Avot Chapter 1
Becoming Torah
Rabbi Moshe Hauer Pg
Special Guest Article
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This photo is from the Eilat mountains at Amudei Rechavim. Zev Rothkoff came on Aliyah with his parents 51 years ago and lives in Efrat.
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Rabbi Avi Berman Executive Director, OU Israel aberman@ouisrael.org
Amongst the many smachot and events I attended last week, there are two that I want to tell you about. One was the 90th birthday celebration of the legendary Rabbi Berel Wein. Rabbi Wein was instrumental in the expansion of OU Kosher in North America and served as a previous OU Executive Vice President.
In the early days of my shlichut running NCSY in Vancouver and the northwest region, I was not very familiar with Rabbi Wein. That changed when Rabbi Wein brought a group to Vancouver and stayed in our community for Shabbat. I can clearly remember how his speech in shul was not only incredible, but you could virtually see the light in the congregation’s eyes while he was speaking. Rabbi Wein demonstrated such a rich knowledge of Torah and Jewish history. His ability to convey information is unparalleled, as his many books, tapes and online lectures can attest. He continues to inspire hundreds of thousands of people through his books and shiurim, and
RABBI YONA REISS, Av Beis Din cRc & Rosh Yeshiva Y.U. will give his annual yahrzeit shiur in memory of his father
Wednesday, July 31 at 7:30pm at the Y.U. Gruss Campus 40 Dudevani St. Bayit Vegan, J’lem
Topic: “Election Ethics”
Rabbi Avi Berman Executive Director, OU Israel
currently serves as the Rabbi of the Beit Knesset HaNassi in Rechavia. I, along with Rabbi Sam Shor, OU Israel Center Program Director, were tremendously honored to be invited to attend his celebration of 90 years.
Many people attended the celebration. Great Rabbis and leaders of all kinds related how inspired they are from him, the love that they have for him, and how much they have gained from their relationship. The most touching point for me was the speech given by the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who was the keynote speaker. He talked about how much he looked to Rabbi Wein for his sage advice and would call him often to ask him questions. He said that he finds himself always pulling from Rabbi Wein’s Torah and reading his books, and how much these have influenced his way of thinking as the Chief Rabbi of South Africa. To see what one Rabbi can accomplish in 90 years, how influential and helpful he is to so many, was very inspiring to me.
Earlier that same day I received a call from a good friend and OU Israel board member, Meir Raskas, who invited me to his son’s bris the following day. He continued, “Rav Avi, do you remember in the early days after October 7th, you and OU Israel brought a mission of Rabbis and lay leaders from all across America, led by Rabbi Shmuel Silber? You made sure that visiting the home of Colonel Yonatan (Yoni) Steinberg Hy”d, who was killed on October 7th was on the itinerary.
We sat and talked to Yoni’s wife, Yiscah, his father-in-law, and his father Danny, who talked about his bravery on October 7th, and how selfless and humble he was. They said that he truly understood that his role was to be a leader, but a modest and down-to-earth one. They also spoke about his role as a father and a husband, who gave his all for his wife and kids. They said that more than that, he always made time to learn Torah. He was really a true hero.”
Meir then said, “Rav Avi, that meeting was so impactful to me. Afterwards, I read all I could about Yoni, watched videos about him, and have been thinking about him and his sacrifice so much that my wife and I decided to name our son Yonatan in tribute to this hero. Do you think it would be appropriate to invite his family to the bris?”
I promised him I would reach out to the family. Danny, Yoni’s father, was traveling for work and wouldn’t be back in Israel for the bris. He said the sentiment was so touching for him, and he wanted to write a letter for me to read at the bris. Meir Raskas also asked me to speak from my heart about Yoni, whom I had the zechut of knowing personally.
That next morning, I read the letter to all those present at the bris. At the end of the letter, they wrote:
“It’s difficult to describe in words the emotions this evokes in us. Your choice demonstrates to us the saying of our sages - ‘The righteous, even in death, are called living.’ Our Yonatan will continue to live through your Yonatan. By choosing to take your great and personal family joy and connect it to
Yoni, you are applying the things Yoni said: you are demonstrating mutual responsibility and pure love of Israel. Testifying that Yoni’s memory is alive and well, is inspiring, building, and growing, illustrating that difficulty and pain are part of a process of building, progress, and growth, and integrating it into the eternal covenant between Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He. We wholeheartedly wish you much joy from little Yonatan and all his brothers and sisters, and may we all merit to see the redemption of Israel. May it be that immediately after the circumcision, Eliyahu Hanavi will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, return our abducted brothers and sisters, and bring
Shimon Greenberg and family
us good tidings, salvation, and consolation.”
After the bris , right before the aleinu prayer that concludes Shacharit , Meir asked three men standing in front to play something. It was the Mi Sheberach for the welfare of the IDF soldiers sung to a heartfelt tune. This was particularly meaningful because when Yoni z”l and lehavdil his brother Amichai visit their parents in Givat Ze’ev for Shabbat, they are always be asked to be chazzanim for musaf, and they would always daven with this special melody. That tune, in my head, belongs to them.
At the bris, when this song was being played and sung, I was transported. I closed my eyes and I could hear Yoni singing from the amud. I then opened my eyes and looked at the tiny baby boy in the room, who had just been named Yonatan Oz. I pray that young Yonatan Oz adopts all the attributes of Yoni Steinberg, and will, b’ezrat Hashem, live to 120 in good health, and be no less of a role model for the Jewish people as Yoni is.
Something especially poignant was how Rabbi Shmuel Silber, who had led that mission so many months ago, flew into Israel this past week and went straight from the airport to be the sandek at the bris. The fact that Rabbi Silber, Meir Raskas, and myself, all gained such inspiration from being in the
Steinberg home, and hearing about what an incredible individual Yoni was, and all of us looking at this little Yonatan Oz, we all know he will become a special person for all of Klal Yisrael. Meir Raskas, speaking for himself and his wife Sarah, gave a beautiful speech at the bris. He quoted the verse, “Hashem oz le’amo yiten, Hashem yevarech et amo bashalom.” May Hashem give strength (oz) to His nation, may Hashem bless His people with peace. May we see peace speedily, may all of the hostages be released, may our brothers and sisters in the North and South be able to go home. May all the Jewish people, wherever they are in the world, be able to live peacefully and without worry. This once again shows how Am Yisrael is truly one family with one heart, connected with one purpose. Wishing you all an uplifting and inspiring Shabbat,
Rabbi Avi Berman
Executive Director, OU Israel aberman@ouisrael.org
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As Torah-observant Jews, do we just do different things? How personally transformative is our faith and practice? Judaism rises and falls on this question.
Klal Yisrael was consistently exhorted by our prophets and leaders to be mindful of ritual actions and words empty of feeling (Yeshayahu 29:13), and of the utter inconsistency, meaninglessness, and even repulsiveness of the religious observances of those who are harmful and apathetic to others (Yeshayahu 1:10-17). Acting the part is insufficient. We need to strive to make Torah a part of ourselves and make our lives reflect the Torah.
My rebbe, Harav Yaakov Weinberg zt”l, whose yahrzeit was marked on the 17th of Tammuz, would note that the first Mishna in Pirkei Avos teaches ha’amidu talmidim harbeh, that we must raise up – or more literally stand up – many students. Teachers who tell their
students to be seated and listen will often raise students who are obedient and cooperative but not necessarily transformed. We need to empower the students to integrate the Torah into themselves, making the lessons their own so that they can then stand up and act upon those lessons.
That was Pinchas. When Moshe himself was unable to respond to the crisis it was Pinchas who stood up and acted upon the lessons that Moshe had once taught him (Rashi Bamidbar 25:6-7). Hashem offers the ultimate description and accolade of Pinchas’ integration of his religious values when He praises Pinchas for being passionate on His behalf, b’kano es kinasi (Bamidbar 25:11). Pinchas did not just do Torah, he became Torah, as his own feelings and visceral reactions reflected the values of Hashem and His Torah.
Shana Aranowsky Weiner a”h
Upon her 37th yahrzeit -
Weiner, Miller, Saar & Solomont families
This perspective may add a layer of meaning to the known tradition that identifies Pinchas with another great person known for his passion on G-d’s behalf, Eliyahu Hanavi (Pirkei d’Rabi Eliezer 16). Amongst other things, Eliyahu had the unusual experience of leaving this world by ascending in a chariot of fire – body and soul - to the heavens (Melachim II 2:11). Eliyahu was thus the very opposite of Korach who had descended – body and soul, still breathing – into the depths of the earth. Typically, death testifies to the failed integration of body and soul, as “the dust returns to the earth where it began, and the spirit returns to G-d Who gave it” (Koheles 12:7). In the
case of Korach, his denial of the divine communication and connection experienced by Moshe testified to the utter grounding of his own spirit, its complete absorption by his physicality, to the point where it joined the body in being swallowed up by the earth. Eliyahu/Pinchas was the opposite. His passions and feelings were completely aligned with God and with Moshe. He wasn’t just doing Jewish; he was personally transformed by the Torah that Moshe had taught him to the extent that his body joined his soul in its ascent to the heavens.
