle in line where I found the collapsed man. I told someone to call United Hatzalah’s dispatch for help and backup and then I got to work.”

Dov added that the other drivers had begun helping in any way that they could. “The other drivers pulled the man out of his vehicle and laid him down by his car on the side of the road. When I arrived I quickly checked for vital signs and found none. I attached the defibrillator that was in my car and even before I began compressions it advised a shock.”

Dov administered the shock and then asked one of the bystanders to initiate chest compression instructing him on the proper method to make the compressions most effective while pulling out the oxygen tank and attaching it to a bag valve mask in order to administer assisted ventilation. A few minutes later Dov was joined by another EMT from United Hatzalah who was in the area and one of the organization’s ambulances.

United Hatzalah volunteer Shmuel Meshulam who was in the ambulance said, “Dov had administered one shock and after I arrived we administer two more. Within five minutes of Dov having initiated CPR, the man’s pulse returned and he began to breathe on his own. We continued treating the man until the mobile intensive care ambulance showed up and transported him to the hospital. I was in the ambulance for a while yesterday and we transported a different patient who was seriously injured in a work accident to the same hospital a bit later on. I used the opportunity to check in on the driver he had been sent to the catheterization lab and was expected to recover. I was thankful that I was able to help and for the bystander’s and Dov’s quick intervention which made a big difference in saving the man’s life.”

“It feels very good to save a life on my way home from work,” said Dov, who was born and raised in London before he moved with his family to Israel. “Everyone was trying to help and being the first EMT on the scene I was able to instruct those who had gotten out of their own vehicles on exactly what to do. Everyone involved showed how much we all care for one another here, even if that other person is a total stranger. It was a bit surreal for me as I never leave work this early in the day. I was feeling tired and I saw that my efficiency was declining so I decided to leave and go home.

Little did I know that God was intervening and put me in the right place at the right time to help save this man’s life.”

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TORAH 4 TEENS

BY TEENS NCSY ISRAEL Ayelet Spira Cohen Raanana Chapter Director Leading From Different Perspectives In the beginning of the Parsha, Moshe understands that this is the end of his life and that he will not go into Eretz Yisrael.

The first thing Moshe is concerned about is who will be the leader for Bnei Yisrael; he wants to make sure they will not “be like sheep that have no shepherd.” 27;17.

The next Passuk Hashem responds, take Yehoshua, ‫איש אשר רוח בו‬.

Many ask what was so special about Yehoshua and what was the Ruach that he had. I once heard an idea that it is not a coincidence that many of the leaders in Tanach were shepherds. A shepherd leads his sheep from the back. He looks at where they want to go, what they need and walks behind them. He leads while actively watching them. It is not about where he wants to go, rather about what his flock chooses, and taking them there. He is able to look at the big picture from behind.

This is a special skill of a leader to not just lead from the front and what is important to him, but look at the nation and what they need. I think if we read the Psukim with this in mind, the interaction between Hashem and Moshe makes a lot of sense.

Moshe says to Hashem that Bnei Yisrael 58

TORAH TIDBITS 1476 / PINCHAS 5782

needs a leader who will listen, follow, and provide for them. Hashem says Yehoshua will succeed Moshe as he has that Ruach, and the special abilities to lead.

Yehoshua understands what it is to lead and how being a leader for Bnei Yisrael is sometimes hard to lead from behind like a shepherd. Rather there is something powerful about truly leading like a shepherd. Most often we have this image that a leader is someone who stands in front of a group, and can lead in a loud manner.

While that is important in many cases, it is also important to remember the power of leading like a shepherd. Sometimes leading from behind, quietly observing and seeing what the people need to succeed is the most powerful way to lead.

Aharon Rosensweig 12th Grade, Raanana Doing What’s Right In this week’s Parsha, one of the things that happens is that the people of Israel are counted again, after the many problems they had to face. But, in the middle of counting the children of Reuven, as it gets to ‫ דתן ואבירם‬and goes into detail about what they did with Korach, it brings something up that we didn’t know before: “‫ובני קרח לא‬ ‫”מתו‬ Why is that? Why were Korach’s children

not punished in the same way? According to Rashi, it was because while they were previously supportive of Korach, by the time he came against Moshe, they regretted it and did Tshuva. As a result, they were punished after their death by getting sent to ‫גיהנם‬, but with less severity than their father.

I also found something in the ‫ילקוט סופר‬ that takes the idea a step further. According to him, when children see their parents behaving wrongly, they usually take up those bad habits for themselves far quicker than good ones, because they seem easier.

Korach’s children could have joined in with him and his supporters when they saw him going up against Moshe, but they decided not to and tried to do the right thing. And, because it’s such a rare and unexpected thing for children not to listen to their father like that, Hashem took it into consideration and reduced their punishment.

I hope that we can all learn from this story, and take it upon ourselves not to do what gets approval, but to do what’s right.

NCSY Israel is the premier organization in Israel, dedicated to connect, inspire, empower teen olim to the Land of Israel by encouraging passionate Judaism through Torah and Tradition.

Find out more at israel.ncsy.org

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