Bamidbar (Numbers)

We count. We count our age, we count our work hours, we count our money, we count the minutes of our workout, we count our meals... as humans, we count. In this way, we are searching for structure and routine.

Numbers (as the book's name suggests) maintains a theme of counting. The book opens in this week's parsha with God's instructions to the Israelites to "take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel..." (Numbers 1:2). Yet, despite the order that census usually brings, the book of Numbers — Bamidbar in Hebrew, which translates to "in the wilderness"— is a chaotic and transitional time for the Jewish people. Shulamith Hareven, an Israeli writer, suggests that in Badmibar "there was only the desert...They moved from place to place in the desert, hopping back and forth among its few springs, from tamarisk to zyzyph tree, their comings and goings pointless apart from the needs of their flocks..." (Shulamith Hareven, Thirst: The Desert Triology [San Francisco: Mercury House, 1996], 15, 19]. The opening of Numbers evokes a sense of uncertainty and by taking a census — by counting — the Israelites attempt to create order.

Just as Moses and Aaron are instructed to count the members of their community (Numbers 1:3), in our work as Hillel professionals, we count students: how many students came to this or that event? How many students attended Shabbat dinner? How many students are in our databases? But counting alone does not achieve the essence of our work. In order to further the Jewish journeys of the students with whom we work, we cannot simply count heads, rather we must count individuals.

In taking a census, the Israelite leaders were asked to consider the diversity of people who made up their community. With each individual, they paused, acknowledging that each person contributed to the sum total of the group. When we count, we are not only aggregating, but we are recognizing each unique individual. By counting, by taking a census, we are creating a community.

Furthermore, counting can go beyond the task of adding tangible objects (work hours, money, meals, people, etc.). Counting is a form of taking inventory of things that are worth cataloging; it is a way of organizing meaning. As my one-year fellowship at Hillel's Charles and Lynn Schusterman International Center comes to an end this month, I have no trouble relating to this week's parsha. In this time of transition, I am reflecting on my past year and preparing myself for the next step, both personally and professionally. In this process, I am considering what counts: with whom will I stay in contact? Which newly developed professional skills will I carry with me? What have I learned about myself this past year? And how will this knowledge shape who I will become in the coming year? By contemplating these questions, I am considering what counts.

This is a time of year when we are all in transition. In the Jewish calendar, we are counting the days of the omer, transitioning from Pesach to Shavuot. And in the secular, Gregorian calendar, we are wrapping up the school year, transitioning to summer weather and summer hours as we prepare for the new academic year. In this time of transition, we take a step back and take note of what we have accomplished in the past year and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. We search for measurable ways to allow us to articulate our accomplishments and, in this vein, we count in an attempt to create order and meaning.

Prepared by Anna Schuettge, Hochberg Fellow for the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning at the Schusterman International Center.

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To read additional articles and commentaries on Parshat Bamidbar go to MyJewishLearning.com.

This Shabbat we read Parshat Bamidbar, the start of the fourth book of the Torah. We find the Jewish people wandering through the desert, starting their epic 40-year journey. But first, Moses and Aaron take a census of the Jewish people. This is the reason that the English name for this book is Numbers.

As I read through the chapters, my mind kept returning to the same topic - the end of the year and graduation. It is sad and exciting to see students depart for the summer or graduate, and even more difficult for departing staff to leave everyone behind. Yet, as Hillel staff, we do it and we move on to the next year. This week's parsha highlights the best way to say goodbye and honor the graduating class of seniors.

In many ways, this census is no different from graduating from college. This is actually the second census taken of the Jewish people. In Parsha Ki Tisa, the Jewish people are counted as one large group shortly after leaving Egypt and arriving at Sinai. However, in this new census, each tribe is counted one by one, each group getting its own recognition (Num. 1:20-42). Just as the Class of 2007 arrived four years ago as one large mass of bright-eyed, nervous freshmen, they leave as engineers, nurses, musicians, teachers, businessmen, and much more. Each group deserves its own mention and its own consideration. Just as the Jewish people have grown from a mass of former slaves into a nation, our students have grown from undecided majors into professionals and the leaders of tomorrow.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 20th century authority, comments that Bamidbar represents the Jewish people's return to reality from the almost romantic listing of laws and practices in Vayikra (Leviticus). The Jewish people now must manage the relationship between the ideal of the laws and the practicality of their lives. Similarly, seniors struggle to leave their "college bubble" and start life outside of the university. However, the lesson here is not one of uncertainty and anxiety. Hillel Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning Senior Advisor Rabbi Aryeh ben David argues that it is because they have been taught these religious guidelines that the Jewish people are now ready to begin traveling together as a nation. The education that our students have received has made them wise, responsible adults who are now fit to enter the "real world." Whatever lack of confidence or trepidation any of your students might express, simply remind them that these past four years have been training and that they are now prepared to go "into the wilderness," the exact translation of the word Bamidbar. The lessons have been learned and the students are ready.

These morals are beneficial for students, but what can we as Hillel staff learn? Contemporary interpreter Rabbi Yehudah Nachshoni says the purpose of the counting is for self-examination. We also are part of the whole nation, the whole campus community. I recommend attending a graduation ceremony. When you witness the sea of happy graduates and hear of the amazing paths each is taking, you will recognize your impact.

The end of the year is often the hardest for us. We are tired and ready for the summer to begin, because after all, as one class leaves, another one enters. Modern scholar Nehama Leibowitz argues that this apathy is the exact mentality to avoid. It turns our students into numbers on our spreadsheets and lines in our reports. The Sforno, a 15th century commentator, sees the naming of each tribe as stressing the importance of the individual. In the same vein, Nahmanides, the 12th century scholar, impresses on us the value of the individual, created in the divine image and unique unto him or herself. The Torah very easily could have told us there were 603,550 males over the age of twenty (Num. 1:46), but instead counts tribe by tribe. Each tribe is important and in turn, each individual is honored for his or her specific contribution to the nation. By counting the students leaving campus and following the model of the Torah, we spend time to look each and every soul we have touched. Hopefully every student who has stepped through the door or attended a program has been inspired in some way. This is the ideal time of the year to enjoy the results of our hard work. Spend time thinking about the four-year progression of those seniors. They were first counted as shy freshmen at a Welcome Back BBQ, but now they are counted as educated college graduates ready to embark into the wilderness.

Written by Jason Levine, Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow, Hillel at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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To read additional articles and commentaries on Parshat Bamidbar go to MyJewishLearning.com.

The fourth book of the Pentateuch, Bamidbar, opens with the census conducted by Moses and Aaron of all the tribes from which it derives its name "Numbers." The first chapter is replete with numbers of each tribe and the total aggregate. Every detail is carefully given to Moses on how to do the census.

And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. (Bamidbar 1: 1 - 3)

In this particular census Moses was asked to count those men from 20 years and older since they were eligible to go forth in the army into battle.

This is a really interesting concept: not only the census but also the detailed information required from Moses and given to him as well. In our work at Hillel we are always counting: how many students come to an event, how many students come to our retreat, do we have enough students to organize an alternative break, how many donors attend a Shabbat dinner, how many large donors we have, how many dollars we bring in, etc.

However, Moses was not only counting but actually finding out information about each member of each tribe. Meaning, he was trying to know each individual. Sound familiar? Hopefully, yes. Since we believe that our job is for the students and in order to do a successful job we need to know who our students are and what our students like to do and not just estimate or count how many students we have. According to the Talmud, if we save one life, it is as if we saved the world - so if our program touches one student, we have done a good job.

We are constantly taking censuses. The goals of our censuses are:
- To make every student know how valuable s/he is as a group and as an individual.
- To ask the students information that will help us identify how we can better serve them.
- To improve our fundraising programs so that we can offer more to the students

We want to finish with one more thought: Moses was asked to just take into consideration the men that were 20+ years old because he needed them for a specific purpose. Sometimes we have to look for specific students to do something. That is fine, but we have to remember that every student counts and how valuable each individual is for Hillel.

Prepared by Sue Maltiel, executive director, Hillel of Silicon Valley and Vanina Sandel, program director, Hillel of Silicon Valley.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Bamidbar at MyJewishLearning.com.

The title Book of Numbers derives from the rabbis' name for the book, Sefer Pikudim, or "book of countings," a reference to the census taken at the beginning and end of the book. It is an apt title in more ways than one. From the opening verse, we find that Numbers is unusually preoccupied with counting. In the first five verses of the book alone, we see the concentration of words related to counting and numbers and also how the date is meticulously identified. The tone is that of an accountant: mathematical, corporate. This is wholly appropriate, as Numbers is fundamentally about the adolescent transition of the children of Israel from their womb-like, unified state at Sinai to their mature, conquest-oriented military apparatus on the plains of Moab. The tone of the whole book is set in the opening lines.

Yet the strain of numerology in these opening verses has a counterpoint: names. In the first 18 verses of Parshat Bamidbar we find the word shemot or "names" four times, along with the names of the 12 tribal princes. Indeed, we even find the noteworthy grammatical construction b'mispar shemot, "the number of names," used to describe how the people should be counted.

Until now, we have thought of names as signifying uniqueness, individuality, difference-the difference between two named things is as great as that between day and night, the first things to receive names in Genesis. Now, particularly with the addition of the patronymic-the invention of the last name, it would seem-naming still serves to individuate, but also to collectivize. This is an outgrowth of the development of names into a kind of number. While names do not necessarily signify a relationship with anything else, a number automatically does. One cannot say "six" without placing it on the spectrum between five and seven, one and 10, zero and infinity. "Six" not only conveys information about the uniqueness of the number, but also implies its relationship to the family of numbers. So too, "To the Tribe of Reuben, Elitzur, son of Sh'deur," (Num. 1:5): we know not only the man's name, Elitzur, but his father's name and his tribal affiliation. Elitzur cannot be a monad. He has citizenship and a passport number that links him with the rest of his family and community. This is the innovation of Numbers.

The rabbis employed a metaphor similar to Rashi's-that of God counting-in one of their deepest teachings: "Therefore was Adam created individually… to show the greatness of the Holy One Blessed is He. For a man mints many coins all in the same mold, and they are all identical. But the King of Kings, the Holy One Blessed is He, minted each human being in the image of Adam, and none is like the other. Thus every individual is obligated to say, 'The world was created for me.'" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) It is God's great paradox that our creation in God's image endows us with both uniqueness and equality, and that God is able to count us according to both values, appreciating our individuality and seeing us as parts of a larger whole. Our names reflect this dichotomy, with our first names denoting our individual identity and our last names our family and community history.

In our post-Enlightenment world, we find ourselves struggling to maintain our communal identities and engage the history into which we have been born. We have correctly embraced the value of being something more than a number on a list. Yet the challenge of Bamidbar is to recognize the simultaneous importance of being both a name and a number, a free individual and a responsible citizen. The rabbis taught that the ability to simultaneously recognize both of these identities ultimately lies with God. But that is true of all paradoxes. And, like all of the great paradoxes of existence with which the Torah confronts us, just because it can only be fully held by God, that does not absolve us from the responsibility to try to live it out. Just the opposite: It obligates us to try with all our heart, soul and might to live out the uniqueness of our name and our equality with all other names at the same time.

Prepared by Rabbi Josh Feigelson, campus rabbi, Louis and Saerree Fiedler Hillel at Northwestern University

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Bamidbar at MyJewishLearning.com.

This week we see why the Book of Numbers is so named; census figures are collected for the men of military service age of the tribes of Israel. A word appears in verse 18 that is found nowhere else in the Bible-"vayityaldu", meaning literally something like "they birthed themselves." Different readings of this word may provide a deeper understanding.

Numbers 1:1-3,18
1 God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year of the Exodus, saying:
2 Take a census of the entire Israelite community. Do it by families following the paternal line, according to the names of each male, taken individually.
3 You and Aaron shall take a tally of them by their divisions, counting every male over 20 years old who is fit for military service....
18 They assembled the entire community on the first day of the second month, and all the people vayityaldu (brought records of their lineage)(gave proof of age) (shared their family stories) according to their paternal families. All those over twenty years old were counted individually by name.

Your Torah Navigator
1. Why have a census?
2. When is it necessary to know how many people are involved?
3. Can counting people be inadvisable?

Three Classical Commentators:

Rashi (11th Century France)
Vayityaldu-They brought documents attesting to their tribal lineage.

Ibn Ezra (12th Century Spain)
Vayityaldu-They inquired about their ages, attesting that they were over twenty years old.

Ramban (13th Century Spain)
Vayityaldu-They recounted their family histories.

Your Commentators Navigator
1. What contextual clues do our commentators use to understand "vayityaldu"?
2. How does each commentator's reading of our mystery word shape our understanding?
3. "Vayityaldu" is the reflexive form of the word "birth", meaning something like "giving birth to themselves." How do Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban's readings reflect this?

A Word
Rashi and Ibn Ezra, each differently, are concerned with legal validation. Rashi sees the Israelites bringing their pedigree certificates ("according to their paternal families"). Ibn Ezra prefers their proof of age ("All those over twenty years old"). Ramban envisions each Israelite "male over 20 years old' coming forward to Moses at the Tent of Meeting to tell the story of who his father was, what was his tribe, and how he came to be there. Since the form of the word they are explaining, vayityaldu is unique, each commentator must seek an explanation from context.

The Israelites "gave birth to themselves." An attentive reader can seek to understand how one does that, whether by knowing one's ancestral line, by recognizing how long each had lived, or by standing in a holy place and telling our deepest story.

Prepared by Rabbi Allan Lehmann, director of Hillel at Brandeis University.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Bamidbar at MyJewishLearning.com.

This first sedrah of the fourth book of the Torah takes up the narrative of the sojourn in the wilderness, and begins with a census of the Israelites by their tribes. It goes on to detail the order in which the tribes would encamp around
the Tabernacle, and the order in which they would march when they moved. The sedrah ends with a description of the duties of the Levites in the Tabernacle.

God commanded Moses to take a census of the Israelites just before the building of the Tabernacle (Ex. 30:11-16) and we are told that it has been accomplished (Ex. 38-25-6). That occurrence was only one month before this census is commanded. Why does God need the people to be counted so often? Rashi comments, "Because they were dear to God, God counts them all the time - when they went out of Egypt, God counted them; when many of them fell for having worshipped the golden calf, God counted them to ascertain how many were left, when the Shechina was about to dwell among them, God again took their census, for on the first day of Nisan the Tabernacle was erected, and shortly afterward, on the first day of Iyar, God counted them."

Rashi's grandson Rashbam presents a more practical reason. The first census was to allow the people to make the half-shekel contribution to the Sanctuary. In this census, the people are preparing the military campaign to take the land (which indeed they would have done at once if not for the regrettable incident with the spies - stay tuned for Parshat Shelach in three weeks) and the purpose of this census was to count the men over the age of 20 for military service. Ramban mentions these two reasons and adds that, this time, the people are counted by their names, and the census gives each member of the nation a chance to come before Moses and Aaron and be recognized as an individual of personal worth.

Torah Navigator

1. Which of the three explanations do you find most compelling?
2. In the census before the Tabernacle, the people were counted as a nation. In this census, they are counted within their tribes. What might be the reason for the two different methods of counting?

The Torah forbids the counting of Jews directly. Even today, when counting for a minyan (or a Self-Assessment Survey) we count "not-one, not-two...", or use a phrase with ten words, or count feet and divide by two. In 2 Samuel 24, King David takes a direct-count census, and as punishment, the nation is struck by a plague. The Talmud supposes that David thought the prohibition of direct counting only applied in Moses' time. Another explanation is that David did count the people correctly, but that he had no particular reason to conduct a census at all, and was punished for that.

A Word

Perhaps the reluctance to count Israelites, even when there is a good reason to do so, derives from the understanding that it is all too easy to make human beings into statistics. In recent history, the Nazis tried to dehumanize Jews by replacing their names with numbers. As Ramban points out, one of the features of the census in Parsha Bamidbar is that each person is counted, by name, before Moses and Aaron, and recognized as an individual. As we read about current events, how many million homeless, how many hundreds killed in drunk driving accidents, it is important for us to remember that each one of those numbers represents a human being.

Prepared by Rabbi Leslie Bergson, Jewish Chaplain and Hillel Director, The Claremont Colleges.

Numbers Rabba 1:7

"And the Lord said to Moshe in the Sinai desert saying…" (Numbers 1:1)

From here the Sages learned that the Torah was given in three ways: through fire, through water and through the desert.

Where do we see that it is through fire? It is written: "For Mount Sinai was entirely covered in smoke." (Exodus 19)

Where do we see that it is through water? It is written: "…the clouds dripped water, the mountains quaked - before the Lord Him of Sinai…" (Judges 5:5)

Where do we see it is through the desert? It is written: "And the Lord said to Moshe in the Sinai desert saying…"

Why was it given in these ways? Just as these are free to whoever needs them, so it is with the words of Torah.

As it is written: "All those who are thirsty come to the water." (Isaiah 55)

Another opinion states: Why was the Torah given in the desert? It is to teach us that anyone who does not make one's self as empty and un-entitled as the desert cannot acquire wisdom or Torah - and that is why the Torah was given at Sinai.

Your Midrash Navigator

1. It is true that the Midrash finds a common denominator between fire, water and desert, but how is Torah like fire? How is it like water?
2. Why is it important to be empty and un-entitled in order to achieve wisdom and Torah?

A Word

The first opinion emphasizes how the Torah is for everyone, the fiery personalities, the watery ones - even those who wander in the wilderness. The second opinion argues that even though the Torah, like wisdom, is readily available, its accessibility is contingent on the nature of the recipient. The act of receiving requires an emptying of self, an openness to deep listening which is why the Torah was received through God's voice, the concentration of Israel so intent that they actually "saw the voices."

It is the sense of intentional focus, of the profound desire to know that creates the space for knowing. That immersion into otherness - makes us as flat, open and barren as a desert. It is the Jewish path to both wisdom and to Torah.

By Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director, Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

Numbers 4:21-7:89

Parshat Naso continues the discussion of community, stating rules for living together and learning to develop trust among people. One of verses describes what to do if someone commits a crime against God. The verse begins, "When a man or a woman..." Interestingly, the Midrash focuses on just the words "man or a
woman" and uses these words to explain how one deals with a "man or a woman" who converts to Judaism.

Numbers 5:5-6

5 And YHWH spoke to Moses saying,
6 Speak unto the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to commit a trespass against the Lord...

Here is how Midrash Rabba interpreted the verse:

Midrash Rabba 8:2

A man or a woman, etc. This bears on the scriptural text, "YHWH loves the righteous; YHWH preserves the stranger" (Psalms 146:8-9).... The Holy One Blessed Be God greatly loves converts (can also be translated as "strangers"). To what may this be compared? To a king who had a flock which used to go out to the field and come in at evening. So it was each day. Once a stag came in with the flock. He associated with the goats and grazed with them. When the flock came in to the fold he came in with them; when they went out to graze he went out with them. The king was told: "A certain stag has joined the flock and is grazing with them every day. He goes out with them and comes in with them." The king felt affection for him. When he went out into the field the king gave orders: "Let him have good pasture, such as he likes; no man shall beat him; be careful with him!" When he came in with the flock also the king would tell them, "Give him to drink"; and he loved him very much. The servants said to him: 'Sovereign! You possess so many he-goats, you possess so many lambs, you possess so many kids, and you never caution us about them; yet you give us instructions every day about this stag!" Said the king to them: "The flock have no choice; whether they want or not, it is their nature to graze in the field all day and to come in at evening to sleep in the fold. The stags, however, sleep in the wilderness. It is not in their nature to come into places inhabited by man. Shall we then not account it as a merit to this one which has left behind the whole of the broad, vast wilderness, the abode of all the beasts, and has come to stay in the courtyard?" In like manner, ought we not to be grateful to the convert who has left behind him his family and his father's house, ayee, has left behind his people and all the other peoples of the world, and has chosen to come to us? Accordingly, God has provided him with special protection, for God exhorted Israel that they shall be very careful in relation to the converts so as not to do them harm: and so indeed it says, "Love ye therefore the convert" (Deut. 10:19). And "You shall not oppress a stranger" (Exodus 23:9 and Lev. 19:33).

Your Midrash Rabba Navigator

1. Why does the king take special care of the stag among goats?
2. Do you agree with the king's reasoning that the rest of the flock (i.e. the Jews) have no choice about their situation, and that the stag (i.e. the convert) has made a choice?
3. Is it necessary for a convert to leave all else behind him in order to come to Judaism? How does one then relate to his family of origin?
4. Is it the case today that the Jewish people take special care of those who convert to Judaism?

A Word

In every community there are those who feel very comfortable and are very much a part of the group. Also in every community are those who come alone, without family, seeking to find comfort and joy in the synagogue, the community, the people. Often it feels much easier for us to stay comfortably among the friends we already know. It takes courage and generosity to reach out to the stranger, the newcomer to our groups, our synagogues, and our people. And yet the act of kindness toward a stranger is a value we hold strongly in the Jewish tradition. Only in our own efforts of kindness can we fulfill God's promise to providespecial protection to the stranger in our fields.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Lerner, Midwest Director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Stand up and Be Counted

Bamidbar begins a new book of the Torah. At this point a year has passed since the Israelites found freedom. Now God asks Moses to take a census of the people. The way in which the census is taken can teach us about how to relate to the people in our lives: our family members, our coworkers, even our employees.

Numbers 1:1-1:4
On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting saying, "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms. Associated with you shall be a man from each tribe, each one the head of his ancestral house."

