Monthly Archives: June 2014

Korach – Not Even a Donkey

PDF for printing – 2 pages A4

In Parshat Korach, Moshe is confronted by Korach and his mob:

וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ עַל מֹשֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם רַב לָכֶם כִּי כָל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם ה’ וּמַדּוּעַ תִּתְנַשְּׂאוּ עַל קְהַל ה’:
They congregated upon Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, “Enough! The entire assembly is holy, and Hashem is in their midst! So why do you lord yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?!” (Bamidbar 16:3)

By suggesting that Moshe and Aharon “lord over” the Jewish People, Korach accused them of acting out of self-interest, desire for power, and personal benefit. Similartly, when Moshe tried to settle the conflict and called for a meeting with Korach’s partners, Datan and Aviram, they responded as follows:

וַיִּשְׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לִקְרֹא לְדָתָן וְלַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹא נַעֲלֶה: הַמְעַט כִּי הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר כִּי תִשְׂתָּרֵר עָלֵינוּ גַּם הִשְׂתָּרֵר:
Moshe sent to call Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav; they said, “We will not come up! Is it not enough that he took us from the land of milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that he should also rule over us? ” (Bamidbar 16:13)

Having called Egypt, “a land of milk and honey”, they accuse Moshe of being power-hungry, just for asking them to come to meet with him.
In response, Moshe turned to G-d with an unusual prayer:

וַיִּחַר לְמֹשֶׁה מְאֹד וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל ה’ אַל תֵּפֶן אֶל מִנְחָתָם לֹא חֲמוֹר אֶחָד מֵהֶם נָשָׂאתִי וְלֹא הֲרֵעֹתִי אֶת אַחַד מֵהֶם:
Moshe got very angry. He said to Hashem, “Do not accept their offering! I never took a donkey from them, I never did harm to any one of them!”(Bamidbar 16:15)

Moshe is very upset by their accusations, and defends himself by saying that he never took anything from them, in particular, not a single donkey.

In the Haftarah, we find the prophet Shmuel in a similar situation. After having dedicated his entire life to the Jewish People, literally from the cradle, and having served as arguably their most successful leader in centuries, he is told by the Jewish People that they would like to try a new political structure, “like all the other nations”. When handing over the reins to King Shaul, he asks the Jewish People:

הִנְנִי עֲנוּ בִי נֶגֶד ה’ וְנֶגֶד מְשִׁיחוֹ אֶת שׁוֹר מִי לָקַחְתִּי וַחֲמוֹר מִי לָקַחְתִּי וְאֶת מִי עָשַׁקְתִּי אֶת מִי רַצּוֹתִי וּמִיַּד מִי לָקַחְתִּי כֹפֶר וְאַעְלִים עֵינַי בּוֹ
Now answer me before Hashem and before His anointed, whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom did I oppress? Whom did I favor? From whom did I take a bribe, so that I would overlook him?” (Shmuel I 12:3)

Like Moshe, Shmuel also asserts that he never took a donkey from them. Why, of all things that they did not take from the Jewish People, did both Moshe and Shmuel mention donkeys? What made them get so upset?

לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי מה שהיה דרכי ליטול לא נטלתי מהם בנוהג שבעולם אדם שהוא עושה בהקדש נוטל שכרו מן ההקדש ואני בשעה שהייתי יורד מן מדין למצרים היה דרכי ליטול מהן חמור שבשביל צרכיהם ירדתי ולא נטלתי וכן שמואל הצדיק אמר (שמואל א יב) הנני ענו בי נגד ה’ ונגד משיחו את שור מי לקחתי וחמור מי לקחתי … וכשהייתי חוזר ועושה דיניהם וצרכיהם והולך וסובב כל עיירות ישראל שנא’ (שם /שמואל א’/ ז) והלך מדי שנה בשנה וסבב בית אל דרך העולם בעלי דינין הולכין אצל הדיין ואני הייתי הולך וסובב מעיר לעיר וממקום למקום וחמור שלי

“I did not take a donkey from them”: Moshe said, “What should have been mine to take, I did not take from them. It is customary that a person who works for a charity can be paid by that charity, and I, when I left Midian to go to Egypt, I should have taken a donkey because I traveled for their benefit.”