We have just begun the Three Weeks, the period of mourning over the destruction of Yerushalayim and the Mikdash. As the Talmud records, the attacking Babylonian generals – or for that matter their Persian, Greek, Roman, German, Russian, Palestinian, or Iranian successors – were powerless to destroy a city or a temple occupied by G-d. They could only destroy an empty shell. “A Divine Voice emerged and said to (Nevuzaradon): You killed a nation that was already dead, you burned a Sanctuary that was already burned, and you ground flour that was already ground (Sanhedrin 96b).” Our task during this time and at all times is to ensure that our Jewish communities, our shuls, and our selves are not shells but living, breathing entities, transformed and infused through and through by our vibrant connection to Hashem and His Torah.
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1ST ALIYA (BAMIDBAR 25:10-26:4)
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 cannot tolerate the union of a Jewish man and a non-Jewish woman; he jumps into the breach and slays them. Does this story ring a bell? Has there been a story in the Torah of the union of 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 Dinah and Shechem is a parallel to this story, a union of a Jew with a non-Jew. In that story it was a Jewish woman Dina and a non-Jewish man Shechem; here a Jewish man and non-Jewish woman. In that story Shimon and Levi slew the males
of the city; in this Pinchas does. There Yaakov watched, as the next generation acted. In this, Moshe stood by as Pinchas acted. In that story Yaakov was not happy, for that was not his way. And here? Moshe does not respond.
Both stories are the stories of the new generation settling scores with violence. Dina was violated; violence settled the score. Here, we have audacious, public flaunting of the Torah. Public violation of the Torah presents a terrible challenge to religious leaders. When talking and reason get nowhere, violence becomes an attractive alternative to stem the breach.
But is it? Is it the way to go? Violence? Kill the violators?
And although we are trying to learn the simple meaning of the Parsha, and the simple meaning seems to applaud violence, we have to note the Talmud here. The Hebrew expression is: halacha v’ain morin ken. It is the law, but don’t do it. We don’t use violence in the name of religion. We don’t kill to halt this flagrant violation.
Perhaps this is part of what we have seen numerous times. G-d wants to wipe out the Jewish people. But doesn’t. As if to say: I want you to know what you deserve. But I am not going to do it.
We can feel outrage at the flaunting of our Torah. And feel like we should halt it, even with violence. But don’t do it. Violence is not a tool for the religious leader.
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 20.
Though my 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 may be another subtle message. With all the failings we have seen in these previous parshas; plagues, death, Korach’s rebellion swallowed by the earth. All those were terrible. And many died. But, you know, if you count how many Jews there were before all these calamities and how many now – pretty much the same. While these rebellions and conflicts and failures were bad, they do not reflect the vast majority of our people. They were small in number, albeit large in meaning. Don’t paint the people with the faults of the few.
3RD ALIYA (26:52-27:5)
The Land is to be divided according to this census; those with more, receive more. The plots 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 gaze 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.
Moshe, the humblest of all, when reminded that he will not enter the Land, initiates the transition, the one to take his place. He initiates the search for the new leader. A self-serving leader will never pursue a successor when his ego convinces him that no one could possibly fill his shoes. However, when the leader is altruistic, serving not himself but his people, well, then it’s different; they can be served mighty fine by me or by someone else. Moshe initiates the topic of succession. For in his service of the people, he wants their success even if at the hands of another.
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 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. At the end of the parsha, I have appended a chart of these offerings, to make the patterns easier to see, visually.
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. The weekday daily offering is 1 lamb in the morning and 1 in the afternoon; the Mussaf of Shabbat is 2.
Perhaps this is the root of the notion of an extra soul on Shabbat; Shabbat is a double day. Or 2 challot on Shabbat. That we serve G-d with the altar of our table, and offer on it the double offering that is the Shabbat Mussaf.
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. Mussaf: same as Pesach. Rosh Hashana: is a holiday, a day of Teruah. Mussaf: the same as the others except only 1 bull, not 2. Yom Kippur: is a holiday, a day of affliction. Mussaf: same as Rosh Hashana.
The daily tamid and the Mussaf offerings are communal; brought on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. But the placement of these communal sacrifices here seems out of place. Didn’t we have a pretty exhaustive description of the sacrifices in Sefer Vayikra? Why is this section about sacrifices out of place, delayed until here?
Because it fits into the thematic flow of the end of Bamidbar. Bamidbar is the national
march to the Land. It is the quintessential story of the Jewish people as a people. Vayikra was the book of Holiness, a predominantly personal pursuit. Bamidbar is the book of Peoplehood. Hence the communal offerings brought on behalf of the entire people belong here.
Sukkot: the first day is a holiday. Mussaf: 13 bulls, 2 rams, 7 lambs with their flour, oil and wine and 1 goat sin offering. The 2nd day of the holiday has the same Mussaf except only 12 bulls. The 3rd day is 11 bulls. Each of the 7 days has one less bull, with all the other offerings the same. Shemini Atzeret: is a holiday. Mussaf: the same as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Immediately apparent from this chart are 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 Atzeret. Shmini Atzeret has an element of the gravity, the weightiness of the high holidays, unlike the normal yom tov days.
This week’s haftorah is the first of a series of three “haftorot of affliction.” These three haftarot are read during the Three Weeks of mourning for Yerushalayim, between the fasts of 17 Tammuz and 9 Av.
Yirmiyahu speaks of how Hashem appointed him as prophet — despite his initial reluctance to accept the task — and tells of the encouragement Hashem gave him to fulfill his crucial mission.
He then describes two prophetic visions he was shown. The first featured an almond tree branch. Hashem explained that just like an almond tree is very quick to blossom, so too Hashem will carry out his plan — to punish the Jews for their sins — in due haste. The second vision was that of a boiling
pot whose foam was directed northward. Hashem explained that this was an allusion to the afflictions the Jewish people would suffer at the hands of the people from the north of the Holy Land, namely Babylon. Hashem will cause the kingdoms of the north to lay siege on Yerushalyim and Judea and He will pass judgment on the Jewish people due to their abandonment of His ways and their idol worship.
Hashem then encouraged Yirmiyahu to deliver the prophecy and not to fear the Jewish populace who would certainly not take kindly to such harsh words.
The haftorah ends with a reassuring prophecy to the people: “Go and call out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: so said G-d: ‘I remember to you the loving-kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, your following Me in the desert, in a land not sown. Israel is holy to G-d, the first of His grain; all who eat him shall be guilty, evil shall befall them, says G-d.’”
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BY RABBI CHANOCH YERES
The Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Mayer Kagan 1838-1933) asked how the Tribe of Dan can consist of more people than the tribe of Binyamin. Binyamin, the son of Yaakov, was blessed with ten sons (Bereishit 46:21) while Dan had only one son? In addition, the Talmud (Sotah 13a) mentions that Chushim, the only son of Dan, was hard of hearing. How did it occur only a few generations later that the Tribe of Dan exceeded the Tribe of Binyamin in numbers, after starting with such a few and with a hearing impairment?
The Chofetz Chaim answers that from here we learn that G-d chooses to grant success to a person. His blessing can be realized even by means of a single son. It is G-d who can choose that one son will achieve more in the long run than even ten sons of another.
This lesson applies to all issues of wealth and materials in this world. There are poorer people who succeed and have tremendous satisfaction in their lives, whereas having wealth does not guarantee happiness. Numbers alone do not ensure success, for the blessings of G-d are manifested in many ways. Shabbat Shalom
is reluctant to send Yishmael away and Yitzchak seeks reconciliation with Yishmael and seeks to bless Esav.
41st of the 54 sedras. 8th of 10 in Bamidbar. Written on 280 lines (rank: 2nd).
35 Parshiyot - 10 petuchot 25 stumot (2nd most).
168 pesukim - 2nd (2nd in Bamidbar). 1887 words - 9th (2nd in Bamidbar). 7853 letters - 4th (2nd in Bamidbar).
