Pinchas

With God’s help we are beginning the study of the weekly portion Pinchas and will read from verse 10 of chapter 25 of the book of Bemidbar. We stopped at the point where the blessed people of Israel lives in Shitim, begins close contact with the Midyanite women and cleaves to their god – Ba'al-Pe'or, the god of death, the god of the grave, the god who is connected with the underworld. The people of Israel began to make a covenant with Ba'al-Pe'or, leaving the covenant with the Most High. And when one Israelite brought a Midyanite girl into his tent, the whole people wept. And against the background of the whole people weeping, Pinchas, son of Elazar the kohen, entered the place of their seclusion, entered with a spear and killed, pierced both with the spear. Thereby the anger of the Most High was turned away from the people of Israel, and the plague that had broken out among the people stopped.

And we read the continuation of this story from verse 10 of chapter 25.

When the zeal of the Most High showed itself, and when even one man displayed the zeal of the Most High among the people of Israel, then this one man already changed the situation so much that thereby he justified the whole people of Israel. We see here how great a danger hung over Israel at that moment, from what a great danger Pinchas delivered Israel by his deed.

So, for his deed Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon the kohen receives the approval of the Most High and a reward: the Most High makes a covenant of peace with him and says that Pinchas and his seed receive eternal priesthood. But we did read it, we know that Pinchas is the son of Elazar, son of Aharon the kohen, and it seems he is a kohen anyway, and, accordingly, his children are kohanim too. So what is a separate agreement needed for? Well, first, we know that Aharon and the children of Aharon were anointed for the priesthood, but the grandchildren were not anointed. Therefore it is quite possible that at that moment Pinchas had not been anointed for the priesthood. Another thought arises from recalling the origin of Pinchas. Pinchas is first mentioned in chapter 6 of the book of Shemot, in verse 25: “And Elazar, son of Aharon, took for himself a wife from the daughters of Puti'el, and she bore him Pinchas,” that is, Elazar married one of the daughters of a certain Puti'el. The commentators say that Puti'el is none other than the Egyptian Pharaoh. And it seems, on the one hand, this traces Pinchas back to Pharaoh himself, to noble Egyptian blood. On the other hand, his Jewishness, his belonging to the Jewish people, the purity of his blood is called into question. And in this the midrashim also see one of the likely reasons why he was not anointed for the service. Other commentators say: at that moment, when the Israelite brought the Midyanite woman, he led her up to Moshe and asked: “Tell me, Moshe, is this woman permitted to me? If you say that she is not permitted, then on what grounds did you take a Midyanite woman for yourself?” And because of this Moshe wept, Moshe was at a loss, and only Pinchas, receiving the spirit of God and understanding what the Most High wants, displayed Divine zeal. And this very quality of receiving the Divine spirit, of receiving the Divine will, Pinchas’s ability to display Divine zeal and to atone for the people, this is what made him a kohen. He simply bore witness to the qualities of a kohen in himself.

Pinchas himself has an amazing destiny, which can be traced both in the Tanach and in the midrashim. In the book of Yehoshua bin Nun, in chapter 22, the story is told of how the sons of the tribes of Gad, Re'uven and half the tribe of Menashe decided to build in their allotment an altar similar to Moshe’s altar. They built themselves an altar that could be seen from afar. This, of course, outraged the sons of Israel, because some alternative holy site arises, an alternative place of worship, which again could lead to the zeal of the Most High and to anger against all Israel. And the people of Israel had already gathered for a civil war against these renegades, but first decided to send a delegation headed by Pinchas, son of Elazar. Pinchas made a heartfelt speech to them, and they answered him: “The LORD – He is our LORD too, we thought nothing else. But we were afraid that because of our geographical position you would someday reject us and say: ‘You are not part of our people at all.’ And so we built a copy of the sanctuary in case you have some claim, and then we will say to you: ‘Look, see, we have exactly the same sanctuary, not for sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and you, we are of one blood with you.’” This answer satisfied Pinchas, and the civil war was prevented.

The next time we meet Pinchas is after the very sad story of the concubine from the town of Giva, within the territory of the tribe of Binyamin (book of Shoftim, 19–20). A certain man went to bring back his concubine, who had quarreled with him and gone off to her father in Beit-Lechem. He took her from her father’s house, and they went home, to the outskirts of the mountains of Efrayim. On the way they stopped to spend the night in the town of Giva. And the population gathered, and forced them to hand over the concubine, and they raped her all night. And many sad events connected with this (I do not want to go into the details) roused the whole people of Israel against the tribe of Binyamin. And we read (20:28) that Pinchas ben Elazar stood in those days for the people, and they said: “Shall I go out again to battle with the sons of Binyamin, my brother, or shall I leave it?” And the LORD said: “Go out, for tomorrow I will give him into your hand.” That is, Pinchas again tries somehow to make peace, to avoid civil war, but this time he does not succeed.

Once more we meet Pinchas in the first book of Divrei haYamim, in chapter 9, where it says that he was the leader over the Levites already in the times of David. Let us note Pinchas’s longevity: this man lived at least five centuries. This is what Scripture says directly.

And the midrashim say much more. The midrashim say that after the events described Pinchas became as it were an angel, and he is not the only one whom the midrashim made an angel.

Chanoch was taken alive to the Most High and became Metatron, the angel of the lower face (in the hierarchy of angels). Lemech became the angel of death, a midrash also says this, although not such a well-known and not such a popular one.

And here – Pinchas, one more angel who was a man and became the eternal herald of peace. He is the very angel who appeared to Gidon and Yiftach. Pinchas is identified with the prophet Eliyahu, the midrash draws very many parallels between them and says that Pinchas-Eliyahu, of whom the prophet says: “Behold, I send an angel,” will proclaim the coming of Mashiach. And if we took this idea as Messianic Jews, we would say that Pinchas is Eliyahu, who is also Yochanan the Immerser, who also testifies of himself that he came to reconcile fathers and children, that is, his goal too is reconciliation. That very covenant of peace (brít shalóm) can be seen here as a parallel. Although we need to remember that a midrash is a midrash, and it is only an attempt at a human understanding of the biblical text. Such an unusual personality – Pinchas ben Elazar, clearly long-lived and a man with a very amazing destiny.

The name Zimri may be connected with chanting; the word zamár – is a singer, zémer – a song, a melody, a tune. It can also mean the pruning of branches (zmirá), when, for example, grapevines are pruned so that they do not draw excess sap from the plant. The name Salu means wholeness, abundance, fullness. And Zimri ben Salu was a chief in one of the houses, in one of the five families of Shimon. This shows that Pinchas was not afraid to act against a person who held a high position among the people. That is, he did not say: “The giraffe is big, he knows better. He is the boss, and my part is a small one,” but went and, zealous with the zeal of the LORD, pierced with a spear even a big boss.

The name Kozbi, if we translate on the basis of modern Hebrew, is connected with the word kozév – deceptive, misleading, the verb leachzév means to disappoint. That is what they could call a girl who was born instead of a long-awaited boy. I once had occasion to talk with a girl whose name was Achzavá (disappointment). In our days and in our time her parents named her so because they wanted a boy to be born, and it is not easy for her to live with this name. And another understanding of the name Kozbi – abundance, plenty, prosperity. And, generally speaking, it can be translated exactly the same way as the name Salu. The name Tzur means a rock or a big stone. And this Tzur – he is the head of one of the houses in Midyan.

So, the man who was killed by Pinchas was called Zimri. This gave rise to a proverb. When a person embellishes his deeds, people say that he is doing the deed of Zimri and asking for a reward like Pinchas.

From verse 16 another topic begins.

That is, the Most High says: “Now the Midyanites have seen that their Pe'or has been dishonored, that you have parted with him, broken the covenant with him, and for this they will take revenge on you, they are preparing all kinds of cunning schemes against you. They will plot evil against you, they will build conspiracies against you and try to wage war with you, therefore act preemptively and attack them.” From this a rule was derived: whoever plots to kill you, get ahead of him and kill him, do not wait until you are attacked.

Here chapter 25 ends, and we will continue reading from verse 1 of chapter 26.

Since Aharon has died, the LORD no longer addresses Moshe and Aharon, but Moshe and Aharon’s son, Elazar.

That is, preparing the people for the war with Midyan, the Most High commands a general mobilization. The Most High did not say: “Let ten men gather, I will perform a miracle, and you will defeat them.” No, full dedication is required on the part of the people of Israel for taking part in this war.

And here begins, actually, the listing, the count of the sons of Israel.

 Maybe this is an opportunity to say a little about why the Torah says: “Of Karmi – Karmi’s family, of Chetzron – Chetzron’s family.” This is so that people would not say: “They lived there, in Egypt, in slavery, and the Egyptians ruled over them. And their wives were slaves of the Egyptians too, so – go figure which woman has children by whom? How do they even know that these are their children?” And therefore here the Torah gives the names: of Chetzron – Chetzron’s children, of Karmi – Karmi’s children, each has his own children, so that there would be no suspicions at all. We will talk about this more as we study chapter 26 further.