Likewise, Shmuel said, “Whose donkey have I taken?” When he used to judge all their cases and see to all their needs, and he would travel around all the towns of Israel. He said, “It is the way of the world for the parties in a court case to go to the judge, and I used to go around from town to town and place to place, on my own donkey.” (Bamidbar Rabba 18:10)

Both Shmuel and Moshe dedicated their lives to serving the Jewish People. Neither one gained anything by it; not only did they not collect taxes, not only did they not accept gifts and offerings, but they did not even ask to be compensated for their expenses[1].
It was not only money that they dedicated to the Jewish People. The donkey that Moshe did not get compensated for was the donkey which he used to leave his home in Midian, upon which he placed his wife and sons to send them back while he was busy taking the Jews of out Egypt. The donkey that Shmuel never got compensated for was the donkey that he used to leave his home and family to travel on behalf of the Jewish People so they would have ready access to a judge and to spiritual leadership. They sacrificed not only their fortune, but also their homes and their family lives [2].

How ironic that the Jewish People would seek to supplant each of them with a political system that was the opposite of their attitude of self-sacrifice. Moshe was challenged by Korach, whose cry of equality was a thinly veiled bid for power and money. Shmuel was replaced by a monarchy, which would be sustained by taxes that are taken by force.

The Torah tells us that even prophets like Moshe and Shmuel are hurt by rejection. Those who dedicate their entire lives to the Jewish People without expecting anything in return, nevertheless need a modicum of appreciation.

Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

 

[1] The Midrash explains that they were independently wealthy, and even lists wealth among the ideal qualifications for being a prophet.
[2] It is not coincidental that both Moshe and Shmuel had sons who were not fit to take over from them.

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Korach

The Haftarah of Korach is about Shmuel, who, according to Chazal, is descended from Korach’s sons.

Linear Annotated Translation of the Haftarah of Korach

Shmuel finds himself in a situation similar to Moshe’s in Parshat Korach.

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Shelach

The Haftarah of Shelach is the second chapter of the very first book of Prophets, the book of Yehoshua, and tells the story of the spies that Yehoshua sent to Yericho.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shelach

The word “men” is used over and over again in the Haftarah, even when a pronoun would have been sufficient, a total of 12 times. Similarly, in the Parsha, when Moshe sends his spies, it says, “they were all men.” As opposed to what?

For one thing, as opposed to insects.

And one day: as opposed to women, and, as opposed to a community.

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Shelach – As Insects in Our Eyes

Parshat Shelach tells the story of the delegation that Moshe to check out the Land of Israel just before they were supposed to begin the conquest. They returned with a dangerously mixed message: true, the land is beautiful, but there is no way that they could conquer it. This report destroyed the morale of the Jewish People, who refused to risk being killed in battle and demanded to go back to Egypt. G-d responded by decreeing that they must stay in the desert for forty years, with the hope that the next generation would have more courage and more faith.

The Haftarah takes place at the end of those forty years. The entire original generation is dead, and Yehoshua is now poised to take the Jewish People into the Land of Israel and begin the conquest. Like Moshe, Yehoshua sends spies to scout out the land. His “secret agents” are identified within hours of arriving in Jericho, and after a single conversation with one person (Rachav the prostitute), spend the rest of their time hiding out from the authorities. Nevertheless, the Haftarah relates their mission not as a failure, but as a success. By understanding what went right with Yehoshua’s spies in the Haftarah, we can begin to understand what went wrong with Moshe’s spies in the Parsha.

The final report of Yehoshua’s spies shows us that they achieved the purpose of their mission. It states:

כִּי נָתַן ה’ בְּיָדֵנוּ אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ וְגַם נָמֹגוּ כָּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפָּנֵינוּ
“… that Hashem has given the entire land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the land are helpless before us.” (Yehoshua 2:24)

Yeshoshua’s spies were not sent to get information about the weaknesses of the city and its army. That is not what the Jewish People needed to know in order to conquer the land. What they needed to hear was more basic:

  • It is G-d who decides who wins and who loses
  • Those who currently live in the land are aware of this, and therefore do not have the courage to fight back.

