From the leadership down

Parshat Matos

In 31:14 we see Moshe taking the leaders of the army to task for failing to criticize and properly instruct their soldiers what to do in battle (regarding taking the booty and who to let live and who to kill). The passuk says Moshe got angry at them and Rashi explains that “This teaches that the entire corruption of the generation is attributed to the great men, since they have the power to rebuke.” (Translation by Tachash website).

This clearly shows that leadership is responsible for the general public’s attitude and behavior. We sometimes find situations in which criticism of leaders (be they Rabbonim or lay leaders) is defelected with the statement that they have other concerns and cannot always be the ones to lead the way on all issues. They say if it is right to do, do not wait for the Rabbonim.

I will not deal now with the issue of deciding on your own what is right to do or not. Obviously every case needs to be judged individually – sometimes it will be ok to do what you feel is right and sometimes it would be inappropriate without rabbinic approval.

However, this parsha seems to contradict that thought. The leaders are responsible at all times for instructing the people properly. If the great men do not rebuke, the people just don’t figure it out on their own, or even may extrapolate the wrong ideas from the lack of rabbinic response (e.g. if so and so did not say anything against it he must approve, etc..).

The leaders have an obligation to lead, all the time. No passing the buck.

Appointing a successor

Parshat Pinchas

Moshe finds out he will soon die. We find the unusual phrase of “And Moshe spoke to Hashem saying.” in 27:15. I say it is unusual because we usually have God speaking to Moshe, not the reverse. Here we see the reverse.

So what does Moshe tell Hashem? He goes into a speech in which he explains how important it is to appoint a successor to lead the Jews into Israel and that it should be somebody who has merits and can lead, etc.

Did Moshe really think Hashem would knock off Moshe and leave Bnei Yisrael without a leader? After everything Hashem had done the previous 40 years or so, taking them out of Egypt, through the desert, to the cusp of Eretz Yisrael and Moshe thought Hashem would now abandon them to their own abilities and forces? Moshe must have known Hashem would appoint someone, so what is the big discussion here?

Rashi tells us that the Torah is showing the greatness of the righteous (and Moshe in particular) that they are concerned with the welfare of the community even to the point that at the time of their deaths they are concerned with the public rather than closing their own affairs.

Of course Moshe knew Hashem would make sure the Jews were taken care of and had a leader. However, he felt it important to deal with the issue of appointing a successor while he was still alive, to ensure the smooth transition of leadership.

We see nowadays many organizations and groups who suffer from not planning the future leadership properly. The top brass leave or die and suddenly the whole organization is in turmoil. People do not know who to turn to. Oftentimes there is a split in the organization because of competing rivals looking to take the leadership role, etc. Other times there is a void as the competing rivals duke it out and the ones to suffer are the regular people who end up with no real leadership.

Yes, Hashem would take care of it. But a true leader makes sure his people are taken care of and does not leave it for other people to worry about. Moshe had to make sure his people would be taken care of. That is why Moshe spoke up now.

 

Who’s your daddy?

Parshat Pinchas

In 25:11 the passuk tells us “Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon Ha’Kohen”. Rashi tells us the reason the Torah felt it important o state the lineage of Pinchas back to Aharon (the grandfather) instead of just to Elazar (the father) was because people were talking about how hypocritical Pinchas was. After all, they said, Pinchas’ grandfather (Yisro) himself was a priest o Avoda Zaras who fattened the animals for sacrificing to all sorts of deviant gods. Who is Pinchas to preach to us??!! Therefore the passuk relates Pinchas to Aharon.

So what? What does relating him to Aharons side of the family do for anyone? Did people stop talking after that? It must have gone something like this: People were talking about Pinchas and then suddenly they read he was Aharons grandson so they stopped??!! I do not think so. They knew he was Aharons grandson to start with, so what was the purpose of writing this?

I think the passuk was not writing this fact in order to stop the rumors and lashon hara from spreading and to stop people from besmirching the integrity of Pinchas. People talk and nobody likes to be told they are acting inappropriately, so they spoke badly of Pinchas. The passuk is coming to tell future generations – us, that we should know that the intentions of Pinchas were honest and done with integrity.