Your Numbers Navigator
1. What is the purpose of the census?
2. Who is counted in the census?
3. Rabbinic commentators have said that this is the fourth time the Israelites have held a census. Why are the people counted so many times?

Ramban (Nachmanides) suggests that there was a psychological purpose to this census, especially in the way in which the people were counted. In his commentary on Numbers 1:45, Ramban says that Moses explained to the census takers, "Do not ask the head of each family for the number of people in the family. Rather invite each person to pass before me. Take down that person's name, and let each one feel honored to be part of the census."

Your Ramban Navigator
1. What lessons can we learn from this census?
2. What does the method of census taking teach us about pride and self-worth?
3. What can the census teach us about our role as family members? Our responsibilities to our work? Our role in our community?

A Word
According to rabbinic commentary, the way in which the census is taken, head by head, instills a feeling of self-worth and pride in each individual person. Moses could have instructed the heads of each family to report their number to him. Instead Moses counted each of the 603,550 Israelite men. This method certainly does not seem to be the most effective means of counting. And yet we can see that it was an important way for Moses to connect with each individual in a personal way.

Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., in their book, In Search of Excellence, wrote, "Treat people as adults. Treat them as partners; treat them with dignity; treat them with respect. Treat not capital spending and automation as the primary source of productivity gains. These are the fundamental lessons from excellent companies..." In other words, "If you want productivity and the financial reward that goes with it, you must treat your workers as your most important asset." (A Torah Commentary For Our Times, p. 13, edited by Harvey J. Fields)

Not only is this sound business advice, it is a very Jewish way to treat other people. So when we are involved in other people's lives, let's make sure our actions count.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Lerner, Midwest Director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning and Campus Rabbi, Hillel at the University of Wisconsin.

Torah and our lives can come to explain one another. Relating to the weekly Torah reading enables us to see the world through Jewish eyes. The parsha becomes alive to us.

One of the best parts about experiencing the world through the Jewish calendar is sharing the weekly Torah selection, parshat hashavua. Our sense of belonging to the Jewish people is enhanced when we realize that these words of Torah we're reading this week are the same texts that are being heard in every synagogue around the world! Well, usually that's the case. This week, and for the next several weeks to come, we're not all on the same page.

Here's why. Last week was Shavuot. That festival which always comes seven weeks after Pesach (Shavuot means weeks) occurred on Friday in Israel. People outside of Israel who celebrate Shavuot for two days extended the holiday through Shabbat, while many liberal Jewish communities had Shavuot just on Friday. As a result, many Jews were reading the Torah reading for the second day of Shavuot this past week while others were reading Naso, the next parsha in the order of weekly readings. This coming week, Israeli Torah readers will read the next reading, B'ha'alotcha, while Jews in the rest of the world will just be getting to Naso. We'll be out of sync for five weeks, finally being back together when Diaspora Jewish communities read a double parsha to catch up. If you fly to or from Israel these days, depending which direction you go, you might hear the same reading two weeks in a row or miss out on one parsha altogether!

Whether it was last Shabbat or next, a famous passage in Parshat Naso is Numbers 6:23-7: "Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: God bless you and protect you! God deal kindly and graciously with you! God bestow God's favor upon you and grant you peace! Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them."

To bless means to offer abundance. The Hebrew root for blessing is B-R-K, as in baruch and bracha. A wonderful teaching relates these words to berecha, which means a pool or a spring. A great Chasidic master, the Seer of Lublin, explained that saying "God bless you!" to someone really means calling on that person to be like a fountain of water, giving life to all.

Our most familiar prayers, berachot, start with the words baruch atah Adonai, "blessed are you God." Familiar, but perplexing. Can we bless God? We'd think it's the other way around! When we recall the connection to pool or fountain we may come to understand the phrase as meaning that God is the loving, overflowing, abundant source of life and fullness.

When we pay attention we see that we constantly give and receive blessing. Each encounter with another can help us notice. "Be a blessing" was what Abraham was told so long ago. In this week's reading the blessing concludes with the divine promise "and I will bless them."

Prepared by Allan Lehman, rabbinic director, Brandeis University Hillel

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Naso at MyJewishLearning.com.

As we always are when we read Naso, we open this longest of Torah portions with renewed energy and dedication, having just experienced the holiday of Shavuot. Why is it so long? Did the Tradition think we'd be more apt to handle long stretches of Torah after having celebrated receiving the whole Book at Mount Sinai? Does the portion compel our interest with the ordeal of the suspected adulteress (Sotah) or the rules of the one who takes the vow of abstaining from wine (Nazir)? Indeed, both these sections will merit eponymous tractates in the Talmud, and the latter motivates the choice of the Haftorah, the birth of Samson the Nazirite.

But what really makes this parsha long is what happens at the end. The dedication of the mishkan, the Tabernacle, begins, and each tribe, led by its prince, brings an offering for the dedication ceremony.

Torah Text: Numbers 7:11 - 23
"YHWH said to Moshe: One leader per day, one leader per day, let them bring-near their near-offering, for the initiation of the slaughter-site.
So he who brought-near his near-offering on the first day was:
Nahshon son of Amminadav, of the tribe of Yehuda.
His near-offering:
One dish of silver, thirty and a hundred its shekel-weight, one bowl of silver, seventy shekels according to the Holy-Shrine shekel, both of them filled with flour mixed with oil, for a grain-gift, one ladle of ten shekels of gold, filled with smoking-incense, one bull, a young of the herd, one ram, one lamb in its first year, as an offering-up; one hairy goat as a hattat-offering; and as a slaughter offering of shalom: oxen two, rams five, he-goats five, and lambs in the first year five.
That was the near-offering of Nahshon son of Amminadav.

On the second day, Netan'el son of Tzu'ar, leader of Yissakhar, brought-it-near;
He brought near his near-offering:
One dish of silver, thirty and a hundred its shekel-weight, one bowl of silver, seventy shekels according to the Holy-Shrine shekel, both of them filled with flour mixed with oil, for a grain-gift, one ladle of ten shekels of gold, filled with smoking-incense, one bull, a young of the herd, one ram, one lamb in its first year, as an offering-up; one hairy goat as a hattat-offering; and as a slaughter offering of shalom: oxen two, rams five, he-goats five, and lambs in the first year five.
That was the near-offering of Netan'el son of Tzuar."

The Torah continues this way for the other ten tribes; thus we have twelve paragraphs of Torah text that are identical, except for the names of the princes and tribes that offered each gift. Usually, the Torah is assumed to be as concise as possible; why do we need 12 paragraphs, when one, plus a "so too the other tribes" would have sufficed?

Your Torah Navigator
Ramban (Nachmanides) summarizes the Midrashim that explain the gifts as identical:
"The text recalls each set of sacrifices and gifts with its princes, first individually and then all together. This teaches us that every set of sacrifices and gifts was exactly equal one to the other, and they were completely identical one to the other."

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra highlights the grammatical ways of reading the gifts as unique:
"The text says 'and his near-offering', although it already says [in the first paragraph] 'and he brought near.' The vav, the 'and', has the meaning of saying 'and this is his near-offering….' And in the rest of the princes' paragraphs we don't hear 'and he brought near'; we have the word 'his near-offering', to specify, in summary form."

Thus between Ramban and Ibn Ezra we have two opposite ways to explain our verbose Torah reading. Either we hear every gift to establish that no one gave any more or less than anyone else, or we hear every gift to ponder how each prince made their contribution special and distinct.

Questions
1. When do we summarize ourselves in ordinary speech, and when do we spell out all the details? Are there occasions that call for more words and those that call for fewer?
2. There is no command in the Torah to bring these gifts; God simply announces that it is time for the gifts. Each tribe brings exactly the same thing. Is that a remarkable coincidence, or is there some command, not recorded in the Torah, that suggested what they should bring?
3. This is also the Torah reading for each day of Chanukah - just as the tribes dedicated the Tabernacle in the wilderness, so too the Maccabees rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. In both cases it took many days and involved bringing sacred gifts. Are there other ways that this week's portion and Chanukah are connected?

A Word
The interpretations of Ramban and Ibn Ezra may not be mutually exclusive. It may be that God, or Moses, or the princes themselves established strict guidelines for the gifts. However, if the princes were truly bringing the gifts in the right spirit, to furnish the Mikdash, the Tabernacle where God's very Presence would delight to dwell, then they would have brought them with no less than their full individual, unique, God-given souls.

Prepared by Rabbi Ben Lanckton, Conservative Rabbinic Advisor, MIT Hillel.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Naso at MyJewishLearning.com.

This week's parsha, Parshat Naso, is the longest parsha of the Torah. It contains many fascinating topics including description of the Sotah ritual, the laws of the Nazarite, and the dedication of the Tabernacle. Immediately before Torah describes the consecration and dedication of the Tabernacle, it gives the instructions for the Priestly benedictions. This ritual may be familiar to many of us from holiday services in Synagogue. This ritual has a lot to teach us about our relationship to our fellow human and to God.

Numbers 6:22-27
The Lord spoke to Moses. Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:
The Lord bless you and protect you!
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you!
The Lord lift up His countenance to you and grant you peace!
Thus they shall place My name with the people of Israel and I will bless them.

Your Priestly Blessings Navigator
1. Why do the blessing focus on God's face? If we believe that God has no body, what does God's face represent?
2. How do the priests place God's name on the people?
3. Why are the priests commanded to bless the nation?

Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 38b
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi taught: "How do we know that God desires the priestly blessings? For it says 'they shall place My name on the Children of Israel and I will bless them.'"

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi further taught, "every priest who blesses is blessed. And any priest who does not bless is not blessed, as it says, 'I will bless those who bless you'" (Genesis 12:3).

Rashi
They shall place My name - The Torah makes the matter dependent on the priests. This blessing is the placing of [God's] Name on His nation. The Torah does not make this a need of the Children of Israel but a need of God's.

Your Talmud and Rashi Navigator
1. Why does God desire the priestly blessing? Does the fact that the priests are the conduits of blessing limit God in any way?
2. Why does a priest who blesses the nation receive a blessing? Is the priest's blessing different than the blessing they bestow?

A Word
Another commandment for the priestly blessings is that the priests must say them with complete love for the congregation that they are blessing. This may explain why God desires the priestly blessings. The love that one individual feels for another person or for a group is a unique feeling that cannot be replicated. It is true that many people may speak of their love for the same object - "I love my school;" "I love my camp"; "I love my family" - but the meaning of that love for each individual who expresses it is totally unique. God loves the Jewish people, but the love with which the priests bless the nation is unique. Keep in mind that during Temple times the priests did not own any land and they were supported by the tithes and gifts that the rest of the nation provided them. At the same time, only the priests had access to much of the Temple service and they offered sacrifices on behalf of the nation. This symbiotic relationship is unique to the relationship between the priests and the nation, and God wishes for His blessing of the people to be transmitted through this partnership.
In Pirkei Avot, Values of Our Fathers, Hillel our sage implores us: "Be a disciple of Aaron [the priest], loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near to the Torah" (1:12). We are meant to emulate Aaron and the priests by expressing our love for others. By doing so we can serve as the unique conduits of God's blessing.

Prepared by Elliot Kaplowitz, Iyyun Fellow, Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Naso at MyJewishLearning.com.

Parshat Naso, the second parsha of the book Bamidbar (Numbers), continues the description from last week's parsha, of how Moses and Aaron should classify, count, and arrange the people of Israel, Klal Yisrael, for their upcoming travels through the wilderness. Most of the parsha deals with the various roles and responsibilities of the different tribes and the special rites and rituals of the Levites and Kohanim (priests). All of these instructions and laws refer to the responsibilities of the various parts of the community and to how this people, newly freed from Egypt, should be arranged as a collective. There is a clear message that the notion of Klal Yisrael and communal order is an integral part of Jewish life.

At the same time, the parsha includes profoundly meaningful instructions to Moses and Aaron dealing with the individual and the personal. God instructs Moses to teach Aaron a three-part blessing which Aaron and the priests are to use to bless the people of Israel:

May God bless you and keep you
May God cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May God turn His face toward you, and grant you peace
(Numbers 6:24-26).

Many of us recognize this as the prayer with which parents bless their children every Shabbat. It is also a component of the daily prayer services. This Priestly Blessing is continued in some congregations where Kohanim go before the ark, cover their faces, turn to the congregation and with outstretched hands, say this prayer on behalf of the community.

Since the parsha is mostly concerned with the community and the collective, why is the priestly benediction so personal? Also, why does God instruct the priests to bless the people? Why can't the blessing come directly from God?

The first answer is that while a sense of peoplehood is an integral part of Judaism, each individual's relationship with God is paramount, and each person must be conscious of his/her personal role in creating a life full of blessing and peace. It would be easy to interpret the Priestly Blessing as an intercession by the Kohanim on behalf of the people. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner offers the idea that the person offering this blessing is not petitioning God on our behalf, but rather, is asking that we be worthy of God's blessing. This interpretation means that the blessing is actually reminding each one of us that our individual actions and decisions have a profound influence on the world around us and on our own lives.

Rashi explains that the Kohanim are asked to offer the blessing to people not to substitute for God but so that the Kohanim can serve as examples to the people. Rashi says that Aaron was instructed to tell the Kohanim: "Do not bless them in haste, nor in hurried excitement, but with full consciousness (kavanah), and with a whole heart." Rashi infers that the Kohanim are supposed to be role models of compassion and peace for the people. Hillel professionals have the same enormous task as the Kohanim in this parsha -- to model a full and passionate Jewish life to their students.

There are further parallels between this parsha and Hillel. The dual emphasis on communal and personal responsibility is uniquely Jewish and an integral part of Hillel life. Every day, both students and Hillel professionals are engaged in the holy work of creating an environment for students to explore their personal identities and goals while gaining an understanding of their relationship and interdependence with the larger community.

Prepared by Avi Rubel, assistant director, International Division, Hillel

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Naso at MyJewishLearning.com.

R. Joshua b. Levi also said: When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one born of woman among us?

The Holy One answered: He has come to receive the Torah. The angels replied: "That secret treasure, which has been hidden by You for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created. You desire to give it to flesh and blood! What is man, that You are mindful of him, And the son of man, that You visit him? O Lord our God, How excellent is Your name in all the earth! (Psalms 8:5,6,10)

Who has set Your glory [the Torah] upon the Heavens! The Holy One said to Moses: Return them an answer.

Moses replied: Sovereign of the Universe. I fear lest they consume me with the [fiery] breath of their mouths.

The Holy One said: Hold on to My Throne of Glory, and return them an answer,

Moses then spoke before the Holy One and the angels Him Sovereign of the Universe! The Torah which You give me, what is written in it? I am the Lord You God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt. Moses said to the angels: Did you go down to Egypt; were you enslaved to Pharaoh: why then should the Torah be yours?

Again, What is written in it? You shalt have none other gods: do you dwell among peoples that engage in idol worship? Again what is written in it? Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: do you then perform work, that you need to rest? Again what is written in it? You shalt not take [tissa] [the name ... in vain]: is there any business [massa] dealings among you? Again what is written in it, Honor your father and your mother; have you fathers and mothers? Again what is written in it? You shall not murder. You shalt not commit adultery. You Shall not steal; is there jealousy among you; is the Evil Tempter among you?

Immediately they conceded to the Holy One, for it is said in Psalm 8]: O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, (Psalm 8:10) but, Who has set Your glory upon the heavens [which was proclaimed by the angels above] is not written in the Psalm. Immediately each angel saw Moses as beloved...

Your Talmud Navigator

1. Why are the angels against giving humanity the Torah?
2. Why does God have Moses answer his angel/critics?
3. How does Moses convince them that the Torah is for humanity and not to remain in heaven?
4. Why are the angels so pleased with Moses' argument
5. Why does this story say the Torah was given to the Jewish people?
6. How does this story understand the selected verses from Psalm 8? Especially: How excellent
Your Name in all the earth?
7. What was God's reason for giving Torah to the Jewish people?

The Torah is an instrument for change and transformation. Angels never change. In this story, they are static beings incapable of being unpredictable subjects to the vagaries of history. Angels are messengers incapable of choosing. The Torah, according to this story, is for choosers, for those who, at every step, have the potential to fail, for moral failure is possible every time we speak, wherever we walk.

This story indicates that this vulnerability makes us precious, so precious as to receive that which God holds as most dear. It is our inability to be angelic and our propensity for moral mischief that makes the Torah necessary, and makes us so special in God's eyes. It is the ability to do the wrong thing which gives us the capacity to learn to do the right thing. We received the Torah as the instrument for growth, to grow in the way the Holy One would wish.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein.

"And Moshe and Aharon gathered the assembly before the rock and he (Moshe) said to them: 'Hear now, you rebels' " (Num. 20:10). God punished Moshe for this statement in which he characterized the Israelites categorically as "rebels." God told Moshe, "Therefore, you shall not bring the assembly into the land which I have given them." But what was his mistake exactly?

The Rabbis of the Midrash teach that all leaders of the Jewish people must be very careful when addressing and characterizing the community. To stereotype or to describe one's fellow Jews unfairly, judgmentally and uncharitably is behavior that contravenes the Jewish value of Shalom Bayit (Peace in one's home), and the Tanach (Torah-Prophets-Writings) is replete with proofs of this value.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah 5:5): "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." God punished Isaiah for making such a personal, judgmental statement concerning the Children of Israel.

I Kings 18:10, as explicated in Yalkut Shimoni 764: Eliyahu (Elijah) said to God, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the Children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant" Elijah, too, was punished for this harsh characterization of the People Israel.

All Jews -- but particularly Jewish leaders, rabbis, and even Hillel directors, program directors and others staff members -- must be very careful when making categorical statements or judgments about the Jewish people or any of its segments. In the light of recent pronouncements made by some elements of our community which mischaracterize their fellow Jews and express gross disrespect toward these other segments of the Jewish community, Parashat Chukkat presents us challenge to which we must pay attention.

Again and again, our tradition emphasizes how important it is to pay attention to the name the Holy One has for things. Both rabbinic and folk Judaism share a deep respect for the power of names and the act of naming. We human beings name things according to their taxonomy, for example, the number of legs an animal has, or some other external criterion. But the Holy One names things according to what is inside them. And when it comes to our fellow human beings, no one knows our names truly until our last breath.

Prepared by Rabbi Kerry Baker, University of Texas-Austin Hillel

In my various jobs as a rabbi I have worked with preschoolers, older adults, and now college students. One of the questions that everyone asks, regardless of age or education is this: "Why are there so many miracles in the Torah, but no miracles happen today?" And then the people go on to cite the famous instances of miracles in the Torah: the splitting of the Red Sea, the ten plagues, and even the miracle in this week's parsha, the ground opening up to swallow Korach and his 250 protesters, as evidence for the miracles in the Bible. "And so," they continue, "if only God would demonstrate miracles for us like in the old days, everyone would acknowledge God's power and presence in the world. But, since there are no miracles today, we simply cannot believe in God the way that the ancient Israelites did!"

This is an essential question for us modern Jews, and perhaps one that defines, or even divides us. It is the question of miracles -- how and when did they occur? And do they occur today?

If you have ever spoken with people wrestling with a terminal illness - when all hope is lost - they will say that they are still hoping for a miracle.

If you have ever spoken with people having difficulty praying - when pressed about it they will say that they cannot praise God, in the Mi Chamocha, for splitting the sea - they cannot pray for healing in the Mi Sheberach - because they do not believe that God performs miracles.

And in the Torah we read of Korach and his followers, Israelites who rebelled against Moses and his leadership with such tenacity and hatred that God, if it is possible to say, causes the ground to open and swallow them up. It was a miracle. It was magical. Could it have happened? Why did it happen? What if we can't believe in the possibility of God causing the ground to open up and swallow our enemies? Who are we as Jews if we cannot understand miracles? Is it possible that miracles occur and we explain them away - ignore them?

And yet, with closer examination of the Torah we find that exactly the same business of faith and doubt existed in the minds of the ancient Israelites. As the ground opens up and swallows Korach and his followers, we read: "And all Israel around them fled at their shrieks, for they said, 'the earth might swallow us! (Numbers 16:34)'"

And yet all is forgotten the following day: "Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You two have brought death upon the LORD's people (Numbers 17:6)!"

The same thing happened even after the miracle at the Red Sea. At first the people credited God with the miracle: "And when Israel saw the wondrous power which the LORD had wielded against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD: they had faith in the LORD and His servant Moses (Exodus 14:31)."

But the next day, the people who had proclaimed God's sovereignty now said to Moses and Aaron: "If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death." (Exodus 16:3)

These are the people we claim to have experienced miracles? These are the people we claim had perfect faith! They are just like us. One minute they say, "Thank God!" The next moment they say, "Where is God? Not with us!"

Many a Jewish scholar has tried to explain away the miracles of the Torah. Seventeenth-century Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, reported that miracles were, instead, natural events that the ancient Israelites could not explain. Mordecai M. Kaplan, the 20th-century rabbi who inspired the founding of the Reconstructionist movement, argued that modern science challenges the credibility of miracles as described in Torah.

We wonder about the meaning of the miracles in the Torah. What are they pointing to? What are we meant to learn from them - and are there, in fact, miracles today? Are we just not seeing them? Are we not counting them as miracles?

Nehama Leibowitz, in her commentary on Korach writes: Miracles cannot change men's minds and hearts. They can always be explained away…. Miracles convince only those who can and are prepared to see them."

David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, once said: "In Israel, to be a realist, you must believe in miracles."