Armed with this belief, they would be able to take on the conquest of fortified cities defended by experienced, trained armies. Without this belief, it would be not only impossible but pointless.

Did Moshe’s generation not share this belief? Did they not know that it is Hashem who runs the world? In the Haftarah, when Rachav tells Yehoshua’s spies the reasons why the people of Jericho are terrified, she points to the Splitting of the Sea as the event that showed G-d’s power and His intervention on behalf of the Jewish People. Moshe’s spies had been there in person, they themselves crossed the Sea. Moreover, in the Song of the Sea, they sang:

אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם אֵילֵי מוֹאָב יֹאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד נָמֹגוּ כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי כְנָעַן
Then the chieftains of Edom are shaken, the heads of Moav are gripped by trembling, all the inhabitants of Canaan are helpless (Shemot 15:15)

Moshe’s spies knew that the Splitting of the Sea would cause the inhabitants of Canaan to feel helpless and powerless to oppose them. How, then, did they come back from their mission and say the following:

לֹא נוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת אֶל הָעָם כִּי חָזָק הוּא מִמֶּנּו
No, we cannot go up against that nation, for they are stronger than we are.
(Bamidbar 13:31)

It is as if G-d is not part of the equation at all. And when you take Him out of the equation, then in reality, the Canaanites were much stronger, physically and militarily, than the Jewish People, and Israel had no chance against them. The spies continued to report from that perspective:

…הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר עָבַרְנוּ בָהּ לָתוּר אֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִוא וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ בְתוֹכָהּ אַנְשֵׁי מִדּוֹת: וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם:
“…the land that we toured through is a land that eats its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw there were men of measure. There we saw the Nefilim, the sons of the giant, of the Nefilim! We were as insects in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes. (Bamidbar 13:32-3)

It is true that Canaan is a difficult land. It is true that the people who lived there were “men of measure”, and it is even true that some of the cities were inhabited by a race that could be considered “giants”.
But it is their last sentence that sheds the most light on the spies’ failure. “We were as insects in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.” The Midrash calls them to task for this statement:

אמרו ונהי בעינינו כחגבים אמר הקב”ה ויתרתי עליהם אלא וכן היינו בעיניהם יודעים הייתם מה עשיתי אתכם לעיניהם מי יאמר שלא הייתם בעיניהם כמלאכים
They said, “we were like insects in our eyes”. G-d said, I would have let this pass, but “so we were in their eyes”?! How do you know how I made you look in their eyes? Who says that you weren’t like angels in their eyes?!
(Bamidbar Rabba 16:11)

It is natural and understandable that while encountering such powerful people, the spies would feel “like insects in our eyes.” It does not bode well for a military campaign to have that self-image, but it might have passed. However, when they projected this image of themselves onto their opponents, they showed that they did not believe what they said at the Sea. They did not believe that G-d could cause the inhabitants of Canaan to feel powerless against them.

If you see yourself as an insect, and you don’t believe that G-d has any power over how others see you, then you are an insect, and have no business fighting giants.

But if you realize that how others see you is up to Him, then the giants are helpless before you. If G-d wants the inhabitants of Canaan to see the Jewish People as His avenging angels, then that is what they will see.

And so, a few chapters after the Haftarah, when the Jewish People fulfil the promise made to Rachav by Yehoshua’s spies to save her and her family, this is how they are described:

וְאֶת רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה וְאֶת בֵּית אָבִיהָ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהּ הֶחֱיָה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַתֵּשֶׁב בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה כִּי הֶחְבִּיאָה אֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְרַגֵּל אֶת יְרִיחוֹ
And Rachav the prostitute and her family and all that was hers, Yehoshua protected; she lived among Israel until this day, for she hid the angels that Yehoshua sent to spy on Jericho (Yehoshua 6:25)

When Rachav encountered Yehoshua’s spies, she did not see two men who were amateur gatherers of military intelligence. She saw angels of G-d.