And one of the sons of Palu was a man named Eli'av, we read about him and will recall him now.

 Since the conversation has already turned to Re'uven and his descendants, the Torah reminds us what this family of Palu is and who these Datan and Aviram are.

In verse 10 the Torah again reminds us of the story:

We said that besides that community there were also people who came out with fire pans to the sanctuary, laying claim to the kohen’s service, and the fire devoured them, and they became a sign, they became a byword among the nations, they became a wonder.

An amazing thing. The sons of Korach, as the midrash says, decided at the last moment that they were not with their father, that they did not agree with this rebellion, did not want to take part in it, and their teshuvá (repentance) at the last moment saved them from being swallowed by the underworld. Some commentators say that it was as if a pillar arose in this chasm in the earth, and the sons of Korach remained standing and were not swallowed by the underworld. We read about the sons of Korach that they were psalmists at the court of David, and there are psalms of the sons of Korach in Tehillim.

With God’s help we continue to study the weekly portion Pinchas and will read from verse 12 of chapter 26 of the book of Bemidbar. Last time we began reading the list, the report of the census, the last census before entering Israel, which Moshe and Elazar, son of Aharon, conducted by the command of the Most High, among other things also for dividing the land into allotments. We began reading it and stopped at the beginning. It is high time to talk about the first, let us say, Jewish surnames that we meet here. They are formed by adding to the name of the father of the family the little letter hey in front and at the end – the little letter yud. That is, if we meet the name Namu'el, then the surname of Namu'el’s descendants will be haNamu'eli. And, as we have already said, this is evidence that the fathers of the families are also the biological fathers of the children, so that there would be no suspicion that these children were born out of wedlock, from some Egyptian masters, under pressure, as a result of violence or of a liaison of Jewish women with Egyptians.

As usually happens when the Torah gives some lists, it does not invent some new language, does not try to be literarily rich, but continues the description of all the other tribes in the very same language. So this chapter may seem boring because of this recitative of names, and nevertheless there will also be very interesting details in it.

 Here, in the name Ozni, we possibly meet a pet name for the first time in the whole Torah. The name Ozni is formed from the name Ozniyahu, as, for example, the name Kolya from the name Nikolai or the name Kostya from the name Konstantin. Ozniyahu – the one whom the Most High weighs, balances. The same can also be understood as the one who hears the Most High, or the one whom the Most High hears. The point is that a person’s ears can be compared to the pans of a scale: they are on the two sides of the head and, figuratively speaking, balance through hearing the bad and the good, the kind and the ill. Therefore it is interesting that there is a connection between the word ózen (ear) and the verb le'azén (to balance), these words have the same root.

From verse 19 the sons of Yehuda are listed, the most numerous of all the tribes of Israel.

 We know that his two sons, Er and Onan, died long ago, even before the people went down to Egypt. And yet they are listed here. A person never forgets his sons, even the dead ones. And the Torah pays tribute to Yehuda by mentioning these sons of his.

 Of course, over time surnames tend to change. Today it is hard to meet a person with the surname haPartzi. But a person with the surname Péretz is quite easy to meet, very many Eastern Jews bear this surname. And tradition says that they belong to the descendants of King David. Among other Eastern families that bear surnames of the house of David (since we have started talking about it), one can mention the surname Dayan (judge) and the surname Mani. Mani – this is literally an abbreviation of Min Netzar Ishai (from the descendants of Ishai), that is, from the descendants of David. And the surname Kárga also belongs to the descendants of the court of David. Most likely, Lurie, Rubinstein, Charlap and Grossman, among the Ashkenazi Jews, belong to the descendants of David. And if someone has such a surname in the family, then one can suppose (of course, with a great deal of caution) that King David is one of your ancestors. Such are these telling surnames. The fact that they are mentioned in the Torah in a different form shows that they were like this, they sounded like this at the moment when the people of Israel was entering the Holy Land. Naturally, there could not have been any Rubinsteins anywhere near at that time. But such are the twists of history that David ben Ishai begot somewhere there, later on, the family of the Rubinsteins too. So there you have the first namesakes in history.

Let us note that Zerach and the family haZarchi exist both among the sons of Shimon and among the sons of Yehuda.

 The name Tola, of course, has no connection to the modern name Anatoly. It comes from tolá'at shaní (a thread or wool dyed crimson). Perhaps it will be interesting to note that the name Puva is also connected with dyeing: it is the name of a plant (dyer’s madder), which is also used in dyeing fabrics. Both these names most likely became clan names, that is, commonly used, traditional names in the tribe of Yissachar. In the book of Shoftim (10:1–2) we read the story of a man named Tola ben Pua, who arose to save Israel and was judge for twenty-three years. He is from the tribe of Yissachar, although he lived and was buried in Shamir, in the mountains of Efrayim. That is, these very two names are mentioned here, though no longer as the names of brothers, but as the names of son and father. We will talk about Shamir in just a moment too.

The son of Yissachar Yashuv, who is mentioned in this verse, – is the same man who is called Yov in the book of Bereshit (46:13) among those going down to Egypt with Yaakov. The name Shimrón can be connected with the word shamír (one who is able to cut stones, piercing stones) or with the verb leshamér – to keep, that is, will be kept. Some commentators say that the very village of Shamir, in which the above-mentioned savior of Israel, Tola ben Pui, lived, is named after this very Shimron, one of the sons of Yissachar.

 And about this name, Eilon, we can also say that it became a clan name, became a name widespread in the tribe of Zevulun. In the same book of Shoftim (12:11–12) we read: “And after him Eilon the Zevulunite judged Yisrael, and he judged Yisrael 10 years. And Eilon the Zevulunite died and was buried in Eilon (and the place, the town is named after these sons), in the land of Zevulun.” So we see that this is how names take root and become clan names. Here we already have a third example.

The name Shechem means shoulder – one who is ready to lend a shoulder, a support in life.

The Torah does not list all the sons of Menashe here. Further on, in chapter 32 of our same book (41–42), we will read about two more sons of Menashe, Yair and Novach, who remained on the other side of the Jordan. We know that the tribe of Menashe divided, and in this case only those who will enter the land of Israel are listed.

The next verse is amazing, it breaks the uniformity of our narrative.

Serach, the daughter of Asher, is mentioned among those who went down to Egypt together with Yaakov, that is, she was already there in those times, and that means she lived through the whole galút (exile) in Egypt and the whole way back, which also speaks of her as a long-lived woman. And this is the plain meaning of the Torah. When we spoke about the longevity of Pinchas, we cited midrashim; and here too there are midrashim and interpretations.

Let us read from the second book of Shmuel (20:15–22): “And they came and besieged him (Sheva ben Bichri) in Aveil-Beit-Ma'acha; and they heaped up a mound before the city, which reached up to (the top of) the wall, and all the people who were with Yo'av began to destroy the wall, so that it would collapse. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Listen, listen, I pray, say to Yo'av: Come here, so that I may speak with you; and he came near to her, and the woman said: Are you Yo'av? And he said: I am. And she said to him: Hear the words of your maidservant. And he said: I am listening. And she spoke thus: It would have been proper to talk first, to ask aveilim (the inhabitants of Aveil), and then the matter would have been settled. I am of the peaceful and faithful people in Israel, and you want to destroy one of the mother cities in Israel. Why would you ruin the share of the LORD?” That is, the wise woman is a woman who also makes peace, prevents war. In some way her functions here are similar to the functions of Pinchas. And the midrashim compare this wise woman with that very same Serach, the daughter of Asher. There are no particular grounds for this, but mystically they see this image here. In just the same way they say that Serach bat Asher is one of the women who entered Gan Eden alive, who did not know death. The midrash Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer tells that Asher, the son of Yaakov, passed a secret on to his daughter: when the deliverer comes, he will have to say: pakod yifkod (He remembered). When the Most High commands Moshe to speak in Egypt with the old men of Israel (Shemot 3:16), He says to him: “Go, and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them…pakód pakádti (I remembered, with visiting I have visited)…” And when Moshe and Aharon came to the old men, they went to consult with the old woman Serach bat Asher, who was the keeper of the sign of deliverance and remembers how to recognize saviors. And she said to them: “Most likely these are impostors!” Then they retold Moshe’s words to her: “Here Moshe has come and says: pakód yivkód,” and at this point she says: “Aha, if he said that, then this man can be believed!” Such is the midrash that tells that among the people of Israel signs for identifying true deliverers are passed on secretly, and that Serach bat Asher was the keeper of the first of these signs. Such is the reputation that Serach Asherovna gained in the midrashim, in tradition. In the Torah we do not see this directly, although the midrashim find ways to rest on the Torah. But midrashim are beautiful in their place, and in our place we will continue reading further.

