I thought that it would be nice for once to think a little bit about Parshas Mas’ei. As it is usually connected to Parshas Matos, a parshah which itself is packed with important yesodos it tends to receive short shrift, but there really is a tremendous amount here that needs our attention. Let us turn our attentions to Rashi here at the beginning of the Parsha (Bamidbar 33:1): read more…
Most of us are very well acquainted with the details of the very sad story of Zimri. We know how he came and challenged Moshe. Our horrified minds can all too well imagine the scene. Moshe and all the Zekeinim stand by helplessly as Zimri commences his depraved chillul Hashem, even as the moans and gasps of his dying compatriots rise up from all around his tent. But, baruch Hashem there is a stir in the crowd. We can see Pinchos simply jump out of his skin! “Achi Avi Abba! Didn’t you teach me when you came down from Har Sinai that a zealot can take the life of one who dares have relations with an Aramis!?” Moshe Rabbeinu acknowledges the halacha and tells him “Krayna d’Igresa, ihu l’havei parvanka! You remembered the din, you follow it through!” read more…
Parshas Chukas is a parsha which we expect to be difficult for us to understand. Shlomo Hamelech already said about the mitzvah of Parah Adumah (Koheles 7:23) as follows:
כָּל־זֹ֖ה נִסִּ֣יתִי בַֽחָכְמָ֑ה אָמַ֣רְתִּי אֶחְכָּ֔מָה וְהִ֖יא רְחוֹקָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנִּי:
I have tested every wisdom; I said that I would become wise but it is distant from me.
Says the Midrash (Midrash Zuta, Koheles 7:23):
כל זה נסיתי בחכמה. ר’ יצחק פתח כל זה נסיתי בחכמה, אמר שלמה לא הנחתי חכמה בעולם שלא עמדתי עליה, וכיון שהגעתי לפרשת פרה אדומה, אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני.
I have tested every wisdom – R. Yitzchok opened his exposition “I have tested every wisdom – Shlomo said “There is no wisdom in this world that I did not learn and fully understand – until I got to the Parah Aduma. Then I said ‘I will be wise [i.e. add this wisdom to the list of all the others] but it is distant from me.’” read more…
I often think of this week that transitions between Parshas Beha’alosecha and Parshas Shelach Lecha to be one of the saddest weeks of the year. Thinking about the contrast between what once was and could have always been, and what actually transpired is just an extremely painful experience.
Let us go back in time, to just about the midpoint in Parshas Beha’alosecha. The pesukim there (Bamidbar 10:11) read as follows:
וַיְהִ֞י בַּשָּׁנָ֧ה הַשֵּׁנִ֛ית בַּחֹ֥דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֖י בְּעֶשְׂרִ֣ים בַּחֹ֑דֶשׁ נַעֲלָה֙ הֶֽעָנָ֔ן מֵעַ֖ל מִשְׁכַּ֥ן הָעֵדֻֽת:
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The presence of the mitzvah of Pesach Sheini in Parshas Beha’aloscha opens up a wonderful opportunity for us to revisit the parsha of the Korban Pesach. We last encountered it back in Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim. There we were acquainted with the unbelievable words of the Chizkuni who helped us translate the following very difficult pasuk (Devarim 16:3) as follows:
לֹא־תֹאכַ֤ל עָלָיו֙ חָמֵ֔ץ שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֛ים תֹּֽאכַל־עָלָ֥יו מַצּ֖וֹת לֶ֣חֶם עֹ֑נִי…
Do not eat it with chametz; for seven days you shall eat matzos, bread of affliction, because of it…
Just about every single Yom Tov in our calendar comes along with its own cheftza shel mitzvah. In a very large way, these items put the Yom Tov into a framework for us. It is through the intensive preparations of these items before the Yom Tov as well as the correct usage of them on the Yom Tov that we are capable of properly celebrating the day and maximizing what we are capable of taking away from it. Who could imagine a Pesach without the weeks-long preparation of ridding the house of chametz, and the many more months-long preparations of making the matzah! What would a Succos be like without spending many long hours on putting up the succah, finding a spotless Esrog and a Lulav whose t’yomes is sealed far tighter than even the most classified government documents! Can you imagine a Rosh Hashana without a shofar? Yom Kippur without fasting? Chanuka without a menorah or Purim without a megillah?
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