Moshe’s spies did not believe that they were seen as angels of G-d. They saw themselves as insects, and could not fathom that anyone might be helpless before them. They projected this self-image to the rest of the Jewish People, and made conquest impossible. Yehoshua’s generation, raised under the shadow of G-d’s Presence for forty years in the desert, internalized the concept that they are G-d’s People, representing Him as His messengers to the world. They had the courage and faith to be angels, and so they were seen by the inhabitants of Canaan.


PDF for printing, 3 pages A5 Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

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Beha’alotcha

The Haftarah of Beha’alotcha is the same as the one read on Chanukah, the vision of the Menorah in Zechariah.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Beha’alotcha

The connection to the Parsha is of course, through the Menorah, as the commandment to light the Menorah is at the beginning of the Parsha. But there is more to it, as always. The Light in Our Midst

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Beha’alotcha – The Light in our Midst

Parshat Beha’alotcha begins with the commandment to light the Menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Haftarah of Beha’alotcha also talks about the Menorah, relating Zechariah’s vision of the Menorah with two olive trees around it. The Haftarah does not begin directly with the Menorah, but rather with the following verses:

רָנִּי וְשִׂמְחִי בַּת צִיּוֹן כִּי הִנְנִי בָא וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְתוֹכֵךְ נְאֻם ה’. וְנִלְווּ גוֹיִם רַבִּים אֶל ה’ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְהָיוּ לִי לְעָם וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְתוֹכֵךְ
Sing and rejoice, Daughter of Tzion! For I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst, says Hashem. Many nations will attach to Hashem on that day, and become My people; and I will dwell in your midst … (Zechariah 2:14-15)

“I will dwell in your midst” was the purpose that G-d gave for building the Mishkan, when it was first introduced back in Terumah. Behaalotcha describes the last stages of its dedication, and the commandment to light the Menorah is the last step of that dedication. Chazal explain that the order of events were as follows: as soon as Moshe finished putting up the Mishkan, it was covered by the cloud of G-d’s Presence, signifying the fulfilment of “I will dwell in your midst.” Hashem called Moshe and told him to enter the Mishkan, within the cloud, in order to receive more commandments. The first of those was the commandment to light the Menorah:

דַּבֵּר אֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ אֶת הַנֵּרֹת אֶל מוּל פְּנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה יָאִירוּ שִׁבְעַת הַנֵּרוֹת
Speak to Aharon and tell him: as you raise the candles toward the face of the Menorah, seven candles will give light. (Bamidbar 8:2)

Once the Mishkan was functional, and “I will dwell in your midst” came to pass, the next step is lighting the Menorah. Similarly, in the Haftarah, the prophet is told, “I will dwell in your midst,” and then he is shown a vision of the Menorah. Once G-d dwells in our midst, the Jewish People must respond by lighting the Menorah. For whom do we light these candles?

The Midrash on Beha’alotcha asks the following question: the candles that Aharon lights face inwards “towards the face of the Menorah”, not outwards, as if they are lit for G-d Himself. But, asks the Midrash, what need does G-d have of our light? He is the source of all light, it was the very first thing He created, why does He want us to light candles for Him each day?

אמרו ישראל לפני הקב”ה רבש”ע לנו אתה אומר שנאיר לפניך אתה הוא אורו של עולם …
ואתה אומר אל מול פני המנורה הוי כי אתה תאיר נרי אמר להם הקב”ה לא שאני צריך לכם אלא שתאירו לי כדרך שהארתי לכם
Israel said to G-d, “Master of the Universe! You’re telling us to light before You, when You are the Light of the Universe!”.. And You say, “raise the candles toward the face of the Menorah!”. …G-d said to them, “It’s not that I need you, but rather that you should light for Me like I lit for you.”