Rather contradictory and unclear instructions are contained in verses 54–56. After all, if we receive an instruction to divide on some logical basis, by some criterion known to us (for example, by the number of people), then we say: each tribe receives territory depending on its size. This territory, too, is not measured in square meters, but is measured by its fertility. It is clear that a hectare of fertile land may equal five hectares of less fertile land, and all this must be taken into account. And nevertheless these are some logical criteria that can be applied and on the basis of which the land can be divided. And the Most High says here to Moshe: “Divide the land by the number of people, divide the land by the number of each tribe.” And yet together with this the Most High says: “Divide the land by lot.” A lot is heads or tails, it is drawing some slips of paper (there are many different ways to cast lots), and the Most High says: “Apply the lot here.” But if we apply the lot, then we do not need logical criteria. And if we apply logic, then why do we need the lot? And the commentators argue about this.

Some say: “In fact, each tribe received its allotment by the number of people. And within this tribe each person received his allotment by lot.” That is, if a family bought a five-room apartment for the number of its family members, then who lives in which room is decided by lot. Someone wants to live in the room with the balcony, someone wants to live in some other room – bigger, smaller, brighter, darker. And they cast lots so that no one feels wronged. And this is even more understandable when it is a matter of a whole tribe, so that there would be no talk that the heads of the tribes took the best lands for themselves and gave someone else the worse lands. Someone wants brighter land, someone wants one kind of soil, someone wants another: everyone has his own wishes. So that there would be no scandal inside (according to this opinion), the lot is used for dividing the allotments within the tribe. But this is only one of the approaches. The lot is often applicable in practice precisely when there are no logical grounds for a choice. For a long time there was in Israel such a member of the Knesset – Rabbi Avraham Ravitz. He was a deputy of the Knesset, a politician, he ran for the Orthodox party Degel ha-Torah, whose name translates as Banner of the Torah. We will not talk about his politics. Besides that, he was a religious man, a rabbi, a father of twelve children, and he was also a sick man. For a long time he was ill, his kidneys were ailing, and one fine or not so fine day the doctor said to him: “Rav Avraham, you need a kidney transplant, otherwise you will not live long.” Rav Avraham came home and told his children what the doctor had said. All twelve children began to argue. We know that in organ transplantation compatibility is a quite serious factor, and relatives, sons and daughters, are the best donors for a father. The sons and daughters began to argue, the firstborn said: “I am the firstborn! I will give Dad a kidney!” Another brother said: “I go with Dad to all the doctors all the time, I drive him everywhere, I take care of him, and I will give him a kidney.” So they argued for a long time, decided nothing and came to the rabbinical court. And the rabbinical court said to them: “Guys, cast lots! Cast lots, because this way it is impossible to decide.” Lots are cast when it is impossible to indicate exactly, impossible to understand exactly what to do, how to decide, how to divide. And what about our case? Well, in our case it is clear how to divide, everything is said – by the size of the tribes, and the division within the tribe – by lot. Indeed, the lot divided the whole land into 600 or into 1000 small parts, and each one received by lot a deed to his allotment.

Other commentators say: “No, in fact, when we use criteria – even open ones, even explicit ones, even logically grounded ones – it is important that there also be a confirmation. And in order to confirm that the choice was right, a lot was also given from Heaven.”

I would like to dwell a little on the word gorál. Usually it is translated as lot. I would say that gorál – this is the determination of Heaven. When we cannot make a choice (not when we lack intelligence or data), when the options are of equal value and it is impossible, relying on logic, to make a choice, we can turn to the Creator through such an instrument as the lot. We see this in our case, we see that King Sha'ul does this when he wants to find out who ate the honey, who let him down. We also see another case, when the pagans on the ship on which Jonah sails do this. We know from history that lots were cast in the Temple in order to admit a kohen to the service. We read in the Gospel of Luke (1:9) about Zechariah, to whom it fell by lot to serve at the altar, not just like that. That is, the lot played an important role in making many decisions in people’s lives where it is impossible to determine, where it is impossible to choose and decide unambiguously which of the paths to take. And here a quite expected question may be asked for a believing person today: may one cast lots? May one cast lots in all cases? The answer is this: casting lots is, in principle, allowed. We see that the apostles also did this (Acts 1:26). The question is how to do it correctly. Well, imagine a situation: I came to the Synagogue and say: “One of you must give me a thousand dollars. I will now throw the names of all of you into a hat, and whoever I draw, he, by the will of God, must give me a thousand dollars.” Why is this lot wrong? Because there is no consent of the participants to holding this lot. A person says: “I do not want to give. I do not agree. I did not ask for anyone to ask whether I must give Alex a thousand dollars.” And there are very many examples of this. In order to hold a lot, it is necessary that all those involved agree that it is necessary, and in the case when there is no logical solution. And so that the lot does not replace our logic for us, does not replace our conscience, our own thought, our own freedom to decide: where we must decide, we must decide, and not rely on the lot. Nevertheless in the cases I spoke about, and in the cases that we see in Scripture, casting lots is probably allowed, but remembering at the same time that it is not a toy. If one asks another question: do I advise casting lots or not, then in most cases I do not advise doing it. Indeed, in a case when, for example, several people want to speak and it is hard to give preference to anyone, one can cast lots for who starts first. One can cast lots for who is first in turn to start taking out the trash – where there is equality, where no one will be put at a disadvantage. On the whole I do not advise abusing it, I repeat. But whether to take my advice or not – toss a coin and find the answer for yourselves.

So, the Most High says that the land will be divided both according to the size of each tribe and by lot. The Levites, however, do not enter the general list, but are counted separately, as we read further on.

And here, at the very end of the chapter, the Torah in an amazing way partly opens up to us the genealogy of Moshe.

While the other tribes were counted from twenty years old and upward, the Levites – from a month and upward. We know that the Levites are designated for the service of the Most High, and therefore their allotment is the Most High Himself, and they will not have an allotment in the land.

There was not, there remained not a single man of those about whom the Most High said: “I will destroy them and will not let them enter the land.” All received punishment, and now, a matter of days, a matter of kilometers before entering the Holy Land, there remained no one of those who were in the census back then. I will add (or remind once again) that this punishment did not concern women. The women did not die in the wilderness as a result of this punishment, the punishment did not extend to women.

With God's help we continue to study the weekly portion Pinchas, and we will read chapter 27 of the book of Bemidbar. It begins with the story of how five young women came to Moshe for judgment, came with a case, a legal question, which they ask to have examined.

What does the name Tzelofchad mean? It can be understood as tzaláf chad – one who shoots accurately, or one who goes toward his goal, purposeful. Or it can be understood as tzél (shadow) páchad (fear) – one who knows how to hide his fear, to conceal his fear in the shadow and to overcome his fear. One more variant: when the Most High calls himself the fear of Yitzchak (páchad Yitzchak), the word páchad can be understood in the same meaning here too. And then the name Tzelofchad will mean: one who bears the name and enjoys the protection of God, Whom one must fear, before Whom one must tremble, who bears the name of the fearsome, awesome God.

That was the name of the father of these young women, but the Torah does not limit itself to the father's name, it gives their longer genealogy. The Torah gives the genealogy of these young women all the way up to Yosef, the son of Yaakov. Why does the Torah do this? Of course, the commentators also ask this question. And here is one of the answers: just as Yosef loved and remembered the land of Israel while he was in Egypt, so too Tzelofchad inherited this quality and loved the land of Israel, whether in Egypt or in the wilderness. This is expressed in the names he gave his daughters: the name of each young woman corresponds to the name of some locality in the land of Israel. Each of the five daughters is named not simply with a name, but with a name that is also the name of some locality in Israel. Later, when the allotments are divided, we will see that each of the young women will receive an inheritance in the area that is called by her name. Usually a person first inherits land and then calls it by his own name, but here it happens the other way around. The city of Tirtza later, for some time, will be the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.

So these five young women came to Moshe for judgment.

The young women do not say for what sin their father died. Naturally, this raises questions among the commentators: it is interesting, after all, for what sin the man died. Some say that Tzelofchad is that very man who gathered wood on Shabbat and was executed, and it is precisely about him, about this sin, that the young women speak. Others say that Tzelofchad was among those people who went out to battle after the scouts returned to the camp, when Moshe said: “The LORD is not with you, do not go,” but the people sinned. Of course, one wants to fill the space when we do not know something, one wants to fill this lacuna and say: “But we know which sin the young women are talking about!” But the plain meaning of the Torah does not reveal to us for what sin the man died. Different people have different sins, and for us this is, on the whole, not important for our story. They speak only about the fact that he did not rebel against the LORD. And their question is this:

Moshe does not know what to do with this question, although in the book of Shemot (18:26) he said that difficult cases should be brought to him. We will also read about this in Moshe's retelling in the book of Devarim (1:17): “With any question come to me, and I will hear.” Some commentators say that the Most High showed Moshe that he cannot yet decide all questions by himself, sometimes he does not know all the laws. Yes, you studied on Mount Sinai for forty days, you were there, you graduated from law school, you are Moshe, you are Rabeinu, you are our teacher, and the Torah will be called by your name, your name (Torat Moshe), but you do not know the answers to all questions. Therefore Moshe turned to the Most High. Other commentators say: “The Most High would have spoken out, dictated, commanded these laws to Moshe anyway. But the young women, through their love for Israel, through their desire to receive an allotment in Israel, were granted that this part of the laws would be connected with their names.”