Contains 6 of the 613 mitzvot, all positive. One of only six sedras that have only positive mitzvot
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 dies at age 175; he is buried by Yitzchak and Yishmael in Ma’arat Hamachpelah. Yitzchak is blessed by G-d: he lives in Beer L’chai Roi. The transition from Avraham to Yitzchak is complete. While G-d has been a silent partner in this parsha, here He completes the generational transfer – He blesses Yitzchak. The Jewish people will be Yitzchak and not Yishmael. -
is to emphasize that the Torah is not as interested in the history of power as in the history of the covenant of G-d with the Jewish people. And that will be told at great length.
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The theme of this week’s haftorah echoes the theme in our parsha which mentions both the death of Sarah and Avraham.
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King David was an older man and a woman was assigned to him to serve him and provide warmth.
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Adoniyahu, one of King David’s sons, began to prepare for ascension to his father’s throne. This was despite the fact that King David expressed his wishes that his son Shlomo succeed him.
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When Avraham addresses the people of Cheit, trying to acquire a burial spot for his wife, he says “Ger V’Toshav Anochi Eimachem” (23:4) “A Stranger and a Resident am I with you”
This seems to be a contradiction. If one is a stranger than he is not a resident, if he is a resident than he
The Magid of Dubno (Jacob ben Wolf Kranz 1741-1804) explains that Avraham watched how he spoke in this tense situation in order to, both, state his truth and be able to keep the peace -Shalom Bayit. Avraham said, on the one hand, “I am a Resident’ due to G-d’s promise to receive this Land and on the other hand, I still need your agreement to purchase a plot. In other words, Avraham implied “I am the resident” and you are the “strangers”, while they understood him as saying that “they” are the residents and Avraham is the stranger. The peace was kept, and Avraham remained true to his ideals.
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RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS ZT"L
May the learning of these Divrei Torah be תמשנ
HaRav Ya'akov Zvi ben David Arieh zt"l
Embedded in this week’s parsha is one of the great principles of leadership. The context is this: Moses, knowing that he was not destined to lead the next generation across the Jordan into the promised land, asked God to appoint a successor. He remembered what had happened when he had been away from the Israelites for a mere 40 days. They panicked and made a Golden Calf. Even when he was present, there were times of strife, and in recent memory, the rebellion on the part of Korach and others against his leadership. The possibility of rift or schism if he died without a designated successor in place was immense. So he said to God:
“May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out before them and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in. Let the Lord’s people not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Num. 27:16-17)
God duly chose Joshua, and Moses inducted him. One detail in Moses’ request, however,
always puzzled me. Moses asked for a leader who would “go out before them and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in.” That, surely, is saying the same thing twice. If you go out before the people, you are leading them out. If you come in before the people, you are bringing them in. Why then say the same thing twice?
The answer comes from a direct experience of leadership itself. One of the arts of leadership – and it is an art, not a science – is a sense of timing, of knowing what is possible when.
Sometimes the problem is technical. In 1981, there was a threat of a coal miners’ strike. Margaret Thatcher knew that the country had very limited supplies of coal and could not survive a prolonged strike. So she negotiated a settlement. In effect, she gave in. Afterward, and very quietly, she ordered coal stocks to be built up. The next time there was a dispute between the miners and the government –1984-1985 – there were large coal reserves. She resisted the miners and after many weeks of strike action they conceded defeat. The miners may have been right both times, or wrong both times, but in 1981 the Prime Minister knew she could not win, and in 1984 she knew she could.
A much more formidable challenge occurs
when it is people, not facts, that must change. Human change is very slow. Moses discovered this in the most dramatic way, through the episode of the spies. An entire generation lost the chance of entering the land. Born in slavery, they lacked the courage and independence of mind to face a prolonged struggle. That would take a new generation born in freedom.
If you do not challenge people, you are not a leader. But if you challenge them too far, too fast, disaster happens. First there is dissension. People start complaining. Then there are challenges to your leadership. They grow more clamorous, more dangerous. Eventually there will be a rebellion or worse.
On 13 September 1993, on the lawn of the White House, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat shook hands and signed a Declaration of Principles intended to carry the parties forward to a negotiated peace. Rabin’s body language that day made it clear that he had many qualms, but he continued to negotiate. Meanwhile, month by month, public disagreement within Israel grew.
Two phenomena in the summer of 1995 were particularly striking: the increasingly vituperative language being used between the factions, and several public calls to civil disobedience, suggesting that students serving in Israel’s defence forces should disobey army orders if called on to evacuate settlements as part of a peace agreement.
Calls to civil disobedience on any significant scale is a sign of a breakdown of trust in the political process and of a deep rift between the government and a section of society. Violent language in the public arena is also dangerous. It testifies to a loss of confidence in reason, persuasion, and civil debate.
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On 29 September 1995 I published an article in support of Rabin and the peace process. Privately, however, I wrote to him and urged him to spend more time on winning the argument within Israel itself. You did not have to be a prophet to see the danger he was in from his fellow Jews.
The weeks went by, and I did not hear from him. Then, on Motzei Shabbat, 4 November 1995, we heard the news that he had been assassinated. I went to the funeral in Jerusalem. The next morning, Tuesday 7 November, I went to the Israeli Embassy in London to pay my condolences to the ambassador. He handed me a letter, saying, “This has just arrived for you.”
We opened it and read it together in silence. It was from Yitzhak Rabin, one of the last letters he ever wrote. It was his reply to my letter. It was three pages long, deeply moving, an eloquent restatement of his commitment to peace. We have it framed on the wall of my office to this day. But it was too late.
That, at critical moments, is the hardest of all leadership challenges. When times are normal, change can come slowly. But there are situations in which leadership involves getting people to change, and that is something they resist, especially when they experience change as a form of loss.
Mazel
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Rabbi Avi Berman & The OU Israel Family
Great leaders see the need for change, but not everyone else does. People cling to the past. They feel safe in the way things were. They see the new policy as a form of betrayal. It is no accident that some of the greatest of all leaders – Lincoln, Gandhi, John F. and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Sadat, and Rabin himself – were assassinated.
A leader who fails to work for change is not a leader. But a leader who attempts too much change in too short a time will fail. That, ultimately, is why neither Moses nor his entire generation (with a handful of exceptions) were destined to enter the land. It is a problem of timing and pace, and there is no way of knowing in advance what is too fast and what is too slow, but this is the challenge a leader must strive to address.
That is what Moses meant when he asked God to appoint a leader “to go out before them and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in.” These were two separate requests. The first – “to go out before them and come in before them” – was for someone who would lead from the front, setting a personal example of being unafraid to face new challenges. That is the easier part.
The second request – for someone who would “lead them out and bring them in” –is harder. A leader can be so far out in front that when he turns round he sees that no one is following. He or she has gone out “before” the people, but has not “led them out.” He has led but people have not followed. His courage is not in doubt. Neither is his vision. What is wrong in this case is simply his sense of timing. His people are not yet ready.
It seems that at the end of his life Moses realised that he had been impatient, expecting people to change faster than they were
capable of doing. That impatience is evident at several points in the book of Numbers, most famously when he lost his temper at Merivah, got angry with the people and struck the rock, for which he forfeited the chance of leading the people across the Jordan and into the promised land.
Leading from the front, all too often he found people not willing to follow. Realising this, it is as if he were urging his successor not to make the same mistake. Leadership is a constant battle between the changes you know must be made, and the changes people are willing to make. That is why the most visionary of leaders seem, in their lifetime, to have failed. So it was. So it always will be. But in truth they have not failed. Their success comes when – as in the case of Moses and Joshua – others complete what they began.
These weekly teachings from Rabbi Sacks zt”l are part of his ‘Covenant & Conversation’ series on the weekly Torah teaching. With thanks to the Schimmel Family for their generous sponsorship, dedicated in loving memory of Harry (Chaim) Schimmel. Visit www.RabbiSacks.org for more.
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BY RABBI NACHMAN (NEIL) WINKLER Faculty, OU Israel Center
Throughout the Tanach we read a number of instances where Hashem calls upon outstanding individuals to accept the mantle of prophecy and serve as a navi for G-d. Although these “calls” are usually not found in the text, we do find two instances where those who are called do not do not respond (Elisha and Yechezkel), one prophet who offers his service to G-d (Yishayahu, who responds: “Hineni, shlacheni”-“I am here; send me”) and two chosen ones who express reluctance to accept that post: Moshe and Yirmiyahu.
We are familiar with the story of Moshe Rabbeinu who stood before Hashem at the burning bush and argued that he is a “k’vad peh,’ – one who was ‘slow of speech’ and, therefore, was incapable of being G-d’s spokesman. In fact, Hashem remained at Chorev for seven days (according to Chazal) attempting to convince Moshe to take on G-d’s charge, until eventually, Hashem had to insist that Moshe accept His mission.
