Parshat Chukat - "ויפלו על־פניהם"

Parshat Balak 5786 - "ויחל העם לזנות אל־בנות מואב"

This week we read פרשת בלק, a פרשה which opens with בלק commanding בלעם to curse בני ישראל. However, quickly בלעם declares that he can only state what HaShem puts in his mouth, and instead is forced to bless the nation despite his desire to fulfil בלק’s requests. The climax of these ברכות is expressed in “מה־טבו אהליך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל - how good are your tents, Ya’akov, your tabernacles, Yisrael.” The ילקוט שמעוני explains that at his vantage point בלעם saw the entire encampment of the nation, an arrangement in which no two tents' entrances faced together, a demonstration of great dignity and privacy. It is this virtue, the ילקוט שמעוני expresses, which is praised in בלעם’s ברכה. Furthermore, the ילקוט שמעוני presents this modesty as more than a mere practice, but rather the defining trait of the nation: a tradition unbroken from the time of אברהם. This only makes what follows, just a few פסוקים later, all the more striking: “וישב ישראל בשטים ויחל העם לזנות אל־בנות מואב - and Yisrael settled in Shittim, and the nation defiled themselves in harlotry to the daughters of מואב”. The Torah then writes that these women led the nation to עבודה זרה and caused them to become attached to their god, בעל פעור. But how did this happen? How can a people characterized by such modesty abandon it so quickly? This difficulty only deepens when we turn to the end of the פרשה. There, HaShem brings a plague upon the nation, declaring all who were involved with בעל פעור must die. Yet, in the midst of the plague פנחס kills זמרי, who sinned publicly, and stops the plague. The מושב זקנים explains that through this act, he was able to save the lives of many. But, this only raises more questions: why must everyone be subject to death - are they not capable of תושבה? And if they are truly deserving of the death penalty, how can one public execution save them?

Parshat Chukat - "ויפלו על־פניהם"

This week we read פרשת חוקת, a פרשה best known for the פרה אדומה and the incident of מי מריבה. Yet before the episode of striking the rock, an unusual reaction takes place that demands attention. After the nation complains about the lack of water, משה and אהרן enter the אהל מועד, and the Torah states: “ויפלו על־פניהם וירא כבוד־ה׳ אליהם - they fell on their faces and saw the glory of G-d amongst them”; they perform נפילת אפיים. Yet, this expression is not unique to this moment; it appears in different contexts throughout the Torah: with קין after his קרבן is rejected, by אברהם upon hearing the promise of the birth of יצחק, and again regarding משה in other times of national crises. But what is the connection between these radically different settings, and what does that reveal about the true meaning נפילת אפיים?

Parshat Korach 5786 - "ויקח קרח"

This week we read פרשת קרח, which records the first structured rebellion against משה. The Parsha opens with אבירם ,דתן ,קרח, and the 250 נשיא העדה, princes of the assembly, gathering before משה and אהרן. Their claim is simple: “כל־העדה כלם קדשים ובתוכם ה׳ - the entire community is holy and HaShem dwells amongst them”. If so, why should משה and אהרן stand above everyone else? משה responds by setting up a test to determine whom HaShem has chosen. In the process, דתן and אבירם refuse to join, און disappears from the narrative, leaving it just to the נשיאים and קרח, who manages to rally all of עם ישראל to watch what will unfold. Ultimately, they fail, and HaShem makes clear their wickedness in a miraculous way, where the earth swallows דתן ,קרח and אבירם, and a fire burns the princes. Yet coming out of this story, the reader is left wondering: How did this happen? What is the worldview of קרח, and where did he go wrong? Furthermore, how was he able to convince אבירם ,דתן ,און, the נשיאים, and even, if only for a small moment, the entire nation? Recorded in Yeshivat Sha'alvim

Parshat Shelach 5786 - "במספר הימים אשר־תרתם את־הארץ"

This week parsha is פרשת שלח, where משה sends the מרגלים to scout out ארץ כנען - a mission which lasts for 40 days. However, upon their return, the spies attempt to rally עם ישראל against entering ארץ כנען, claiming that its inhabitants are too strong to be defeated. Their report sparks an uprising amongst the nation, who even begin to plan a return to Egypt. In response, HaShem declares that this generation will not enter ארץ כנען, and that בני ישראל will wander in the מדבר for 40 years, “במספר הימים אשר־תרתם את־הארץ - according to the number of days that you spied the land”. This naturally raises 2 questions: Why should the punishment correspond to the number of days that the spies scouted ארץ כנען, and what exactly is this penalty’s purpose?

Parshat Beha’alotecha 5786 - "האספסף אשר בקרבו"

This week’s Parsha, פרשת בהעלותך is filled with excitement. The opening half of the פרשה describes עם ישראל preparing for the journey into ארץ ישראל. The לוים are inaugurated into their roles, משה invites יתרו to join them in their conquest, and HaShem details the order of the trumpets which will guide ישראל in their takeover of the promised land. The nation finally packs up and, for the first time since being reorganized, moves forward. But in פרק יא, there is a sudden shift in tone. Two episodes of complaints are made, and the momentum comes to a halt. First, the scene of the “complainers”, upon whom HaShem’s anger is kindled, resulting in the burning of their portion of the camp. Next comes the demand for meat, initiated by the ערב רב and spread to כלל ישראל, which elicits one of the most severe reactions from משה in the Torah, and introduces the first hints that this generation might not be fit to enter ארץ ישראל. However, this transition is deeply puzzling. Only one week ago, in פרשת נשא, we saw the greatness of עם ישראל, as they expressed unity in love of HaShem through each שבט’s קרבנות. How did they decline so quickly? Furthermore, the complaints themselves are difficult to understand. The Torah doesn’t go into depth about the sin of the “complainers”, and the nation’s earlier cry for food had previously been answered graciously. What, then, about these complaints warranted such harsh responses, and why did the Torah put them next to each other? Recorded in Yeshivat Sha'alvim