So, Moshe turned to the Most High, passed their case on to the highest, to the very highest authority there can possibly be.

What a wonderful blessing one can receive from the Most High, when the Most High speaks, and it is written down in the Torah: “So-and-so spoke rightly, the daughters of Tzelofchad speak rightly.” That is, the land that was intended as an allotment for their father, pass it on to them: daughters will have the right of inheritance if there are no sons.

This is a general instruction, this is a general law for all Israel for many centuries. Moshe receives the instruction that daughters have the right to inherit, about the case in which land may be passed to relatives on the father's side, the details of inheritance are specified.

Here Moshe may think: “Look, I am now dividing, I am already somehow taking part in dividing the land there, in the land of Canaan, maybe... maybe there is still a chance for me to enter there?” A simple human question: and what about me? And perhaps, caring for Moshe, the Most High says further:

Here again is such a euphemism, which the Torah constantly uses when speaking of death: “You will be joined to your people.”

Moshe understands that the time when he will lead the community is coming to an end.

That is, only God, who gives spirits to all flesh, who makes all flesh alive and knows the spirit of each flesh, only He can choose the one who will be a worthy leader, a worthy chief of the people of Israel. Therefore Moshe speaks precisely of this quality of the Most High – to see the human spirit: “Choose a man who in spirit is suited to lead the people of Israel further.”

The man whom God chooses will lead the sons of Israel out to war and bring them back from war. He will not only go himself, but will also take care to lead them out and to bring them back. He will be concerned that each of the warriors, each one who goes out, returns home. When a shepherd leads his flock, this flock has a certain form. Sheep do not simply walk; it only seems that the sheep are walking in a crowd. They have a certain formation, otherwise the sheep would simply crush one another or wander off. And a professional person, a knowledgeable person, sees at once how a flock walks that has no shepherd, and how a flock behaves that does have a shepherd. Moshe says: “Let the people of Israel never look like a flock that has no shepherd.”

So that afterward no one would argue about who is the heir, the Most High commands Moshe to appoint the heir openly through the laying on of hands before the face of the whole community.

We remember that Moshe’s face shone when he came down from the mountain; this radiance remained with him. And the Most High says: “You will share your light with Yehoshua.” The commentators note here that Moshe is the sun, and Yehoshua ben Nun is the moon, reflecting Moshe’s light, that Moshe endowed him with some kind of light.

Why is this important? Elazar the kohen is the son of Aharon; thus both Moshe’s family and the priesthood are not deprived of their authority. Both Yehoshua ben Nun and the king, like any ruler in Israel, could not begin a war without the approval of the kohen. Everything will be done at the word of Yehoshua ben Nun after he turns to the Urim and Tummim and consults with Elazar the kohen.

The Most High said, we read in verse 18: “And lay your hand (one) on him.” Moshe lays on both hands, as if with all his heart, with all joy. Without any shadow of doubt he appoints an heir for himself, without any shadow of doubt he hands over the leadership to him, as they say in Russian: I am “for” it with both hands. So Moshe too, with both hands, blesses Yehoshua to be his successor and to lead the people of Israel further, so that the people of Israel would not be like sheep without a shepherd.

With God’s help we continue studying the weekly portion Pinchas and will begin reading from chapter 28 of the book of Bemidbar. Unexpectedly this chapter interrupts the historical narrative, and a conversation begins about a special kind of sacrifices, which are called musáf (addition). They are offered on special days – on Shabbat, at the new moon and on the festivals – as an addition to the daily sacrifices. And immediately the question arises: why exactly here did the Torah begin to speak on this topic, since the book of Vayikra was devoted to sacrifices? Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) gives this explanation. He says that Moshe (27:17) asked the Most High that Israel not be left like sheep without a shepherd, that the Most High would show care for Israel. And he gives a parable about a dying mother who leaves the children to her husband, to the father, gives him some recommendations and tells him how to take care of the children. And the father says: “You also instruct the children, so that they obey me.” And here, too, the Most High reminds that obedience to Him is necessary, so that the people may live, so that the people may enter the land and live in the land. Therefore the Most High reminds about the sacrifices, about Shabbat, about the new moons and about the festivals, about how the people will live. So, let us begin reading from verse 1 of chapter 28.

That is, watch the schedule carefully, keep the timetable of the sacrifices, so as to offer them to Me at the right time, if one puts it in very simple, earthly language.

The LORD begins speaking with a description of the sacrifice tamíd (always), that is, such sacrifices as are offered every day, 365 times a year, regardless of what time of year, what season, what day. Day after day, without fail, the sacrifices we are now talking about are offered. That is, every day two unblemished yearling lambs must be offered as a sacrifice to the LORD.

In rabbinic sources there is a dispute: which commandment is the most important, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah? And three opinions are expressed on this. Ben Azai says: “The most important commandment in the Torah is hear, Israel, the LORD, our God – God is One.” This is what Yeshua Mashiach also teaches. The most important thing is to understand the whole unity of the universe, to understand that everything in the world is interconnected and is under the management, under the control of the Most High. Everything that is in this world sounds like a single orchestra conducted by the Most High. Ben Nanas and Rabbi Akiva say: “The most important commandment in the Torah is love your neighbor as yourself.” Also a very important commandment, and Yeshua also taught about this. But there is also a third opinion. The third opinion is a very unpopular opinion. It is expressed by Rabbi Shimon Ben Pazi. He says: “The most important commandment in the Torah is one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the evening.” He is not talking about sacrifices, he is talking about discipline. The most important thing is to be able to be faithful to God in small everyday matters, day after day to do something routine, unnoticed, for example, to make breakfast, to make dinner. The daily lamb in the morning and lamb in the evening – this is what he considered most important for himself. Each of the sages spoke about what, for him, at the present day is a lesson, a challenge that the Torah throws down to him. And there is this kind of opinion. Therefore one can see in this verse some special depth. Discipline in small, everyday matters is important, constancy is important, faithfulness to the Most High in small things.

But let us get back to our sheep, in the literal sense. For now we are talking about the daily sacrifice, about what is performed every day of the year. Together with these lambs there is offered:

 An efa is approximately 22 liters. If we are talking about a tenth, one can say that this is 2.2 liters. The word sólet in today’s Hebrew means semolina; here it can be translated as finely ground flour. Shémen katít is beaten oil, oil obtained by lightly pressing the olive, without coarse, heavy squeezing; a hin is about 4 liters, a quarter of a hin is, accordingly, one liter. That is, we get that besides the two lambs, 2.2 liters of solet flour mixed with a liter of olive oil are offered as a sacrifice.

 With each sacrifice there is to be a nésech (libation). The verb leshakér means to become intoxicated, to get drunk. That is, one may not pour out young wine that has just come from the winepress; one must pour out precisely intoxicating (shechár) wine, and not grape juice.

This command (I will repeat it): two lambs, one in the morning, one in the evening, and together with them 2.2 liters of solet flour mixed with one liter of oil, and a liter of wine as a libation – the daily sacrifice. From verse 9 on we read about the additional sacrifices of Shabbat.

The new moon (rosh chódesh) – a holiday that is nowadays almost completely forgotten. We find in the Tanach that the people gather to celebrate the new moon, for example, at the court of Sha'ul. This is a big family holiday, this is the time of the ancient Israelite corporate parties, when people gathered at a mentor's, a teacher's, gathered together. It is a time of celebration, a time of joy, a time of renewal (chódesh means both month and renewal, from the verb lechadésh, to renew), a time when one can devote oneself to the study of Torah. In our days it is more of a women's holiday. It is customary for men to give women gifts on this day. With us, women's day is twelve, and sometimes even thirteen times a year. Women are freed from work for study, self-development and so on. This is how we mark the new moon today.

This proportion, a kind of recipe, is kept constantly: three tenth parts of an efa of solet flour for a bull, two tenth parts of an efa of flour for one ram, one tenth part of an efa of flour for one lamb.

 In all the other cases it is written about the goat that it is brought as a sin-cleansing offering for you; here it is written – to the LORD. One opinion says that this sacrifice is brought for a sin that is known only to the LORD, that is, we bring it for those sins that we are not aware of. Another opinion says that here atonement takes place for the fact that the LORD commanded the Moon to diminish and to grow, for the fact that the Moon is constantly, as it were, born anew. It turns out that this is a sacrifice for a world sin, for the unrepaired state of the world. And again, these sacrifices of the new moons must be brought over and above the ordinary daily sacrifices, not instead of them, but in addition to them.

From verse 16 the Torah begins to list the holidays. And, of course, the first holiday is Pesach. After all, it, Pesach, became the beginning of the history of the Jewish people as a people; it is the day when the people decided to leave Egypt, to leave its past. And in our generation, when that Egypt has long since ceased to exist, everyone today can check: where, with what, with which place, with which part of his body he is still stuck in Egypt. And perhaps it is better to go out without this part than to hold on to it. Or perhaps one can cleanse and sanctify this part. The holiday of Pesach is, by and large, about this, about liberation from slavery.

