Parasha of the Week

The Faithful Shepherd was Moshe rabbenu (Moses our Rabbi).  In fact, the mystic tradition always refers to Moshe this way, as the “ faithful shepherd.”  He was the shepherd who kept faith throughout all his trials in Egypt and in the forty-year sojourn in the desert.   Leadership was thrust upon him.  Unlike a political leader who runs for office for personal aggrandizement or for altruistic reasons wanting to change the world for the better Moshe tried hard to evade the call of leadership.  Humility was Moshe’s hallmark and he argued with God against become the man who would confront the mighty Pharaoh to deliver his people.   Why Moshe?  Why did not God choose someone more ambitious, perhaps a bit more assertive and aggressive with a drive to fight against tyranny? The midrash tells us that when he was a young man tending the flocks of his father-in-law in Midian, he found that the tiniest of ewes was...

Pinchas was a man of instinct and full of zealotry.  He was moved by what he saw wrong with his people and acted forcefully, violently. In the aftermath of his actions, Pinchas was given a permanent “covenant of peace.”  Interesting that Pinchas, the zealot was given an award that did not jibe with his disposition.  Yet a great lesson inheres in this week’s Torah parasha.  There are times when we are on the right side of history but not behaving in a way that we want others to emulate.  For example, wars are often fought but they should never be glorified.  Wars may be necessary to protect lives that that does not mean we exult when people die.  The same can be said of any kind of suffering or punishment. In fact, the whole idea of jailing someone for crimes is unknown in the Torah.  What is the purpose of placing someone in jail?  To satisfy society?  As an act of punishment for wro...

What we say matters.  It matters so much that there is a whole tractate in the Talmud on the import of the words that we speak.   In this parasha there are two particular kinds of speech that are given attention.  The first is a neder .  A neder is a personal vow that we made to and for ourselves.  It may be that we make a neder to not eat bananas, or study Torah, or give tzedaka.  That neder is heard Above and God accounts it to us as if it were a contract.  That is why once a year we have a service called Kol Nidrei , which is about all the vows we said we would undertake but did not fulfill.  We beg God to forgive us for being unfaithful with our speech and promises. The other kind of speech mentioned in Mattot is when we swear.  Swearing involves invoking the name of God and declaring that such and such is true (like in a court of law).  When we make such an oath (shavua, in...

Mida k’neged mida .   It is an old Hebrew expression, which might have been borrowed by William Shakespeare, as it means “measure for measure.”   In this week’s Sidra, Hukkat , we learn about a red cow that was offered up as a sacrifice to purify those who were tainted by impurity.   Impurity is a word we are unaccustomed to using but when we relate it to feeling bad when we have not lived up to our expectations, that is a kind of impurity.  We have let ourselves down.  In biblical times, in some sense, it was no different.  After all, times changes but human nature remains the same. In an unforgettable earlier episode the newly freed slaves crafted a golden calf, which they worshipped as an emblem of the god that redeemed them from Egypt.  It was wrong.  They knew it was a bad idea.  When Moses returned and found what the people had done there needed to be some recompense for the wrongdoing...

They made up their minds. Moshe rabbenu dispatched twelve princes, spies, to determine their foothold in the land that God promised.  On the way as well as on the return trip ten of the twelve princes expressed their worry about the Canaanites in the land. Describing them as descendants of the giants of old they declared to the Israelite nation that the land was beautiful and fulsome but unattainable. (Hafetz Hayim) They declared with certainty that they would be squashed like gnats by the giants. Two, Joshua and Caleb, went with an open mind and came back fully optimistic that the land was theirs, just as God ordained. The people listened to both narratives and naturally agreed with the ten. Against the will of Moshe, and Joshua and Caleb, the people voted to wander for forty years.  All because ten men had already made up their mind. We are taught many lessons by this sidra.  One of the most vital is to curtail our pre-judgements...

The Torah reading for this week, Nasso, contains the blessing given by the Kohanim.  The first sentence is just 3 words.  It drops like a gentle rain,  “May God bless you and guard you.”   Simple.  Hopeful.  Necessary. The second verse is 5 words, and it lifts us up to the Divine light can shine.  “May God’s presence shine on you and be favorable.”  This blessing is at once personal and broad; it is meant for you while you ask God’s blessing for everyone else. The third contains 7 powerful words.   This blessing contains the ultimate request of the Almighty.  Here we are asking God’s Face, hidden from even Moses!  to bring us to an even higher level.  “May God’s presence rise into your life and bring you peace.”   What a perfect series of blessings for our time.  May we find inner peace and become purveyors of peace. 

From the Midrash: Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina said: The Divine Word spoke to each and every person according to his particular capacity. And do not be surprised at this idea. For when manna came down for Israel, each and every person tasted it in keeping with his own capacity—infants in keeping with their capacity; young men in keeping with their capacity; and the elderly in keeping with their capacity . . . On Shavuot we celebrate the moment when God gave His Torah to the Israelite nation at Mt. Sinai.  Each year on the anniversary of that event we reread the biblical section and allow our hearts to be fully exposed to the majesty of those words and the timelessness of Revelation.  As Rabbi Yossi implied, we can receive the Torah today just as our ancestors did millennia ago.  All that is required to open that closed space and allow God in.