May this be our task - to wonder how we, as modern Jews, will wrestle with our faith. May we balance our own efforts -- the work of our minds and the strength of our hands -- with a faith in God, whose presence is with us in our struggle for life.

Prepared by Andrea Steinberger, rabbi, Hillel at the University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Korach at MyJewishLearning.com.

Children often hear "because I said so" from parents and teachers. This isn't necessarily a very helpful response when one is looking for a good reason to follow instructions. Some might even view this response as a cop out – they don't want to tell us the real reason, or there might not even be a reason!

Throughout the Torah there are instructions given by God in which a similar thought process can occur. In this week's parsha, Chukkat, a whole category of laws are mentioned that do not have reasons why we should do them. We're supposed to follow them because God said so. Obviously there is a big difference between what God is allowed to say and what we can say, but aren't we instructed to emulate God?

One such set of laws that this parsha refers to are that of the Red Heifer, or Parah Adumah. The ashes of a red cow that had no blemish or defect are used to purify someone who has come in contact with a dead body. Although God does not give a reason for this law, commentators throughout history have suggested many.

One example is the Midrash for Parshat Chukkat that proposes that the Parah Adumah was not meant to purify only contamination by a corpse, but also moral contamination such as idolatry. Perhaps the Parah Adumah is meant to purify the Jewish people for Chet Egel, the sin of the Golden Calf. In that incident, the Israelites were impatient with Moses for staying up on Mt. Sinai too long and insisted that Aaron build them a god for them to worship. The participating Israelites were punished immediately, but the Midrash suggests that they were finally fully purified of their moral sin by the Parah Adumah in this week's parsha.

Also in this week's parsha, we lose one of our greatest prophetesses, Miriam. The text reads that "Miriam died there and was buried there. The community was without water...." (Numbers 20:1-2) There has been much written about the connection between Miriam's death and the subsequent loss of water in the community. The rabbis tell us that the Israelites did not mourn for Miriam after she died. At the time of her death, the children of Israel are referred to as an edah, a word which literally means congregation but can also specfically mean righteous congregation. Commentators have suggested that here the term edah is used ironically; the people thought they were so righteous and God-like that mourning was beneath them. As a result we learn that God took away their water – a need so basic they couldn't ignore it – so they would remember they were only human and needed to embrace their human needs. Later in the parsha, when Aaron's death is enumerated, the people mourn for him for 30 days. They've learned their lesson.

But where does this leave Moses? When the people cry out for water, God tells him, "You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water." (Numbers 20:8) But Moses is angry at the people. He has just lost his older sister and already the people are complaining to him. He has tried to lead them, to teach them to be good people, but no matter what he does, there's always something else they find to complain about. So instead of speaking to the rock and affirming God's sanctity, he yells back at the people, "Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock? And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod." (Numbers 20:10-11) To which God responds, "Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity...therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them." (Numbers 20:12)

First, the people are told to embrace their human feelings, which are necessary to their survival, but almost immediately after Moses is told that his human emotions are not acceptable. Why the contradiction? One answer could be that Moses is in a leadership position and the people are not. Moses is held to a higher standard as God's right-hand man.

Where does this leave us as leaders in our Jewish communities? We have learned that it is acceptable for God to tell us to do things without giving a reason. Since God also commanded us to honor our parents, maybe parents and teachers can also tell us to do things without a reason – even if we don't like it. For the rest of us, though, we need to earn our following, and this probably won't happen by acting too superior or too inferior. Like the people of Israel, we are only human and must recognize our human emotions, but like Moses, we are in leadership positions and must be extra watchful of our words and actions. Our students are looking to learn from us and we are always role models for them as we balance our humanness with our leadership roles.

Prepared by Sherri Vishner, KOACH field worker

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Chukkat at MyJewishLearning.com.

In this week's portion, Baahaloticha, the Torah relates:
"Those traveling with the Jewish people (in the desert) had a desire, and the Jewish people also cried out and said, "Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for free…and now our souls are dry because all we have is this manna"…God became angry and this was also bad in Moses' eyes. And Moses said to God why have you done evil to your servant (me) to put the burden of this whole people upon me. Did I give birth to this nation, that you say to me carry them in your bosom like the one who is nursing carries her child? I am not able to carry them alone…if this is how it will be please kill me now (Numbers chap. 11)"

Your Torah Navigator
Compare the preceding paragraph with Moses' response to God after God has told Moses that He is going to destroy the Jewish people for worshiping the golden calf in Exodus:
"Moses responded to God, 'this people has done a great sin and made for themselves a god of gold, tolerate their sin, for if you will not (forgive them), then erase me from your book which have written.' (Exodus 32:31-32)"

Why does Moses so defend the Jewish people after they worship the golden calf and now, when they are whining for meat, instead of asking God for forgiveness for the people or chastising them directly Moses is willing to just give up on the whole program?

Is there any theological difference between making a golden calf and crying for meat?

A Word
This is a people that experienced God's direct influence in their lives at the Red Sea and at Mount Sinai. In fact the Rabbis tell us that every Jew had such a powerful prophetic revelation at the splitting of the Red Sea, it was more than any Jewish profit. So why do they worship the golden calf? I think their desire for the golden calf emerged precisely from their spiritual self. They were a young people, an immature slave nation who needed a concrete relationship to God. The only way they knew to do this was through an image. But their essential desire when they made the calf was for the Spirit. In contrast the word used here in our parsha is "hitavu taavah", they desired a desire, or they "desired desire". This was not about a people desiring the spiritual and not knowing how to relate to an infinite God. This is about a people so sunk into their own selves that the only thing they can relate is their own lust. They lust for lust itself…for their selfish selves. When the Jews worshiped the golden calf it showed they had deep spiritual potential (though it may have been misdirected), now though perhaps Moses is not so sure this is even the right people to be God's nation. Perhaps, thinks Moses, they don't really have the inner spiritual spark. For us too, sometimes it is not that we have no spiritual desire though it may feel that way, it's just that we like the Jews who worship the golden calf, need to find the outlet that will inspire us.

Prepared by Rabbi Hyim Shafner, St. Louis Hillel at Washington University.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on B'ha'alotcha at MyJewishLearning.com.

Numbers 13:1-15:41
Parashat Shelach-L'cha describes how 12 spies scout the Land of Israel. When they return, only Caleb and Joshua bring back positive reports. The rest of the spies frighten the people with terrifying accounts of the powerful people who live in the land. Hearing their reports, God threatens to abandon this people for their disloyalty. But Moses pleads with God on behalf of the people not to destroy them, saying that God's reputation is at stake. In his plea, Moses repeats God's own words, when God earlier said (Exodus 34:6):

Numbers 14:18-19
"'The Lord! Slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.' Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to Your great kindness, as You have forgiven this people ever since Egypt."

Your Numbers Navigator
1. The words "slow to anger" are interesting. How do they differ from "be calm" or "hide your anger?" Why is "slow to anger" a better description of how to deal with anger?
2. Moses calls God "slow to anger," and yet God has just threatened to destroy the entire people of Israel. Why would Moses say that God is slow to anger?
3. This verse, the listing of God's attributes, is recited before taking the Torah from the Ark on the High Holy Days and festivals. Why do you think this verse was chosen?
4. Moses infers that God's reputation is at stake. Why would having a good reputation matter to God?
5. If we are created B'tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, and God is slow to anger, what can this verse teach us about handling our emotions?

The rabbis took a close look at human nature, stating many times in different ways what makes up a person's character. Here is one example:

Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 65b
"A person's nature can be recognized through three things: his cup, his purse, and his anger." In Hebrew, the language is alliterative: the Hebrew words are koso (cup), kiso (purse), and ka'aso (anger).

Your Talmud Navigator
Why would the rabbis choose these three criteria - one's cup, purse, and anger - as the most important traits? Do you agree?

A Word
Jewish tradition teaches that we are often judged by others based on how we act when we drink liquor, how much tzedakah we give, and how well we control ourselves when we are provoked. And, just like God, our reputation depends on it. The Talmud also adds a fourth criterion to the other three, saying that our nature is recognized "by what we do for pleasure." Like God, we have guidelines. And like God, we often need to be reminded that being slow to anger is better than acting immediately and brashly. We need not hide our emotions, but merely pause a moment before we do something that might destroy our reputation. May we each remember to be like God slow to anger, abounding in kindness...

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Lerner, Midwest Director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The morning after Korach, Dotan and Aviram's ill-fated challenge to Moshe and Aharon, the whole of Israel blames the two leaders for the death of the 250 leaders who sided with Korach.

Numbers 17:6-15

But all the Children of Israel grumbled on the morrow against Moshe and against Aharon, saying: (It is) you (who) caused- the-death of YHWH's people! Now it was, when the community assembled against Moshe and against Aharon, that they turned toward the Tent of Appointment, and here: the cloud had covered it, and the Glory of YHWH could be seen! Then Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the Tent of Appointment. And YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying: Move-aside from the midst of this community, that I may finish them off in an instant!

They flung themselves upon their faces. Moshe said to Aharon: Take (your) pan and place upon it fire from the slaughter-site, putting smoking-incense (there); go quickly to the community and effect-appeasement for them, for the fury is (still) going-out from the presence of YHWH, the plague has begun! Aharon took (it), as Moshe had spoken, and he ran to the midst of the assembly: and here, the plague had begun among the people! So he put the smoking-incense (in it), and effected-appeasement for the people: now he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was held-back. Now those that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, aside from those that died in the matter of Korach. Aharon returned to Moshe, to the entrance of the Tent of Appointment, and the plague was held-back.

Your Torah Navigator

1. Why were the people upset with Moshe and Aharon when they knew that God had swallowed them up?
2. How did Moshe know to tell Aharon that incense was needed to effect an appeasement?
3. What does it mean that Aharon "stood" between the dead and the living?

RASHI on the verse "now he (Aharon) stood between the dead and the living"

Aharon grabbed the angel of death and held him back against his will. The angel said to him: Leave me to fulfill my mission. Aharon replied: Moshe ordered me to detain you. The angel answered: I am a messenger of God and you are only a messenger of Moshe. Aharon answered: Moshe never does anything on his own, all his orders come from the Mighty One. If you don't believe me the Holy One and Moshe are both at the Tent of Appointment right now. Come with me and ask them. That is why the following verse says "And Aharon returned to Moshe, to the entrance of the Tent of Appointment and the plague was held back.

A Word

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, known by the acronym the "Netziv," on his famous super-commentary on Rashi and the Torah said that the people found the slaughter of the 250 excessive. Moshe and Aharon could have limited the trial to Korach, Dotan and Aviram, and once the earth had swallowed them up, the others would have repented. The Netziv points out that Moshe and Aharon were not the ultimate designers of the trial, but it was Moshe acting on the Divine Spirit.

Rashi understands that when the verse says "Now he stood between the dead and the living" Aharon was literally standing between the Angel of Death and those the angel wished to destroy. He holds the angel back with the incense that protected Moshe from being swallowed up as Korach's minions were destroyed. The angel wants Aharon to leave so he can finish his job, but Aharon convinces the angel to return to the tent with him and the plague is stopped.

Just as lack of fear and belief in God's power brings destruction, so does belief in God's instruments and reverence for God's might brings healing and mercy. The people were not worthy, but Aharon, the worthy advocate, stopped death in its tracks and brought yet another reprieve on a recalcitrant people. Even after he had been compromised by the Golden Calf, Aharon is willing to look death straight in the eye to save a community who would most probably not return the favor.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

Moshe sends representatives from each tribe to survey the land as spies. The spies return frightened and bewildered and rebellious. God is furious and wishes to punish them. Moshe rushes to the defense of his people. God cools down and acquiesces to Moses' plea. Read the following verses:

Exodus 14:11-23

How long will this people scorn me? How long will they not trust in me, despite all the signs that I have done among them?

12 Let me strike it down with pestilence and dispossess it, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier (in number) than it!
13 But Moshe said to YHWH: When they hear (about it), the Egyptians, that you brought up this people with your power from its midst,
14 they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you are YHWH in the midst of this people, that eye to eye you were seen, O YHWH, your cloud standing over them, in a column of cloud going before them by day, and in a column of fire by night-
15 should you put this people to death as one man, then will say the nations that have heard of your fame, saying:
16 (It was) from want of YHWH's ability to bring this people into the land about which he swore to them, and so he slew them in the wilderness!
17 So now, pray let the power of my Lord (to forbear) be great, as you have spoken, saying:
18 YHWH, long-suffering and of much loyalty, bearing iniquity and transgression, yet clearing, not clearing (the guilty), calling-to-account the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and to the fourth (generation)-
19 pray grant-pardon for the iniquity of this people, as your loyalty is great, just as you have been bearing (iniquity) for this people from Egypt until now!
20 YHWH said: I grant-pardon, according to your words;
21 however, as I live, and as the Glory of YHWH fills all the earth:
22 indeed, all the men who have seen my Glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times, by not hearkening to my voice:
23 if they should see the land about which I swore to their fathers!

Your Torah Navigator

1. Which of Moses' arguments convinces God to spare the lives of Israel?
2. Which argument do you find most convincing?
3. Do you find these arguments troubling in any way?

A Word

Midrash Hagadol (The Great Midrash) states, "Moshe began by mollifying the Holy One. He said: Master of the Universe, it seems like yesterday that you were mollifying me because of their sins with the golden calf, now I have to mollify you! 'Pray grant-pardon for the iniquity of this people' and the Holy One answered, 'I grant pardon according to your words.' One finds that sometimes the Holy One mollifies Moshe for the sake of Israel and sometimes Moshe mollifies the Holy One for the sake of Israel."

First, while Moshe was still on the mountain he had to beg God to spare them for their sins. Second, Moshe, when he finally sees what has happened he cleans house, but the job has left him exhausted and beleaguered. It is then that God consoles him and shows him that while individuals must be punished, the nation must be consoled and forgiven. The Midrash understands this as being significant -- after the dust settles from the fallout of sin and betrayal, the next step is forgiveness and consolation. The Midrash understands that the Holy One is witnessing whether Moshe, the leader of a recalcitrant people has internalized this message. Before, Moshe begged forgiveness before he had witnessed the sin of the Golden Calf. In this case, he begs for forgiveness after the spies had reported. It is not clear in the case of the Golden Calf whether Moshe would have advocated for his people after the fact. It is clear, however that he has internalized God's message and has grown to love his people even when they are most disappointing. Moshe affords the opportunity to begin again, anew, by begging for pardon. The Holy One finds his advocacy irresistible.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

The story of Bilam, the gentile prophet who knows and speaks with God, is one of the stranger narratives in the Torah. The outsider who talks and behaves like an insider.

Generally, everyone spends a lot of time trying to understand Bilam's relationship to God, God's messenger and the talking ass. I would like to see Bilam's story in the context of Bilam's life.

Take a look at this chapter and then look at Numbers 30:8. Why does Bilam end up dying by the sword?

Numbers 22:2-41

2 Now Balak son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,

3 and Moav was in exceeding fear before the people, since they were so many; they felt dread before the Children of Israel.
4 Moav said to the elders of Midyan: Look now, this assembly will lick up everything around us like an ox licks up the green-things of the field! Now Balak son of Tzippor was king of Moav at that time.

5 He sent messengers to Bil'am son of Be'or, to Petor, which is beside the River (in) the land of the sons of his kinspeople, to call him, saying: Here, a people has come up out of Egypt, here, it covers the aspect of the land, it has settled hard upon me!

6 Now then, pray go, damn this people for me, for it is too mighty (in number) for me! Perhaps I will prevail: we will strike it, so that I drive it from the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, whomever you damn is damned!

7 The elders of Moav and the elders of Midyan went, tokens-of-augury in their hand, they came to Bil'am and spoke Balak's words to him.

8 He said to them: Spend the night here tonight, then I will bring back to you whatever word YHWH speaks to me. The nobles of Moav stayed with Bil'am.

9 Now God came to Bil'am and said: Who are these men with you?

10 Bil'am said to God: Balak son of Tzippor, king of Moav, has sent to me:

11 Here, the people that came out of Egypt, it covers the aspect of the land! Now then, pray go, revile it for me, perhaps I will be able to make war upon it and drive it away!

12 God said to Bil'am: You are not to go with them, you are not to damn the people, for it is blessed!

13 Bil'am arose at daybreak and said to Balak's nobles: Go to your land, for YHWH refuses to give-me-leave to go with you.

14 The nobles from Moav arose, they came to Balak and said: Bil'am refuses to go with us!

15 So Balak once again sent nobles, greater and more honored than those;

16 they came to Bil'am and said to him: Thus says Balak son of Tzippor: Pray do not hold back from going to me;

17 indeed, I will honor, yes, honor you exceedingly- anything that you say to me, I will do. Only: pray go, revile for me this people!

18 Bil'am answered, he said to the servants of Balak: If Balak were to give me his house's fill of silver and gold I would not be able to cross the order of YHWH my God to do (anything) small or great!

19 So now, pray stay here, you as well, tonight, that I may know what YHWH will once again speak with me.

20 And God came to Bil'am at night, he said to him: Since it is to call you that the men have come, arise, go with them; but-only the word that I speak to you, that (alone) may you do.

21 Bil'am arose at daybreak, he saddled his she-ass, and went with the nobles of Moav.

22 But YHWH's anger flared up because he was going, so YHWH's messenger stationed himself in the way as an adversary to him. Now he was riding on his she-ass, his two serving-lads with him.

23 Now the she-ass saw YHWH's messenger stationed in the way, his sword drawn in his hand, so the she-ass turned aside from the way and went into the field. And Bil'am struck the she-ass to turn her back onto the way.

24 But YHWH's messenger stood in the furrow (between) the vineyards, a fence here and a fence there.

25 Now the she-ass saw YHWH's messenger, so she pressed herself against the wall, pressing Bil'am's foot against the wall; and once again he struck her.

26 But YHWH's messenger once again crossed over, standing in a narrow place where there was no pathway to turn, right or left.

27 Now the she-ass saw YHWH's messenger, so she crouched down beneath Bil'am. And Bil'am's anger flared up; he struck the she-ass with his staff.

28 Then YHWH opened the mouth of the she-ass and she said to Bil'am: What have I done to you that you have struck me (on) these three occasions?

29 Bil'am said: Because you have been capricious with me! If a sword had been in my hand, by now I would have killed you!

30 The she-ass said to Bil'am: Am I not your she-ass upon whom you have ridden from your past until this day? Have I ever been accustomed, accustomed to do thus to you? He said: No.

31 Then YHWH uncovered Bil'am's eyes and he saw YHWH's messenger stationed in the way, his sword drawn in his hand; he bowed and prostrated himself, to his brow.

32 YHWH's messenger said to him: For what (cause) did you strike your she-ass (on) these three occasions? Here, I came out as an adversary, for the way was rushed out against me.

33 Now the she-ass saw me, so she turned aside before me (on) these three occasions. Had she not turned aside from me, by now, (it is) you I would have killed; but her I would have left-alive!

34 Bil'am said to YHWH's messenger: I have sinned, for I did not know that you were stationed to meet me in the way. But now, if it is ill in your eyes, I will head back.

35 YHWH's messenger said to Bil'am: Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that (alone) may you speak. And so Bil'am went with Balak's nobles.

36 When Balak heard that Bil'am was coming, he went out to meet him, to Ir/Town of Moav that is by the Arnon border, that is at the far-edge of the border.

37 And Balak said to Bil'am: Did I not send, yes, send to you, to call you! Why did you not go to me? Am I truly not able to honor you?

38 Bil'am said to Balak: Here, I have come to you; but now, am I able, able to speak anything (myself)? The word that God puts in my mouth, that (alone) may I speak.

39 Now Bil'am went with Balak; they came to the village of Hutzot/Streets.

40 Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep, and sent them out to Bil'am and to the nobles that were with him.

41 Now it was at daybreak: Balak took Bil'am and had him go up on the Heights of Baal, so that he could see from there the edge of the people.

Numbers 31:1-54

1 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying:

2 Seek-vengeance, the vengeance of the Children of Israel from the Midyanites; afterward you will be gathered to your kinspeople.

3 Moshe spoke to the people, saying: Draft from among you men for the attack-force, let them be against Midyan, to exact the vengeance of YHWH upon Midyan.

4 A thousand per tribe, a thousand per tribe for each of the tribes of Israel, you are to send out to the attack-force.

5 There were mustered, from the divisions of Israel, a thousand per tribe, twelve thousand (men) drafted for the attack-force.

6 Moshe sent them out, a thousand per tribe, to the attack-force, them and Pin'has son of El'azar, priest to the armed-forces, the holy implements and the trumpets for (sounding) trilling-blasts in his hand.

7 They arrayed-their-forces against Midyan, as YHWH had commanded Moshe, and they killed every male,

8 and the kings of Midyan they killed, along with the (other) slain: Evi and Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva, the five kings of Midyan; and Bil'am son of Be'or they killed with the sword.

Your Torah Navigator

Why was Bilam killed with the sword?

Bilam is the one who blesses and curses with words. Look at the narrative in Numbers 22 and see if there is any connection between Bilam's encounter with the angel/messenger and his demise. Is there anything "poetic" in the relationship between these two events?

In the Torah's view is Bilam a hero or a villain? Why?

A Word

Rashi states that Bilam's demise is actually the completion of a role reversal that began when Bilam imitated Israel's power. The power of the word. Just as Bilam could bless and curse with his lips and was willing to use that power either for or against Israel, he would ironically die by the sword of Israel, a nation who was taught "n"t by fury, not by power, but by My Spirit?"

Just as Israel never expected to be blessed by the likes of Bilam, Bilam never expected being slain by the likes of Israel. The irony of this situation hinges upon the knowledge that nieither party is acting in character.

