Parshas Devarim: Fire and Cloud

 Sefer Devarim begins with Moshe’s recounting of the journey of Bnei Yisrael after they received the Torah. It is interesting, however, that in the first perek of his recounting Moshe deliberates on two points: the creation of the system of judges and the reaction of the people during the reports of the scouts. The question, of course, is why these two items are so specifically detailed, and the answer might very well be because they demonstrate the contentious nature of Bnei Yisrael.

 Sefer Devarim is understood to be both a review of the people’s history and a prophecy of all that will come to Israel. Integral to that future would be both our structured community order and, unfortunately, our penchant for questioning Hashem and getting ourselves in trouble. This latter trait, alas, has seen us, time and again, in the cross-hairs of Hashem’s ire, at a point where Hashem finds it necessary to bring forth all of the dire warnings we have been given in order to remind us of the role we accepted at Sinai.

 When you look at Devarim as prophecy, the following pasukim stand out as having an interesting opportunity for interpretation:

 “Yet for all that, you have no faith in the Hashem your God, who goes before you on your journeys—to scout the place where you are to encamp—in fire by night and in cloud by day, in order to guide you on the route you are to follow. Upon hearing your loud complaint, Hashem became angry and vowed: Not one of those involved, this evil generation, shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers—" (Devarim 1:32-35).

 Moshe is speaking of a very specific incident and yet perhaps it could be understood as more. The place we are to encamp is our ultimate destination, the time when we achieve the status of a goy Kadosh and a mamleches kohanim. To reach that role, we must be able to truly recognize our dynamic relationship with Hashem. Sadly, however, like our ancestors, we often lack faith in Hashem and the future because we fail to recognize the fire by night or the cloud in the day; we fail to understand Hashem’s constant guidance as referenced by the fire and the cloud.

 The fire in the night represents – perhaps - those times that might be labeled difficult - in truth, tragic. Fire is hot and dangerous. Fire burns away the fringes. But think of a forest fire, a necessary act of nature so that the forest can grow back stronger and fresher. When we “have no faith in Hashem,” we fail to see that these challenges serve a purpose. It allows us to grow stronger.

 The cloud by day represents the good times, the times of success – the times when the Jewish people flourish and thrive – the day. Why then, you might ask, “a cloud”? In the good times, Hashem is also obscured. He hides behind a cloud so that we do not see Him directly; and He does so with good purpose. Hashem needs Bnei Yisrael to follow His path with absolute bechira, free will, and so He hides Himself away. But we, in our stubborn, human existence, fail to see beyond the cloud.

 Thus it is that Moshe’s words in Devarim 1:32-33 describe the future – our present – in which the Jewish people (and yes this means both frum people and not frum people) lack in emuna. That lack, that inability to hold on to our faith in God (although, thank God, there are many exceptions) leads to the delay in the ultimate redemption, and thus reflecting Devarim 1:35: “Not one of those involved, this evil generation, shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers—”

 It’s hard, if you pay attention to what is going on in the world, not to find correlations. Hashem gave us the opportunity to return to the Promised Land, but now, as our enemies grow bolder – as lies permeate the news with the conviction of fact – there are Jews themselves that are digging a hole for our people. We have, Baruch Hashem, many Kalevs and Yehoshuas, many people who understand the incredible nature of Eretz Yisrael and the relationship of Bnei Yisrael with Hashem. But there are far too many around the world who believe the lies about themselves – and it is both terrifying and depressing to watch because all of our history is already laid out for us if we look in the Torah.

 Right now, we seem to be approaching “night” and the fire seems to be getting hotter for Jews around the world. if there is one way to turn back the tidal wave of anti-Semitism, it is right here: Emuna. Belief – beyond belief. Not only must we embrace and strengthen our emunah, but we must use our emuna to fulfill the Torah.

 (Please note, it is clear in the Torah that the pillar of fire and the cloud were matters of Divine protection. This Dar Torah is just looking at them metaphorically in light of the world today.)

 MAZAL TOV! Parshas Devarim is the anniversary of these Divrei Torah, the first of which “Eleh Devarim”, was published in 5778 (2018).  Here is the link – https://cthedawn.blogspot.com/2018/07/these-are-words.html - and it is terribly sad how similar the message is – and to think how far that date was from October 7^th and the world we live in now!