Nothing unusual here..

Parshat Balak

Bil’am is heading out to curse the Jews on behalf of Balak. He is cutting through a field riding on his donkey, and the donkey veers from the path. It happens a few times and it upsets Bil’am. He threatens to kill the donkey. All of the sudden the donkey starts to talk and defends his actions. Bil’am responds and explains himself to the donkey.

Can you imagine this happening? I picture the story in my head and what do I see? How would I have responded if my donkey had started to talk to me? I picture myself falling off the donkey, extremely shocked and startled. Yet Bil’am reacts as if this is a perfectly normal situation.

I would assume that Bil’am must have always seen and experienced unusual things, in order for this not to have surprised him. Maybe that is part of the package of being a prophet.

And they call us a stubborn people!!

Parshat Balak

We have a very strange situation in Parshat Balak. Balak sends messengers to persuade Bil’am to assist him in bringing about the downfall of the Hews, via a terrible curse Bil’am would place upon the Jews using his calculations to figure out the moment God gets angry at the Jews. He would take advantage of the moment and curse the jews and in His great anger, He would allow Bil’ams curse to have the desired affect.

Yet Bil’am rejects the request a couple of times, saying he would not do it. Finally he is persuaded to attempt on the condition that Balak be aware that he provides no guarantees (and no money back guarantee) to being able to curse the Jews. He says very clearly that what he accomplishes regarding the Jews would be completely dependant on what Hashem wants to happen.

Balak accepts the pre-condition and they head out to try to curse the Jews. Bil’am tried once and it comes out as a blessing. When confronted by Balak, he responds that is what Hashem wanted and tough noogies, I told you inadvance it would happen.. Balak persuaded him to try again and he does. Again, it comes out as a blessing with some added stinging rebuke to Balak for even bothering to try.

This happens over and over again in the parsha with Balak attempting to curse and Bil’am giving a blessing.

Balak had a one track mind. He had to curse the Jews. He had to destroy the Jews. By hook or by crook. He did not care about anything else. He was extremely stubborn and ignored everything that was happening.

The passuk in 23:17 even tells us “The ministers of Moab were with him” and Rashi explains that earlier it had said “all the ministers of Moab” which indicates that some had left because they could tell it was a waste of time and there was no chance of success. I would venture to say that the ministers that remained with Balak did so out of respect to Balak’s position (and probably fear for their lives) rather than because they wanted to be there for the curse.

Only Balak could not see what was going on. He was so stubborn that he was blinded and could not see the reality of the situation.

It is worth taking a deep breath and reassessing a situation that is not working out rather than just driving on blindly. Don’t let your stubbornness lead you to the abyss.

Second nature

Parshat Balak

In 22:29 Bil’am responds to his donkey by saying if he had a sword he would kill the donkey. Rashi mentions that in the eyes of the ministers accompanying him it was an embarrassment that he had to threaten the donkey with physical violence, while he was on the way to supposedly destroy the Jews by using his sharp tongue. After all, why would he need a sword to kill the donkey, why not just say something that will cut short the donkeys life?

What is going on here? Why would they expect Bil’am to present a verbal attack on the pathetic donkey rather than a physical attack, which would clearly be considered normal?

In the original decision to hire Bil’ams services, Balak expressed the knowledge that he had no physical power to beat the Jewish nation and he knew he needed to beat the Jews at their own game – by verbal powers. He specifically pursued and hired Bil’am because Bil’am was unique among the nations of the world, whose strength normally lies in the physical realm, in that Bil’ams strength was similar to the strength of the Jews, by using his mouth.

The raison d’être of Bil’am was to gain advantage by curses and blessings. He could use any lowly servant to attack with physical violence. Now he sees Bil’am getting frustrated over a confrontation with a donkey (!) and he threatens the donkey with physical violence. When a person gets frustrated lie that, he generally lashes out, and usually will attack with what is second nature to him, in Bil’ams case he should have automatically cursed the donkey and felled it in its tracks. But he did not. He threatened it with violence.

That made the ministers think maybe we are bringing back a fraud to Balak. They were embarrassed they spent so much time and effort pursuing the services of somebody who clearly did not have the powers (or at least the level of powers) he claimed to have.