What does the fourteenth day of the month mean? It is said that the Pesach sacrifice is slaughtered at the very end of the fourteenth day, at twilight, when the fourteenth is already almost passing into the fifteenth. And from the fifteenth, from the evening, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins.

Very often in some congregations, in Messianic ministry, they celebrate the first day and somehow skip the seventh day, saying: “But we have already celebrated the first day.” But here we read that it is important to celebrate both the first and the seventh day; this is the word of the Most High. Thank God, now more and more people celebrate all the holidays of the LORD.

 Notice that here the Torah does not specify the date of the holiday of Shavuot. This is important. We reasoned a lot about this in chapter 23 of the book of Vayikra, when we talked about Shavuot in general. I will try to remind you in a few words why the date of the holiday of Shavuot is not specified here. There is a dispute about from which date, from which Shabbat exactly one should count, but we will not go into this dispute. Why must one count 49 days from Pesach? Let us think about what a Jew who lived in Egypt was. He is a slave, a person who is not free. A person who is not free is not his own master; he cannot conclude any agreement. What agreement is a person capable of who is dependent on drugs or dependent on something else? A drug addict can, for a dose, sign anything he is told and give away anything he is ordered to. Therefore the Most High does not conclude an agreement with the people of Israel immediately upon the going out of Egypt. There are seven weeks of purification, seven weeks of waiting. These seven weeks are not to be calculated by setting a date: aha, in 49 days it will be such-and-such a date. No, they must be counted in a state of waiting. That is how a bride pines, waiting for the wedding day, marking off the days in the calendar, perhaps, with a cross. In such waiting they prepare for the day of Shavuot, which will be the day of concluding the agreement, the day of concluding the covenant or renewing the covenant: every year it is necessary to confirm, strengthen, renew one's relationship with the Most High. And it is not for nothing that those events which happened in Jerusalem with the disciples of Yeshua also happened precisely on Shavuot. Precisely this time is the time of concluding the covenant with free, spiritually prepared people.

I will remind you: the daily offering, what we began with, is one lamb in the morning, one lamb at twilight. That was the last verse of chapter 28.

 We know that the Torah was originally not divided into chapters; this division is a late one. It is very convenient, but sometimes inaccurate. In our case two chapters, 28 and 29, are one and the same speech of the Most High, one and the same conversation about the holidays and their sacrifices. Here I comment little, because we have already talked a lot about this in the book of Vayikra.

So, we continue reading from verse 1 of chapter 29.

The seventh month means the month of Tishrei, which falls at the beginning of autumn. This day, the first day of the seventh month, later came to be called Rosh haShana (head of the year, new year). What is the Festival of the trumpet sound (Yom Trua)? The trumpet sound and joy – this is a day of parade, a day when we meet the King, Who on this day as it were opens up to us. He as if checks His world, makes a re-inventory of the whole world, and we greet Him; this is a kind of meeting with the King of kings.

 On the first day of the seventh month it turns out that there is: the constant sacrifice – tamíd, the one that is offered every day, regardless of what day it is outside; the sacrifice that is offered at the new moon, as on a special day; and one more special sacrifice, connected with Yom Trua (the Day of the Trumpet sound). We continue speaking about the festivals of the seventh month, the month of Tishrei, the autumn month.

 In chapter 23 of the book of Vayikra this day is called Yom haKippurim (the Day of Atonement). On this day it is customary to keep a dry fast, to abstain from marital intimacy, from anointing with oil, from washing with hot water, from wearing soft leather shoes. This is how the command torment your souls is understood.

That is, on each of the festivals we are talking about, additional sacrifices are offered, besides those that are performed daily. On every festival of the LORD we offer additional sacrifices.

From verse 12 on, the Torah speaks about the festival of Sukkot (Booths). A very unusual festival, with a very unusual order of sacrifices.

The order of sacrifices at the festival of Sukkot is unusual. On the first day thirteen bulls are offered as a sacrifice, then twelve bulls, eleven bulls and so on, and on the seventh day seven bulls are offered. In sum (13+12+11+10+9+8+7) this makes seventy bulls, which corresponds to the seventy nations of the world. Both in the festival of Sukkot itself and in its sacrifices there is a deep connection with the nations of the world. We read in the prophet Zcharya (14:16–18): “And it shall be that everyone who is left of all those nations that came against Yerushalayim will go up from year to year to bow down to the King, the LORD Tzva'ot, and to celebrate the festival of Sukkot. And it shall be: whichever of the tribes of the earth does not go up to Yerushalayim to bow down to the King, the LORD Tzva'ot – there will be no rain upon them. And if the tribe of Egypt does not go up and does not come, then they will not have (the flooding of the Nilus). There will be the plague with which the LORD will strike the nations that do not go up to celebrate the festival of Sukkot.” The prophet Zcharya prophesies that all the nations of the world will come to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot. Therefore it is precisely the festival of Sukkot that is connected with the nations of the world, connected with the sukká of David. I am often asked about the falling tabernacle of David (so in the Synodal and some other translations, Amos 9:11). In the original text it is the sukká (house) of David; it is a prototype of the kingdom of David, a prototype of the Temple of Shlomo, where all the nations will come, will come and will be in one sukka, in one booth, and there will be a common festival of Sukkot. And if the Egyptians do not come to celebrate, then they will not have the flooding, and this will be a punishment for Egypt and a punishment for all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the common festival of Sukkot. Therefore, as a manifestation of care, already in Moshe's Tent of Meeting, at the festival of Sukkot, over seven days seventy bulls were offered for the seventy nations of the world. And why are fourteen yearling lambs offered, and not seven, as at other festivals? The commentators explain that at Sukkot the joy of the people is double, because the harvest has been gathered, the result of all our labors is before us; therefore there is an additional degree of joy.

 One may ask a question: why did the Most High not command that on each of the seven days of Sukkot ten young bulls be offered as a sacrifice for the nations of the world? Over seven days that would also have come to seventy bulls. Why must there be such a strange distribution, that on the first day thirteen, and on the second day – twelve, and so on? Why does the number of bulls decrease? Because it is like a resistance that Israel overcomes when offering a sacrifice for the nations of the world. The impurity that separates the nations of the world from the Most High decreases with every day, and with every day fewer and fewer sacrifices are required in order to purify the nations of the world. There is very much depth in this, which we simply cannot touch on here.

With this the Torah finishes the description of the sacrifices connected with the holiday of Sukkot, and now it will speak about the last holiday in this list, about the day that is called Shminí-Atzéret (Assembly of the eighth day). This day, directly connected with Sukkot, has an independent meaning, it is dedicated to the return from the booths home. When we live in the booths, we are in temporary quarters; it is like a symbol of the temporary world. We live in our temporariness, we feel our temporariness and we feel dependence on the Most High. It is a memory of how we lived in these booths, in these tents, as they say: “In clouds of glory, at the time of the going out of Egypt.” At the end of this holiday, the holiday of Sukkot, Shmini-Atzeret is celebrated, which, according to some opinions, means the holiday of returning home, of returning from the sukká to a permanent dwelling. In the land of Israel on this day they also celebrate the holiday of Simchat-Torah (Joy of the Torah). On this day the reading of the Torah ends and begins again, from the very beginning, from the portion Bereshit, and over a year (during each year) the whole Torah is read from beginning to end. Both the beginning and the end of the reading of the Torah are connected with the holiday of Shmini-Atzeret; therefore, by tradition, it is also called Simchat-Torah.

Here one can see in the word mo'adím (holidays) also another meaning – appointed times, that is, the time of an appointed rendezvous with the Most High: on certain days of the year the Most High sets a rendezvous with us. It happens that we must come to Him, it happens that He comes to us. So, the Most High says: “Bring these sacrifices at the appointed time,” and the Torah lists all the sacrifices that the people must bring, the whole schedule of meetings for the year between the people and the Most High.

Here we encounter one more example of a completely incomprehensible division into chapters. The next verse ends our topic; it would be good for it to be at the end of chapter 29. But this is already verse 1 of chapter 30.

As we have already said, after the Most High charges Yehoshua ben Nun with bringing Israel into the Promised Land, He reminds about the constant sacrifices and speaks about the additional sacrifices, speaks about the holidays. In Hebrew the word holiday (chag) does not have the meaning to be idle, free from something. The Hebrew word chag (from the verb lachúg, to describe circles) is some point on a circle, some appointed time, some time in which certain changes must happen. Likewise the word mo'éd (holiday, appointed time) – is a time when one must bear witness and give an account for some of one's actions. Or, as I have already said, it is the time of an appointed meeting with the Most High.

With God's help I would like to touch in this talk on the topic of despair. More precisely, to talk about how to help a person if he is in despair and dejection. The prophetic passage (the first book of Melachim, 18:49–19:21), which is read together with our weekly portion Pinchas, tells about the prophet Eliyahu. There are different customs regarding the reading of this prophetic passage, but we, in keeping with our topic, will read verses 1 through 8 of chapter 19. The events take place after the prophet Eliyahu (we read about this in chapter 18 of the book) won a convincing victory in the contest with the prophets of Ba'al. The prophets of Ba'al are destroyed, and, it would seem, here it is, the victory of faith in the One God, the whole people has acknowledged the One God, and it is time to triumph and to be in euphoria from success. And here is what we read at the beginning of chapter 19:

1. And Achav told Izevel everything that Eliyahu had done, and how he had killed all the prophetsiThe Russian literally says Eliyahu killed all the “vices”. That word differs by just one letter from “prophets”, so it is clearly a typo and is translated as “prophets”. with the sword.