 May Hashem Moshiach bmherya biyamenu. Have a beautiful Shabbas, which is a taste of the world to come.

Parshas Matos -Masai: Defiantly in Plain View

In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Matos Masai, the thirty-third chapter of Sefer Vayikra provides a repetitively phrased detailing of the travelling of Bnei Yisrael. They traveled here. They travelled there. They travelled here. They travelled there, and so forth and so on.

Not surprisingly, the great list of journeying begins in Mitzrayim: “They set out from Ramses in the first month…” However, rather than just recording the journey, as is done for most of the rest of the perek, the Torah includes some extra details: “It was on the morrow of the Pesach offering that Bnei Yisrael started out defiantly, in plain view of all the Egyptians. And the Egyptians were burstory. We all known the joke about Jewish hoying the dead that Hashem had struck down among them – every first born – whereby Hashem executed judgement on their gods” (Vayikra 33:3-4).

These details are fascinating because, if you think about it, these two brief, dare I say poetic, verses stated a truth about Jewish history. The Mitzrim are the protype of our oppressors throughout hilidays– they came to kill us, we won, let’s eat… well, except for the eating part. Remember, almost all of our great enemies are gone from the world, but we are still here.

One of the hardest truths for we as people to understand is that every great oppression that we as a nation faced was purposeful. Let’s take a biblical step back to Bereishis. The oppression of Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim was not a twist of fate; it was divinely orchestrated. The Mitzrim, on a celestial level, were given a Divine role to help shape the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov by pressuring them – as promised to Avraham at the Bris Bein Habaturim. And the common question is: If Hashem told Avraham that the people would be oppressed, why were the Mitzrim punished in such a devastating way. The answer: they took it too far. And, really, it’s all there in the Torah.

If you think back to Shemos, the enslavement of the Israelites began with what could be seen as a logical concern. They were worried about a minority population taking power. Slavery seems like a terrible and drastic measure to us, but not 100% impossible to understand. This logical concern was the permitted oppression – the oppression that Hashem foretold to Avraham during the bris bein habaturim. However, Pharoah and his Egyptians found more and more reasons to be paranoid of the Jews. When Pharoah started ordering babies killed, this no longer had anything to do with the oppression Hashem needed Bnei Yisrael to go through. This was when they took the power Hashem had given them and abused it, and this is the reason that the Mitzrim eventually suffered so drastically that they could barely acknowledge Bnei Yisrael were leaving (as noted in our quoted pasukim, Vayikra 33:3-4).

In an era like the one that appears to be unfolding before us now, the world keeps trying to point to a legitimate reason for their hatred. They point to Israel but attack all Jews because, really, anti-Semitism is the super-natural vehicle pushing Bnei Yisrael in the direction of redemption. And in such an era, we cannot lose sight of these verses: “…Bnei Yisrael started out defiantly, in plain view of all the Egyptians. And the Egyptians were burying the dead that Hashem had struck down among them…” It is an incredible reminder. This too shall pass, and we shall remove ourselves from our enemies in their clear view, but they will be too busy picking up the pieces to be able to witness the Divine hand.

Those who have chosen to go beyond reason and logic in their hatred of the Jewish people will be struck down, and we, who have held fast to our faith, will walk out defiantly and in plain view.

Am Yisrael Chai and Shabbat Shalom.

 

Parshas Pinchas: Do You Stand Out

 Dedicated to a refuah shelaima for Yona Yaakova bas Mina, Chana Zelda bat Gittel Yita, Chaya Sarah bas Esther Leah, Moshe Aaron ben Necha Itta, Binyamin ben Simcha, and Yaakov ben Esther Malka.

 

The immediate thought when one sees a title like “Do You Stand Out” for Parshas Pinchas is that it is an obvious grab at a Dvar Torah. The parsha opens with Hashem publicly commending Pinchas for standing up for His honor. Pinchas’ actions, as the commentaries relay, could, with just a slight variance of moment, with a slight shift in intent, have been a crime. However, because his intentions were correct and his actions were done in just the right way, because his only thought was for Hashem, Pinchas became a Cohen with his brothers and Klal Yisrael learned what purposeful zealotry was.