The gemora even says in many places one of the ways to know a person is to view him in his state of anger. At that time he reacts with a natural reaction and by watching him at that time you will see if he is really in control of himself, and if not you will see what comes naturally to him. The ministers witnessed Bil’am in his state of anger and frustration and they saw that he was not all he claimed to be..

Actively remembering

Parshat Chukat

In Parshat Chukat we read about the story of Hashem sending the snakes to bite the people as punishment for (yet again) complaining how Moshe could dare take them out of Egypt with no bread or water in the desert. Hashem sends the poisonous snakes to bite them and people start dying.

In 21:8 hashem tells Moshe to make a “saraf” (fiery serpent) and place it on a pole. Whoever would look at it would be healed and whoever would not look at it would not be healed. Rashi brings the words of Chaza”l who ask how could looking at the snake heal the people? Rather when they would look at the snake they would remember their Father in Heaven, Hashem, and repent. Those who did not look at the snake would have no catalyst to cause them to think about Hashem and repentance, hence they would die.

Why did this have to be part of the healing process? Moshe davened to Hashem to stop the snakes and Hashems response was to put a snake on a pole. Why did He require this? He has sent many plagues in the past which he cancelled without doing anything so strange, so why here did He require such an act of participation on the people’s behalf?

Because their sin was one of lack of faith (they asked and complained about having been taken from Egypt into a barren desert), Hashem could not just heal them and let bygones be bygones. Next week it would happen again, as it has already occurred a number of times. The only way to nip it in the bud was to make them realize on their own what their mistake was. By telling Moshe to put the snake on a stick and make them look at it to get healed, He was forcing them to think about what they had done wrong, thereby allowing them to repent for the lack of faith. Living in the desert was an experience of truly miraculous proportions. Every moment they were surrounded by unusual miracles. They just did not think about them and realize Hashem is taking care of them.

Their participation in the healing process would force them to think about it and later to remember the lessons of the past, thereby ensuring it would not happen again.

When you participate in a process, the results are often internalized in a much greater way than by one who simply observes from the outside.

Hitting the rock, hitting the Jews

Parshat Chukat

We read the story how the Jews complained about not having water to drink. Moshe was told to speak to the rock in front of the nation and water would come forth to satisfy the thirst of the people. Moshe hit the rock, the people drank and Moshe got punished for hitting rather than speaking.

In 20:12 Hashem punishes Moshe for hitting the rock, He says, “Because you did not have faith to sanctify Me in the eyes of Bnei Yisrael, etc..”. Rashi explains this verse that had Moshe spoken to the rock, the people would have extrapolated from the event that just as the rock was spoken to and did as it was told despite the fact that it receives no punishment for not listening, how much more so do I have to listen to Hashem’s word when I do get punished for not listening.

I was thinking about this “kal v’chomer” that the people would make to learn the lesson Hashem wanted them/us to learn. It seems that had Moshe spoken they would have naturally come up on their own with the above extrapolation. That means, I think, that now that Moshe hit the rock, they are coming up naturally with a different extrapolation. That kal v’chomer must have been – “Moshe hit the rock and it listened, so Hashem will hit us and we will listen (I.e. if we do not listen Hashem will hit us).”

If my thoughts are correct that the lesson we were supposed to learn was avoided and instead we learned a different lesson, it is understandable why Moshe was punished so harshly for a seemingly slight mistake (after all, hitting a rock to draw water is also a pretty big miracle). That would be because look at the lesson he taught them. He taught them (or at least made them think so) by his actions that God is a harsh God and quick to hit to have people act in accordance with His will. That is not the lesson Hashem wanted conveyed, because it is not true.

Visual Aids

Parshat Korach

After the Fear Factor/Survivor challenge between Korach and Aharon (or maybe The Apprentice is a better analogy) comes to a conclusion, Moshe, unbelievably, still finds doubters among the people. He goes back to the crowd and people say he was too harsh with Korach’s group, and they did not all need to die, and maybe Moshe sabotaged the challenge, etc.