The Midrash asserts that our light is meant to reciprocate the light that G-d lit for us on the way in the desert. The Parsha describes the signal used for the camp to travel:

אוֹ יֹמַיִם אוֹ חֹדֶשׁ אוֹ יָמִים בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן לִשְׁכֹּן עָלָיו יַחֲנוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ וּבְהֵעָלֹתוֹ יִסָּעוּ Or two days or a month or a year, if the cloud would be dwelling a long time on the Mishkan, B’nei Yisrael would camp and not travel, and as it would rise, they would travel (Bamidbar 9:22)

The cloud that represented the Presence of G-d would rise above the Mishkan, and direct the way for the Jewish People in the desert. At night, this cloud appeared as a pillar of fire (Shemot 40:38), and lit their way. When G-d requested that we light the Menorah, it was to reciprocate Him lighting our way in the desert. The Midrash brings a parable to explain this:

משל למה הדבר דומה לפיקח וסומא שהיו מהלכין בדרך אמר לו פיקח לסומא כשנכנס לתוך הבית צא והדלק לי את הנר הזה והאיר לי אמר לו הסומא בטובתך כשהייתי בדרך אתה היית מסמכני עד שנכנסנו לתוך הבית אתה היית מלוה אותי ועכשיו אתה אומר הדלק לי את הנר הזה והאיר לי אמר לו הפקח שלא תהא מחזיק לי טובה שהייתי מלווך בדרך לכך אמרתי לך האיר לי
What is the analogy? A sighted person and a blind person who were traveling together. When they got to the house, the sighted one said to the blind one, “Go light a candle for me”. The blind one said, “All the time we were on the road, you led me and supported me, now you ask me to light you a candle?!” He said, “So that you shouldn’t be indebted to me that I accompanied you on the road.”

The relationship between G-d and the Jewish People must not be entirely one-sided. There is a component that comes from G-d giving to us, and there is a component that comes from our actions, giving, as it were, to Him. Lighting the Menorah is the action that parallels G-d’s pillar of light.

The cloud of G-d’s Presence is a remarkable thing, a visible manifestation of a spiritual phenomenon. It was necessary for its time, both on a practical and on a spiritual level, but there was no way that such a situation could exist in perpetuity. Once the Jewish People entered the Land of Israel, the cloud was no longer needed, and it disappeared. But the Menorah remained, and we continued to demonstrate our part of the relationship by lighting the candles, for G-d.
When Shlomo built the Temple, the cloud of G-d’s Presence appeared again to signal G-d’s acceptance of it as His House. At the time of Zechariah, the prophet of the Haftarah, the second Temple was being rebuilt, but the visible sign of G-d’s Presence did not appear. One of the fears of the Jewish People was that G-d did not accept this new Temple. That is why the Haftarah goes out of its way to reassure the Jewish People that G-d would indeed dwell in their midst. It is also why Zechariah is shown a vision of the Menorah. Even when the cloud is not visible, the light of the Menorah affirms G-d dwelling in our midst. The Menorah represents our role as His people, to do what He asks of us, not because He needs us to, but because it binds us to Him.


PDF for printing, 2 pages
Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

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Filed under Beha'alotcha, Connections, Sefer Bamidbar

Shavuot

On Shavuot, we read the first chapter of Yechezkel, known as “Ma’aseh Merkavah” (The Divine Chariot). It describes a vision of many different kinds of angelic beings in a complicated arrangement involving color, light, and motion. Chazal called it “Mercava”, we might say, “G-d’s motorcycle”, or even, “G-d’s UFO.” The Mishna in Chagiga says that it is so esoteric is should not be studied even in small groups, yet it is the public reading for a major holiday.

Linear Annotated Translation of the Haftarah of Shavuot – where I do my best to at least describe what he was seeing, even if we cannot explain it.

As to why we read it on Shavuot – the source of the connection is in the following verses in the description of Matan Torah:

וַיִּרְאוּ אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר וּכְעֶצֶם הַשָּׁמַיִם לָטֹהַר
They saw a vision of the G-d of Israel, and under his feet was something like transparent sapphire, like the essence of a clear sky. (Shemot 24:10)

and

וּמַרְאֵה כְּבוֹד ה’ כְּאֵשׁ אֹכֶלֶת בְּרֹאשׁ הָהָר לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
The appearance of the Kevod Hashem, was like a devouring flame at the top of the mountain, in the eyes of Bnei Yisrael.

The real question is why Yechezkel is shown this vision of Kevod Hashem as part of the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

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Filed under Holidays, Shavuot