 

Pinchas, however, is not the only one who stands out in this parsha. One could almost call it a motif. For instance, here too is where five women -  Machlah, No’ah, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah – distinguish themselves in the Torah.  It is often mentioned how rare women are named in the Torah (although the genealogical recounting in Parshas Pinchas pauses, so to speak, to callout both Serach and Yocheved), and that reflects the true greatness of these 5 women because being named in the Torah with details – outside of a genealogical listing – represents significant action.

 

 Again, like Pinchas’ zealotry, this is a popular topic for divrei Torah. These women didn’t let convention stop them from approaching Moshe and asking for the right to inherit. And, again, like Pinchas, one can imagine that their actions when they first approached Moshe raised some eyebrows.

 

It is not just the fact that these were five women who approached Moshe – although that is not without its significance – it is the fact that they requested a change to Torah that had been delivered to them. It is interesting to note that there are only two examples (although I could be wrong) of Moshe being approached to change the law after it has been given. One is the request that led to Pesach Sheni, and the other is the request of the tribe Reuven and Gad to stay on the far side of Yarden. Having the courage to make a case for themselves is significant – all the more so, as with Tzelaphchad’s daughters and the men who asked for Pesach Sheni, when it is done l’shem shemayim.

 

Their actions could, perhaps, be interpreted as acts of quiet zealotry.  While Pinchas had only moments to act, Tzelaphchad’s daughters received the law, processed it, and refused to accept that their family branch would be cut off from their inheritance in the Land of Israel. That last bit is the important part. The daughters’ concern was for a portion of the Promised Land, not gold or jewels or wealth. Their concern was to have their father’s household be equal in its elevation.

 

This parsha contains the public acknowledgement of greatness of one other person: Yehoshua. Like Pinchas, Yehoshua’s significant actions are not recounted in this parsha. However, when Hashem tells Moshe that he will not enter the Promised Land and Moshe requests that Hashem appoint a leader, Hashem tells Moshe to take Yehoshua bin Nun, “asher ruach bo” – who has a spirit in him.

 

What does the spirit mean? One idea is that it refers to the midrash of the yud added to his name before he entered the land of Canaan with the other scouts, how Moshe subtly changed his name to give him extra spiritual strength in the journey to come. This extra experience changes him and leads him to grow into the person best able to succeed Moshe.

 

The fact is that the congregation did turn against them during the reporting of the spies, but they held their ground. And afterwards, they could have been looked at with aspersion for having brought havoc upon the people by contesting the majority. But that didn’t stop them.  In a piece on Parshas Shelach, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacs notes that having the ability to stand apart was not difficult for Calev as he had the natural spiritual courage inherited through his descendance from Yehuda. Yehoshua, however, had no such support. He had to work for it. In fact, Moshe even recognized that when he changed his name from Hoshua to Yehoshua. The name change, according to Rabbi Sacs, tells us something important. “Anyone who has experienced a name change has been inducted into a growth mindset.” That stayed with him, and Hashem here recognizes his significance.

 

Pinchas, Tzelaphchad’s daughters, and Yehoshua were all honored in the Torah because their actions, which could have been misconstrued or caused them to be derided by Klal Yisrael, were of pure intent. They are praised because they stood up for Hashem.

 

It should, however, be noted, that the parsha also expands itself when it lists the names of Dasan and Aviram as the sons of Nemuel of the tribe of Reuven  (as well as Kozbi, the seductive Midianitess – not to leave out a wicked woman). Dasan and Aviram stood up for the wrong thing. They, the commentaries say, were the actual instigators more-so than Korach, and their deeds are repeated here. They stood up for the wrong thing and are so castigated.

 

Most people will not have the opportunity in their lives to stand out the way Pinchas, Tzelaphchad’s daughters, and Yehoshua did. Nevertheless, they are people we can – and must – use as role models. We must look to Pinchas to remember that it is important to call out what is wrong, but to do so in the proper way. We must look to Machlah, No’ah, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah to know that it is important to ask questions within the law because the Torah is a living law. We must look to Yehoshua to not stop at one great act but to ride forward on our spiritual strengths. Most of us may never rise to such true greatness, but we still need to find our own ways to stand out.

 

Wishing you all a beautiful Shabbas