2. And Izevel sent a messenger to say to Eliyahu: “May the gods do such and such (evil) to me, and even more (than that), if tomorrow, at this same hour, I do not do to your life the same as (was done) to the life of each of them.”

That is: “Just as you killed my beloved prophets of my beloved Ba'al, in exactly the same way I will destroy you, Eliyahu.” Eliyahu understands that in the Jewish people there is such a foreign cancerous tumor by the name of Izevel, which carries within itself the worship of Ba'al. She is not simply sitting on the throne, she poisons the people with her power. And the prophet, instead of triumphing, must, in essence, act to save his life. Here is what we read next:

3. Seeing (this), he got up and went, in order to (save) his life, and came to Be'er-Sheva, which is in Judea, and left his servant boy there.

4. And he went into the wilderness a day's journey and, having come, sat down under a (bush of) broom, and asked for death for his soul, and said: “Enough; now, LORD, take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Eliyahu is left completely alone. And despair seizes him: “Nothing works out for me. I have not coped with anything. What seemed a victory did not turn out to be a victory. I am not worthy of life, take me, LORD!”

5. And he lay down and fell asleep under the broom bush. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him: get up, eat.

First of all – touch. The angel does not call him while standing off to the side, the angel touches him, shakes him by the shoulder. Touch is very important. It is also important that it is an angel who does this. The Hebrew word mal'ách, just like the Greek ággelos (angelós), means messenger, herald. And it is not enough simply to touch a person, it is not enough simply to want to – and touch. When you touch him in order to lift him out of some despair, out of some dejection, you need to feel that at this moment you are an angel, that you are carrying out a Divine mission, that you are not just acting for no reason but are passing on to the person the Light of God, are acting in God's name. And the angel does not say to him: “Pray!”, “Repent!” or “Enter the prophetic state!”, or something similar. The angel says: “Get up, eat.” That is, first of all, when we say: “The LORD loves you,” – this can consist in a plate of soup: the LORD loves you, and therefore take and eat. This is care for the very, very first needs of a person. What happens to Eliyahu at this point?

6. And he looked, and behold, at his head a flatbread baked on coals, and a flask of water. And he ate, and drank, and lay down again.

That is, it would seem the food was not brought to him by the angel, it is not said about this here. He woke up, came to and saw that he already had everything necessary: a flatbread baked on coals, and a flask of water – everything to satisfy his basic needs, he has. He ate, and it seems to us that now, there, he will get up, pray again, enter the prophetic state, repent, write another book and meet someone else. But no, he ate and lay down again. Sometimes it does not work out the first time, even for an angel it sometimes does not come off the first time.

7. And the angel of the LORD came again, a second time, touched him and said: get up, eat, for a long road is before you.”

 The angel comes and touches him again, again a touch, that is, contact happens, bodily contact. The angel touches him and says: “Eat, for a long road is before you. You still have much to do, the Creator still needs you, the Most High still needs you, something is still required of you in this world. Get up and eat.” And this is not just a kind of eat, because God loves you. God wants to use you, God needs your service in this world. Of course, in reality God does not need anything, but He has a plan regarding your service, you are needed by God for service, you are an instrument for revealing the light of God in the world, therefore a long road still lies before you.

One can recall the story of Shlomo Carlebach, the singing rabbi, about a man who saw a drowning woman. He threw himself into the water after her, tried in every way to persuade her: “Come back! You still have much to do! You are needed! God loves you! Do not ruin your life!” And she says: “No! Let me die in peace. Listen, why are you pestering me? Let me drown in peace.” Then he said: “All right, your life does not matter to you. But what about me? I can’t swim, I will drown without you, I will perish without you, I need you!” And then she rushed to save him, pulled him out onto the shore and, as this parable says, began a new life. Therefore (and this is important) you are not only needed by God, you are not only important for the service of the Most High, you are important to me. A person needs to feel that he is needed not only by the Most High, but also by the one who interacts with him, by his neighbor. It is necessary and important to remind a person of this in order to restore him, in order to bring him back, to lift him out of the despair and dejection in which both we ourselves and our neighbors often find ourselves. Such is the recipe that Scripture gives.

8. And he got up, ate, and drank, and went in the strength of that meal forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Chorev.

We see that after this Eliyahu got up, ate, and this meal, which was given to him with the instruction: “You still have your whole life ahead of you, you still have a lot to do,” this meal was enough for him for forty days and forty nights of the journey, this was enough for him to begin a conversation with the Most High. So that out of this despair, out of this “take my soul, I don’t want anything anymore,” he would turn to the Most High in prayer and begin to seek answers from Him, begin to realize his relationship with the Most High. Eliyahu is not a simple person: he is a person who has communion with the Most High, who knows the Most High, one can say, one of the strongest prophets we read about in the Tanach. But we see that he too had times of despair and dejection. It happens to everyone. The Most High takes care to bring him out of this situation, and in doing so also gives us important practical instructions on how to help our neighbors who have found themselves in despair and dejection. The Holy One, blessed be He, will give us wisdom to act wisely, judiciously and with love toward all our friends who are in dejection, who are in grief, who are in depression, who are suffering. Of course, there is professional help, but we, as neighbors, have our own service toward such people.

The weekly portions Balak and Pinchas are a good occasion to talk about curses, about how we ourselves can inadvertently bring a curse into our own life and the life of the people around us. No, this will not be about some kind of mysticism; let us try to do almost without it.

In the Torah there are three words that denote a curse. The first word, klalá, comes from the same root, kuf-lámed-lámed, as the word kal – light, worth nothing. This word can be used when we neglect some talents, abilities, possibilities of our own or of those around us, when we neglect our own dignity or the dignity of those around us. For example, we have a child growing up and he has a talent for music or for drawing, but we say: “How could you ever be an artist? How could you get into art school? Go to the zootechnical college, it’s nearby, and it’s easy to get into. Where would you go off to study? Where are you sticking your nose, what are you reaching for?”

That is, this “you will never be able to become,” or “I will never be able to become,” or “how could you, how could we” – this is neglect of some talent given by God. Often we do not want to see these talents, these abilities in children because we want to develop something else in them. We did not manage to become someone – for example, we wanted to dance in the ballet, and therefore we want our daughter to dance in the ballet. Maybe she does not want this at all, she wants to draw, but we want it differently, and we stifle her talent for drawing, which is from God. Some of her abilities, some of her potential turns out to be neglected by us. In the same way we can also neglect some potential of our own, and this is klalá. When we despise the heavy, the weighty, the worthy (mechubadím), turn God’s dignity into something contemptible (mekalelím), when we neglect what God has given our children, what can manifest in them, make them happy, fulfilled people, then by this we unconsciously bring a curse into our own life and into the life of our children. I think that everyone will find many examples of how this works in their own life and, possibly, in the life of the people around them, of children, when we close the way to God’s blessing. In the book of Bereshit, in chapter 49, we read about the blessing of his sons by the Patriarch Yaakov, and in verse 28 it is said: “He blessed each one according to his blessing,” that is, he blessed that with which his children had already been blessed by the LORD. He blessed the abilities they had, the character traits they had – where the Divine light had already manifested in them, in this he blessed them. This is very important – to bless in that in which our child is already blessed.

Another example relates to those situations when we neglect our own dignity. We have ended up in a line where everyone is pushing and shouting. At first we stood calmly, then suddenly we caught the general mood and also started pushing and shouting. Or we are used to keeping things clean and throwing scraps of paper only into a trash can. But, having ended up in a littered place, a place where there are houses with broken windows, we too begin to throw trash right under our feet. In the same way we can pick up the speech of those with whom we interact. If we suddenly end up in an environment where speech is unclean, we can pick up this unclean speech. One can neglect one’s dignity and make oneself light, so that it is easier to live. This is a curse of exactly the same type, the curse klalá, from the word kal (light), as we have already said.

Another word to denote a curse is the word me'ará. It has the same root, álef-vav-reish, as the word or (light), strange as it may seem. An excess of light can turn a blessing into a curse if we are, speaking in quotation marks, blessed with what we cannot receive, if what we cannot carry is loaded onto us. In the book of Devarim (28:30–31) we read: “You will betroth a wife, but another man will lie with her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not start on it. Your ox slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey taken from you by force, and it will not return to you; your sheep given to your enemies, and no one will help you.” This is the state arúr (cursed), when a person is in the power of the curse me'ará. That is, you have a wife, you have a house, you have a vineyard, you have an ox, you have a donkey, you have sheep, but from none of this can you receive a blessing, because you have no vessel to contain this blessing.