Amid the murmuring of all the Jewish people, a "champion" emerges from the leadership whose name is Korach. Korach questions the stature and authority of Moshe Rabbenu, who, by his own admission, is not a willing nor probably a charismatic leader. Moshe has a pattern of not defending himself in circumstances such as these. In Numbers 12:1, Moshe allows God to defend him when Aharon and Miriam complain about his Kushite wife. Here Korach utters a challenge and Moshe "flung himself on his face."

Parashat Korach: Numbers 16:1-18:32
6:1 Now there betook-himself Korah son of Yitzhar son of Kehat, son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav and On, son of Pelet, the sons of Re'uven
2. to rise up before Moshe with men-of-stature from the Children of Israel, fifty and two hundred, leaders of the community, those Called in the Appointed-Council, men of name.
3. They assembled against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them, "Too much (is) yours! Indeed, the entire community, the entirety-of-them, are holy, and in their midst is YHWH! Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly of YHWH?"
4. Now when Moshe heard, he flung himself on his face.

During that time Moshe is given his script. The Holy One tells him what to do and only then does Moshe rebuke Korach and the sons of Levi. Why does Moshe hesitate before speaking? Why does he fall upon his face as the immediate response to this insurrection?

Pirkei Avot 5:17
"Every controversy that is in the name of heaven, will endure in the end; but one that is not in the name of heaven, in the end will not endure."

Which is the [kind of] controversy that is in the name of heaven? Such as was the controversy between Hillel and Shammai. And, which is the [kind of] controversy that is not in the name of heaven? Such as was the controversy of Korach and all his congregation.

Your Mishnah Navigator
What is an example of a controversy that is in the name of heaven? What is the opposite of that?

A Word
Korach, as a Levi, has special status within the community. He and his congregation are acknowledged leaders. His argument is also irrefutable. God does dwell among the entire people. They are all holy. What does give Moshe the right to be prince, since he was never elected?

The Rabbis teach that Korach's argument was not going to endure because there was nothing in it that was remotely for the sake of heaven. Even if one is only concerned about physical survival-- one could argue that this too, is for the sake of heaven-- as God, too, wishes for the survival of his people, but in this case nothing of value would endure from this debate.

Moshe instead prays and then chooses to rebuke Korach and contend with his minions in the context of passing judgement upon the insurgent community. It is only when he speaks for God that he can be assured that this is for the sake of heaven. Moshe never does say what legitimates him as leader, he only decries the illegitimacy of a rebellion of arrogance, insensitivity and wanton self-interest. Moshe will not engage in the argument, but he will take his instructions from heaven and respond accordingly.

Hillel and Shammai represent two very different temperaments and backgrounds. Much of their respective worldviews certainly emerged from their personal circumstances, but their desire was always to both use their experience and transcend it in order to arrive at what they thought was proper and true. The arguments endure because of the character that resides behind the logic.

The litmus test was not who was right, but who wished to be right for the right reasons. In this contest they both emerged victorious and hence the famous statement: "These and these are words of the Living God."

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. (Proverbs 24:17)

Last week, as our parsha ended, we saw Pinchas, a zealous, God-loving Israelite, stab two people, Zimri and Cozbi, caught in an illicit relationship. Zimri was an Israelite male and Cozbi was a Moabite woman. Parshat Pinchas begins with the words of God. We wonder, how does the Torah respond to Pinchas' violent act?

Numbers 25:10-12
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
11 "Pinchas, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion.
12 Say, therefore, 'I grant him My pact of peace.
13 It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelites.'"

Torah Navigator
1. Why would God praise Pinchas for killing two people on the spur of the moment, without any trial or any previous warning?
2. Why does God grant Pinchas peace and offer him the priesthood?
3. Is passion for God good, even when it leads to violence?

The Torah Text
"In the text of the Torah scroll, the letter yod in Phinehas's name in the second verse (v.11) is written smaller than the other letters. When we commit violence, even if justifiable, the yod in us (standing for the name of God and for y'hudi, "Jew") is diminished thereby. In verse 12, the letter vav in shalom in the Torah scroll is written with a break in its stem. This is interpreted homiletically to suggest that the sort of peace one achieves by destroying one's opponent will inevitably be a flawed, incomplete peace."
~ Eitz Chayim Torah and Commentary, The Rabbinical Assembly

A Word
While at first glance it does seem that God praises Pinchas wholeheartedly for so zealously and passionately killing the lovers, Zimri and Cozbi, we can now see that God's praise of Pinchas is not so exuberant and whole. What brilliance the Torah teaches us! We see that, even in its praise for Pinchas, the letters of the text are damaged. It is as if Pinchas, himself, has been damaged for committing such a heinous crime. By committing the crime of murder, Pinchas had caused the yud in his name, the Godliness inside himself, to become diminished. And even more fascinating is that, even in God's blessing for Pinchas is a message. God grants Pinchas peace, yet even the peace is broken because of Pinchas' violence. Perhaps God's blessing of peace is not a guarantee of safety for Pinchas against his enemies, but instead as a fixing of the broken spirit of a person who could commit such a violent act. A person who commits murder as a result of his zeal for God must be protected against himself, for his inner peace is indeed broken. May we, like Pinchas, seek protection against our own zealous and violent tendencies. May our peace be an inner peace, which leads to a greater, worldly, shalom.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Steinberger, director, Hillel at the University of Wisconsin.

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Pinchas at MyJewishLearning.com.

It's the "dog days of summer" and this week we have a double parsha that is full of important milestones in the journey of the Israelites to the Land of Israel as well as a veritable menagerie of the animal kingdom. From red heifers to magical snakes to Bilaam's talking donkey, we encounter one animal story after another in these parshiot. While they may not all be directly related, some of them may provide us with insight into how Judaism encounters both the natural and the supernatural.

In Chukat we have yet another example of the impatience of the Israelites with their long journey between Egypt and Israel and they complain bitterly. This time they speak against both God and Moshe. The punishment is swift but somewhat unusual. God sends "fiery snakes" - nchashim s'rafim - among the people and many are bitten and die. While it may seem like random punishment, Rashi points out that it was only those who had engaged in evil talk who were in fact bitten by these snakes. Soon they realize their error and beg Moshe to do something. He promptly prays for the people and God instructs him to make a "saraf" and put it on a pole and anyone who is bitten can look at it and be healed. Here the Torah repeats the word saraf but in a slightly different context. In the first case it modified the object, the snake, to define it as fiery. In the second, Ibn Ezra explains that saraf means an image or representation of a snake. Subsequently, in yet another linguistic twist, Moshe makes a snake out of brass - a n'chash n'choshet - and places it upon a pole. Lo and behold, the cure works. Anyone bitten by a real snake had only to look at the brass snake to be healed.

Now this may sound like voodoo medicine, and I doubt such a remedy would pass muster with the FDA or here in Stony Brook's School of Medicine. However, in at least one nod toward the legitimacy of Biblical medicine, the image of the snake upon the pole is the basis of the caduceus, which is the common symbol of the medical profession. Perhaps, though, it is the use of the word seraf that indicates that it is what the snake symbolizes more than the literal damage that it can inflict. Rashi asks if the snake causes death or heals, reminding us that often the very thing that causes pain can also be a source of healing. The snake slithers along the ground, or hides beneath rocks and brush, but requires that we direct our vision downward in order to detect it. The Israelites were bitten when they stopped looking ahead toward Eretz Yisrael, but looked downward, wallowing in the self-pity of their current situation. When they looked at Moshe's brass snake upon its pole they directed their eyes to heaven, enabling them to see the possibilities in their future and healing them of their affliction.

In Balak, our second parsha, we read of the attempt to use divination to defeat Israel. Midianite king Balak employs a local prophet, of sorts, named Bilam to use his powers to destroy the Israelites, who had just defeated two powerful local tribes who had fought against them. God speaks to Bilam and warns him not to get involved. The king and his messengers are persistent, and Bilam is coaxed into cooperation. Yet each time he tries to do the Balak's bidding God uses him as an instrument to bless Israel rather than curse them. Finally Bilam delivers a mashal, or parable, that God had "placed in his mouth." In it he says "ki lo nachash b'Yaakov," there is no enchantment in Jacob, "v'lo kesem b'Yisrael," and no divination in Israel.

Here nachash means enchantment, not snake as we read earlier, but they are certainly related. Snakes were thought to have the powers of enchantment, and Rashi even connects the snake in Chukat to the snake in the Garden of Eden, the original "enchanter" of Eve who led her into sin. Bilam's statement that there is no enchantment among Israel seems to contradict the use of a brass snake on a pole to heal the victims of venomous snakebites. Yet if we understand the clever use of language, and the double-entendre that is employed, we can understand that it is not really the snake, but our own perception of the snake and its capabilities. The snake can only enchant us when we allow its imaginary powers to overtake our own self-confidence and our own faith. Bilam is right, there is no place for nachash in Israel, but perhaps it takes a Midianite soothsayer to teach us this most important lesson of faith in both ourselves and in God.

Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Topek, Stony Brook University Hillel

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Chukkat-Balak at MyJewishLearning.com.

Numbers 16:1-15

1 Now there betook-himself Korah son of Yitzhar son of Kehat son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram the sons of Eliav and On son of Pelet, the sons of Re'uven
2 with men-of-stature from the Children of Israel, fifty and two hundred, leaders of the community, those Called in the Appointed-Council, men of name.

3 They assembled against Moshe and against Aharon and said to them: Too much (is) yours! Indeed, the entire community, the entirety-of-them, are holy, and in their midst is Yhwh! Why then do you exalt yourselves over the assembly of Yhwh?

4 Now when Moshe heard, he flung himself on his face.

5 Then he spoke to Korah and to his entire community, saying: At daybreak Yhwh will make-known who is his and who is holy and he will declare-him-near to him; the one that he chooses, he will declare-near to him.

6 This, do: Take yourselves (fire-)pans, Korah and his entire community, Take yourselves (fire-) pans, Korah and his entire community,

7 and put fire in them, placing incense on them, before the presence of Yhwh, tomorrow. And it shall be: the man whom Yhwh chooses, he is the holy-one. Too much (is) yours, Sons of Levi!

8 And Moshe said to Korah: Pray hearken, Sons of Levi:

9 Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to him, to serve the serving-tasks of the Dwelling of Yhwh, to stand before the community, to attend on them?

10 He has brought-near you and all your brothers, the Sons of Levi, with you? would you seek the priesthood as well?

11 Truly, (it is) you and your entire community that come-together against Yhwh? as for Aharon, what is (wrong) with him that you should grumble against him!

Your Midrash Navigator

The Rabbis of the midrash wish to understand why the Korach rebellion happens now. It is especially odd given that the parsha preceding the Korach incident is the parsha which explains the mitzvah of tzitzit, or the ritual fringes on places on a four cornered garment. The Torah explains at the end of the last parsha, that one of the strings has to be dyed with tchelet, an azure color which was essential to the mitzvah. According to the midrash Korach used this mitzvah as a pretext for challenging Moshe, that's why this chapter immediately precedes the Korach rebellion. The Midrash which also appears in Rashi says:

Tanchuma Korach Chapter 2

What is written immediately before this incident? "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make tzitzit," Korach jumped up and said to Moshe. "You told us to put tchelet on the tzitzit, tell me if the garment is entirely made up of tchelet, would such a garment require tzitzit." Moses replied, "Yes it would require tzitzit." Korach answered, "You mean that four strings of tchelet can allow you to wear another garment, but a garment made of tchelet cannot be exempted from this restriction?"

Korach asked, "What about a house filled with Torahs does it require a mezuza or not?" Moses answered, "It requires a mezuza." Korach replied, "You mean four little portions of parchment allow someone to live in their house, but a house filled with books still requires these four pieces of parchment?"

Your Midrash Navigator

1. Why does the midrash see the questions of Korach as illegitimate?
2. Read Korach's questions with a disdainful tone of voice. Why is Korach's challenge considered an illegitimate one according to the midrash.

The following mishnah is a famous statement from Values of Our Fathers. It is often quoted as a support for tolerating different opinions, but for a moment let's talk about what makes an argument illegitimate in the eyes of the mishnah.

Values of Our Fathers 5:17

"Any dispute where the disputants are arguing toward the name of heaven, these are the disputes that will endure. Any dispute where the disputants are not arguing toward the name of heaven, these disputes will not endure. What is an example of a dispute where the disputants argue toward the name of heaven? Hillel and Shammai. What is an example of disputes where the disputants do not argue toward the name of heaven? Korach and his minions."

Your Mishnah Navigator

1. What makes an argument toward the sake of heaven?
2. What does it mean that the argument will endure?
3. Why doe Hillel and Shammai exemplify this.
4. Why does Korach exemplify the opposite? Use the midrash as your context for the mishnah.

In the Talmudic tradition an enduring position in an argument is one that continues to be studied and continues to have adherents. It is a position which remains part of the conversation.

Korach is not interested in tzitzit or tchelet. He is only interested in using the Torah as a pretext for challenging Moshe's authority. His real point is four strings of tchelet are no better than a whole garment of tchelet. We are a holy people, each of us a holy string, each of us capable of hearing the word of God. The rabbis use the analogy of tzitzit and tchelet to show how Korach used the Torah as a means for rebellion, and indeed that is how Korach got two hundred and fifty chieftains to go along.

What characterizes a dispute toward the name of heaven is not good manners, but intention. It is Korach's ulterior motive behind the challenge that the Torah and the rabbis find insidious.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Korach at MyJewishLearning.com.

4. And the mixed multitude that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us meat to eat?
5. We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
6. But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
7. And the manna was as coriander seed, and its color as the color of bdellium.
8. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of fresh oil.
9. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
10. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; and Moses also was displeased.
11. And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you afflicted your servant? and why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people upon me?
12. Have I conceived all this people? Have I fathered them, that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom, like a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which you swore to their fathers?

Moses' reaction is a harsh one, he is tired of the Jewish people's complaining and asks God to lift his burden. Compare this to the episode of the golden calf, after which, when God proposes destroying the Jewish people Moses replies, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Now, if you will forgive their sin, good; and if not, erase me from your book which you have written."

Radical; after the golden calf Moses is willing to lay down his own life to save his people, yet when they complain for lack of tasty food in the desert he is ready to give them up...Why?

A Word

Perhaps the difference lies in the underlying attitude of the people. The worship of the golden calf was an attempt on the part of the Jewish people to make for themselves a spiritual leader in Moses' absence. The complaining about the manna in our portion is about having exactly the right food that they want, when they want it. After making the golden calf the integrity of the people is still intact. They had a spiritual desire. It was channeled in the wrong direction, but still these people have potential. When they complain about the manna though, Moses asks himself, "Is this really the right attitude for God's chosen people? Have they lost that spiritual spark?"

Prepared by Rabbi Hyim Shafner, St. Louis Hillel at Washington University.

The following, oft-ignored verses describe a frequently ignored holiday. It happens to be a holiday that has a great lesson to teach us.

Numbers, Chapter 9

4. And Moses spoke to the people of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.

5. And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at evening in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the people of Israel.

6. And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day;

7. And those men said to him, "We are defiled by the dead body of a man; Why are we kept back, so that we may not offer an offering to the Lord in his appointed season among the people of Israel?"

8. And Moses said to them, "Wait, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,"

10. "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean because of a dead body, or is in a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord.

11. 'The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.'"

Your Torah Navigator
Moses asks God if the children of Israel may have another opportunity to offer the Passover sacrifice if they were unable to do so during the original set time. The Talmud calls this "Pesach Sheni," the second Pesach.

1. Why in this case are people given a second chance?
2. Why don't we say sorry, wait until next year?
3. Could a person who did not have a good excuse bring his offering on "Pesach Sheni?"

A Word
The Talmud in the tractate of Pesachim poses the question: Is Pesach Sheni a second chance, or is it a holiday in its own right? The issue being if you did not miss the first Pesach intentionally, but did miss it, would your observance of the second Pesach be viewed as if you had observed the first Pesach, or is it its own separate holiday. If it isn't a second chance then that means you are still accountable for having missed the first Pesach, but if it is a second chance, then your observance of the second Pesach would wipe the slate clean.

Unlike the verses in the Torah, the Talmud claims that even if one willfully missed the first Pesach, he is not only permitted, but obliged to observe the second. For this meal celebrates our origins as a community. It calls us to declare ourselves as joiners, and as individuals who belong to a greater whole. It also teaches that offering and receiving second chances is another way humans may imitate the Holy One, and it is truly a Godly thing to do. Just as the Holy One grants second chances, so, too, should we not only merit a second chance, but offer them to others as well.

Nowadays, some have the custom of celebrating Pesach Sheni by having a nice meal with matzah and maror, but often the custom of eating matzah only on the first Pesach has eliminated the custom of eating matza on Pesach Sheni. Pesach Sheni without Temple sacrifices has no modern way to be commemorated, yet the lesson of Pesach Sheni deserve a place in Jewish consciousness and Jewish observance.

What would be an appropriate activity that would capture the letter and spirit of this unique occasion in Jewish history?

Maybe Pesach Sheni should be declared a Jewish day of reconciliation where we make it a point to actively give ourselves and each other the benefit of a second chance.

After Moshe has displeased God by striking the rock thus forfeiting his right to enter the land (Numbers 20:9-13), the people of Israel are once again in rebellion against God and Moshe. More is expected of them and they truly are developing an independent relationship with God as witnessed by the following verses. They do, however, still seem to have much to learn.

Numbers 21:1-9

1 Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who sat-as-ruler in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the Atarim Road, so they waged war against Israel and captured from them war- captives.
2 Then Israel vowed a vow to YHWH and said: If you will give, yes, give this people into my hand, I will devote their towns (to destruction).
3 Now YHWH hearkened to the voice of Israel, he gave (them) the Canaanites, and they devoted-them-to-destruction along with their cities; so they called the name of the place Horma/Destruction.
4 They marched from Hill's Hill by the Reed Sea Road, to go- around the land of Edom, and the people (became) short-tempered on the way.
5 The people spoke against God and against Moshe: Why did you bring us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our throats loathe the despicable food!
6 So YHWH sent upon the people vipers, burning-snakes; they bit the people, and there died many people of Israel.
7 The people came to Moshe and said: We have sinned! For we have spoken against YHWH and against you. Intercede to God, so that he may remove from us the vipers! So Moshe interceded on behalf of the people.
8 And YHWH said to Moshe: Make yourself a burning-snake and put it on a banner-pole; it shall be: whoever has been bitten and then sees it, will live. 9 So Moshe made a viper of copper, and he put it on a banner-pole, and it was: if a viper bit a man and he looked upon the viper of copper, he would live.

Your Torah Navigator

1. In the beginning of this section, who vows to God, Moshe or the people? Why is this significant?
2. Who do the people speak against? Why do they speak against God?
3. Why do they call Mannah despicable food?
4. Why does God command Moshe to "Make yourself a burning-snake and put it on a banner-pole; it shall be: whoever has been bitten and then sees it, will live."
5. Why would people believe that a symbol of their suffering
would end up being their salvation?

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah Chapter 3 Mishnah 8

"'Make yourself a burning-snake and put it on a banner-pole' Does a snake cause death or bring life? Does it not mean that when Israel looks to the heavens and binds their hearts to their father in heaven, they would be healed, and when they didn't, they would die."

Your Mishnah Navigator

1. What question is the Mishnah asking?
2. How is it answered?

A Word

When Israel sees that the symbol of the snake can heal, the rabbis assume that Israel must believe that God is behind the healing, for only God can transform an instrument of death into a lifeline, but in order to do that it requires one to believe that God controls and manipulates nature to the point that snakes kill, but their symbols heal. This required an extraordinary understanding of God's role in the natural world. As Israel becomes more responsible and more autonomous, they are also tested. There were those who refused to look at the snake, and there were those who understood they must do so. Moshe was now the barometer for the belief of the autonomous individual. Some would pass and some would fail, but as they get closer to entering the land, they are being prepared for this new relationship. A relationship that struggles between personal responsibility and allegiance to the God of Israel.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, Director Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

Moses is often seen as the quintessential leader of the Jewish people. He presided over the most pivotal and formative moments of the development of Israel into a nation and a religion, with dizzying moments of triumph, glory and revelation. However, the glow of the Exodus was short-lived, as the Israelites could not reconcile their newfound status and obligations with the harsh realities of desert and nomadic life. The Israelites during this time are referred to by the Torah as a stubborn and stiff-necked people. This week's Torah portion introduces a string of unfortunate and tragic events that led to the demise of the generation that emerged from Egypt, a generation that ultimately could not elevate itself to attain its promised destination, the land of Israel. It is within this context that Moses' leadership is sorely challenged through internal and external struggle.

The Torah describes the growing dissatisfaction with the mannah provided as nourishment in the desert and the growing desire of the people for the meat and vegetables that they left behind in Egypt. Moses is soon made aware of their dissatisfaction and the "weeping in the tents" and confronts God with a profound and heartfelt sense of personal frustration. He exclaims, "Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you placed the burden of this people on me? … They weep to me saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.' I am not able to bear all this people alone. If you deal this way with me, kill me… and let me not see my own wretchedness." God's response to Moses' plea is to remove some of the burden from Moses and to delegate responsibility to 70 appointed elders. Moses now has partners; he no longer has to bear the mantle and weight of leadership alone. The issue, as it is related in the Torah, is seemingly resolved. Delegation and partnership seems to be the answer to the burden and responsibilities of leadership.