We are, however, not as familiar with the reaction of Yirmiyahu to G-d’s charge, a reluctance detailed in the very first perek of Sefer Yirmiyahu which we read as this week’s haftarah. This chapter includes G-d’s consecration of Yirmiyahu to be His agent and the navi’s refusal, hesitating to shoulder the weighty responsibility by contending “na’ar anochi” - that he was young and too inexperienced to take on such a role. However, in contrast to His seven-day argument with
Moshe, Hashem makes no such attempt to convince Yirmiyahu. Instead, he tells the newly appointed navi, NOT to argue with Him, for, G-d declares “wherever I send you – you shall go and whatever I command youyou shall speak!”
We should rightly wonder why there was such a difference. Why would G-d patiently deal with Moshe’s reasoning but immediately reject Yirmiyahu’s argument? If, ultimately, both would be required to follow the divine command – reluctantly or not – why would Hashem attempt to change Moshe’s mind but not to persuade Yirmiyahu HaNavi?
I would suggest that the difference in G-d’s reactions was based upon the contrast between the respective personalities of the two individuals and the particular tasks they were called to perform.
G-d’s choice to have Moshe lead Israel out of bondage might be understood through the three events included in the Torah’s review of Moshe’s early years. When he first leaves the royal palace, Moshe is troubled by the suffering of his brethren that he sees. He exhibits this same sensitivity to the weak and afflicted when he slays the Egyptian taskmaster who was beating the Israelite slave. And that same quality of compassion is reflected when protecting an Israelite from his attacker and yet, again, when saving the Midianite women from those shepherds who harassed them. It is, therefore, quite understandable for Hashem to see in him a
be in loving memory and
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been memorialized in a popular song, "An eternal people does not fear the long and arduous path."
Doris Weinberger a"h
future leader of His nation, one who cares, responds to suffering and, therefore, would save them from Egyptian slavery.
Max Weinberger z”l
Patience is necessary for those who follow Isaac's way. But a wise woman taught us that patience is but another name for hope. That woman was Jane Austen, who put these words into the mouth of one of the characters in her great novel, Sense and Sensibility: "Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience—or give it a more fascinating name: call it hope."
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And yet, despite his caring and sensitivity, Moshe is unwilling to accept G-d’s calling, for, as the “the most humble of all,” he saw himself unsuitable for leadership. I would even suggest that, given the fact he had been separated from the suffering of his people for the forty years he was in Midian, Moshe believed that there had to be others far more fitting for the job. Hashem’s week of cajoling used Moshe’s natural caring and sensitivity to convince him that he WAS the right choice, thereby avoiding any argument that would weaken Moshe’s admirable qualities that was the very reason for having been chosen.
In observance of the Shloshim of our friend Yehuda Leib Berren z"l
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Monday evening, 23 November/ 8 Kislev
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This was not so with Yirmiyahu.
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This tragic prophet was filled with “Ahavat Yisra’el”, a love for his nation – despite their shortcomings. His reluctance to accept the position Hashem offered him was because, for him, it was an impossible one. He was charged to warn his nation of a future of “lintosh, lintotz, lha’avid v’laharos…” – “to crush, to destroy and demolish”. How could such an “Ohev Yisrael” hope to fulfill that mission??? Hashem understood the difficult choice Yirmiyahu would have and would never allow this Ohev Yisrael become a “Soneh Yisra’el”, for only one who deeply loved Israel could be allowed to condemn them.
Yirmiyahu’s love FOR led him to become hated BY Israel.
But not by G-d.
Rabbi Winkler’s popular Jewish History lectures can be viewed by visiting the OU Israel Video archive: https://www.ouisrael.org/video-library
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…)חי:זכ
…and you shall lay your hand upon him (Bamidbar 27:18)
)גכ:זכ
He laid his hands upon him….(Bamidbar 27:23)
There is a subtle difference between the two pesukim cited above. Initially Hashem commanded Moshe to lay his HAND (in the singular) upon Yehoshua. Yet, Moshe actually uses both of his HANDS (וידי). Why did Moshe use two hands, if he was instructed by Hashem to use only one hand?
Rashi explains that this depicts how Moshe was generous and transmitted to Yehoshua what he could over and above what he was commanded. “He fashioned him like a full and overflowing vessel, filling him with wisdom in abundance.”
In Ta’am Vada’at an alternative explanation is offered. The Gra’s custom was to bless his children on Friday night using only one hand to distinguish this blessing from
Birchat Kohanim, when the use of both hands is required. An individual that is not a Kohen is restricted from participating in Birchat Kohanim. However, even a Kohen who is not a scholar is encouraged to partake in Birchat Kohanim, as it is not the individual who is granting the blessing, but he is only serving as a conduit through which God’s blessing is being transmitted. As the Rambam states in Hilchot Tefilla and Birchat Kohanim 15:7:
Perhaps this is why Moshe sought to bless Yehoshua with both hands. Moshe wanted to mimic the format of Birchat Kohanim to show that the blessing is not coming from Moshe, but rather Moshe is merely serving as a conduit through which Hashem is blessing Yehoshua, similar to the manner in which Hashem blesses Am Yisrael through the Kohanim.
This is a message that we ought to internalize. Moshe made it clear that he desired to transmit as much as he could to Yehoshua in a manner that made it clear that the blessing was coming from the one Above. Our duty is to serve Hashem.
When we are active on behalf of the community or engage in a chesed project, we have to be careful not to pat ourselves on the back too hard. We can feel good about our actions, but we should recognize that we are acting on behalf of Hashem, seeking to serve Him properly. Doing the right thing without seeking to obtain any personal gain or honor. Ultimately viewing ourselves as a conduit through which the blessings of Hashem may be transmitted.
Pinchas is rewarded with Hashem’s “covenant of peace, a covenant of eternal priesthood to him and his descendants after him.” (Bamidbar 25:12-13) What is the blessing of a “covenant of peace”? Moreover, King David describes Pinchas’s reward thus, “Vatechashev lo letzedakah ledor vador ad olam - it was accounted to him as a righteous deed for all generations, forever.” (Tehillim 106:30) What does ‘forever’ add to ‘for all generations’?
Pinchas assuages Hashem’s anger and is thus blessed with peace. The Netziv zt”l explains that one can potentially be affected by any action he takes, even one who commits a justifiable act of murder may absorb an aspect of harshness or cruelty. However, when one kills for the sake of a mitzvah, Hashem rewards him with an insusceptibility to the effects of such violent action.
The Ohr HaChayim Hakadosh zt”l notes that we see a similar idea in regard to an “Ir Nidachat,” the Apostate City that must be completely destroyed. The Torah promises,
Mazal Tov to Herby & Debbie Dan and family on the recent Bar Mitzvah of their grandson
Faculty, OU Israel Center
Faculty, OU Israel Center
“Venatan lecha rachamim verichamcha –[Hashem] will grant you mercy and will have mercy on you.” (Devarim 13:18) Wiping out such a city to fulfill a Torah commandment will not imbue the Jewish people with the attribute of cruelty.
Malbim zt”l adds that not only will they not incorporate any negativity but Hashem will instill mercy in them. Hashem gives this blessing since their overall objective was to remove evil from the land and increase G-dliness, which is rooted in mercy. Therefore, middah keneged middah, measure for measure, Hashem will engender mercy in them.
In Avodat Avodah, The Tosher Rebbe zt”l shares a different perspective of this covenant. He explains the mishnah, “schar mitzvah mitzvah” as referring to one who is moser nefesh, who acts selflessly, to do a mitzvah. He then is awarded a mitzvah! He gets extra siyata dishmaya, extra Divine capacity to do this mitzvah continually throughout his life. Pinchas acted selflessly to stop an act of immorality, and therefore is rewarded with the title “Malach Habrit” for all time. Thus, when King David says ‘for all generations’ he refers to the blessing of priesthood, ‘forever’ refers to Pinchas/ Eliyahu Hanavi who comes to every brit milah for all time and instills a special capacity of vigilance in areas of kedushah for life.
The Rebbe zt”l further asserts that when one is careful to guard his eyes and control his desires, it is considered as if he has had a “revelation of Eliyahu,” he has accessed this special brachah implanted within him
Sinai physical mitzvot matters. that voice, afterlife. I canFor no foland comreal amazing teachreceived us
at his brit. What is more, says the Rebbe, the ultimate redemption and revelation of Eliyahu Hanavi is dependent on the generation overcoming immoral temptations and circumspection in areas of purity and holiness. It is appropriate then, that we read Parashat Pinchas as we approach the Three Weeks to remind us and motivate us to do our part in bringing the Final Redemption closer.