There are situations (usually this happens in Eastern countries) when a little girl is married off at seven, or nine, or thirteen years old, and sometimes even at three years old. It would seem, of course, that marriage is a blessing for a girl, but at this age it turns into a curse for her. It happens that the girl dies, commits suicide, and if she does live, her life is ruined. This too is me'ará.

Once a kind woman wrote to me: “I have accumulated a tithe here, ten thousand dollars, and nearby, in an abandoned house, live drug addicts. Maybe I will give them these ten thousand dollars, and they will start a new life with this money, what do you think?” I answered her: “This money can kill the drug addicts. Not having any tools to start a new life with this money, they will simply spend it on drugs, possibly on such doses that they will not survive.” Money that would be a blessing for others can destroy these unfortunate, confused people. Drug addicts, early marriage – these are perhaps very radical examples, but again, if we dig around in our life, we can find how this works. Therefore King Shlomo said (Mishlei 30:8): “Remove vanity and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with my daily bread.” Why “do not give riches”? Because riches, even for a person free from drug addiction, can become a curse. And fame, and power, for which a person is not ready, can also be a curse for a person.

It also happens that a person worked somewhere, was successful, was, for example, a good surgeon, a surgeon from God. Truly from God, for it is God who gives talent. And he was promoted, made, to begin with, chief physician of a hospital. He ended up in administrative work, which he did not cope with very well, and then he received an even greater blessing and became minister of health. And as minister of health he may turn out to be completely incompetent. Here is a blessing that turned into a curse, an abundance of light that turned into darkness.

Or a person undertook building a house for his family, but undertook building a huge three-story house, took out loans for this construction, the bank even blessed him with loans. In the end he simply cannot finish this house; for years the house stands unfinished while the children grow up. And perhaps a smaller house the person would have built sooner, but he himself brought excessive light into his life, brought me'ará. Therefore, when we ask for some fame or for some money, we also need to be careful: not all money, not every new appointment, not even every service is something we can carry.

And this is the meaning of the second kind of curse, the word me'ará, its manifestation in our life. One must make a reservation, of course, that a person must strive for something greater, otherwise he will fall under the curse klalá, which we talked about at the very beginning. A person must strive, aim high, dare, all this needs to be done. But one also needs to measure one’s capabilities, one needs to pray constantly, so that what we receive, where we grow, where the Most High brings us out into the open space, will be a blessing for us.

The third word we are talking about is the word nakóv. The verb linkóv means to call things by their names, to pierce an opening, as it were to bore a little hole in order to bring something out into the light. It would seem, what is so terrible about that?

The sages say: “Everyone knows what the bride goes into the bridal chamber for, but whoever says it out loud is cursed.” There are some things, some actions that it is not customary to talk about, that are customarily done in modesty. These can be natural things, such as our natural needs, as well as things we are ashamed of. These problems and these sins are in us, we work on overcoming them, but we are ashamed of them and do not associate ourselves with them.

In the weekly portion Balak (23:8) we read how Bil'am says: “What then shall I curse, if God has not cursed?” Here he uses this very verb linkóv. “How can I declare something to be their nature, connect something with their nature, if God has not done so?” And Rashi says here: “How shall I curse, if God has not cursed? Even when they deserved a curse, when their nature showed itself in some way, they were not cursed. When their father, Yaakov, mentioned their sin: for in their anger they killed a man, he put only their anger under a curse, as it is said: cursed be their anger.” The Patriarch Yaakov, blessing his children, did not say: “You are wrathful,” and did not connect anger with the nature of the brothers. He cursed only their anger, not them themselves. And nakóv is a curse when something is cursed by calling it the nature of the one being cursed.

All of us can have some sinful thoughts, sinful desires, something that sometimes astonishes even ourselves: where did this come from in us? The depth of what goes on in our hearts sometimes seems like an abyss. And we are used to being ashamed of this, being embarrassed by it, hiding it, concealing it and trying to overcome it. That is why obscene language embarrasses us so much, when the names of certain organs, of certain activities are said in plain words, which it is not customary to name and for which we have euphemisms.

I witnessed a situation when, in the psychiatric hospital Kfar Sha'ul in Jerusalem, a woman doctor was making rounds together with students and other doctors of the hospital. And one patient says: “And why have you come here to examine me? Today you did this, and this, and this with your husband.” And there is nothing shameful in what she did with her husband, whatever it was. But this gives birth to some kind of constraint, some kind of tightness inside: “Here it is, your nature, you are actually unclean, actually there is nothing good in you at all.” Obscene language makes us unclean, often constrains us.

And we read in the weekly portion Pinchas (25:6–8): “And behold, a certain man from Israel came and brought near to his brothers a Midyanite woman before the eyes of Moshe and before the eyes of all Israel, and they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. And Pinchas, ben Elazar, ben Aharon the kohen, saw this, and he rose up from the community, and in his hand a spear. And he went in after the Israelite into the niche (el-hakubá), and he pierced both of them, the Israelite and the woman, right into her belly (stomach). And the plague among the sons of Israel ceased.”

A note on the translation must be made. The word hakubá, which is translated here as niche, also denotes a brothel or a den, a place where one can be oneself, where one can simply call everything by its name, be the way you are. All this I say, of course, with a measure of irony and sarcasm. What happened here? A man brought a Midyanite woman before the eyes of all Israel. He is not embarrassed by anything, he is not ashamed of anything, he says: “And you, what, you really don’t cast glances at these Midyanite women? What, you really don’t think about them? Why, you all want to be with them, you are all just as lustful as I am. But I am the only man here who came and brought her without being embarrassed. Oh come on, why are you making yourselves out to be noble here, why are you making yourselves out to be believers, inside you are all the same, you are all a bit rotten.” And all Israel wept. Wept, because hearing such a thing is truly very bitter. This is what this curse says, the curse that constrains you, that tries to tell you that you are unclean, that this is in you too, and, more than that, that this is your nature, which you hypocritically are ashamed of, pretending to be righteous.

One often encounters something like this in life: “You are against pride parades? You are a homophobe? No, you are not a homophobe, you are a latent homosexual. You are simply ashamed of your homosexuality, that is why you fight against it, but in reality, inside, you are the same as us.” Or they tell us: “Oh come on, what’re you acting all righteous for? Oh come on, what’re you behaving like that for? At least I am not ashamed, at least I am honest about it, but you are not only a villain inside, you are also a hypocrite. All your righteousness is hypocrisy.” This is a fishing hook that is very easy to get caught on. It can be very hard to remember that righteousness is our new nature, and that the sinful thing that is in us, the unclean thing that still remains in us, is what is passing away, dying, what we will overcome and move on. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we must associate ourselves, identify ourselves precisely with righteousness, and not with the unclean thing that is in us, when we are told: “Oh come on, we are all like that, you really want this after all, come on, allow yourself, come on, don’t be a wimp, don’t be so very righteous.”

And this is the case when one should not argue, when one needs to act on the principle of Pinchas and take a spear. Well, of course, we are not Pinchases, and we can simply stop, break off the conversation. That is why we are told not to associate with anyone who is called a brother but is himself a fornicator, a greedy person or an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, a swindler. With such people one should not even eat at one table, enter into discussions, enter into any conversations, into any kind of contact, one must withdraw from this. Because if you start contact, you will start speaking the same vocabulary, you will let this into yourself, allow yourself to be the same. This feeling of one’s own uncleanness will give birth to constraint, sometimes it can even paralyze. And it may happen that the thought which only sometimes appears somewhere in your depths, surfaces only for a few moments, suddenly gains strength through this curse, begins again to fight for survival, again to rise from the dead in you. In any case, this is paralysis, this is uncleanness, this is unfreedom, which is connected with this curse. Withdraw from this. In this way you will be saved, in this way you will be rid of the curse in your life, of this curse which is called nakóv.

These are the three curses. Without any mysticism they enter our everyday life. We can pick up one of them and carry it within us, and one needs to be very attentive and watch vigilantly what is happening around us.

The weekly portion Pinchas is very interesting, the Torah tells us a great many things here. Let us touch on a few details that are, in my view, important and interesting.

 In chapter 26, in verse 54, the Most High gives instruction about the division of the land. And He says: “To the one who is larger give more, and to the one who is smaller give less.” And it is not very clear what such a repetition is needed for. It is clear that the larger the tribe, the more land it must receive. Why say that the smaller tribe must be given less, why this second command?

Many commentators see here that this is not only about the division of the land. The concept nachalá (share, landed possession, inheritance) is not only a place for service that the tribe receives. In a broader sense this is about the service of an individual person, and it can be different.

For example, there is a person who by his spirit is inclined to spread, to carry, inclined to influence, to have an effect on other people, to draw other people. If he appears somewhere, his presence is immediately felt. He is active, he speaks, he inspires others, he leads others after him. And he has this kind of service – to lead people after him. But there is another person, more inclined to inner work, who is not so noticeable. He perhaps sits in a corner and is engaged in examining himself, and when he hears something, he turns it into inner work.