A Midrash that comments on a later Torah portion utilizes the lessons of this episode in explanation of a very enigmatic series of events toward the end of Moses' life. The Torah tells us that following the death of Miriam, the Jewish people were unable to find water. Moses, who was commanded to speak to a rock from which water would flow, in turn hit the rock and was chastised and punished by God. The commentaries are perplexed by what Moses did wrong and what made him hit the rock instead of speaking to it, as God commanded. The Midrash provides a back story that sheds light on Moses' apparent anger. It relates that Moses and Aaron were crying over the death of their sister, while the nation was crying outside their tent due to the lack of water. When confronted, Moses, who was immersed in his mourning, reasoned, "Didn't I tell you that I am not able to bear all of you alone? You have officers for the thousands, the hundreds, for the fifties, and for tens, princes, officers and great elders – they will work for you." The people replied, "Everything is on you because you are the one that took us out of Egypt and brought us to this horrible place. If you give us water, great; if not, we will stone you." It was following this episode that God told Moses to talk to the rock. The punishment for his frustration was that he would no longer lead the Jewish people into the land of Israel.

Delegation and partnership is often an excellent way to enhance our ability to meet our overall responsibilities. Yet, as the Jewish people communicated so roughly to Moses, delegation should never be confused as a substitution for accountability, especially during times of need and crisis, and even if accountability comes at personal sacrifice.

Prepared by Ilan Haber, director, Jewish Learning Initiative

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Additional commentaries and text studies on B'ha'alotcha at MyJewishLearning.com.

I've always had a little fondness for this week's Torah portion, Pinchas, because it is my father's Hebrew name and because another character important to me Joshua makes an appearance part-way through. And both Joshua and Pinchas serve as different models of leadership. Pinchas, Aaron's grandson, only has a small role at the beginning of the reading, but he quells G-d's wrath by showing zealousness for Him, and is rewarded. And Joshua is appointed by G-d to succeed Moses so that the Israelites "will not be like sheep without a shepherd" as they enter the Promised Land.

Of course Moshe Rabeinu Moses, our teacher is the most important leader of all, but is punished and will not enter the land of Canaan. Moshe was human and made mistakes, disobeying G-d in the wilderness of Zin, by striking a rock to bring forth water, rather than speaking to it according to G-d's instruction. Not even Moshe's otherwise strong record of leadership will earn him a pass into the Promised Land. In fact, as the Israelites' visible leader, he was held to a higher degree of behavior, and disobeying G-d's directive in front of all His people would keep him from entering the Land of Milk and Honey.

Even as Moshe realizes that he will not enter the land of Canaan, he continues to think and strategize like a leader. When G-d tells Moshe that he will not live to enter Canaan, he challenges G-d saying (to paraphrase) 'Wait. I can accept that I will not enter the land, but the people will need a leader.' So G-d tells Moshe to appoint Joshua as his successor.

So Moshe, the present leader, is tasked with finding fresh leadership to promote from within who will lead the Children of Israel in actualizing part of G-d's covenant with us: the Land of Israel. And the Torah portion dictates to us just how the land will be divided among the twelve tribes. Each tribe would receive a portion of the land, according to the population size of the tribe, counted by each male family head.

In another of Moshe's final acts as leader, he again stops and says to G-d 'Hold it. This land apportioning by male head of household business is a little troubling. You know, these five sisters just came to me with a question. I know what the rule is about property, but there's no precedent for this situation to guide my interpretation, and I need your help. These sisters' father, Zelaphechad (glad my father is named for Pinchas, not Zelaphechad), died in the desert, but was not among those who disobeyed G-d and was killed. None of these five women is married, so according to the current rule, their family will lose its portion of yerusha inheritance land and the daughters are asking for Zelaphechad's portion of it. What do I tell them?'

G-d responds that their argument is just, and they should receive their father's portion of yerusha. Moreover, He issues a new ruling, that in such future cases, where only daughters are the nearest relative to a male head-of-household, they shall receive his property (assigning a line of succession if there are no daughters).

In this parsha, the Torah speaks of eight leaders: Moshe, Joshua, and Pinchas, and Zelaphechad's five daughters who, like few other women in the Torah are named: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. All of these leaders utilize their distinctive strengths and vision to advance the future of the people.

Moshe understands his role as a leader and how to transfer leadership into new hands. In front of all the Israelites, he invests Joshua to be his successor. Joshua's positive attitude and contemplative nature makes him a natural candidate for the job, but will undoubtedly approach his responsibilities differently than Moshe. As one of the two scouts doing reconnaissance into Canaan, Joshua reported back to the Israelites that yes, the land was filled with "giants," but it was also just as G-d promised us, a Land of Milk and Honey. He will not let us down; He has given us the land as part of His covenant with us, and He will guide us to inherit it. Additionally there is the intense and fast-thinking Pinchas, who assures his family's priestly role in performing G-d's holy duties, by demonstrating his zealousness for G-d. And lastly, Zelaphechad's daughters, who call social injustices into question, changing a gender biased law by making a thoughtful, just, and convincing argument.

The desert census in Parshat Pinchas counts more than 600,000. Moshe and Joshua we've heard of; Pinchas, and Zelaphechad's daughters have smaller parts, but play significant roles. Among the rest of the large group of Israelites or the students with whom we work with we share Moshe's task to find and cultivate new leaders. It's our job to help them emerge. As Jewish educators concerned with developing the next generation of Jewish leaders, we can examine these characters, each of whom brings exceptional qualities to the table of leaders, and glean valuable lessons for identifying and nurturing future leaders.

Written by Joshua Blumenthal, Associate Director for Campus Advancenment of Hillel's Schusterman International Center

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Pinchas at MyJewishLearning.com.

Your Torah Navigator

The previous chapter yet again accounts for the nation. The issue is inheritance. Who of which clan receives which portion of eretz yisrael. Here and there the Torah sadly reminds us of the tragedies of the nation. We are reminded of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. We are reminded of Korah's rebellion and we are told that the earth did not swallow up his sons. Amidst all the names comes the story of five fatherless daughters whom are fearful of being disinherited.

Pay close attention to how the daughters approach Moshe and how Moshe responds.

Why do the daughters make a point of disassociating their father from Korah?

What is the essence of their claim?

Why is God so pleased with their claim?

Why is this questioning of authority considered permissible, while Korah's questioning was considered rebellious?

Numbers 27: The Daughters of Tzelofhad

1 Now there came-near the daughters of Tzelofhad son of Hefer son of Gil'ad son of Makhir son of Menashe, of the clan of Menashe son of Yosef, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahla, No'a, Hogla, Milka and Tirtza.

2 They stood before Moshe and before El'azar the priest and before the leaders and the entire community, at the entrance to the Tent of Appointment, saying:

3 Our father died in the wilderness. He was not in the midst of the community that came-together against YHWH, in the community of Korah; rather, for his own sin he died, and sons he did not have.

4 Why should the name of our father be taken-away from the midst of his clan, (just) because he has no son? Give us a holding in the midst of our father's brothers!

5 Moshe brought-near their case, before the presence of YHWH.

6 And YHWH said to Moshe, saying:

7 Rightfully speak the daughters of Tzelofhad! You are to give, yes, give them a hereditary holding in the midst of their father's brothers, you are to transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

8 And to the Children of Israel you are to speak, saying: Any-man, when he dies and a son he does not have, you are to transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

9 And if he has no daughter, you are to give his inheritance to his brothers.

10 And if he has no brothers, you are to give his inheritance to his father's brothers.

11 And if no brothers has his father you are to give his inheritance to his kin that is nearest to him from his clan, and he is to take-possession of it; it shall be for the Children of Israel as a law of procedure, as YHWH commanded Moshe.

Talmud Baba Batra 119b

It was taught: The daughters of Tzelofhad were wise women, they were exegetes, and they were virtuous.

They [must] have been wise, since they spoke at an opportune moment; for R. Samuel son of R. Isaac said: [Scripture] teaches that Moses our master was sitting and holding forth an exposition on the section of levirate marriages, (this is the law that states if a widow dies and she has yet to bear children, she should marry her deceased husband's brother.)

They said unto him: 'If we are like a son in the case of levirate marriage which means our mother should not marry our uncle then give us our inheritance as if we were sons; if not, let our mother be subject to the law of levirate marriage!' And Moses immediately brought their cause before the Lord.

They [must] have been exegetes, for they said: 'If he had a son we would not have spoken'.

They were virtuous, since they were married to such men only as were worthy of them.

Your Talmud Navigator

1. According to the rabbis, why were the daughters of Tzelofhad wise?
2. What do Tzelofhad's daughters base their claim upon?
3. Why does Moshe bring this claim to God?
4. Why do the rabbis find Tzelofhad's daughters pleasing?
5. What makes this challenge to Moshe not only legitimate, but also virtuous?

A Word

The rabbis see the daughters of Tzelofhad as the first legitimate questioners, the first group to actually apply rabbinic tools for understanding the Torah. They lead the way to understanding how the Torah should be learned, how the Torah should be understood and how the Torah should be questioned.

The laws of inheritance are traditionally adjudicated by males, yet it is these daughters who understand opportunity and understand that pre-conceived notions of what the Torah and its leadership may allow are not necessarily true. They perceive a contradiction, and they trust that Moshe rabbenu, like them is seeking the truth, and not merely using the Torah as an acquisitive tool for a rapacious gender. That trust is well placed as Moshe demonstrates his humility by admitting that he does not have the answer only to find that these virtuous daughters know that which had escaped him. Moshe's ignorance of the law is eclipsed by his integrity. This encounter is the antidote for Korah's rebellion and it is the first and finest moment of Torah study and the halachic process.

Numbers 25:10-29:39

What were we thinking? I mean, we'd made it through the bulk of our desert journey from Egypt, we witnessed the spectacular sound and light show of Mount Sinai, accepted the invaluable gift of the Ten Commandments, built the Mishkan (Winnebago Temple), found sustenance in a white flaky treat called manna, surrounded by clouds of glory and a pillar of fire, experienced the victory of battle against sworn enemies, and all-in-all, understood that we had an important mission on this planet.

So why was it so easy for us (of the male persuasion) to be seduced by the Midianite women into steamy and illicit sexual acts, which included many bizarre performances, not the least of which included the cult-like ritual of defecating in front of the Midianite god-idol Ba'al Peor? (Talmud Sanhedrin 60.) I mean, really!

Enter Pinchas, grandson of Aaron the Chief Cohen, and seeing the hysteria, grabs a spear and thrusts it through an Israelite prince and Midianite princess as they publicly fornicate. His target is quite poetic - straight through both groins, killing the lustful (and hardly discreet) couple in front of the gawking nation. Pretty steamy, eh?

Pinchas and his shish-kebab technique put an end to a plague that was rapidly destroying our great-great-great... grandparents, and for this he is rewarded with hereditary Cohen status. The reason: jealousy! That's right, the very attribute I try so hard to eliminate in my life is exactly the basis for Pinchas' prize!

"And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the children of Israel in that he was very jealous for My sake." Number 25:11

Rashi Navigator

(Rashi was a French Jew living about a thousand years ago, who shed tremendous light on sacred text through his commentaries)

1) Rashi wrote, "Jealousy, in Hebrew kinah, always denotes one who strives to take vengeance for the sake of something." For Pinchas, what was that "something?"

Torah Navigator

1) Under what circumstances is killing justified? Self-defense? National security? (The plague connected to the Midianite orgy-fest had already killed 24,000 people when Pinchas stepped in.) Under no circumstances?

2) Are there important differences between Pinchas and any lone zealot who takes matters into his own hands, when faced with immorality?

3) When is jealousy an attribute to be used positively in a relationship?

Pinchas is regarded as a hero in the Torah. According to midrash, his neshama (spirit) returns much later into the body of Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu HaNavi), a man associated with strong actions and a non-conformist. If jealousy is a motivating factor for Pinchas, then as a holy nation, hanging out with temptresses can be extremely dangerous!

Prepared by Rabbi Shmuel Bowman, Former Director, The Ellin Mitchell Hillel Program at Tel Aviv University.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Pinchas at MyJewishLearning.com.

A few years ago, as the Assistant Head of Jewish Learning at a summer camp deep in the hills of New Hampshire, I taught this parsha to my campers in a unique way.

Every week, a different age unit was responsible for creating a Shabbat experience for the entire camp. Shabbat Balak was conducted by the youngest campers (ages 8-10) with a dramatic interpretation of the text. When it came time for the Torah reading in the Shacharit service, the campers assembled themselves in front of the bimah and acted out the scenes between Balak, King of Moab, and the prophet Balaam who the King hired to put a curse on the Children of Abraham.

In the end, God prevents Balaam from accomplishing his mission by placing an angel in front of his donkey. The donkey, who at this point in the story is the only one who can see the angel, stops in his tracks. Balaam scolds the donkey and forces him to move on. The donkey sees the angel, stops again and is scolded by Balaam a second time. After the third scolding, the donkey speaks out against his master and forces Balaam to open his eyes and see that it is God who preventing the journey from continuing on.

For me, the experience of teaching these campers about Torah crystallized what Jewish communal service is all about. We as Hillel professionals have an incredible opportunity to creatively engage and empower the Children of Israel through Torah.

We engage and teach people where they are, not where we are. We are able to learn Torah by chanting text, and reading commentaries to understand its deeper meanings, but many of our students may not be there yet. Just like Balaam, many of them need to be taught to open their eyes to the teachings of the text. At the same time, just as for the youngest campers many years ago, we have to let our students come to the text at the level of their readiness. In this way, it is almost as if they engage themselves in Torah.

Prepared by Rachel Mersky.

Parshat Balak is one of the richest and strangest Torah portions of the entire cycle of weekly readings. The Moabite King Balak, frightened by the strength of the children of Israel, recruits the famous prophet Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. Balaam agrees to help Balak in any way he can but notes that he will speak only as God tells him. Balaam tries three times to curse Israel and each time a blessing comes out of his mouth.

I want to focus on what happens in between the recruitment of Balaam and his failure to deliver a quality curse. Balaam is traveling to meet with Balak when something interesting happens. Despite the fact that Balaam has received permission from God to go to Balak in Chapter 22:20, God seems to change His mind only two verses later.

"But God was incensed at his [Balaam's] going; so an angel of the Lord placed himself in his way as an adversary." (Numbers 22:22)

This occurrence in and of itself seems a bit odd. Why would God condone Balaam's trip in one instant and then condemn it the next? But the story takes yet another twist. Balaam was riding on his donkey when all of the sudden:

"When the donkey caught sight of the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. The donkey swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat his donkey to turn her back onto the road." (22:23)

This occurs again. The donkey sees the fiery angel of God blocking the path and swerves off the path to try to avoid it. Balaam does not appear to see this angel, and each time he hits the donkey until the donkey veers back onto the desired course.

The third time the donkey sees the angel, the donkey lies down and stops moving. This infuriates Balaam, who begins beating the donkey. And then something strange happens. The donkey talks. She asks Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?" Perhaps even more strange is the fact that Balaam responds to the donkey as if it were normal that the donkey spoke to him. Balaam responds that the donkey has embarrassed him so much that if he had a sword he would kill the donkey on the spot.

Obviously the donkey is very upset by this and puts Balaam in his place by saying, "Look, I am the donkey that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" Of course, Balaam can only sheepishly respond "no," and then he sees the angel for the first time and truly understands his error.

There is much that can be said about the story of Balaam and his donkey and many questions that need to be answered. Maimonides, a medieval Jewish philosopher, suggests that the entire incident was a prophetic vision, and none of it really happened.

Nachmanides, also a medieval commentator, suggests that the donkey did in fact talk to Balaam to remind him and future readers that God can control even a human's most basic functions. The ability to speak is something that God can give even to a donkey, and if God can give speech to a donkey then God can take speech away from humans.

The Sforno, a Renaissance-era Bible commentator, takes a different approach. He suggests that the story is really about paying attention to signs. The behavior of the donkey should have been a sign to Balaam that what he was about to do was not good in the eyes of God.

However, I think that at its most basic level this story of Balaam and his donkey is about two very important things. First and foremost, it is about the power and importance of words. Words have the ability to build up or break down, to heal or to hurt, to bless or to curse. The fact that Balaam is seemingly unaware of the power he has to hurt people through his words is what infuriates God. We are all given permission by God to say whatever we wish. The gift of speech and communication is unlike any other gift that God has given us, but it is one that must be treated with respect and with the cognizance of the power it has.

Perhaps more importantly, this is a story about trust. Balaam is too consumed with being embarrassed in front of the messengers of Balak who are accompanying him on his journey to "listen" to the advice and warnings of one of his most trusted allies. The donkey maybe an animal incapable of speech, perhaps forgotten or taken for granted, but ultimately, the donkey is the only one who can truly see everything that lies in front of her master. The question of who is really the master in this story is an interesting one and leads me to one final thought.

In life we can often get stuck on the proverbial high horse and forget that our most trusted companions - and even sometimes the people in our lives who we think cannot possibly see or understand what we are going through - are the people with the clearest vision and the people whom we can trust the most. Not everyone will be called upon in life to be a leader or a prophet like Balaam, but it is important to remember that sometimes the most unlikely of people have the clearest vision and are the most capable of leading us in the right direction.

I wish everyone a Shabbat Shalom, one that is filled with happiness, clarity of vision and trust in those who help you get from one place to the next on your own life journey.

Prepared by Reuben Posner, Fellow at Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Balak at MyJewishLearning.com.

Immediately following Korach's failed rebellion, God firmly establishes the priesthood both symbolically, by causing Aaron's staff to blossom from among the staffs of the heads of all the tribes, and through verbal instruction:

"And the Holy One spoke to Aaron saying: I hereby give you charge of My gifts, all the sacred things of the Israelites; I grant them to you and to your sons as a portion, an ordinance for all time." Bemidbar 18:8

Your Torah Navigator
"I hereby give you charge of My gifts" - why does the Eternal choose this moment to affirm and instruct about the status and role of the priests?

Sifrei 117
"This text establishes a covenant with Aaron regarding the holiest sacrifices, decreeing a law and establishing a covenant about them, responding to when Korach came against Aaron to protest about the priesthood.

A Parable:
To what is this similar? To a king of flesh and blood who had a servant and gave him a field as a gift, but didn't sign or seal or register it. Someone came to protest against him about the field. The king said to him: 'Come, everyone who wants to protest about the field. Come, and I will sign, seal and inscribe it in the registry.'

Thus, when Korach came against him to protest the priesthood, the Holy One said to him: 'Let everyone come who wants to protest the priesthood. Come and I will sign, seal and inscribe in the registry.' This is why this section is connected to that of Korach."

Your Midrash Navigator
1. What gift is the Eternal offering the priests?
2. Why does God call all those who want to protest?

A Word
It's interesting, perhaps ironic, that the Midrash brings as a parable a story of a gift of land, when priests have no share of territory nor may they own any property. The Holy One tells Aaron: "I am your portion and share (verse 20)."

The priests have nothing of their own; they are dependent upon the Israelites to support them and their work through observance of agricultural laws mandating their offerings of first fruits, tithes, redemptions, and sacrifices. What they do have is a role, a high pressure job serving God and protecting all Israelites from incurring any guilt connected with the work of the Sanctuary.

In the parable, the servant is given a gift of land; the Midrash understands the gift to the priests as the service itself. As others came to protest the gift of land to the servant, Korach and those with him came to protest the gift of the priesthood to the priests.

The priests are given the privilege of closeness with the Holy One, a life dedicated to Temple service and the ability to approach the Divine in the holiest of places and the most sacred of times. They have the honor of working to elevate the Israelites offerings (and thus, the community itself) to God.

For many contemporary Jews, the concept of this access based on lineage rather than ability, or merit, can be challenging. We may find ourselves connecting more with Korach's statement: "All the community are holy and God is among them." The rabbis don't dispute this statement, rather, they dispute Korach's motives. We are all holy and we must find and generate holiness in our own arenas. The message to the protestors in the parable is: Plow your own field!

We bring holiness in the world not through fixed, predetermined roles but through our every interaction and opportunity we take to fulfill a mitzvah, do a kindness for another, or work to repair an injustice. And our portion, our inheritance, will not be a particular parcel of land or a payment, but rather, will be the Holy One.

Prepared by Rabbi Lina Grazier-Zerbarini, associate rabbi, Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Korach at MyJewishLearning.com.

All of chapter ten of Bamidbar which falls in the middle of Parshat B'ha'alotcha sees that Israel is preparing for war and the Holy One is choreographing the march. After the priests are given their instructions Moses tries to convince his father-in-law to come along. Moses has the last word, but the Torah doesn't tell us whether he agreed to go in the end. Then we are told:

Numbers 10:33-11:3
33 They marched from the mountain of Yhwh a journey of three days, the coffer of Yhwh's covenant marching before them, a journey of three days, to scout out for them a resting-place.
34 Now the cloud of Yhwh is over them by day, as they march from the camp.
35 now it was, whenever the coffer was to march on, Moshe would say: arise (to attack), o YHWH, that your enemies may scatter, that those who hate you may flee before you!
36 and when it would rest, he would say: that those who hate you may flee before you!
36 and when it would rest, he would say: return, o YHWH, (you of) the myriad divisions of Israel!

11:1 Now the people were like those-who-grieve (over) ill-fortune, in the ears of Yhwh. When Yhwh heard, his anger flared up; there blazed up against them a fire of Yhwh and ate up the edge of the camp.

2 The people cried out to Moshe and Moshe interceded to Yhwh, and the fire abated.
3 So they called the name of that place Tav'era/Blaze, for (there) had blazed against them fire of Yhwh.