Moshe comes up with another idea. He says the Nasi of each tribe should place his staff in the Holy Tent and the one that sprouts almonds would be a sign from God who is chosen for the job. They accept the idea, place the staffs, surprisingly Aharon’s staff sprouted almonds and everybody is calm and satisfied.

In 17:25 Hashem tells Moshe to place Aharon’s staff in the tabernacle as a reminder to the people, lest they should start complaining again. They would see the staff and remember all that happened.

Amazing that after all that happened, all they had seen and gone through, they would still need a stick and a pile of almonds to remind them. You would think the images of the ground swallowing the people would be seared in their minds. You would think seeing a stick sprout almonds would be unforgettable. Why is it necessary to keep the stick around as a reminder?

I think the answer is that until now also they had seen miracles of equal quality. The splitting of the sea. Water coming out of a rock. The daily Manna. The clouds and fire and daily protection form the elements. Yet despite all these miracles constantly flooding their experiences, they still keep finding reason to complain and to doubt Moshe. When you feel slighted, it does not matter how much your mind tells you that the other side is obviously correct – sometimes the only thing that can stop you in your tracks is a visual, physical reminder of what happened. Not just a memory, but something physical that forces you to remember honestly. That was the purpose of keeping the stick.

Last man standing

Parshat Korach

Concluding the stage of negotiating the challenge to see who would be Kohen Gadol, Moshe makes a seemingly innocuous condition. He says in 16:29-30 that if they will die a normal death, that will show that “Hashem did not send me” and if something unusual would be the cause of death such as the ground opening its mouth and swallowing them alive that would prove these people incited wrongfully against God.

Both sides of Moshe’s condition were based on the death of his opponents. If they die normally he is wrong, and of they die in a freak manner, he is right. Seems one-sided to me!? What about a condition, if Aharon dies that shows he is wrong? Why did they have to die no matter what? It does not seem like a fair deal - if they are right they die and if they are wrong they die?

I guess Moshe knew most of them would die even if Korach was right and he was wrong. Only one person could have the job and with 260 or so people vying for it, most people would die. It was not just a matter of losing the job and having to start sending out your resume again to new potential employers. Moshe knew that all losers would die. It was just a matter of whether he or Korach was right. If Moshe was right, they would die a horrific death. If Korach was right, they would die normal deaths.

 

Do you have anything to gain?

Parshat Korach

Korach started the argument for personal reasons. He wanted the job of nesius, he felt he deserved it, and the fight got notched up a few levels in the heat of the moment. Korach did not want to fight it alone and he found 250 other poor “victims” (victims of Korach’s persuasion I would suggest) to join him in his fight.

We are told nothing about these 250 people – other than of a select few. Why they joined Korach I have no idea, I can only assume he had powerful powers of persuasion, and maybe they did not like Moshe that much as it is. I do not know why they thought they deserved the position nor whether they believed they would win it when going up against 260 other people all claiming the same thing, with the possibility of death to the 259 or so losers. I am not sure what they were thinking.

It seems to me kind of pathetic that they joined the dispute at all and somehow it seems that they muist have been influenced by Korach, especially as it says Korach took them and rashi explains that to mean he took them in with his words. Korach convinced these guys they had a chance, when he knew they did not. I feel that might have been a worse offense than the dispute with Moshe. At least in the dispute with Moshe he had a possibly valid claim and wanted it verified. These guys had nothing and they were solely killed because Korach suckeres them into joining him, probably hoping they could force Moshe’s hand with their numbers.

Korach knew in advance that if anybody other than Aharon would win it would be him. We are told that he saw in a prophecy certain descendants of his. He took that to mean that he would be victorious, as he would clearly live if he was going to have descendants. He was mistaken because he did not realize his own children would back out of the dispute at the last minute. He knew these 250 or so people joining him had no chance. He knew it was either him or Aharon. Yet he still persuaded them to come join his fight. I find that despicable. He used them! And this was coming from someone who was one of the greatest people of the generation – he had nevuah, he was a leader, he was clearly persuasive and charismatic, we know he was learned and had the strength of mind and logic to make elephants jump through needles!!

