This week i will be traveling on Wednesday and Thursday and will have a
difficult time writing up a dvar torah. As usual in these situations, I
would like to enlist my readers help in putting out a dvar torah this
week. If anyone would like to write a dvar torah for this week's parsha,
Parshas Matos-Maasei, please let me know.
AIMeM
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Dvar Torah for Parshas Pinchas
Parshas Balak ends with the story of
Pinchas killing Zimri, the Nasi of Shevet Shimon, as he was involved in an
aveirah with Cozby, the princess of Midian. The halachah is when a person
commits Gilui Arayos with a non-Jewish woman, any קנאי (translated
as zealot for lack of a better term) is allowed to go and kill him. When
Pinchas saw what Zimri was doing, he went straight away and killed both of
them! In this week’s parshah, we learn how Pinchas was rewarded.
When Aharon and his sons became Kohanim,
the Kehunah was given to their descendants as well. However, this included only
unborn children. Anyone who was
already born at the time, including Pinchas, did not become Kohanim. So, at the
beginning of this week’s parshah, Hashem rewards Pinchas by making him a Kohen.
This sounds all good and wonderful but how is it possible? How can someone just
become a Kohen? After all, a Kohen is born, not made. You can answer simply
that Pinchas did a huge Kiddush Hashem, deserving of becoming a Kohen, but
there have been many people throughout history who have done huge Kiddush
Hashems. Why did they not become Kohanim?
There is the possibility of answering on a
personal level pertaining to Pinchas. Pinchas showed an enormous commitment to
Hashem and his zealotry clearly showed his desire to be involved completely in
the service of Hashem. Hashem puts us in certain circumstances which allow us
to reach certain levels. If we reach those levels and show our desire to reach
even higher, Hashem gives us even greater opportunities. After this act on
Pinchas’ part, the only circumstance where he could devote himself even more to
Hashem was through being a Kohen, a job where you work in the Beis Hamikdash
and your entire livelihood comes from Hashem, basically, a life of complete
commitment to God. However, this doesn’t completely answer our question.
Pinchas was already a Levi, whose position in the Beis Hamikdash was also a
position of great importance and also prevented him from making a living. So
why did he need to become a Kohen? Furthermore, this is still not a good enough
reason to change the normal process of becoming a Kohen, namely, by being born
one!
A better way of looking at this is by
examining the actual act that Pinchas did. He is called a קנאי, so what is it about being a קנאי that becoming a Kohen is a fitting reward? Let us examine what
it means to be a קנאי
and maybe then we can understand what the connection is to the Kehunah.
The word “קנאי” comes from the word קנאה, jealousy. Someone who is a קנאי for Hashem is someone who is jealous in place of Hashem. What
does that mean? How can you be jealous in place of someone else, either it’s
your jealousy or theirs? The Ramchal in his sefer Mesillas Yesharim explains
love as having three branches with one of these branches being קנאות. What does this mean? When someone you love is being abused in
some fashion, the first thing you do (or are supposed to do) is immediately
stand up for that person and do what needs to be done to restore that person’s safety
and respect. When you make that person’s honor so important that it hurts you to see him disrespected, when you
make someone’s agenda as important as your own, and you act on that feeling, you are called a קנאי. When Pinchas went to kill Zimri, he wasn’t worried that Zimri
was an important person, he wasn’t worried about what the general populace
would think of him, Pinchas, no more special than anyone else, taking care of
business himself. It hurt Pinchas so
much to see Hashem’s honor being desecrated right before his eyes that he
acted right away. He knew the halachah allowed him to kill Zimri. He took a
spear, and went and killed him. Pinchas loved Hashem enough that this
desecration of Hashem’s name in public drove him to (permissible) murder. And
someone who loves Hashem loves everything about Hashem.
My mashgiach, Rabbi Elchonon Fishman,
explained to us in a schmooze that the parshah introduces Pinchas as “פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן” “Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aharon the Kohen” (25:11).
There was only one Elazar at the time who was a Kohen, that should have been
enough to identify who Pinchas was. Why did the Torah bother to include Aharon
also in the introduction? He answered that Aharon is described as “אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה” “one who loved people and brought them closer to Torah”
(Pirkei Avos 1:12). He was prominent amongst the nation not only as the Kohen
Gadol, but also as the person who brought peace between families, neighbors,
and friends. And because Aharon’s love for the people was so great, he brought
them closer to Torah, the most precious gift anyone would want to give! Aharon
was the first Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol represents the entire nation. When he brings a korban, he brings it for everybody,
when he goes into the Kodesh Hakedoshim on Yom Kippur, he goes in alone, but
represents the entire nation while he is in there. He walks around the whole
day with the names of the Shevatim on his shoulders as part of the Eifod
(apron), and on his chest as part of the Choshen (breastplate). He has the
responsibility of keeping the entire nation on the right path. A Kohen Gadol’s
entire life is about thinking and caring for the nation, and as we said before,
someone who loves Hashem loves everything about Hashem, including his children
and chosen nation. Meaning us, the Jewish people.