Your Torah Navigator
The verse that has been capitalized is the same verse we chant when we ceremonially remove the Torah from the ark and march it around the The verse that has been capitalized is the same verse we chant when we ceremonially remove the Torah from the ark and march it around the congregation. In the Torah these verses are bracketed by what looks to be two Hebrew "noons" in reverse. The purpose of these two mysterious signs is discussed in the Talmud and the midrash. There are two opinions:

One says they indicate that these verses do not belong here. The other says they indicate that these verses should be seen as a separate book. And it is learned from this opinion that if a Torah scroll contains at least 85 Hebrew letters like the two aforementioned verses, then you are allowed to save it from a burning building on shabbat. In other words, it retains its status as a sacred text.

Read the previous parsha and see if you can find a more appropriate place for these verses.
Other than the backward noons, why would these verses be considered more book-like than the Ten commandments?

What would be the reason for purposefully misplacing these two considered more book-like than the Ten commandments?

What would be the reason for purposefully misplacing these two verses?

The Talmud Shabbat 116a teaches that the verse is here because it creates a break between two negative occurrences. It is obvious that the complaints of the people that occur immediately after these two verses is a negative occurrence, but how is it to be understood that

33 They marched from the mountain of Yhwh a journey of three days, the coffer of Yhwh's covenant marching before them, a journey of three days, would be considered negative.

The Talmud says, when the Torah states that they marched from the mountain, it means that they turned away from God at that moment. The Ramban comments:-- Like children running from school, lest they be given more commandments to do--. These two misplaced verses becomes a remedy, showing that Israel was not always complaining and that they were capable of running toward the ark just as they were capable of turning away from the Holy One's Torah.

These verses which accompany every Torah reading as the Torah travels to and from its ark are verses which have yet to find their place. They reflect the travels and exiles of Israel which is a book that does not even rest within the five books, it is the book of a restless people who even when they are given a place, the place cannot either draw or hold them. It becomes the home we wander toward and away from.

These verses become the book of moving toward responsibility with the understanding that our resting times through history's eye are actually very brief. These eighty-five letters are the subtext of the Jewish people. The first verse calls and indeed prays for protection from without while the next verse prays for RETURN, O YHWH, (YOU OF) THE MYRIAD DIVISIONS OF ISRAEL! Indeed, a prayer for peace among the myriad divisions that can destroy from within. Isn't it ironic that the very next verse is one of internal dissension. The backward noons tell us to carry these verses with us wherever we go as we pray for peace from within.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel

A wise older friend once remarked to me, "If you want to know who is losing an argument, look at who is shouting louder." Insecurity often inspires bravado. Confidence, ironically, allows a person to be open to the ideas of others.

Yet as we learn from our everyday Hillel experience, leaders can't only listen. True, we need to create safe spaces for public expression, but not chaotic power vacuums. It's hard to know when to speak boldly - and when to listen boldly.

This week's Torah portion gives us three different models of leadership operating as the spies return to the camp speaking harshly of the land of Israel.

First, "Moshe and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel." (14:5) They, the leaders, are silent. It is unclear where their intention is to apologize to the people, confuse them or pray for them. Certainly, though, they do not feel that it is an appropriate moment to contest the chaos of the Jewish people.

Second, "Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Yephuneh, of the spies of the Land, tore their clothes. They spoke to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel, saying, 'The Land that we passed through, to spy it out - the Land is very, very good! ...You should not fear the people of the Land, for they are our bread." (14:7-9) These two leaders, in contrast to Moses and Aaron, demonstrate clearly their dissatisfaction with the spies' complaints and respond point for point. Confidence, confrontation and resolve form their reaction, leaving little tolerance for the tantrums of an infantile people.

A third, subtler moment of leadership finds its way into this episode. At the end of the story, God singles out Caleb as a devoted leader: "But my servant Caleb, because a different spirit was with him and he followed me wholeheartedly, I shall bring him to the Land to which he came, and his offspring shall possess it." (14:24) Why does God uniquely reward Caleb if Joshua reacted with the same passion and boldness?

Earlier in the story, when the spies first give their report, Caleb apparently notices Moshe's silence and senses an impending vacuum. He does not respond loudly: "Caleb silenced the people toward Moshe and said, 'We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it." (13:30) Caleb knew that Moshe, after all these years of suffering with this stubborn, stiff-necked people, would not attempt to counter them as they spoke. Instead, he silenced the people first - he brought them to the point where they would be able to listen.

By sharing a moment of silence, Caleb aimed to communicate that Moshe had indeed heard what the people were saying, a reality they could not appreciate while so enraptured in the Jewish ritual of nagging. "He heard you," Caleb said through the silence, "now listen to him. He - we - think we can conquer the Land despite the enemy's strength." Rashi, in fact, suggests that Caleb merited the honorable mention because of his ability to silence the people for a moment.

Moshe and Aaron, at this point, are broken leaders but loyal advocates for the people to God. Joshua is a conventionally bold leader. Caleb, at least at the outset, prefers to articulate his boldness by bringing both sides to a space where they can hear each other.

Just as winning an argument is not reflected in the volume of one's voice, leadership is not perfectly mirrored by the boldness of one's speech - or by any speech at all. Our Torah portion gives us options for leadership, yet it's our role to determine which situation calls for a given style.

I once asked Rabbi Avi Weiss, a renowned activist and spiritual leader, what makes a great leader. He said to me, "Yehuda, there are no great leaders, only great challenges." May we place ourselves in the full presence of the pressing challenges of our day.

Prepared by Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, manager of religious life, Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Shelach at MyJewishLearning.com.

This week's parsha includes the command to complete yet another census. This time, God says to Moshe and Eleazar, "Take a census of the whole Israelite community from the age of 20 years up, by their ancestral houses, all Israelites able to bear arms." (Bamidbar 26:2) This is the third census of the Israelites since leaving Egypt. The first census, in the book of Shemot, was taken to determine who would be obligated to contribute one half-shekel toward the building of the Tabernacle. The second census, at the start of the book of Bamidbar, was taken to record the people eligible for military service in order to be prepared for the battles to be encountered en route to the Promised Land. This week's census also references needing to be prepared for battle ("able to bear arms"), but it is primarily concerned with beginning the preparations for entering the Promised Land. The numbers of each of the different clans must be obtained in order to distribute the land in proportion to the size of each clan.

In each of the three censuses, age 20 is the age of maturation - all three censuses call for a counting of individuals age 20 and above. In addition to these references to age 20 as a critical point, there is another reference to the age of 20 years. In the book of Bamidbar, God tells Moshe and Aharon who will be prohibited from entering the Promised Land after the sin of the spies, "of all of you who were recorded in your various lists from the age of 20 years up, you who have muttered against Me, not one shall enter the land which I swore to settle you...." (Bamidbar 14: 29-30)

From each of the four examples, we can deduce that by age 20 certain developmental milestones are assumed to have been achieved:

1. Everyone of the age of 20 and above must pay one half-shekel to the building of the Tabernacle (Shemot, 30:13-14).

Deduction: By age 20, one has developed a sense of responsibility to contribute to the affairs of the community and the basic means to be able to do so.

2. A census counts individuals able to bear arms age 20 and above. (Bamidbar 1:1-50)

Deduction: By age 20, one has achieved a certain level of physical and vocational skill.

3. The spies return from scouting out the Promised Land. They express to the Israelites a lack of confidence in themselves and in the community's ability to attack the people there in order to take the land ("we were like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them"). (Bamidbar 13:33). The Israelites react to their account with a sense of panic, dread and lack of faith in God to protect them. As a result, those age 20 and above are fated not to enter the Promised Land (Bamidbar 14: 29-30).

Deduction: By age 20, one has developed a level of self-esteem that is not only reflected to oneself, but is also conveyed to others.

4. A census counts the Israelites in groupings based on their families. This was done in order to be able to prepare the apportioning of the land upon entering the Promised Land. (Bamidbar 26:1-56)

Deduction: By age 20, one should possess a sense of their history in order to prepare for where he or she is going.

The Torah clearly tells us that it is important to count the 20-year-olds. For those of us who work on campus, why is this important? Because the 20-year-olds (give or take a few years!) are our students. Literature from the field of higher education on the developmental impact of the college experience on students reinforces that the milestones we can deduce from the Torah's descriptions of what happens by age 20 are the milestones for our students. More importantly, we, as campus educators, have a role in helping our students achieve these milestones. A general understanding of the different areas for student growth allows us to create environments that intentionally encourage such development. These environments are created not just through physical spaces, but also through the programs and practices we establish.

Theory, Applied on Campus
What practices do we have in place that help students achieve a sense of responsibility to the community, vocational skill, self-esteem and a sense of who they are and where they are going?

What other developmental milestones do we help our students achieve in college? What environments do we create to intentionally support their growth?

Torah, Applied on Campus
In the first census from the book of Bamidbar, the Israelites are counted by their names. In the subsequent census, the count is organized by family history. When we first meet students, we concentrate on learning their names. As we get to know them, we learn where they come from and where they are going.

A Final Thought
On campus, 20-year-olds tend to be a neglected cohort. Mostly they are second-semester sophomores and first-semester juniors. They are no longer a part of Hillel's target population for engagement as freshmen and still not able to celebrate the coveted 21st birthday. Only a select few have risen to the top as Hillel student leaders, while many others are preparing to study in a different country. The Torah tells us to count the 20-year-olds. How do we convey to the 20-year-olds on our campuses that they count?

Prepared by Cindy Spungin, director of student activities, Brandeis University Hillel.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Pinchas at MyJewishLearning.com.

The story in Parshat Balak begins with the Israelite encampment at the borders of Moab. Balak, King of Moab, feels threatened by the multitudes of Israelites at his doorstep and enlists the help of the well-known gentile "seer" Balaam. Knowing of Balaam's power, Balak wishes to hire Balaam to curse them and drive them away from Moab. Balaam asks to sleep on it, and G-d tells him he must not go, for the Israelites are blessed.

What follows is an intriguing and amusing narrative that emphasizes the importance and wisdom of G-d's commandments and His ultimate power in controlling even the most renowned seer.

Numbers 22:17-18

Balak is so persistent in his hopes of cursing the Israelites that he sends a large delegation to Balaam after the initial rejection, pleading:

17) "I will reward you richly and I will do anything you ask of me. Only come and damn this people for me."

18) Balaam replied to Balak's officials, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, big or little, contrary to the command of the Lord my G-d."

G-d then surprises everyone. He orders Balaam to go with Balak's officials, even though He disapproves of cursing the Israelites, who are by His own words, "blessed" (v. 12). This apparent contradiction sets the stage for conflict in the following verses.

In an apparent turnabout, G-d becomes angry with Balaam for accepting Balak's invitation and places an angel to block his path. However, only the donkey can see the angel, causing her to turn back from the road. Balaam becomes angry with his donkey and beats her three times with his stick.

Numbers 22:28-35

28) Then the Lord opened the ass's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?
29) Balaam said to the ass, "You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I'd kill you."
30) The ass said to Balaam, "Look, I am the ass that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing this to you? And he answered, "No."
31) Then the Lord uncovered Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, his drawn sword in his hand; thereupon he bowed right down to the ground.
32) The angel of the Lord said to him, "Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who came out as an adversary, for the errand is obnoxious to me.
33) And when the ass saw me, she shied away because of me those three times. If she had not shied away from me, you are the one I should have killed, while sparing her."
34) Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I erred because I did not know that you were standing in my way. If you still disapprove, I will turn back." But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men. But you must say nothing except what I tell you."

Your Torah Navigator

1. As a non-Israelite prophet, how is Balaam's relationship with the Lord significant to the understanding of the text?
2. Why doesn't Balaam immediately refuse Balak's invitation the second time, and what does that say about his character?
3. Why does G-d change his mind about allowing Balaam to meet Balak? What are the results?
4. How does the incident with the she-ass change the nature of the relationship between G-d and Balaam?

A Word

At first, the thought of a talking donkey may bring up memories of the hilarious and adorable animated character portrayed by Eddie Murphy in the blockbuster movie "Shrek." However, the donkey from this parsha is not simply comic relief; she serves a different purpose altogether. In this instance, the text cleverly plays with the themes of speech and sight and shows the value of God's commandments and His clear dominion over all living creatures.

Both Balaam and the donkey act as conduits for G-d's message in the parsha. As a prophet, Balaam can only tell Balak what the Lord has commanded him. Despite Balaam's many attempts to seek a curse from the Lord on Balak's behalf, G-d instead places blessings for Israel in his mouth. Balaam therefore turns away from his intentions and is filled with the spirit of the Lord, poetically praising the encampment of Israel with the words of Mah-Tovu: "How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! (Numbers 24:5)"

Likewise, G-d gives the she-ass the ability to speak in order to rebuke Balaam for his blind anger. The fact that even the simple ass was able to see the angel in its path contrasts the Balaam's inability to perceive his limitations. G-d opens Balaam's eyes to the existence of the angel, grants him prophecy, and instead of the expected curses, places the blessings for Israel in his mouth. The text thus reminds us that G-d has ultimate command over all living things -- in this case, from the most renowned prophet to a simple donkey -- and that by blindly following our desires, we are in danger of wrongly fulfilling G-d's commandments.

Prepared by David I. Bernay, Iyyun Fellow, Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Balak at MyJewishLearning.com.

Biblical Text 1: "Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. When Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in hand, he followed the Israelite into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites were checked. Those who died of the plague numbered twenty-four thousand."

The Lord Spoke to Moses, saying, Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aaron the priest has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by displaying his zealousness for me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in my zealousness. Say, therefore, I grant him my covenant of Shalom. It shall be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he took zealous action for his God, thus making expatiation for the Israelites.

Observations On Biblical Text 1: The Torah's description of Pinchas' action, of Moses's inaction, and of God's reaction raises some disturbing questions. Among them:

1. Does the Torah condone zealousness? Is even murder permitted when performed in the service of one's personal sense of God's will? Are there no limits to what the Torah believes can be done in the name of God?

2. Does Moses' silence and God's 'Covenant of Shalom' with Pinchas imply that zealousness and murder have no consequences? Is Pinchas the model for Jews through the ages to emulate?
These questions stem not only from the sensibilities of the late 20th century liberal. In truth, the story of Pinchas has evoked ambivalent feelings among Jewish sages throughout the ages, as the following texts attest:

Rabbinic Text 1: Talmud Yerushalmi, Tractate Sanhedrin 9:7

The Elders of Israel sought to excommunicate Pinchas until the Holy Spirit hurried and said: "It shall be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he took zealous action for his God, thus making expatiation for the Israelites. '

[Rabbi Baruch Epstein, author of the Torah Temimah explains: "Such a deed must be animated by a genuine, unadulterated spirit of zeal to advance the glory of God. In the case, who can tell whether the perpetrator is not really motivated by some selfish motive, maintaining that he is doing it for the sake of God, when he has actually committed murder? That was why the Elders wished to excommunicate Pinchas, had not the Holy Spirit testified that his zeal for God was genuine."]

Observation On Text 1: The Rabbis of the Talmud Yerushalmi (as explained by Rabbi Epstein) understand Pinchas' act as singular, and acceptable only with the testimony of God. No matter what the provocation, zealousness such as Pinchas' requires immediate excommunication; an individual prone to such action cannot be abided in the community. God's intervention on his behalf is understood as both promoting Pinchas as a uniquely righteous individual (can there be another who meets the commentary's standard for selflessness?) and as denying permission for others to follow in his footsteps in an era when God no longer speaks.

Rabbinic Text 2: Midrash Shemos Rabbah 33:5

Pinchas expounded, "A horse who goes to war risks his life for his master. How much more so should I risk my life for the sanctification of the name of the Holy One Blessed Be He!" He began to ponder: "What shall I do? Alone I cannot prevail. Two can overpower one; can one overpower two?" While he was pondering, the epidemic raged among the Israelites.

Observation On Text 2: Like the first text, the Midrash Shemos Rabbah also assumes Pinchas' righteousness. To do so, it denies zeal for God as an motive for his actions and sees only that he needed to act in order to end God's plague. Only God may act zealously on his own behalf. Pinchas' action was to save Israelite lives by appeasing God's wrath, and in that regard he is criticized for acting too slowly.

Rabbinic Text 3: Talmud Bavli, Tractate Zevachim 101b:

Pinchas did not become a priest until he had made peace among the Tribes [i.e. between the Tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menasheh, and the rest of Israel.

Observation On Text 3: The Talmud Bavli is less certain of Pinchas then are texts 1 and 2. Were his actions warranted? Perhaps. But their results are those of "Ei-Shalom" (lack of Shalom) and their reward claimable only after Pinchas has compensated for the loss of Shalom which they wrought.

The theme set by the Bavli, that there is a price to be paid for acts of zealousness and that Shalom is the higher goal, is reflected by medieval and modern sources. As the following texts indicate, inner harmony and communal peace are perceived as both the ultimate objective and the highest blessing:

Rabbinic Text 4: Commentary Of The Netziv (Naphtali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin):

In reward for turning away the wrath of the Holy One Blessed Be He, God blessed Pinchas with the attribute of Shalom, that he should not be quick tempered or angry. Since, as it was only natural that such a deed as Pinchas should leave in his heart an intense emotional unrest afterward, the Divine blessing was designed to cope with this situation and promised inner peace and tranquillity.

Observation On Text 4: The Netziv focuses on the self destructive nature of zealous voilence. It as if the Netziv is warning that such acts can only lead one away from the path of Godliness, i.e. the path of Shalom. Perhaps informed by the Midrash Shemos Rabbah, the Netziv assumes that Pinchas may be justified only through an understanding that he acted to protect the Israelites (from Gods wrath). An act of zealous violence on behalf of God would not be justifiable.

Rabbinic Text 5: Rav By Nathan (as quoted in "Iturei Torah"):

After the great zealousness which he acted upon for God, God gives him as a gift the Covenant of Shalom. It is as if the Torah is hinting that the path of Shalom is always preferable to, and more successful than, the path of zealousness and war.

Observation On Text 5: Amen.

[Note: All of the texts referred to above are available in English translation and accessible to the casual student. Two compendiums which are especially helpful in finding primary sources for a Torah Study such as this are Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg and The Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities by Yishai Chasidah.]

Prepared by Rabbi Howard Alpert, Hillel of Greater Philadelphia

There are often times in our lives where fear gets confused with mistrust and doubt. In order to succeed we know it is only possible if we have faith that others will do their part as well. Too often, we project self-doubt on to others and make them the problem. We do not realize the problem is our own.

To me, this is the simplest way to understand what happens in this week's parsha. God tells Moses to send out the spies to survey the land. Moses assumes that the leaders of each tribe should be chosen as the representatives and Moses gives a detailed description of how the spies should proceed. It is clear from the parsha that Moses truly asks for a survey of the land and its inhabitants. He does not ask them for an assessment of whether they are capable of conquering the land. That fact is not in question-God has already made His promise. The only question remaining is how this is going to happen.

The spies return and do give a detailed description of what awaits them in Canaan and they volunteer an unwelcome opinion that conquering the land seems impossible. They even "slander" the land that the Lord has given them.

The Midrash tells us that Moses was aware that things may turn out this way, and they learn it from a strange verse in the text. After the Torah lists the names of the spies and their home tribe, a verse is added which states, "And Moses called Hosea Bin Nun, Joshua."

The Midrash says that Moses changes Hosea's name to Joshua, which means, "he will bring salvation" because he sees that there is a big mistake in the offing and he anoints Joshua as the one who will provide the leadership to extricate the people from the inevitable mess.

According to this understanding, Moses suspects that the people are not ready. He may even suspect, or fear, that he is not ready to lead them in the next stage of their liberation. Neither Moses nor the people have enough faith in each other. Neither assumes that the other can hold up his end. Of course, neither of them understands that their lack of faith in the other implies a lack of faith in God. God has determined that it is necessary to survey the land. God has decided that the land will be conquered by natural means. God is the one who requires cooperation among the people in order for this to happen.

Moses and the people seem to fail the test, only to have a new leader emerge-Joshua, the one Moses, himself has chosen. For maybe Moses sees that Joshua and not Moses is more suited to the next task.

The Torah teaches that after the land is slandered, God ordains that this people will not enter the land, but a new generation must emerge. In explaining the reason for an enigmatic holiday, called the fifteenth of Av, a holiday where young maidens would dance in the vineyards in order for young men to woo them for marriage. There is a midrash which sees a connection between the 9th day of Av when tradition says God denied the children of Israel permission to enter the land and the fifteenth of Av. It states:

R. Levi said: On every eve of the ninth of Ab Moses used to announce throughout the camp, 'Go out to dig graves'; and they used to go out and dig graves in which they slept. On the morrow he sent out a herald to announce, 'Arise and separate the dead from the living.' They would then stand up and find themselves around 15,000 short of 600,000. In the fortieth years, they acted similarly and found that nobody died. They said, 'It appears that we have miscalculated and that this is not the 9th day of Av; so they acted similarly on the nights of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. When the moon was full on the fifteenth day, they said, 'It seems that the Holy One, blessed be He, has annulled that decree from us all'; so they proceeded to make [the fifteenth] a holiday..." (Eicha Rabba)

The Midrash says, if you cannot have faith in each other to determine your destiny, I, the Lord, will let you determine your destiny alone with Me. Each year you will dig your graves and I will decide whether to complete what you have begun. To trust in the Holy One is to also have faith in the ability of others to carry out the Holy One's designs, for without partners, we will fall into the abyss of doubting others, doubting ourselves and doubting the Holy One as well. Working together means entrusting each other with the ability to make projects succeed or fail. Such a trust is fragile, especially when it has been abused in the past, but without the ability to trust we will always remain in the desert.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel

Numbers 19:1-25:9

Numbers 22 of Parshat Hukkat begins and ends with the deaths of Miriam and Aaron.