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Executive Director, Camp HASC
Author of Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva (Mosaica 2021)
Executive Director, Camp HASC
Author of Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva (Mosaica 2021)
A young refugee who had lost his entire family in the Holocaust, and arrived in New York in the mid 1940’s, Rav Chaim Tzvi Schwartz was at a loss as to what to do next. A Hungarian Chasidishe Yid, he had received encouragement from the Frierdiker Lubavitcher Rebbe, who encouraged him to move to Brazil and work with the refugees who were dispersed there. He went on to open the country’s first Torah day school and spent decades strengthening observance and providing Jewish education to thousands of children.
One day Rav Schwartz received a call from one of the parents in the school: their daughter was engaged to a non-Jew, and that they intended to marry. After trying everything to dissuade her, they came to the Rabbi in desperation; perhaps he could reach her, ignite the pintele Yid within and convince her to reconsider her plans.
The young woman was courteous but after a lengthy conversation it was clear to Rav Schwartz that she had made up her mind
Mazal
and had no interest in reconsidering or discussing it further. For several days, Rav Schwartz tried to think of what he might possibly be able to do, and though he had never asked for advice from the Lubavitcher Rebbe before, something compelled him to reach out for guidance.
Almost immediately after explaining the situation to the Rebbe’s secretary, Rabbi Hodakov, he received a call back: “The Rebbe says to tell the young woman that there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because she intends to marry a non-Jew.”
The unexpected reply confused Rav Schwartz, and he pressed the Rebbe’s secretary for more explanation. “‘I’m sorry, but what does this mean? Who is this Jew?” After a silent pause, Rav Schwartz heard the Rebbe’s voice on the other extension: “His name is Mendel Schneerson.”
Slowly returning the receiver to its cradle, Rav Schwartz was even more confused. Could he possibly follow through with the Rebbe’s suggestion? The woman would no doubt find this story ridiculous. Nonetheless, with no other recourse, and with a directive from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he went and knocked at the door of the young woman once again.
“Listen,” she immediately said, “whoever I marry is my business, and no one else’s! I spoke with you only out of respect for my parents and heard you out. But now, you should stop bothering me!”
Wincing, Rav Schwartz barely managed to
speak: “Yes, I understand, I’m so sorry! Please, there is just one more small thing I’d like to share with you…” “So tell me,” she snapped with indignation, “and then I need you to get out of here!”
Rav Schwartz swallowed. “Well, you see… there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because you intend to marry a nonJew….” She stared at him with a quizzical frown, and Rav Schwartz repeated himself: “Um, there is a Jew in Brooklyn who cannot sleep at night because you intend to marry a non-Jew.”
“That’s what you came to tell me?!” she said, incredulously, and was about to slam the door shut. Then, abruptly, she blinked as if feeling faint. “Wait…who is this Jew in Brooklyn?”
“His name is Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson…he is one of the great, wise and kind leaders of our nation, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and he is deeply and personally concerned for the material and spiritual wellbeing of every Jew…and he agonizes over every soul that is lost to its people.”
To Rav Schwartz’s surprise, she gazed blankly into space and responded, “Can you tell me what he looks like? Do you happen to have a picture?”
“I must have a picture somewhere! Yes, I’ll be right back…” He rushed home and searched everywhere for a photograph of the Rebbe. Finally, he found an article that he had saved from a magazine and hurried back to show the young woman. With one glance at the Rebbe’s face, she began shaking and tears streamed down her face.
“All week long,” she said, in shock, “this man has been appearing in my dreams, imploring me not to abandon my people!
I told myself it’s just my subconscious guilt conjuring up an image of an old rabbi… I have never met this man in my life, nor seen a picture of him, nor even heard of him. But,” she sobbed, “this is definitely the man I have been seeing in my dreams….”
In our sedra, Moshe Rabbeinu davens that the Ribbono Shel Olam will ensure that he be followed by a worthy successor.
“Let Hashem, the God of spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that God’s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” (27:16-17)
Like a shepherd who tends to his flock with care and concern, Moshe takes responsibility for the needs of each individual. Rav Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz, z’l, identified this as a defining principle of Jewish leadership. And yet, this can be a lonely job:
“And I said to you, ‘I cannot bear the burden of you by myself…’ How shall I bear it alone?” (1:9, 12)
Far from complaining that he was overwhelmed, what troubled Moshe was the reality that he alone bore the burden and responsibility of Klal Yisrael, that no one else
was concerned or troubled with the needs of fellow Jews. Moshe was asking, “Why am I the only one who loses sleep because of the troubles of our People!?”
Moshe Rabbeinu’s requirement for his successor was that he should “go out before them and come in before them.” And this parallels his lament: ‘There are so many well meaning, wise, even righteous people and talmidei chachamim, how can it be that
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I alone am awake at night, worrying about a lost Jew? How can anyone be indifferent to the alienation, heartbreak or troubles of one’s fellow?’
May our love and commitment to each other transcend time and place, and may we be ‘successors’ to Moshe Rabbeinu and zealous ‘emissaries’ of all our great faithful shepherds: ever awake to the true needs of others.
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Yoni thanks Hashem for having the opportunity of having Tziporah in his life, to learn of her caring, patience and happiness, to overcome her challenges. May Tziporah's Neshama be a light onto the world, in a time of darkness, and may her Neshama shine to Gan Eden. Yoni misses Tziporah with tears in his eyes, as Hashem gave him a gift, a crown jewel, now he returns her to Hashem. With thanks and Toda. Love, Yoni
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BY RABBI SAM SHOR Program Director, OU Israel Center
This past week we commemorated the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz which begins the period of the Three Weeks which culminates with Tisha B’Av.
During the coming weeks, as we recall the tragic events of Churban bayit and contemplate the incredible pain we have experienced as a nation throughout this past year and reflect upon the many other difficult episodes in the annals of Jewish history, we must also look to the future. This entire period of course, we are meant to look inward and work to bring change in this world in order that we should merit to experience redemption, greet Mashiach Tzidkeinu, and 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 Olam - May 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 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 we are charged to fulfill each and every day, and with increased fervor during these three weeks. Our actions and how we fill our days have a direct impact on the process of building the Beit HaMikdash.
Similarly, Rabbi Avraham Schorr shlita, in Sefer HaLekach V’Halevuv points out that during these days of Tammuz 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 inappropriate speech.
Our Chazal teach us in Masechet Shabbat, that one of the fundamental questions which each of us will be asked after 120 years, when we leave this world, is tzipita liyishua- “Did you anticipate and long for redemption?”
The Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe zy’a, explains that there is a fundamental difference between the simple belief in the
concept of redemption and anticipating that redemption. Anticipating redemption is one of the fundamental tenets of Jewish life, not simply to believe intellectually or conceptually in the idea of redemption, but to believe that that redemption, that better tomorrow for the entire world, is indeed within our reach. The true question explains the Rebbe, is how much do we really want that redemption? Have we demonstrated strongly enough that we believe it is within our sight and reach? Are we empowered to do everything we are personally capable of to contribute to making the world a better, safer, morally sound place?
Rebbe Moshe M’Kobrin zy’a taught that these days of the three weeks are ultimately parallel to the three weeks between Rosh HaShana and Shemini Atzeret. Just as an artist who is preparing a joyful colorful painting, often first lays down a darker, black and white sketch, upon which that later colorful beautiful masterpiece is built, so too we should be blessed to emerge from these three weeks of reflection on the darker more painful episodes of our people, to welcome a brighter, promising, and joy filled tomorrow.
Yehi Ratzon, in these important days, during these three weeks of reflection, may we merit to heed these three 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.
BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN R am, Yeshivat Har Etzion YISRAEL
After a weary forty-year desert journey Moshe conducts a census to determine the size of the population which will enter the Land of Israel. Thirty-eight years earlier, Moshe’s first census yielded practically the same tally as the current polling.
A noticeable difference between these two population surveys is how the names of the shevatim are listed. In the latter census of parshat Pinchas the names of the shevatim are prefixed by the letter “he’h” and suffixed by the letter “yud”. For example, Reuven is written as ינבוארה or Ha’Reuven’i , while Shimon is listed as the tribe of Ha’Shimon’i or ינועמשה. As Rashi explains, the two letters of “yud” and “he’h’” form the word ה-י , one of the names of Hashem. Through the addition of these letters, the name of Hashem was affixed to each shevet.
Rashi comments that Hashem Himself added His name to the shevatim names in order to discredit the naysayers who questioned the pedigree of this generation. These cynics falsely assumed that two centuries of brutal Egyptian slavery had contaminated our family pedigree. Typically, slaves cannot maintain normal family life and, additionally,
are often forced to breed infant slaves for their masters. This new generation, who were once slaves could not possibly all be pedigreed Jews. Perhaps the original generation, who left Egypt were authentic Jews, but this newer generation could not be fullblooded Jews, as they had been born during the concluding and most oppressive stages of Egyptian slavery. Perhaps they weren’t genetically Jewish and didn’t deserve the Land of Israel which was promised to the authentic Jewish people? To renounce these claims and to certify our pedigree, Hashem affixed the two letters of his name to each of our shevatim.