Pinchas had this same middah as Aharon, he
loved every single Jew so much. Why? Because the kavod of the Jewish people was
as important to him as was the kavod of Hashem! That’s why the Torah introduces
him as the grandson of Aharon, he inherited that quality from his grandfather.
When Pinchas went to kill Zimri, it wasn’t only to defend the kavod of Hashem,
it was to defend the kavod of the entire nation! He was concerned that the nation should not be embarrassed by
someone committing a horrible aveirah in public.
Now
it’s simple to understand why Pinchas became a Kohen. Who was more qualified to
become the next Kohen Gadol than the person who risked his life to defend the
honor of Klal Yisrael! Additionally, according to one commentary, all future
Kohanim Gedolim were descended from Pinchas. Based on this explanation, this
makes complete sense. This quality which they inherited from their grandfather
is the perfect gene to perform the job of Kohen Gadol.
While we might not be on the level of pure
קנאות,
we can still try to replicate this middah of Aharon and Pinchas, this pure love
of every Jew leading us to do everything in our power to help them, care for
them, and ultimately give them the ultimate gift of Torah. To start off, we
must take care that we treat the respect of every person
as our own. Through this, we will become
true קנאים
and defenders of the honor of Hashem and Klal Yisrael.
Shabbat Shalom!
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.
Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!
AIMeM
Friday, June 21, 2013
Dvar Torah for Parshas Balak
After their conquests over Sichon and Og
in last week’s Parshah, the next set of enemies standing in front of Bnei
Yisrael were Moav and Midian. Balak, the king of Moav, decided to employ the
sorcerer, Bilaam, to curse Bnei Yisrael. Bilaam was unique in history as the
only non-Jewish “Navi”. Even though he was not on the level necessary to
receive prophecy, Hashem still gave Bilaam that ability since if the Goyim had
never had a Navi, they could have possibly claimed that had they had one, they
would have followed the Torah as well as the Bnei Yisrael. This way, that claim
was made redundant. However, Bilaam’s title still belongs in quotations as
there were some key differences between his prophecy and everyone else’s.
After Bilaam arrives in Moav to curse
the Jews, Balak gives him everything he needs to accomplish his mission. Bilaam
then goes to daven to Hashem that he should know the best way to curse the
Jews. Hashem’s response shows us the difference between Bilaam and all other
prophets. “וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֶת שִׁבְעַת הַמִּזְבְּחֹת
עָרַכְתִּי וָאַעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ” “God chanced upon Bilaam, and he (Bilaam) said to Him, "I have set
up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on [each] altar.” (Bamidbar
23:4). The Meforshim have different ways to explain this word “וַיִּקָּר”.
Rashi explains that it shows that Hashem really did not want to talk to Bilaam
since he was not on the proper level to be a Navi. Furthermore, this was the
first time Hashem ever spoke to Bilaam during the day! Normally, He would only
speak to him at night when no one could see. However, at this moment, out of
love for Bnei Yisrael, Hashem came to Bilaam during the day and Bnei Yisrael
ended up being blessed because of it (the result of His love for them).
The Ramban gives us a different
perspective of how Hashem changed his way of talking to Bilaam. The word “וַיִּקָּר”
denotes a happenstance occurrence. Normally, Bilaam received his messages from
Hashem at certain times and in certain situations. This time however, Hashem
“happened” to come to him, at a time where he was not prepared; similar to a
real Navi who had to be ready to receive a message from Hashem at any time
during the day. When Bilaam saw that he was receiving a prophecy, he was
shocked and completely overwhelmed by it and immediately defended himself by
stating that he had built the alters and brought sacrifices and therefore,
deserved to have his prayers answered.
The Daas Zekeinim asks an interesting
question on this story. How come whenever Hashem called Moshe, Moshe had to
come to Him but numerous times in our parshah, Hashem calls out to Bilaam and
then meets Bilaam wherever he is at the time! Doesn’t Moshe deserve the same
respect? He answers using a parable. If the king has a servant with whom he
desires to speak, however, this servant is very ill, there is no way the
king would let him into the palace to speak with him! The king would much
rather meet him outside than let him in the palace and spread his illness
around. However, a different advisor who is completely healthy will be welcomed
in with open arms to the king’s throne room. Is the second servant offended
that he had to come to the king instead of the king coming to him like the first
servant? Absolutely not! Coming into the palace is a privilege that not
everyone receives. The connection to our story is obvious. Bilaam is the sick
servant who while Hashem desires to speak to him, He doesn’t want him dirtying
up the palace by coming in. Hashem would rather go out and meet him by his
place. Moshe however, is privileged enough to be welcomes into the king’s
palace with open arms and able to have his audience in the Mishkan itself. Do
not think that Bilaam was more privileged than any of our Neviim. He was
simply a necessity while the Prophets were fully deserving of their lofty
status.