Verse 1: The entire community of the children of Israel, came into the wilderness of Tzin in the first month, where the people settled down in Kadesh and Miriam died and was buried.

Verse 28: Moses divested Aaron of his (priestly) garments and invested his son Eleazar with them. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain and Moses and Eleazar descended from the mountain.

Following the death of Aaron in verse 29, the Torah tells us that "the entire community saw that Aaron was dead and the entire house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days." Interestingly, there is no mention of any mourning following the death of Miriam. In fact, what follows immediately upon her death is the typical grumbling of the Israelites. The water which had been provided over 40 years to the Israelites was due to Miriam. When she died, the water immediately dried up and the people's thirst led them once again to rebel against Moses.

Your Numbers Navigator

1: What was it about Miriam that ensured the miracle of water in the wilderness for the people?
2: When Aaron died, he was succeeded by Eleazar, and the people mourned for 30 days. When Moses died, he was succeeded by Joshua, and again, the people mourned for 30 days. Why do you think that no one succeeded Miriam?
3: Why do you think the people complained, instead of mourned after the death of Miriam?
4: Who fulfilled Miriam's responsibilities after her death?

Our tradition teaches that only the men of that generation died in the wilderness before entering the Land of Israel, while the women merited entering the Land.

Your Midrash Navigator

Numbers Rabbah 21:10
"In that generation the women built up the fences which the men broke down."

The passage from Numbers Rabbah is too long to quote, but shows that the women did not participate in the building of the Golden Calf or accepted the Council of the Spies not to enter Eretz Yisrael. The following is the conclusion of the passage.

"Against this congregation the decree (not to enter the Land) was issued, because they had said: 'We are not able to go up.' The women, however, were not with them in their counsel."

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch commented on this by saying:

"As a result, the women, as grandmothers and mothers, were able to go with the new generation when it entered the Promised Land for its new future, and to bring with them into that new future their personal recollections of their past in Egypt and of the momentous events they had witnessed in the wilderness under the protection and guidance of God. Thus they were given the opportunity to inspire their grandchildren and great- grandchildren with the spirit of the God-revealing experience they themselves had witnessed. The fact that these Jewish women were so deeply and thoroughly imbued with the Jewish spirit may be ascribed in no small part to Miriam, who set them a shining example as a prophetess."

A Word

While some might point to the lack of mourning following the death of Miriam to be yet another example of chauvinism in the Torah, it is perhaps more a reflection of the simple fact that we mourn what we have lost. We mourned the loss of Moses because no matter how great a leader Joshua was, he would never be another Moses. We mourned the loss of Aaron because no matter how great a leader Eleazar was, he would never be another Aaron. The greatness of Miriam was that she was the embodiment of the honor and glory of the women of Israel. Moses, Aaron and Miriam were not misled by falsehoods and lies or controlled by a desire for instant gratification. Rather, they held fast to the way of life that makes us who we are. Our ancestors knew that they had not lost Miriam, but that her essence is contained within every Jewish woman.

Prepared by Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, Atlanta YAD: The Jewish Young Adult Agency, Emory University.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Chukkat at MyJewishLearning.com.

Leviticus 4:21-7:89

In this section of the Torah portion is the description of the nazirite, who has pledged certain abstinences for himself in order to discover holiness.

Leviticus 6:1-8
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If anyone, man or woman, explicitly utters a nazirite's vow, to set himself apart for the Lord, he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant: he shall not drink vinegar of wine or of any grapes fresh or dried. Throughout his term as a nazirite, he may not eat anything that is obtained from the grapevine, even seeds or skin. Throughout the term of his vow as a nazirite, no razor shall touch his hair...Throughout the term...he shall not go in where there is a dead person, even if his father or mother or his brother or sister should die, he must not defile himself for them..."

Your Leviticus Navigator
1. Have you ever experienced overindulgence in a food, a drink, or other excessive behavior? How did it make you feel?
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the nazirite practice of abstaining from "worldly pleasures" such as wine?
3. How might the nazirite behavior be a positive influence on a person?
4. What might be the negative effects on a person who practices this separation from the rest of society? From their family? Are there any?

Rabbis have disagreed about the role of the nazirite in Jewish tradition. Many rabbis have praised this ascetic behavior as a way of teaching young people to distance themselves from excessive passions. Yet, others criticize this behavior saying it goes against the Torah! Moses Maimonides, in the Mishneh Torah opposes the idea of self-denial, saying that it is "an evil path." He writes:

Mishneh Torah
Deot 3:1
"The Torah advocates no mortification of the body. Its intention was that a person should follow nature, taking the middle road. One should eat in moderation and live uprightly and faithfully within the society of others, not in the deserts and mountains. One should not afflict the body by wearing wool and hair. Because the Torah forbids such abstention from the joys of life, it warns us with the example of the nazirite."

Your Mishneh Torah Navigator
1. Why does Maimonides criticize the behavior of the nazirite?
2. How might denying the body bring us closer to holiness? (We observe a day of this at which holy day each year?)
3. How does Judaism view asceticism?
4. How would you respond to a view that asceticism is "a way for young people to distance themselves from worldly pleasures and passions." David Kimchi

A Word
Each of us is born with drives and desires. Our goal is to reach our potential in life without being sidetracked or overrun by our passions and pleasures along the way. Some people would suggest that the only way not to become overwhelmed by temptation is to deny ourselves of it completely -- especially as young adults, when the temptation is so great. And others would argue that life is also about experiencing these joys, that life without food and drink and pleasure is a life not lived.

It is our goal as human beings and as Jews to live life well and live it responsibly. For most of us it means tasting and sampling along the way, but always in moderation.

L'chayim. To life.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Lerner, Midwest Director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning and Campus Rabbi, Hillel at the University of Wisconsin.

Any dispute which is for the sake of Heaven will last, and that which is not for the sake of Heaven will not last.
What is [an example of] a dispute for the sake of Heaven? The dispute between Hillel and Shammai.
What is [an example of] one that is not for the sake of Heaven? This is the dispute of Korach and his group.
-Pirkei Avot 5:17

Korach, the villain of this week's Parsha, challenged Moshe's leadership and is immortalized by the above-quoted Mishna as the archetypal slick politician, using a political agenda not because he is moved by conviction, but for self-advancement and aggrandizement. He is contrasted with Hillel, from whom our organization draws its name. Contrasting Korach and Hillel can instruct us how to engage fellow Jews who do not necessarily share our own views.

Reading the Torah's narrative (Numbers 16), however, leaves one wondering exactly what Korach's platform was, and what exactly was wrong with it. Numerous commentaries and homilists rush to fill in the missing details of the story, to describe Korach's flaws and faults, and to delineate exactly where he fatally differed from Moshe.

When reviewing some explanations of this dispute, a pattern began to emerge: Commentators use this debate to support their own worldviews. Traditional and non-traditional speakers adopt Moshe or Korach as their hero or villain, as the case may be. I have been surprised, but not shocked, to hear the respective ideologies of Korach and Moshe almost completely reversed depending on who gave the D'var Torah!

The Mishnah's critique of Korach, however, has nothing to do with his particular platform, as much as with his character and sense of conviction. In other words, it's not what he said but why he said it. One gets the sense from the Mishnah that Korach's flaw was in his exploitation of what may have been a sincere critique for his own purposes.

Given the difficulty and danger of trying to gauge whether one's opponent is acting "for the sake of Heaven," it would seem very presumptuous to identify any person, group, or ideology with "Korach's band." There's much to be gained from studying the parsha, but without trying to determine who on the contemporary Jewish scene gets to play the part of Korach.

Fortunately, the Mishnah provided us with an alternative paradigm for dispute - Hillel and Shammai - to teach us that it is possible to engage in disputes, arguments, and battles of conviction while affirming the sincerity of one's opponent.

Prepared by Rabbi Elli Fischer, Jewish Learning Initiative Educator, University of Maryland, College Park

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Korach at MyJewishLearning.com.

Your Torah Navigator

The following verses describe the ritual of Sotah, the emple ritual that would ascertain whether a wife had committed an act of infidelity. The usual norms for determining guilt do not apply presumably because the need to alleviate jealousy between husband and wife require extraordinary measures. The verses describe a stark ritual which Maimonides sees as a means for deterring a jealous husband from bringing charges and also as a deterrent for infidelity in general. (Guide to the Perplexed Section III:49).

The Mishnah, written nearly a thousand years before Maimonides says that Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai stopped employing this ritual because adultery had become commonplace in Israel, and the ritual no longer worked either as a deterrent, or as a means for getting at the truth. (Mishnah Sotah 9:9).

In other words, according to the Mishnah, the Sotah ritual was abolished while the Temple was still standing. Look at the following verses, and use these questions to guide you:

1. List the stages of the ritual.
2. Why do you think the verses must be erased in water?
3. Is it significant that God's Name is erased in the document? Why?
4. The symbols of water and dirt and words make this ritual unique? Why are these things appropriate?
5. What is the man's iniquity?
6. Once the ritual has been abolished, can any moral instruction be gleaned from its description?

Bamidbar Chapter 5

11 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying:

12 Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Any-man, any-man whose wife goes-astray, breaking-faith, yes, faith with him,

13 in that a man lay with her, (with) an emission of seed,
and it was hidden from the eyes of her husband, she concealed herself, since she had made-herself-tamei? and since there was no witness against her, she was not apprehended?

14 and the rush of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous toward his wife, she having made-herself-tamei; or the rush of jealousy comes over him

15 and he is jealous toward his wife, though she did not make-herself-tamei?
the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is to bring a near-offering for her: a tenth of an efa of barley meal; there is not to be poured on it any oil, there is not to be put on it any frankincense, for it is a grain-gift of jealousy, grain-gift of reminding that reminds of iniquity.

16 The priest is to bring-her-near and have-her-stand before the presence of YHWH;

17 then the priest is to take holy water in an earthenware vessel, and from the dirt that will be on the floor of the Dwelling the priest is to take (some) and place (it) in the water.

18 When the priest has had the woman stand before the presence of YHWH, he is to loosen (the hair of) the woman's head and is to place on her palms the grain-gift of reminding he is to loosen (the hair of) the woman's head and is to place on her palms the grain-gift of reminding "it is a grain-gift of jealousy!" and in the hand of the priest is to be the Water of Bitterness Bringing the Bane.

19 The priest is to have her swear, saying to the woman: If a man did not lie with you, and if you did not stray to make-yourself-tamei under your husband('s authority), be-clear from this Water of Bitterness Bringing the Bane!

20 But you, if you strayed under your husband('s authority), if you made-yourself-tamei, and a man gave you his emission, other than your husband:

21 the priest is to have the woman swear the oath curse, and the priest is to say to the woman:
may YHWH make you a curse and a cause-for-oath in the midst of your kinspeople, when YHWH makes your thigh fall and your belly flood;

22 may this Water of Bitterness enter your innards, when YHWH makes your thigh fall and your belly flood;
And the woman is to say: Amen! Amen!

23 Then the priest is to write these curses in a document and is to blot (them) into the Water of Bitterness,

24 he is to make the woman drink the Water of Bitterness Bringing the Bane, so that the Water Bringing the Bane may enter her, for "bitterness."

25 Then the priest is to take from the hand of the woman the grain-gift of jealousy, he is to elevate the grain-gift before the presence of YHWH, and is to bring-it-near, to the slaughter-site.

26 The priest is to scoop out of the grain-gift its reminder-portion, and is to turn it into smoke upon the slaughter-site; after that he is to make the woman drink the water.

27 When he has had her drink the water, it shall be: if she made-herself-tamei and broke-faith, yes, faith with her husband, the Water Bringing the Bane shall enter her, for 'bitterness,' her belly shall flood and her thigh shall fall, and the woman shall become an object-of-curse among her kinsfolk.

28 But if the woman did not make-herself-tamei and she is pure, she is to be cleared and she may-bear-seed, yes, seed.

29 This is the Instruction for cases-of-jealousy, when a woman strays under her husband('s authority) and makes-herself-tamei,

30 or when there comes over a man a rush of jealousy, so that he is jealous toward his wife:
he is to have the woman stand before the presence of YHWH, and the priest is to perform regarding her (according to) all this Instruction.

31 The man shall be clear of iniquity, but that woman shall bear her iniquity.

The following midrash, which recounts an event that occurred years after the Sota ritual had been abandoned, describes an event where a wife returns home later than expected from Rabbi Meir's Torah lesson. Her husband is enraged...

Bamidbar Rabba Parshat Naso

R. Zechariah, the son-in-law of R. Levi, related the following incident: R. Meir used to hold regular classes in the Synagogue every Sabbath eve. A certain woman was present who regularly came to listen to him. On one occasion he went later than expected. When she arrived home she found the lights out. Her husband asked her: "Where have you been?" She told him: "I have been listening to a class." He replied : "You may not enter this house until you go and spits in the face of the teacher."

Through the Holy Spirit Rabb Meir witnessed this. He then pretended to be suffering from pain in the eyes, and announced: "If there is any woman skilled in whispering charms for the eyes, let her come and whisper." Her neighbours related this to her and said: "This is a hance woman skilled in whispering charms for the eyes, let her come and whisper." Her neighbours related this to her and said: "This is a hance for you to return home. Pretend you are a charmer and spit into his eyes [which was part of the charm]." When she came to him he said to her: "Are you skilled in whispering charms for the eyes?"

Daunted by his presence she answered in the negative. He said to her: "Nevermind, spit into this one seven times and it will get better." After she had spat he said to her: "Go and tell your husband: 'You bade me do it only once; see, I have spat seven times!"

His disciples said to him: "Master! are the words of the Torah to be treated with such contempt as this? Had you told us, would we not have sent and fetched the man and given him a flogging on the bench and forced him to become reconciled with his wife?" Said he to them: "The dignity of Meir ought not to be greater than that of his Divine Master." If in the case of [the Sotah ritual where] the Holy Name which is so sacred,the Torah orders that it is to be blotted out in water, in order to bring about peace between a man and his wife, what does the dignity of Meir matter?

Your Midrash Navigator

1. According to Rebbe Meir, what is the purpose of the Sotah ritual?
2. Does Rebbe Meir feel responsible for creating the problem between the man and his wife, or is he just making peace?
3 .Would you have rather seen the students' solution implemented?
4. How does Rebbe Meir view the fact that the Name YHWH is blotted out in water?

A Word

The story of Rebbe Meir and his intervention raise many issues. It, in many ways, is a troubling story, just like the Sotah ritual is troubling. What stikes me as most powerful is not how Rebbe Meir "solves" the problem, but the fact that he accepts responsibility for what happened. He spoke longer than he was expected to, and he witnessed how that innocent discrepancy created discord at home. By the time, she got home the lights had gone out in the house. It was very late.

Instead of castigating the husband for being calloused and unreasonable as he certainly was, Meir only focuses on how he can restore the relationship to what it was before this happened. He knows he can't fix the dynamics between this man and his wife, he can only accept responsibility for making them worse. For this, he is willing to humiliate himself and the dignity of the Torah for a fragile piece of peace.

Prepared by Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Hillel Director, Texas A & M University

Our students spend about four years of their lives at the university. This time is spent in a variety of ways including studying and socializing, but most importantly, exploring who they are and who they want to become. For many, these years are filled with fear, doubt and much self-reflection. It is during this time that we, as Hillel professionals, get to interact with and learn with them. This week's Torah portion of Shelach can help us understand what our students are going through and the fear they may feel.

In Shelach, Moses instructs 12 spies, one from each of Israel's tribes, to investigate the land that they have been promised. These 12 spies travel throughout the land of Israel for 40 days and return with very negative feedback: "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them" (Numbers 13:33). The report is filled with fear and a complete lack of faith in God and themselves. The people of Israel respond to this report with amplified fear. God punishes the spies, excluding Joshua and Caleb, with plague and ultimately punishes the Jewish people to 40 years of wandering in the desert. Only with Moses' persuasion are the lives of our ancestors spared by God, and instead they will never be allowed to walk in the land of milk and honey.

Our students are being asked to enter into a land that they know nothing about- "the real world." This ominous idea generates excitement as well as fear. There is so much unknown. The Jewish people faced a similar scenario. They were asked to have blind faith in God that their future was possible. When the spies came back they generated doubt and fear within the people, so the automatic response was to want what was familiar and comfortable - Egypt. "Why is the Lord taking us to that land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be carried off! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt" (Numbers 14:3). As horrible as life was in Egypt it was something they understood, something that they knew they could handle. It is human nature to fear the unknown, even if what is known is torturous. While we, along with our students, face fears in our lives, it is important that we have the strength to have faith in ourselves, as lofty as our goals may be.

Instead of returning to Egypt or entering Canaan, the Jewish people were sentenced to 40 years of wandering as punishment for their doubt in God. The desert signifies a safe intermediary space for the Jews after they have left Egypt and are waiting eagerly to be welcomed into the land of Israel. Our students are in a similar and unique environment as they participate in a traditional college experience. They have left their childhood homes behind but most are not completely independent or self sufficient as they partake in college life. For the next four years, they must wander and explore their own identities in the supportive and dynamic university environment.

Shelach Lecha literally means, "send for yourself." God has given the land of Canaan to the Israelites and God knows that it is a good land but the people must go and see it for themselves. Our students need to use this time to listen and learn about themselves to understand their true strengths, values and identities. We, as Hillel professionals, are fortunate enough to be able to assist them as they take part in their very important personal journeys. We must be aware of the fears and inadequacies that they may feel and be able to support and challenge them to better understand themselves. As a result, when they are ready to enter their Promised Land, they will positively influence the communities they live and work within.

Submitted by Rachel Pinsker, Campus Director at the University of Denver and Shoshana Zeldner, Senior JCSC Fellow at the University of Denver

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To read additional commentaries and essays on Parshat Shelach go to www.MyJewishLearning.com

Here's the truth: As a member of the millennial generation, I often try to wear too many hats at once. In high school and college anything less than an "A" was not an option for me, and along with juggling my many and varied activities I often stretched myself too thin and close to the breaking point. However, the hardest lesson to learn was that the more I reached out to others, the better leader and person I became.

These same key qualities of a leader can be learned from the actions and leadership of Moses. In Parashat Be'ha'alotcha, Moses becomes increasingly challenged to meet the needs of his constituents. The Jewish people began to question God because their only food supply was manna and they were frustrated with not having meat. Moses feels weight of his responsibility when he says to God: "Whence should I have flesh to give onto all this people for they trouble me their weeping saying: Give us flesh, that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people myself alone, because it is too heavy for me." (Num. 11:13-14) Moses has seemingly reached his brink and God said to him "Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom though knowest to be elders of the people, and officers over them; bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand with thee." (Num. 11: 16) With the help of the elders, Moses will feel confident and strengthened in his ability to be an effective and strong leader. Here God has offered Moses the opportunity to delegate his decision-making and add a layer of support to take away from the huge burden of responsibility that he was feeling. As leaders, we are often in situations where we must learn to not only be strong in our abilities and powerful among the people, but humble enough to recognize that we cannot do everything ourselves and that we are no better than the people we lead.

One night a student called me at her breaking point. As the leader of her group, she expressed to me that her work was underappreciated and the lack of respect she received from her peers bothered her. She was burnt out and frustrated. As we started talking, I realized one of the main problems was that she naturally tried to control everything as opposed to putting faith in work that she delegates to others. She said, "Well, if I don't take care of it, I don't know if it will get done." I had her think about that statement and how she was taking on too much! She was not just the president anymore; she was trying to do the work of other positions on top of her own! Not only was she exhausted, she felt that no one expressed any appreciation of the work that she was doing. We realized that no matter how strong a leader she is on her own, the work will never feel successful if she is the only one doing it and she cannot trust her peers to step up to their responsibility and aid her in her overarching goals. Contemporary Rabbi Yissocher Frand says: "There are no dual offices in the leadership role of a Jewish leader. If Moshe was the rabban shel Yisrael, the teacher of all the Jewish people, then he could not at the same time be the specific leader of a particular group within the Jewish people. He wore one hat. He was the leader of all the people" (Rabbi Yissocher Frand on the Parshah, 210). This student was forced to battle against the responsibility of her leadership role and also in her ability to acknowledge that that she was not required to do the work of others. She had to learn and trust in empowering her peers.

Here is where the dichotomy lies. Moses has to be a strong and powerful leader of the Jewish people, but also must possess the humility to connect with his constituents and to realize his own limitations. This is the lesson that I take from my student and also from Moses. As much as I feel like the best work will only result from my own efforts, it is important to reach out and find a system that incorporates the greater community and the energy and enthusiasm not just from one person, but from many. If you are the only one who does anything for a particular program, event, or proposal, the success will be half as great as if held the strength, wisdom and excitement of a team. From collaboration, everyone will have their own part of the puzzle, but will inevitably feel the greater success of working together and capitalizing on each other's strengths. We must be humble enough as leaders that we continue to learn from others even in what might be the highest position of power. I must be a sufficiently strong leader to know that it is necessary to ask for help and support in order to fully achieve my goals and success as leader and professional.