This wasn’t the first time in history that Jewish pedigree was questioned in an attempt to thwart our Jewish mission. Avraham and Sarah had been barren for close to a hundred years. Finally, at the age of 86 Avraham bore a child to Hagar, his handmaid. Sarah only gave birth 13 years afterwards, after she was abducted by Avimelech, the King of the sea-faring Philistines. The skeptics and deniers surfaced, alleging that Yitzchak wasn’t Avraham’s son, but the child of Avimelech. The best way to defeat Jewish destiny was to “nip it in the bud” and deny any Jewish descendants of Avraham. If Avraham died without a biological child, his religious revolution would stall.
To rebut these cynical claims, Hashem fashioned Yitzchak in the spitting image of his father Avraham, thereby certifying Jewish
pedigree and Jewish destiny. Hundreds of years later, in the plains of Moav, at the doorstep of history, as we were perched to enter the Land of Israel, Hashem once again verified our Jewish pedigree. We were genuine Jews and had arrived to lay claim to our land of heritage.
We are now at the tail end of history and have, once again, returned to lay claim to our Land and to our historical mission. Once again, our history in this Land is being contested and, in some circles, even our Jewish pedigree is being doubted.
Critics and revisionist historians question Jewish genetic continuity by arguing that science doesn’t support the prospect of a continuous Jewish people with direct genetic descent from the ancient Israelites. Over time, migrations, conversions, and other social forces, they claim, have corrupted Jewish pedigree. If we aren’t the real Jews what right do we possess to the Land of the Jews? Ironically, many studies have identified specific genetic markers that are common among Jewish populations worldwide and suggest a shared ancestry tracing back to the Land of Israel. Yet, our enemies remain undeterred in their futile efforts to, once again, reroute Jewish destiny by questioning our Jewish pedigree.
The name of Hashem affixed to the shevatim didn’t just verify our nation’s pedigree, it also boosted our pride. Each Jew now belonged to a shevet which bore the name of Hashem.
Names are part of identity. Legendary personalities in Tanach received new names as they transitioned into different chapters of their lives: Avram became Avraham, Sarai became Sarah and Ya’akov became Yisrael. In
a similar vein, many important personalities in Tanach had multiple names: Yosef had at least three, Moshe had seven and, according to Chazal, Shlomo Hamelech had close to twenty names. Names are part of identity.
The De-Judaization of Names in Exile
During our tortured history in exile, Jewish names were degraded and emptied of their Jewish tonality. Throughout our long exile the de-Judaization of our names reflected our forlorn state.
Sadly, Jews often elected to change their names to less Jewish-sounding ones to avoid religious persecution or forced conversion. This adjustment of names was particularly common during the Spanish Inquisition and was rampant among Jewish Conversos.
A few centuries later we were forced to accept imposed family names. In the Austrian-Hungarian empire of the 18th century, Jews were forced to adopt a Germanized or Slavicized family name as part of a national effort to both register the population and ease Jews into general society. At this stage of history, many Ashkenazi Jews had yet to adopt family names. Sadly, foreign family names were now thrust upon them. Often, Jews were lumped together into broad categories and given identical names: Weiss (white), Schwartz (black), Klein (short) or Gross (tall). Still other times, Jews were debased by being assigned humiliating or embarrassing last names.
As many Jews migrated to the West in the late 19th and early 20th century a third type of de-Judaization of names occurred. Family names, which had existed for generations, were now Anglicized. For example, Finkelstein became Fink, Rosenberg became Rose, Grunfeld became Greenfield, Weinstein became Winston and Leibowitz
became Levy. Though these name changes were rarely driven by malignant intent, these alterations further hollowed our names of Jewish meaning and Jewish heritage. Additionally, as Jews aspired to assimilate into the melting pot of Western culture many elected to drastically de-Judaize their names. Many celebrities and leading entertainers of the past century swapped their Jewish sounding names for more Gentile and more marketable names. Galus was not friendly to Jewish names.
With our return to Israel this process has been reversed. Many who returned to modern Israel have Hebraicized their family names, as a way of connecting with our historical and cultural roots in Israel. Ironically, this process of Hebraization first began when Nazi Germany forbade Jews from changing their names, forcing us to retake more Jewish sounding names. With our return to Israel the reclamation of Jewish family names gathered momentum. David Gruen became Ben-Gurion, Goldie Myerson became Golda Meir, Mieczysław Biegun became Menachem Begin and Eliezer Perlman, who modernized Hebrew language, became Eliezer Ben-Yehuda.
After experiencing centuries of persecution or discrimination the Hebraicizing of names is a symbolic act of empowerment, renewal, and rebirth, reflecting the hope and optimism of building a new life in Israel.
Our return to Israel has launched an additional naming revolution. We have begun to name children with conjugated names which include the name of Hashem- literally in the same way that Hashem affixed his name to
the names of our shevatim. These modern names couple the word “el” with a term of endearment, faith or pride. Some of the popular modern names include Shirel (song of G-d), Matanel (gift of G-d), Li’el (my G-d), Aviel (G-d, my Father) and Da’el (to know G-d). The historical shift coupled with our return to Israel has endowed us with greater comfort and greater optimism in our relationship with Hashem. This new form of naming reflects our burgeoning national confidence.
As with every change in a redemptive era, this new attitude must be carefully calibrated with traditionalism. These redemptive names reflect our partnership with Hashem and promote intimacy with Him. There is a danger that we can potentially become too comfortable and too confident. We must not upset the delicate calibration between feeling close with Hashem and respecting the distance and differences between us. We should be proud of the restoration of Hebrew names and of our confidence in naming ourselves with the name of Hashem. That confidence must be combined with awe and transcendence. Combining His name with ours, cannot make us too cavalier or too casual in our relationship with Hashem.
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On a recent Lufthansa flight from Montreal to Frankfurt, United Hatzalah volunteer physician
On a recent Tuesday morning in Jerusalem, parents were feeding their 6-month-old baby and introduced him to tahini for the first time. Within minutes, the baby developed a severe allergic reaction. The infant's parents immediately called emergency services, seeking urgent help.
Dr. Nathan Ungar was taking a nap when flight attendants who knew his medical background hurried to his seat, rousing him with news of a 60-year-old man who had fainted.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Shalom Klein, alerted to the emergency through his proximity alert system, sprang into action as the first responder on the scene. Arriving promptly, Shalom was confronted with a distressing sight - a baby boy with swollen lips and tongue, struggling to breathe, and covered in a worrisome rash.
Dr. Ungar followed the attendants to find the elderly passenger pale and disoriented. He requested the plane's medical kit and took the patient's vitals, finding a very low blood pressure and slightly below-standard oxygen saturation.
Recognizing the symptoms as indicative of an anaphylactic shock, the volunteer knew immediate intervention was crucial. Without hesitation, he administered a life-saving EpiPen injection, delivering a dose of epinephrine to counteract the severe allergic reaction. The powerful medication quickly took effect, and the infant's breathing became less labored. The swelling in the lips and tongue began to subside, providing much-needed relief to the child.
The physician directed the attendants to lay the man down as he began administering intravenous fluids and providing oxygen to the patient. For nearly half an hour, Dr. Ungar and the flight crew monitored the man's condition as his color gradually returned and his consciousness stabilized. After the physician ascertained that the patient was now stable and healthy, the passenger returned to his seat. The flight continued safely to its intended destination without needing an emergency landing.
As the symptoms continued to recede, the EMT monitored his condition while awaiting the arrival of a mobile intensive care ambulance. Several minutes later, the ambulance team arrived and transported the infant to the nearest hospital for further treatment and observation.
Reflecting on the incident, Shalom emphasized the importance of having an EpiPen readily available. "It's a great thing I had an EpiPen in my medical kit," he stated. "An EpiPen can save a person's life within minutes and is a huge help for both EMTs and patients."
"I was just doing what any doctor would do in such a situation," said Dr. Ungar. "I'm relieved that we were able to stabilize him and continue the flight without incident."
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BY REBBETZIN DR. ADINA SHMIDMAN INSIGHTS
This week we begin the trifecta of Haftorot known as the אתונערופד השלש, The Three of Calamity. The three prophecies of calamity foretell of times of destruction, particularly of the Batei Mikdash and Yerushalyim. It is generally assumed that although Haftorot are connected to the Torah reading of the day, the three Haftorot of calamity and the seven Haftorot of consolation (אתמחנד העבש) are connected to the season and not the weekly Kriat Hatorah.