When someone is trying to convince you to do something, check carefully to see what you will actually gain from the venture. See if he is using you for his own selfish purposes. Nobody, no matter how great they are, should be trusted automatically. Korach shows us that even the greatest of people can be looking out for their own interests and be willing to sacrifice innocent people to achieve their goals.

Who really appointed Aharon?

Parshat Korach

Korach had a dispute with Moshe as to who should lead the Jewish nation. He specifically was claiming the right to be Kohen Gadol for himself. We are told by Rashi and the Midrashim that his claim was based on what he felt was a personal slight.

Korach felt that he was skipped over for the Nesius (president or governor perhaps) position of the Kehas tribe in the Levite tribe. How so? Kehas had 4 sons. The eldest was Amram and his two sons took the first two positions, Moshe the leader and Aharon the Kohen Gadol. Next was Yitzhar and his children should have been appointed to the next positions in the food chain of power – the nesius of Kehas. That should then have gone to, so Korach felt, Korach, him being the eldest of Yitzhar’s children. Yet he was not appointed to the position. He was passed over and the job was given to Elitzafan the son of Uziel who was the youngest son of the 4 brothers. He came to claim the Nesius, and once he was making a claim, he changed it to the Kehuna, so he was basically questioning the validity of Moshe’s appointments, based on what he recognized as a bad appointment.

The argument between them proceeds as we all know and the rest of the story is history. In 16:15 after Moshe comes up and presents the terms of the challenge to find out who would be the Kohen, he is then angered by Dasan and Aviram who refuse to come before him for a conciliatory meeting. He turns to God and says a short prayer. He says do not accept their minchot – do not accept the korban they will bring.

I do not understand the purpose of this prayer. Assuming what we believe is true, that Moshe made all his appointments based on the command of Hashem, and nothing involved was personal, what was he davening for? He knew his appointments had been directed by God and by definition Hashem would only accept Aharon’s korban, and would not accept Dasan, Avirams or any of the other 250 people involved in the dispute! Hashem could not because they would have been bringing the korban inappropriately and would have to be killed like Nadav and Avihu had been killed. I understand why the people went ahead with it. They doubted Moshe and were challenging him. I do not understand Moshe – just by the very nature of his position and actions, he should have been confident of his victory over this uprising. Why would he feel the need to offer a special prayer for his victory?

Yes, I know Rashi says he was referring to other korbanos – not to accept any of the korbanos presented by these people, but that is hard to swallow as an answer – Moshe knew they were all about to be killed and would not be offering any more korbanot. It could be Rashi was bothered by the same question and felt the need to explain it referring to other korbanot, but I think that is an insufficient answer to my question.

If you have any suggestions and possible answers, please post it in the comments, or email me at Israeli.jew@gmail.com – this question has been disturbing me for a few days now and I have not thought of a satisfactory answer.

Eretz Yisrael

Parshat Sh'Lach

There is really nothing more that needs to be expounded on in the main theme of the Parsha. No greater lesson can really be learned by expounding, rather than just looking simply at what happened.

The Jews were on the cusp of entering Israel. Any day now and they would be there. They just received the Torah. All cylinders were clicking and everything was going great. They start complaining and decide they need to send in spies to scout out the land. All they see is the bad, whether real or made up.
After they witnessed all the miracles of the dessert, did they really not think Hashem could help them conquer and settle the Land? Yet they spoke badly of the Land of Israel. They tried to dissuade the people from entering and building up the land.

The lesson is clear. We often hear people disparaging Israel. Be it the weather or the politics or the attitudes or the people or whatever. We have to see the good in Israel. Sure, we have to see the bad and try to improve it. But that would be looking at the bad with an eye to improve, rather than an eye to complain and disparage. Don't harp on the bad. See the good and encourage Aliyah, rather than discourage it.

Remember the Provider

Parshat Sh'Lach

The Torah in Chapter 15 describes the commandment of separating Challah from ones dough. In 15:20 and 15:21 it says from "the first of your dough".

The Torah uses the word "Reishit" a number of times. As far as I can remember, it is always in reference to one of the mitzvot hatluyot ba'aretz - a mitzva dependant on being in the land of Israel, generally one that has to do with agricultural aspects of being in Israel. Shemittah, Trumot and Maasrot, bikkurim, challah, etc..