Shabbat Shalom!
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.
Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!
AIMeM
Friday, June 14, 2013
Dvar Torah for Parshas Chukas
We would like to apologize for any formatting errors or inconveniences there might be this week.
Of the many
well-known stories found in Parshas Chukas, the death of Miriam is one which
stands out. Though they did not realize it until after her death, Miriam was
the one responsible for Bnei Yisrael’s survival in the desert. There was a well
which followed Bnei Yisrael through the desert providing them with water during
their travels; however, following Miriam’s death, the well disappeared. This
showed the Nation that the water came in her merit. Let us examine the pesukim
from this point.
When Bnei
Yisrael saw they did not have water, they came to complain to Moshe. “ולא
היה מים לעדה ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן
. וירב העם עם משה…ולמה הבאתם את קהל יהוה אל המדבר הזה…ולמה העליתנו ממצרים.”
“The congregation had no water,
so they assembled against Moshe and Aharon. The People quarreled with Moshe…Why
have you brought the congregation of Hashem to this desert…Why have you taken
us out of Egypt…” (Bamidbar 20:2-5). The Kli Yakar asks a few
questions on these pesukim. When Bnei Yisrael come to complain, in Pasuk 2 it
says they come to both Moshe and Aharon but in pasuk 3, when they start
complaining, they fight with Moshe alone. Then in pasuk 4, it says “הבאתם”, in the plural form, showing
that they complained to both of them, but in pasuk 5, they once again only
complain to Moshe! What’s going on in the pesukim? Secondly, why do they
complain about the problems in the desert before complaining about leaving
Mitzrayim? Shouldn’t the complaints be in chronological order? Lastly, in the
pesukim the Bnei Yisrael are referred to as עדה, העם, and קהל יהוה. Why the
different ways of reference?
He explains
that the Bnei Yisrael knew that some of what they received in the desert was in
the merit of their leaders. In Moshe’s merit they received the מן, in Aharon’s merit they received
the ענני הכבוד, the Clouds of Glory, and in Miriam’s merit they received the
well. However, none of these things would have been necessary had they been
traveling near a populated area; the fact that they were in the middle of the
desert is why these things were vital to their survival. And while the taking
them out of Mitzrayim was done by Moshe alone, the fact that they entered the desert was because both
Moshe and Aharon knew they could survive there because of the מן and the clouds. That’s why in pasuk
2 it says that when they didn’t have water they came to complain to both Moshe and Aharon since both of them were
responsible for their trek through the desert. Only afterwards in pasuk 3 does
it say they complained to Moshe alone since he alone was responsible for taking
them out of Mitzrayim. However, both pesukim do not write explicitly the reason
for either complaint. Those are found in pasuk 4 and 5 where first they
complain about the fact that they came into the desert, which was against both
Moshe and Aharon, and only afterwards do they complain about having left
Mitzrayim which was only against Moshe.
The next
question we need to answer is why would the Bnei Yisrael complain about
traveling through the desert before they complained about leaving Mitzrayim?
The Kli Yakar answers that the only reason leaving Mitzrayim was a big deal at
this point was because they were now in the desert. The first thing they
had to complain about was the fact they were in the desert over being in an
actual country. Then they complained about having left such a
comfortable and wealthy country like Mitzrayim, known as “גן ה'” the Garden of Hashem, because of its’ beautiful
vegetation; a far cry from the arid desert.
Lastly, the
fact that they kept changing the terminology of how they referred to the
Nation, had to do with how they viewed themselves. As we have explained several
times throughout the Torah, when the Torah refers to the Bnei Yisrael as “העם”,
it is referring to the reshaim amongst them while when the word “קהל” is used,
it is referring to the tzaddikim. Taking a close look at the pesukim, we can
see that when the complainers refer to themselves, they use the word “קהל”
while when the Torah refers to them as “העם”. This is because while they saw
themselves as being in the right, the Torah shows us the opposite. It is then
very appropriate what is written in Pasuk 6 “וַיָּבֹא משֶׁה
וְאַהֲרֹן מִפְּנֵי הַקָּהָל אֶל פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וַיִּפְּלוּ עַל פְּנֵיהֶם…”
“Moseh and Aharon moved away from the
assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and they fell on their faces.”
(20:6). We see that Moshe and Aharon came to daven for mercy for Bnei Yisrael,
but only for the Kahal.
Shabbat Shalom!
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.
Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!
AIMeM
Friday, June 7, 2013
Dvar Torah for Parshas Korach
Due to unforeseen circumstances, there is no new Dvar Torah this week. To read last year's Dvar Torah for Parshas Korach, please click here.
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.
Check out our other AIMeMTorah project, Nation's Wisdom!
AIMeM
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