Nonetheless, subtle connections may exist between the Parshiyot and their Haftorot even during this period. This idea is evident in the parallel themes found in Parshat Pinchas and the Haftorah that begins with Yirmiyahu’s reluctant ascension to the role of the leading prophet of the Jewish people. Ultimately, Yirmiyahu embraces his difficult role, despite the animosity and violence he faces. He continues to warn the Jewish people about the consequences of straying from the path of Hashem.
Similarly, Parshat Pinchas begins with Pinchas receiving the eternal covenant of the Kehuna as a reward for his zealous actions in defending the sanctity of the Jewish people.
Both Yirmiyahu and Pinchas are thrust into leadership positions, but their pathways to leadership differ significantly. Pinchas’ leadership is an honor bestowed upon him in recognition of his decisive and righteous action, whereas Yirmiyahu is called upon due to his spiritual greatness and lifelong devotion.
These distinct models illustrate that leadership can be acquired through different means. Whether it is Pinchas, who steps up in a moment of great action, or Yirmiyahu, whose entire life prepares him for leadership, the essence of leadership remains the same: the acceptance of responsibility when called upon. True leadership is defined not merely by the circumstances that bring one to the forefront but by the willingness to embrace the role and guide others, even in the face of adversity.
In essence, the pathways to leadership are varied, but the core principle is universal. Whether through a singular defining moment or a lifetime of dedication, when the call to lead arises, it must be answered with commitment and resolve.
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RABBI AARON GOLDSCHEIDER
RABBI AARON GOLDSCHEIDER
Editor, Torah Tidbits
Editor, Torah Tidbits
Rav, the Jerusalem Shul
Baka, Jerusalem
“Have you seen that son of Puti (יטופ), whose mother’s father fattened ( ם ט י פ) calves for idol worship, yet he went on to kill a Jewish tribal prince?’ 1 This was the reaction of the tribes to Pinchas’s killing of Zimri, prince of Shimon. They cast aspersions on his lineage, mentioning that Pinchas’s father Elazar had married one of the daughters of Yitro, also known as Putiel (לאיטופ) (Exodus 6:25).
Why the ad hominem attack instead of a substantive objection to his deed? Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook posited that they were familiar with the halachic justification of kana’im pogin bo, that the zealous can attack someone engaged in an egregious offense like Zimri’s, but they doubted that this was his true motivation. Perhaps his mother’s “blemished” lineage meant that he harbored foul character traits that led
1. Rashi on Numbers 25:11, s.v.
, citing Sanhedrin 82b.
him to act and invalidated the justification. Even a smidgen of enmity would disqualify one to respond as Pinchas did. 2
For this reason, Rav Kook claimed, the Torah reiterates twice in the span of four verses that Pinchas was the grandson of Aharon (Numbers 25:7,11). The grandson inherited the temperament of his paternal grandfather, who loved everyone equally, pursued peace, and drew everyone closer to the Torah. 3 He even emulated Aharon in deed. In the same way Aharon put a stop to a plague decimating his people by standing with an incense pan “between the dead and the living” (Numbers 17:13), so did Pinchas end a plague by killing Zimri and Cozbi in flagrante delicto (Numbers 25:8). Rebbe Moshe Elyakim Hopstein, the Rebbe of Kohznitz, pointed out that the Hebrew for the spear (חמר) that Pinchas took spells “mercy” (םחר) when the order of the letters is rearranged. 4 Pinchas’s extreme response ran contrary to his own caring disposition; the act was one of mercy. It was something that simply had to be done.
In Judaism, we believe that the hard decisions involving the application of power must be made by compassionate individuals of irreproachable character. During the early
2. Siddur Olat Re’iyah, 1:394.
3. Pirkei Avot, 1:12.
4. Kehilat Moshe, Pinchas, s.v.
schism with Christianity and other sects, the Sages decided to add a nineteenth blessing to the existing eighteen of the Amidah, the shemoneh esrei. Since the additional benediction prays not for blessings but for the downfall of internal and external enemies, they searched the academy for someone with the great sensitivity necessary to formulate this prayer. Shmuel ha-Katan was someone who had purged all feelings of enmity from his heart—even for personal enemies—and lived by the motto, “Do not rejoice at the downfall of your enemy, nor let your heart be glad when he stumbles.” 5 Only he could be assigned the grave task of crafting a supplication that beseeches God to bring our enemies to wrack and ruin, with the completely pure intention of it being for the greater good of the Jewish people and not out of hatred for its target.
A year later, the prayer fell into disuse and was partially forgotten. The Sages returned to Shmuel ha-Katan to restore the exact formula, and it took him some time to reconstitute the prayer. Rav Kook explained that it did not take him hours to recollect the words, for he knew them well. What he needed was time to compose himself spiritually and ensure that he was once again reciting the prayer with purity of heart, without any grudge or bias. 6
The lesson that Pinchas’s act teaches us is that whenever we act ardently we must check ourselves to make sure our heart is in the right place. The benediction added to the Amidah, Ve-la-malshinim, must be pronounced with the same wholesome intentions that went into its composition. Rav Kook wrote:
5. Pirkei Avot 4:19, quoting Proverbs 24:17.
6. Berachot 28b–29a with Ein Ayah, Berachot, 4:40–41.
“One needs to refine the attribute of zeal, so that when it enters the realm of the holy, it should be a pure zeal for God. Since, usually, it is slightly adulterated by a modicum of human weakness, self-examination must determine its primary motive, so that it is not based on personal jealousy, which rots one’s very bones, but on zeal for God, which provides those who possess it a covenant of peace.” 7
In this beautiful passage, Rav Kook offers us invaluable advice. Whenever we act fervently, we must ascertain whether our ardor emanates from pure motives. Even when we recite daily Ve-la-malshinim, we must examine our intentions. Impassioned and fervent action is laudable only if it brings about healing and peace to the world, and glorifies the name of Heaven.
7. Orot ha-Kodesh, 3:244.
Rabbi Goldscheider is the author of the newly published book ‘Torah United’ (OU Press), featuring divrei Torah on the weekly parasha from Rav Kook, Rabbi Solovetichik, and the Chassidic Masters.
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RAV DANIEL MANN
Question: Two members of my community asked me a no-tension, monetary Halacha question. Reuven Cohen lent Shimon Levi (both under bar mitzva = katan) his basketball. Shimon lost it, and the Levis offered to pay for a new one. The Cohens ordered the exact ball on-line and charged the Levis. Later, the Cohens found the ball in the neighborhood. Who should get the two balls?
Answer: While these agreeable people, who have gone beyond halachic requirements (see below), can do whatever they agree on, it is an honor to discuss relevant general halachot.
A katan, who is not expected to be proficient at watching objects, and his parents, are exempt from payment for his deficiencies as a shomer (see Bava Kama 87a). However, our communities seem happier when children are encouraged to be careful and when their parents often pay for their failings.
It is common that when one damages or loses another’s item, he buys or pays for a new replacement. This is not always required, as the obligation is to pay the value of the lost object. Used items, including basketballs, are
RAV DANIEL MANN
often worth less than their new replacement. (Paying more than one is required is not a problem of ribbit, as ribbit is forbidden when it is for delaying paying a loan or sometimes other obligations, not for paying more than obligated.)
Now, we get to your question about what to do with the balls. The mishna (Bava Metzia 33b) says that if a shomer pays for the theft of the object he was watching and later the thief was caught and has to pay double (kefel), the shomer gets the kefel. The gemara posits that since the shomer is nice enough to agree to pay, the owner transfers him rights to the kefel. In response to technical problems about the ability to transfer such a potential, amorphous asset, the gemara answers that an implied, earlier, conditional (should he pay) transfer of the object makes it possible for the shomer to get the kefel. The gemara continues that this transfer applies to a variety of external gains from the object (not just kefel), but notto an animal’s physical products, e.g., wool and offspring.
Tosafot (ad loc.) understands that the gemara refers to a literal transfer of the lost/stolen object, so that the shomer owns the object he paid for. According to this approach, once the Levis paid, the Cohens ceded ownership rights to the old basketball. If Reuven Cohen wants his old ball back, he would have to request a favor of the Levis (the reciprocation should be return of the money the Levis paid).