The concept of giving from the first of ones produce or efforts is one of recognizing who is really the provider. The Jews wandered in the dessert for 40 years. They had all their needs taken care of and all their wants provided for. At worst they had to complain a little and then they were given what they wanted..
They are going to enter the Land of Israel and all that is going to end. Nothing will be given to them on a platter. They have to go back to living normal lives. They will have to work for their food. Plant, sow, plow, harvest - a lot of sweat and toil.

A person who works hard and eventually sees results from his labors, often takes the attitude that he has been successful in his efforts. We even say "Yagata U'Matzata, Ta'amin" - if you put forth effort and find success, believe (in your success). God tells us in advance that we should be careful from having such attitudes. When we give ourselves too much credit and forget who the actual provider is, we are headed for trouble. He therefore gave us a number of mitzvot whose goal is (or at leats in part) to protect us from having such thoughts and forgetting where our success really comes from.
After having planted and harvested and worked very hard for our produce, we are told to give the first fruits to the Kohanim and Leviim, or bring to the Bet Hamikdash, or let the land sit fallow for a year, or once a week stop working or separate from the first of the dough, etc. The first thing we do when we see the fruits of our labor is give some to Hashem (or His rep). This right away reminds us who really provided us with our success. It was not the toil of our hands and the sweat of oru brow. It was Hashem who made us successful. Don't forget it.

No Comment

Parshat B’Ha’Alotcha

Miriam and Aharon approach Moshe and complain that they heard he has separated from his wife. They say that Hashem does not only speak with him and if he separates from his wife, everyone else will as well. Moshe does not respond, rather the passuk in 12:3 tells us that Moshe was the most humble of men.

Passuk 12:3 seems to be out of place. Why is it here that the Torah decides to tell us that Moshe is the humblest of all men?

I think the reason is because the fact that Moshe was the humblest of all men was exactly the answer to Miriam’s issues and therefore it fits exactly. Moshe separated from his wife because Hashem told him to. He had to be ready at every available moment to talk directly with God. Sure, other people were great as well and spoke with God. However, nobody was doing it at the level of Moshe. Hashem even tells Miriam afterwards that they speak directly while everyone else speaks via dreams, etc..

Moshe was the humblest of all men and he therefore was not going to start bragging about how he had to separate from his wife because he speaks directly to God while everyone else only speaks in dreams. Because he was so humble he had no response available. Any response would have made him look haughty.

The proper attitude for a Jewish educator

Parshat B’Ha’Alotcha

In 11:29 Moshe responds to Yehoshua. Yehoshua had tried to defend Moshe’s honor. Moshe had gathered 70 elders to his tent to bestow upon them the ability to prophesize, thereby lightening the load on Moshe’s shoulders. Eldad and Medad, who had been left out of the group of 70, began prophesying on their own. The midrash tells us that they were prophesying regarding the future death of Moshe, and Yehoshua’s ascent to the leadership of the nation.

When Yehoshua heard this he felt Moshe’s honor had been affected. He stood up to defend Moshe’s honor and called for them to receive capital punishment for the great dishonor they caused to Moshe. Moshe responded that they should be left alone and he wishes that every Jew would be worthy to prophesize.

I had a cousin in a yeshiva for students with little to no background in learning Torah. After he spent two years learning in this yeshiva, it was time for him to leave to go back home to begin University. His rebbi asked him if he would consider sending his future children to learn in this yeshiva. He responded effusively that of course he would. He wants his children to learn in this yeshiva. It was great, they helped him grow so much, and he loved the rebbi and wants his kids to have the same rebbi.

The rebbi responded that if so, he was not successful. His goal in teaching this young man was to create a situation of growth so that he will not need to send his children to such a yeshiva, rather he would give his children a good yeshiva education and they would go to a yeshiva for kids with more background!