And one can interpret this commandment, this double command, in this way, apply it in this way for our days: for each person there is his own service, and for each, for each one there is his own place in the common service of Israel. The one who is inclined to the outward, inclined to communicate with people and to involve people, to help people, to serve people, that is, to be present and to fill things with himself, must be given the opportunity to fill the space with himself, to fill the community with himself. Others, those who are more inclined to the inward, need to be helped to remain with their service and to value this service no less than the first.

The sages said that humble service is always preferable. A person must be careful in his influence on others, in his striving to draw others after him, because this is sometimes dangerous for that very person himself. Becoming a teacher, becoming a guide, becoming an influential person can simply be dangerous, therefore the sages advised being careful in this.

Now let us move on to another topic, another part of the weekly portion, where we encounter a completely unexpected phenomenon. We were very used, throughout all the previous portions, to reading: “Vaydabér adonáy el-moshé lemór – And the LORD spoke with Moshe, saying.” In our weekly portion (27:15) we read something astonishing: “Vaydabér moshé el-adonáy lemór – And Moshe spoke to the LORD, saying.” Moshe turns to the Most High after it has become clear to him that he will not enter the land. Moshe takes care that the community not be orphaned after him, he asks the Most High to appoint a guide after himself (perhaps Pinchas, whose popularity is growing). And what does Moshe say to the LORD? Again he says something astonishing: “May the LORD, God of the spirits of all flesh (that is, God Who knows the spirit of every person: both the spirit of the person whom He will set as guide, and the spirit of every person who needs a guide), may He appoint a man over this community, who will go out before them and who will come in before them.” What does this mean? Among many earthly kings it is customary that the king sits at headquarters or watches the battle from a hill. But here the people need a leader who will go together with his people, will move together with his people, who will lead them out and bring them back. One more important thought: when a king leads people out to war, one can say: “Why, for the sake of this war, for the sake of the idea we are fighting for, we are all ready to die, and we are not sorry to lay down anyone: it is good to die for the Motherland, and we are not sorry for anyone.” Here a leader is needed who is not only able to lead people out to war, but also takes care that they come back from the war. So that the community of the LORD would not be like sheep that have no shepherd, so that this man would be like a shepherd for the sheep.

What is astonishing here? In essence, Moshe asks the Most High to appoint his heir, to appoint a person who will lead the community of Israel after his death. Why not simply say to the Most High: “Set the right person over the community.” Why does Moshe give Him, the Most High, such a precise instruction? Does the Most High not know whom to set, or what? Or can the Most High set the wrong person? In these words of his Moshe is describing himself. He wants a guide like himself, and further on, in the book of Devarim (18:15), we will see how this breaks through in him and how he says: “A prophet like me the Most High will raise up for you.” Moshe is sincere, he is a devoted, faithful servant, the Most High Himself testifies to this. And he wants his heir to be just as faithful a servant. And although he will not enter the land of Israel, where there are completely different principles of governing everything, he asks the Most High: “Set up, make one just like me.”

What does the Most High answer him? We read in verses 18–19 of chapter 27: “Take Yehoshua ben Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lay your hand on him, and set him before Elazar the kohen and before the whole community, and instruct him before their eyes.” That is, by the word of Elazar the kohen, who has the Urim and Tummim, Yehoshua ben Nun will go out to war and return from war together with his community. And yes, he will not be a leader like Moshe, he will have a completely different principle of authority. We remember how Moshe sent scout-explorers and gave a long, long list of tasks: explore this, and this, and this. Yehoshua ben Nun sends scout-spies (meraglím) with the assignment: “Go and scout out Jericho.” We read about this in chapter 2 of the book of Yehoshua. And in chapter 9 of the same book, in the story of the Givonites, we see that the elders take an active part in governing the community.

Jewish tradition says: “The face of Moshe is like the sun, the face of Yehoshua is like the moon.” And the point is not only who shines brighter: who shines with direct light and who with reflected light. Simply, when the moon shines, the stars are visible as well, the light of the moon does not outshine the light of the stars. There is a leader who is responsible for everything, and under him nobody knows who his minister of the economy is, who his minister of light industry is, who his some other minister is, because everything is on him, he has taken everything into his own hands. It is like in the light of the sun: although the stars are there, they are not visible. And while the people of Israel, united by one idea, by one common path, wandered in the wilderness, a leader like Moshe was needed – a leader with a sunlike face. But when the people of Israel enter the Land, such governance no longer fits. One is needed who can delegate authority, who can take counsel, who lets others govern too, acts collegially, is more open to others.

Why did I connect these two topics – about different types of servants and about different types of leaders? For people with different natures the Most High says: “Choose the path, support people with different natures.” Likewise for situations with different natures: different situations require different leadership.

The leader whom Moshe is now asking for, under whom the flock, the community, will not remain without a shepherd, will appear later. About David it is said: “All Israel, Yehuda loved David, for he led them and brought them back.” It is precisely to David that the Most High will say: “You will shepherd My people.” That is, the prayer of Moshe, the request of Moshe was heard, but it is fulfilled later. There will be a time of the leader with the sunlike face. There will be a time of the leader with a moonlike face. And, of course, David is a prototype of Mashiach, of the one who will lead no longer only the Jewish people, but all of humanity.

There is one more thought about our weekly portion that I would like to share. In chapter 28 there is the commandment about the tamíd offering, which in literal translation means always. This offering is brought every morning and every evening. It is a constant offering, which is brought on a constant schedule.

Why is it called tamíd (always)? There is a story about a young man who decided to draw near to the Torah, to the commandments, little by little. And he understood that the first thing he could do was to take upon himself one prayer, to begin with. That is, out of all the prayers that Jews traditionally pray, he would choose one. He asked the rabbi which prayer he valued most, and the rabbi told him: “The prayer Modé aní,” the prayer that every Jew says when he wakes up in the morning: “I thank You, LORD, who returned my soul to me in your mercy. Great is Your faith.” A Jew, beginning his day, opening his mouth for the first time in the day, says the word modé (I thank), and in the evening he also ends his day with a prayer of thanksgiving. It is like brackets set in place that unite the whole day. And the prayer, like the tamíd offering, extends over the whole day, the whole day passes as if in brackets, in this prayer. And it is very important how we begin and how we end the day, how we begin and how we end every undertaking. Therefore there is a blessing before a commandment, after many commandments there is also a blessing, there is a prayer before the beginning and a prayer after the end of every undertaking. This is how the tamíd offering is reflected in our deeds in our time.

So here (briefly) are some thoughts on our weekly portion Pinchas.

Our weekly portion Pinchas begins with verse 10 of chapter 25, when all the events have already happened, when the Israelite and the Midyanite girl have been killed by Pinchas, son of Elazar the kohen, who was zealous with the zeal of the Most High, the wrath of the LORD has subsided and the pestilence that struck twenty-four thousand people has stopped.

As a reward for courage and heroism one might have expected the Most High to say: “Let Pinchas be the eternal commander-in-chief of the Israel Defense Forces. Let Pinchas be the eternal defense minister of Israel, for this man showed courage. When everyone was paralyzed and nobody knew what to do, Pinchas took a spear, went and pierced two people.” But the Most High says: “As a reward Pinchas will have a covenant of peace.” Why exactly will a covenant of peace be his reward? Because Pinchas’s goal was not a display of courage and heroism, he did not want to show his strength, he was not taking part in a knightly tournament. His goal is the reconciliation of the people of Israel and the Most High. His goal is to obtain the mercy of the Most High toward the people of Israel.

In exactly the same way, many years earlier, when Moshe went out to the well and saw how the shepherds were oppressing the daughters of Yitro, he stood up for them, risked, one could say, his life, but not in order to show his strength, but in order to show mercy to the daughters. So it happens that courage and heroism, a display of strength, are necessary for reconciliation, therefore the reward for Pinchas is precisely a covenant of peace, an entirely fitting reward.

But there is also another side to this. When a person kills, his soul can end up traumatized. One can grow coarse, one can grow callous, one can even make killing people a habit, God forbid.

For example, a person is engaged in some kind of work connected with rehabilitation: a social worker who sorts out some difficult, tangled cases, in some difficult, tangled circumstances; or a female social worker who works with women suffering from domestic violence, helping them keep peace in their hearts, helping them want to marry again, to believe again that there are normal, decent men; or a prison guard who constantly works with prisoners. How are these people to believe that the world is full of normal, healthy people, how do you keep your heart from getting caught, from getting drawn into what you have to do for the sake of mercy, for the sake of reconciling people with God, for the sake of reconciling people with other people, how do you keep peace in your heart? And the Most High blesses Pinchas and says: “Even though you killed people, I give you a covenant of peace, you will have peace in your soul, your soul will not suffer, will not be scratched by this killing.” Moreover, this is a covenant of priesthood: the kohen atones for other people, he is a mediator in the process of atonement. The blessing of the kohen is to see what is impure and not to become impure himself. This is the essence of the covenant of peace: “You killed, but I will give you peace in your heart, you will not become a murderer.”

Read also the portion Balak, the material on the Jewish holidays, the talk on the covenants and the weekly portions of the Torah.