The Rambam (Sh’eila 8:1) describes how
Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, is headed by Rav Yosef Carmel and Rav Moshe Ehrenreich, founded by Rav Shaul Yisraeli, zt”l, to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in the Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Eretz Hemdah, and OU Israel’s Torah Tidbits.
when an animal stolen from a shomer is found, it returns to the original owner with its wool and offspring. According to the standard explanation of the Rambam (see Maggid Mishneh, ad loc.; K’tzot Hachoshen 295:4) wool and offspring are not exceptions to the rule but are indicative of the fact that all stolen and lost objects remain owned by the original owner even after the shomer pays for their loss. According to this approach, Reuven Cohen keeps his basketball, and the payment is returned when it turns out there is no loss.
We generally assume like Tosafot’s approach (Pitchei Choshen, Pikadon 8:13). The Shach (CM 295:11) suggests that the Rambam agrees that the shomer keeps the object if he wants it, just that the Rambam discussed a case that he did not want it.
It appears that since the whole idea of getting rights in the animal is in appreciation for the shomer’s cooperation, Tosafot agrees that he can turn down receiving the object when it is found and can thereby be eligible to receive the money he gave. (See also Shulchan Aruch, CM 103:11 for a precedent of undoing a forced payment after the lost object was found.) In our case, that would seem to mean the Cohens would have two basketballs. However, it is very possible here that since, conceptually, the Levis gave a basketball (just that for technical reasons, the Cohens ordered it), the Cohens would give the Levis the new basketball.
We cannot address every permutation, but trust the friendly parties to “have a ball” continuing to cooperate.
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Inspirational Speaker
Mother of Sgt. Binyamin Hy"d
Tammuz and Av. Months of unrelenting, oppressive heat in Eretz Yisrael. Fiery hot. Rashi explains that Tammuz is an Aramaic word that means”heat”. Literally. But metaphorically as well.
The “heat” is in the air: the intensity of the unpredictable yet looming next stage of war, barrages of rockets and drones still being fired from the North as well as from other directions, homes and fields up north literally on fire from rocket impacts, as well as the piqued emotional state of the Jewish nation on multiple levels and multiple fronts.
Seven summers ago my family went to a hot air balloon festival near Har Gilboa. The main event was watching the artistically decorated and vibrantly colored balloons propelled into the sky by bursts of fire into the balloon, radiating the most magnificent colors against the backdrop of the dark sky. It was glorious.
Upon watching this, I turned to my Binyamin and explained that one wrong angle of the flame and the fire can destroy the balloon and the passengers could potentially die but when directed and channeled correctly, the fire raises, lifts and elevates.
Binyamin H”yd was known by his friends for making fires. Small ones for making his Turkish coffee, as he always carried around
a small pot in his backpack to boil water, or larger bonfires for friends to sit around and sing. He did this plenty in the army too. A few days after Oct. 7th, while “cleaning” and protecting a kibbutz in the south, Binyamin got special permission to make a medurah so they could sit and sing, citing he needed to help cheer up his friends and raise morale.
Binyamin had that fire in his eyes. The kind of fire you see in someone who’s on a mission with drive and force. Those fierce, passionate eyes. I imagine Pinchas had those eyes when he zealously acted in killing Zimri for his blasphemous act. Pinchas was rewarded with priesthood. Did he receive this Kehunah for his act or for his zealousness?
(Parenthetically, it is this parsha, Parshat Pinchas, that was our last Shabbat in America before making Aliyah 18 years ago. I connected with bnot Zelaphchad who petitioned for their portion of the Land as an inheritance, which was until this point unprecedented)
I have a small obsession with talking about fires.
Torah was given in fire and should be learned with fire. שממ תובהלתהב. This must be the antidote to the flames of destruction. When one sees another’s passion for learning, with emotions of excitement and enthusiasm, Torah becomes coveted, craved and contagious. This is not only by sitting and learning Torah, but also how we live it,
enjoy it, value it and prioritize it.
We have an obligation to see the flame in our children or in any of Hashem’s children and recognize we can and must be their “lighter”, תיצמ, their igniter, in a way that they will feel lifted and fly, and not be extinguished or burned.
Again, a fire used properly can bring about growth and greatness.
Improperly, can be destructive and disastrous.
Av is the month of the most acute destruction, the Beit Hamikdash with rampant fires consuming Yerushalayim. But as its name, Av, our Father, is standing, so to speak, with open arms, waiting for us to run towards Him. We cannot even fathom the uncontainable excitement and extreme jubilation any parent of even just one of our released hostages feel upon not seeing their child after x days or x months (may they all be released NOW) and finally holding their love.
That’s a small taste of םימשבש וניבא, our Father’s waiting with baited breath for us to be released from Galut, the bondage of exile, finally ridding the distance between us. The running - not just walking- towards Him, with our fiery eyes filled with love and excitement of Torah will extinguish all flames of destruction and bring about the ultimate fires: that of the Aish Tamid, the burning of the Incense, the kindled lights of the Menorah, and the smoke of the sacrificial service in the Beit HaMikdash.
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BY TEENS NCSY ISRAEL
Emily Stemp Director
NCSY Chai Girls
Yehoshua
In Parshat Pinchas, we witness the pivotal moment of leadership transfer from Moshe Rabbeinu to Yehoshua. This critical event is detailed in Bamidbar 27:18-20: “And Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Take Yehoshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him... and give him a charge in their sight. And you shall put some of your honor upon him, that all the congregation of the Bnei Yisrael may be obedient.’”
Chazal, in Bava Batra 75a, compares Moshe to the sun and Yehoshua to the moon, noting that Yehoshua’s wisdom reflects Moshe’s greatness. While some see this as diminishing Yehoshua’s stature, it actually highlights a vital aspect of true leadership: learning and growing from predecessors. The moon, though reflecting the sun’s light, plays a unique role in illuminating the night. Similarly, Yehoshua’s leadership, influenced by Moshe, is essential in its own right.
Yehoshua’s willingness to learn from Moshe demonstrates humility and wisdom, not weakness. He valued Moshe’s experience and guidance, a hallmark of great leaders who recognize that their strength is enhanced by the wisdom of those before them. Throughout
Jewish history, the greatest leaders have understood the importance of learning from their mentors. Yehoshua, as Moshe’s faithful student, absorbed his teachings and internalized his values. When it was his turn to lead, he was not merely a replica of Moshe but a leader ready to face his generation’s unique challenges with the wisdom he had gained.
The Midrash Tanchuma (Tzav 3) supports this idea: “Why was Yehoshua chosen as Moshe’s successor? Because he never left Moshe’s tent... He would arrange the benches and spread the mats... Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, ‘Yehoshua, who served you with all his might, deserves to serve Israel.’” This emphasizes that Yehoshua’s dedication to learning from Moshe prepared him to be an effective leader. Pirkei Avot (4:1) further states: “Who is wise? He who learns from everyone, as it is said: ‘From all my teachers I have grown wise’ (Tehillim 119:99),” emphasizing that true wisdom comes from learning from others rather than being solely self-reliant.
This lesson extends beyond leadership to all areas of personal growth. Seeking guidance from those more experienced does not make us lesser. Instead, it offers the opportunity to learn, grow, and eventually shine our own light, just as the moon reflects the sun’s brilliance. By embracing the lessons from Yehoshua’s ability to learn from Moshe’s leadership, we can become better leaders, individuals, and ultimately, a stronger community.
In the parasha, we read the story of Pinchas. At the time, לארשי ינב were on a very low spiritual level. They would bring women from Moav in to the camp and commit יוליג תוירע, which led to them serving הרז הדובע.
Hashem was angry at לארשי םע and put a plague in the הנחמ that killed lots of people. One day, Pinchas saw a man from לארשי ינב as he was bringing a woman from Moav into the tent. Pinchas got up and killed the man and woman. After that, the plague ended and Hashem was no longer angry at לארשי ינב.
From this story we learn about Pinchas’s תואנק to Hashem. Pinchas’s act is known as a good thing. When someone is יאנק it means that when he sees something that looks wrong to him, he will act to change the situation.
Another person who did such a thing was Korach. Korach thought that the Kehuna and the fact that only Moshe and Aharon had a higher status were wrong, so he acted to change it. However in Korach’s case his actions were considered bad and he got punished.
So what is the difference between Korach and Pinchas? ןייטש לאפר ברה explained that that the difference between them was not what they did, but how they did it. In Korach’s story it says “חרק להקיו and Onkelos trans- ” lates ״חרק גלפיו״, but in the story of Pinchas it says ״םכותב יתאנק תא ואנקב״. The important difference was that Korach created hatred and separated himself to create a following of his own, and Pinchas acted within the community.
We learn from this story how the most important thing is not what we do but how we do it. The same motivation can translate into different actions, ones that are filled with גוליפ, or ones that are filled with תודחא. In these times, especially in these three weeks of the year, we must remember this lesson of Korach and Pinchas, and aspire to act in ways of unity.
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