Moshe was not interested in his own personal honor. He was concerned with leading the Jewish Nation and effecting their growth. His highest goal was they should each and every person grows to the point that they no longer need Moshe telling them what to do and what Hashem wants. They should each be great in their own right and talk directly to God with no need for Moshe. When Yehoshua tried to defend Moshe’s honor, Moshe corrected him and said the fact that they are prophesying is making me deliriously happy! He wished everybody would reach that level of greatness!

That is a Jewish leader! That is a Jewish educator!

Don't Beat a Dead Horse

Shavuot - Ruth

In Megillat Ruth, Naomi insists that her daughters-in-law return to their homes as they have no reason left to remain with her. Orpah went home, but Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi. She said, in what has become famous, "Where you go, I go, Where you sleep, I shall sleep. Your nation is my nation and your God is my God, etc..". In 1:18 we see Naomi's response. The passuk says, "She saw that Ruth was insistent on remaining with her and she stopped talking with her."

Naomi saw that Ruth was insistent on remaining with her as a convert to Judaism. She realized it is pointless to continue arguing about it as Ruth was adamant. She realized there is no point in beating a dead horse. If Ruth really wants to come along and be Jewish, so be it.

Shock to the system

Parshat Naso

In 6:2 the Torah moves on from discussing the concept of Sotah and moves to the topic of the nazirite. Rashi, commenting on the proximity between the sections regarding a Sotah and a nazarite, explains that a person who saw a Sotah in her disgrace will be shocked and become a nazir to separate himself from the worldly pleasures of wine..

There is nothing wrong with partaking in the pleasures of olam ha'Zeh, this world. As a matter of fact, it is explained that the reason why a nazir must bring a sin offering upon completion of his nezirut is because he prohibited from himself the pleasure of worldly items (wine) that Hashem permitted. In a sense it is a type of sin for him to have done so.

However, when a person sees the shock of a Sotah in her disgrace, her shirt being torn, her hair being cut, her korban, and in her disgrace her womb collapsing and legs failing, it will cause him to think about what happened. A person cannot live as a pedestrian/bystander. We are affected by what happens around us. This person saw the depravity of the Sotah and reacted by restricitng himself from certain pleasures that commonly cause immorality.

A person has to react to what happens. Seeing a Sotah is a shock to the system and deserves a reaction. Seeing anything deserves some sort of reaction. One cannot be passive.

positive way of thinking

Parshat Naso

In 5:19 we see the Koen dealing with the Sotah woman and making her take an oath that she did not sleep with the accused man and the bitter waters will thereby be cleansed of the curse.

Rashi says that we state the oath by saying to swear that she did not sleep with the man and is clean, and we do not mention the other possibility - that she did sleep with him and is guilty and will get her punishment. Rashi says that when dealing with life or death laws, we begin with the zechut and not the chiyuv, even though it is obvious to all.

We are to look for optimism and merit all the time. Even when, or especially when , dealing with such serious matters. A persons attitude can make all the difference. If we go into the judgement or any situation we are dealing with with an attitude of optimism, the chances of success are greatly improved.

It'll come from one pocket or the other

Parshat Naso

In 5:12 the Torah begins telling the laws of Sotah. Rashi comments on the proximity of the Sotah section to the previous section discussing giving the priestly gifts. The previous section concluded by saying one who gives to the Kohen hsi portion, will have what to give, meanign he will be blessed with wealth and will have more to give in the future.

Rashi comments on the proximity of these two sections and says that the lesson to be learned is if you give your priestly gifts, you will be blessed with wealth, but if you try to aabstain from giving your gifts and keep it for yourself, you will end up needing to come to the Koen and bring him your Sotah (your wife for judgement of Sotah and the korban of sotah).

This is a lesson we commonly find in Judaic tradition. We were always told as children and as students that if one does not give the charity he is supposed to give and tries to get away with giving less, something will happen that will make you lose that money anyway. If you "owe" $500 to charity but only give $100, your fridge will break down and you will spend a lot of money in repairs, for example.

If we think that the money is ours and we earned it and can do with it as we please, then we also feel why should I give it away. I will be charitable and give a little, but why give so much? I need it to! If that is how you feel, then Hashem will find ways to take it away and show you that it is not yours, rather He gives us money but wants certain things in return.

If you do not give what you are supposed to, God will take it from your other pocket.