Written by Deborah Jacoby, Steinhardt JCSC Fellow, Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh

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To read additional commentaries and essays about Parshat B'ha'alotcha go to www.myjewishlearning.com

Throughout the Torah, one sees God threatening to destroy all of Israel for one calamitous sin or another, and Moshe comes to advocate on their behalf. Here, even though Moshe does not have the capacity to wreak havoc upon the nation, he exhibits anger where God offers forbearance.

Moshe's sister Miriam has died and the community is left without water.

The Children of Israel cry bitterly:

"Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place...? (Numbers 20:5)

And God answers them:

"You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. (Ibid:8)

Moshe rebukes the crowd and hits the rock instead of "ordering it to yield water."

God lashes out against Moshe and Aaron, "Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead the congregation into the land I have given them." (Ibid:12)

Your Torah Navigator
1. Why this turn around, why is God the defender and Moshe the adversary?
2. What is the connection between Miriam's death and no water?

Talmud, Shabbat 35a
If one wishes to see Miriam's well, s/he should go up Mount Carmel and look toward the sea where one will witness something that looks like a sieve amid the sea and that is Miriam's well.

Rashi on this page

Miriam's well: This is the well that would follow Israel through the desert by virtue of Miriam's merit, as it is written, "And Miriam died there." The very next verse says, "And there was no water for the community."

A Word
The midrash points out that the community of Israel was right to be worried. Their fear demonstrated their vulnerability once Miriam had died. They knew they had no merit, they were not worthy and so they were afraid. God heard their fear and responded in kind.

Moshe, however took it personally and responded as if it were rebellion. He heard their words, but he lost the resonance behind them. God instructed Moshe to listen differently and respond in kind. Moshe misses the point.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, director, Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Chukkat at MyJewishLearning.com.

Your Torah Navigator

An unhappy and ungrateful Israel is described in the following verses. Miriam has died and with it her well, the well that watered Israel, has gone with her. Israel is panicked with thirst and once again complains to Moses. God calmly instructs Moshe to speak to a rock, and Moshe instead, hits the rock twice while chastising Israel. God cuts Moshe no slack and gives him and Aaron the most severe of punishments. They will not be allowed to see the fulfillment of their life's work. They will leave this world without crossing the Jordan.

1. Note that God is behaving patiently while Moshe is the one who is impatient. Why is God understanding in this case, while in previous parshas he has been less understanding, and a harsher judge?
2. It is clear that Moshe is angry. Why is Aaron punished along with him?
3. What is God's literal complaint against Moses?
4. Is there a difference between doing what God says and sanctifying Him??

Numbers 20:1-13

1 Now they came, the Children of Israel, the entire community, (to the) Wilderness of Tzyn, in the first New-Moon. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miryam died there, and she was buried there.

2 Now there was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moshe and against Aharon;

3 the people quarreled with Moshe, they said, saying: Now would that we had expired when our brothers expired before the presence of YHWH!

4 Now why did you bring the assembly of YHWH into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle?

5 Now why did you make us go up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place, not a place of seeds and figs, vines and pomegranates and water (there is) none to drink!

6 Moshe and Aharon came away from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Appointment, and flung themselves upon their faces. The Glory of YHWH was seen by them,

7 and YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying:

8 Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aharon your brother; you are to speak to the boulder before their eyes so that it gives forth its water, thus you are to bring out for them water from the boulder, that you may give-drink to the assembly and to their cattle.

9 So Moshe took the staff from before the presence of YHWH, as he had commanded him.

10 And Moshe and Aharon assembled the assembly facing the boulder. He said to them: Now hear, (you) rebels, from this boulder must we bring you out water?

11 And Moshe raised his hand and struck the boulder with his staff, twice, so that abundant water came out; and the community and their cattle drank.

12 Now YHWH said to Moshe and to Aharon: Because you did not have-trust in me to treat-me-as-holy before the eyes of the Children of Israel, therefore: you (two) shall not bring this assembly into the land that I am giving them!

13 Those were the Waters of Meriva/Quarreling, where the Children of Israel quarreled with YHWH, and he was hallowed through them.

Rashi's Commentary on Verse 12

TO TREAT ME AS HOLY: Because if you had spoken to the rock as I had asked, I would have been sanctified before the whole community. They would have said, "Look at this rock which doesn't speak, doesn't hear, and requires no income. Look at how it fulfills the word of God, shouldn't we be even more responsive [to His word]?

Your Rashi Navigator

1. How did Moshe err?
2. Did you see it the way Rashi did?
3. How did he understand it differently?
4. How did Moshe fail according to Rashi?

Korach the Levite, first cousin to Moses and Aaron, gathers up a group of malcontents and issues a challenge to Moses. If, as they have been told, the whole nation is a holy people and God dwells among them, how is it that Moses and Aaron have helped themselves to the privilege of leadership? Moses instructs Korach to appear at the tent of meeting the next day with his followers, at which time God would choose who is to lead. The entire congregation appears to witness the contest, at which time the earth opens up and swallows Korach. His followers are consumed by fire sent forth by God.

Torah Navigator

The Israelites in the desert showed their lack of faith in God and Moses many times. Why is Korach punished so severely?

A midrash in Tanhuma gives a reason why Korach may have felt himself justified in his challenge to Moses. It points out that, since the priesthood and political leadership had already gone to Moses and Aaron, the sons of Amram, Kohath's eldest son, then the leadership of the clan should go to Korach, the son of Itzhar, Kohath's next eldest son. Instead, it had been given to Elizaphan, who was the son of Uzziel, the youngest son of Kohath.

Midrash Navigator

Is there any justification in Korach's action?
How else might he have gained what he thought he deserved?

A Word

Whether Korach was motivated by honest conviction, consuming ambition or just plain stubbornness, he was at fault. Moses gave him a chance to back down and return to his previous position as a prominent member of the tribe of Levi. Nonetheless, he was willing to risk not only his own life, but also those of his followers, who may not have known better.

Rabbi Gunther Plaut points out a grammatical inconsistency in 16:5; that the words, "boker vayoda", "In the morning, God will make known" could also be read, "Bikair vayeida", "God will have investigated and known", indicating that God's decision would be based on Korach's choice, in Plaut's words, "And until man makes his choice, God may be limited in His".

God may try to give us every chance to redeem ourselves, but the choice is in our own hands.

Prepared by Rabbi Leslie P. Bergson, Jewish Chaplain and Hillel Director, The Claremont Colleges.

Moshe is given one last mitzvah before he dies: He is to wage war against
the Midianites, the people of his father in law.

"And God spoke to Moshe saying: Avenge the Israelite people on the
Midianites; then shall you be gathered to your kin." (Numbers 31:2)

When Moshe calls the people to war he declares this war as "...the
Lord's vengeance." (ibid:3)

Your Torah Navigator
1. Why does Moshe characterize the war differently than does God?
2. Whose war is it anyway?

The medieval commentator Hizkuni comments on this question. He says that
Moshe was reminding God that all the enmity of the Canaanites was God's
doing. The war may have been on Israel's behalf, but it was God's scenario.

Why was Midian the victim of vengeance and not Moav? Wasn't Balak, the
Moabite priest, the one who hired Bilam, the Midianite priest, to curse
Israel?

Rashi explains that Balak wished to curse Israel only because he was afraid
of Israel's might and reputation, but Midian got involved in a battle that
was not theirs. It was also Midian's defiance at the end of Parshat Balak
that causes Pinchas to act unilaterally. Moav may have been spared because
they were not acting as conquerors, but as those who wish to defend their
land. If, however, you are not buying this distinction, Rashi offers
another possibility: Moav was spared because of two women who will in the
future come to redeem Israel: Ruth the Moabite and Naomi the Ammonite. Ruth
is the maternal ancestor of King David and the messianic line of Israel.

A Word
There are many ways for a nation to have redeeming value. One may be by
virtue of its present which can be known, or by the mystery of the future,
of its yet-to-be-realized potential. Even among the bitterest foes, it may
be impossible to discern who is Midian and who is Moav, and which of those
may hold the key to our redemption.

Prepared by Rabbi Avi Weinstein, director, Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning.

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Matot at MyJewishLearning.com.

In the final chapters of the book of Numbers, Moses gives a speech to the Israelites explaining the importance of vows to the Israelite community. From Moses' speech we discover that human words have a genuine effect on the world and on the lives of other people.

We read in the opening verses of our Torah portion:

Numbers 30:2-3

Now Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Children of Israel, saying: This is the word that The Lord has commanded: (Any) man who vows a vow to the Lord or swears a sworn-oath, to bind himself by a binding-obligation: he is not to desecrate his word, according to all that goes out of his mouth, he is to do.

Your Numbers Navigator

1. What is meant by not "desecrating his word?"
2. According to this excerpt, is there punishment for such behavior?
3. What do these verses infer about the power of words?

A Word

From Moses' speech we may infer that the power of the spoken word is holy. We can stretch our understanding of the Torah portion to mean that not just promises are important to us, but words themselves. We must be careful of the words we speak, because they are powerful.

If words are so powerful, are they magic? If we pray, can we make something happen, something magical, with our words? No, we cannot. But we pray for something holy to happen. We creatures, who have the God-given ability to create, can create a holy moment with our words, facing the ordinary and creating the extraordinary. When we turn to God and to each other with our words of prayer and praise, we create a holy moment in time.

There is an appropriate custom associated for the final words of each book of Torah. At the end of each book, we recognize that the words of Torah are holy and help us to grow in strength. This Shabbat, as we finish the book of Numbers we say, "hazak hazak, v'nithazek," which means, "Be strong, be strong and let us strengthen one another." As we say these words this Shabbat, we will have said important words to one another. We will have said: "May the words of Torah strengthen us all. May we learn to speak in holy and kind ways to one another. May we learn to make the ordinary extraordinary. May we go from strength to strength."

May it be so.

Amen.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Lerner, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Midwest Director of Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning

The children of Israel are preparing for the big day. They are about to begin their conquest of the Holy Land. Here they are ready to begin that which they have been destined to do and the sons of the tribes of Re'uven and Gad decide that they can have a better life on the land that precedes their conquest of Israel. Moshe masterfully negotiates with them and then publicly announces his agreement with them to the whole of Israel. There is much to learn from the way Moshe handles this situation. Please read Numbers Chapter 32 carefully.

Tanach - Numbers Chapter 32

1 Now many livestock had the Sons of Re'uven and the Sons of Gad, an exceedingly mighty (amount); and they saw the land of Ya'zer in the land of Gil'ad: here, the place was a place (fit) for livestock.

2 So the Sons of Re'uven and the Sons of Gad came and said to Moshe, to El'azar the priest and to the leaders of the community, saying:

3 Atarot and Divon, Ya'zer and Nimra, Heshbon and El'aleh, Sevam, Nevo and Be'on,

4 the land that YHWH has struck before the community of Israel-- it is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.

5 And they said: If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a holding; do not make us cross the Jordan!

6 Moshe said to the Sons of Gad and to the Sons of Re'uven: Should your brothers go out to war, and you, you stay here?

7 Why would you constrain the will of the Children of Israel from crossing into the land that YHWH has given them?

8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them out of Kadesh Barne'a to see the land:

9 they went up as far as Wadi Eshkol and saw the land, then they constrained the will of the Children of Israel so they did not come into the land that YHWH had given them.

10 And the anger of YHWH flared up on that day, and he swore, saying:

11 If they should see, the men who went up from Egypt, --from the age of twenty and upward-- the soil about which I swore to Avraham, to Yitzhak and to Yaakov?! For they did not follow-fully after me,

12 excepting Calev son of Yefunne, the Kenizzite, and Yehoshua son of Nun, for they followed-fully after YHWH.

13 And the anger of YHWH flared up against Israel, and he had them wander in the wilderness, for forty years, until it came-to-an-end, that whole generation that was doing what was ill in the eyes of YHWH.

14 Now here, you have arisen in place of your fathers, a brood of sinning men, to add further to the flaming anger of YHWH against Israel.

15 If you turn away from him, he will add further to leave them in the wilderness, and you will bring-ruin-upon this whole people!

16 They came close to him and said: Sheep fences we will build, for our livestock here, and towns for our little-ones;

17 and as for us, we shall be drafted hastily before the Children of Israel, until we have brought them to their region. But our little-ones will stay in towns fortified against the inhabitants of the land.

18 We will not return to our houses until the Children of Israel have inherited each-man his inheritance.

19 For we will not take-inheritance with them across the Jordan and further (on), for our inheritance has become ours across the Jordan, toward sunrise.

20 Moshe said to them: If you do this thing, if you are drafted before YHWH for war,

21 and you cross the Jordan, every hand-picked man, before YHWH, until he has dispossessed his enemies from before him,

22 and the land is subdued before YHWH, afterward you may return,and (then) you will be clear (of obligation) before YHWH and before Israel; this land will be for you as a holding before YHWH.

23 But if you do not do thus: here: you will have sinned against YHWH, and know your sin--that (it) will overtake you!

24 Build yourselves towns for your little-ones and fences for your flocks, and what has gone out of your mouths, do!

25 Then said the Sons of Gad and the Sons of Re'uven to Moshe, saying: Your servants will do as my lord commands:

26 our little-ones, our wives, our livestock and all our animals will stay there in the towns of Gil'ad;

27 your servants will cross over, every drafted (member) of the armed-forces, before YHWH, in war, as my lord has spoken.

28 So Moshe commanded El'azar the priest concerning them and Yehoshua son of Nun and the heads of the Fathers of the tribes of the Children of Israel,

29 and Moshe said to them: If the Sons of Gad and the Sons of Re'uven cross over the Jordan with you, everyone drafted for war, before YHWH, and the land is subdued before you, you may give them the land of Gil'ad as an inheritance.

30 But if the drafted (warriors) do not cross over with you, they will receive-holdings with you in the land of Canaan.

31 The Sons of Gad and the Sons of Re'uven answered, saying: What YHWH has spoken to your servants, thus will we do:

32 we ourselves will cross over, as drafted men, before YHWH, into the land of Canaan, (remaining) with us (will be) our inherited holding, across the Jordan.

Your Torah Navigator

1. How does Moshe respond to their proposition at first?
2. What is Moshe' counter proposal?
3. After the two tribes agree to Moshe' proposal, how does Moshe rephrase that proposal to Joshua?
4. Is it different than Moshe original proposal?
5. Does Moshe ever give them the option of leaving the community? Why not?

This week's parsha begins with Moshe instructing the Israelites regarding the seriousness of oath-taking and oath-breaking. While the legal details concerning swearing offer much insight into the status of women in antiquity, the majority of the parsha concerns complex intertribal dynamics during b'nei Yisrael's (the children of Israel's) continued advancement toward the Promised Land and its war with the Midianites. The subject of oaths, with which the parsha begins, however, helps us understand the significance of the events which conclude the unit.

A Community United?

After a group of Midianite women seduce Israelite men and cause a plague that kills 24,000 people, Moshe musters a militia of 12,000 Israelites. Soldiers representing each tribe swiftly conquer the Midianites, killing their kings and every male, including Balaam. Spoils, including people, precious metals, cattle and land, accrue to the victors and must be divided among all the tribes.

The tribes of Gad and Reuben, possessing a large quantity of cattle, make a request of Moshe:

4) "The land that the Lord has conquered for the community of Israel is cattle country, and your servants have cattle.

5) "It would be a favor to us," they continued, "if this land were given to your servants as a holding; do not move us across the Jordan." (Chap. 32, Bamidbar)

Moshe rejects Gad and Reuben's selfish wish to remain behind while the other tribes fight for the Land of Israel. Gad and Reuben propose a compromise:

16) "We will build here sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children.

17) "And we will hasten as shock-troops in the van of the Israelites until we have established from them in their home, while our children stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.

18) "We will not return to our homes until every one of the Israelites is in possession of his portion.

19) "But we will not have a share with them in the territory beyond the Jordan, for we have received our share on the east side of the Jordan." (Chap. 32, Bamidbar)

Moshe agrees to this arrangement and assigns the desired territory to Gad and Reuben.

A Word

"Hillel says: Do not separate yourself from the community." (Pirkei Avot 2:4b)

"Anyone who does not join with the community in times of trouble will never see the community consoled." (Talmud Ta'anit 11a)

Gad and Reuben's petition is curious for two reasons. First, their apparently self-centered wish to remain behind seems to ignore the larger ramifications for the entire community of b'nei Yisrael. Secondly, the focus on material goods even at the expense of human life and welfare seems reckless and even provocative.

The compromise requires Gad and Reuben to commit to an oath, basically stating that they will provide military assistance to the other tribes in exchange for land east of the Jordan. The focus on the verbal oath or promise echoes the chapter at the beginning of the parsha that deals with the permanence of promises and the resulting accountability to God if they are transgressed. The context within the parsha thus serves to emphasize the importance of Gad and Reuben's promise to aid the community and protect their families.

Regarding the question of priorities, many rabbis and commentators have also noticed that Gad and Reuben value material wealth over human life. When offering their compromise to Moshe, they pledge to first "build sheepfolds for our flocks" and then "towns for our children." From Moshe's reversal of the order of these tasks prior to Gad and Reuben swearing the oath, we learn that we are obliged to value and protect human life over all else.

Hillel Connection

What does this mean for our own communities? This parsha teaches us how to prioritize our work on campus. The job of Hillel professionals is to help create and support an environment that allows students to have meaningful Jewish experiences. This means that we are obliged to do whatever it takes to sustain this community and help others before we help ourselves.

Furthermore, we are not to be like the Gad and Reuben and focus on material matters before everything else. We must not build sheepfolds for our flocks before the fortresses for our children. While personal and work issues may cloud our minds, it is important to safeguard our first priority- our community of Jewish students.

Prepared by David Bernay, Hillel campus advancement associate

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Matot at MyJewishLearning.com.

Numbers 30:2-36:13

Mattot and Massei are the last two portions of the book of Numbers, and in most years, are read together on the same Shabbat. Parshah Mattot begins by examining the solemnity of vows, particularly the vows of women, and goes on to describe a war with the Midianites, and the decision of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh to settle east of the Jordan. Massei, the final portion of the book of Numbers, begins with a retelling of the journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab at the banks of the Jordan. The parshah goes on to give instructions for dwelling in the land, describing the boundaries that it encompasses, the establishment of Levitical cities, and cities of refuge.

Torah Navigator

At this point in the narrative, the children of Israel are poised on the border of the promised land, ready to make it their own. Why does the Torah now choose to recapitulate the beginnings of their 40-year journey?

The version of the journey as presented here is interesting in terms of what is emphasized and what is minimized. Although the Sea of Reeds and the wilderness of Sinai are listed, no comment is made of the miraculous events that occurred there which changed the course of human history. Rather, the only commentary we get of the places visited reads like a travel diary: "And they journeyed from Marah and came unto Elim, and in Elim were 12 springs of water, and threescore palm trees; and they pitched there. And they journeyed from Alush and pitched in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink."

A midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah XXIII:3) explains this personal and everyday retelling: "It may be likened to a king who had taken his ailing son to a distant place to be cured. On the return journey, the king would lovingly recount to the lad all the experiences they went through at each of their halting places. 'At this spot we slept; at that, we had a cool resting place from the heat; at the other, you were overcome by pains in the head!' Israel is God's child, upon whom God bestows compassion even as a father bestows compassion on his son."

Midrash Navigator

What is the connection between the king and his son and God and Israel? Why, particularly, should Israel be compared to a child who is sick?

A Word

Judaism is both a towering historical monument and a very personal way of living. To comprehend it in its full enormity would be difficult and intimidating. Sometimes, the best way to understand it is by using our own personal, everyday experiences set against the backdrop of history. This version of the sojourn in the wilderness is like the family album, looking at the foundation of our beliefs from an everyday viewpoint.

Prepared by Rabbi Leslie Bergson, Jewish Chaplain and Hillel Director, The Claremont Colleges.

The '80s sitcom "Cheers" details the goings-on inside a Boston bar replete with a bizarre mix of characters not found in most local pubs. The entire philosophy of the show (if there is such a thing as a sitcom philosophy) is stated in the show's theme song, which says:

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.

A sense of place gives us grounding and a feeling of security. In turn, this gives us room to grow and become more fully aware of our potential and ideally realize it. A sense of space also allows us to explore our personal and collective history, discovering meaning and sustenance by learning that our past has meaning - in essence showing us how far we have come.

This week's parsha, Masei, the last one in the Book of Numbers, records the 42 camping sites our Israelite ancestors stayed at during the course of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The beginning of the parsha, for the most part, is just a list that duly details each place, sometimes with a more extensive note if something significant took place there. What is the Torah's purpose in taking up an important piece of textual real estate with seemingly inconsequential details?

Torah scholar Nehama Lebowitz points out that "the Torah itself prefaces the chapter with the portentous words 'Moses wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, by the commandment of the Lord.'" God wanted the Israelites to remember each stage of the journey to the Promised Land. The question remains, why?

Medieval commentator Rashi thinks the Israelites need to remember the good and the bad that had happened to them during the wilderness journeys so that they will have a degree of perspective when they reach their new home in Canaan. Knowing how they had successfully come through many trials and travails would give the Israelites a sense of accomplishment and security.

Immersing oneself in the immediacy of a particular event oftentimes does not give us the space to derive personal significance from it. We cannot put the episode, whether happy or sad, frightening or invigorating, into any particular context. It is only when we have the time and space to reflect back upon our experiences are we able to find meaning. By helping Jewish students discover the collective history they all posses, essentially showing them the stages the Jewish people have traveled through, we can help them create a safe space in which they may grow not only as Jewish individuals, but also as human beings. This is not to say that every Jew must understand and relate to Jewish history and experience with a similar perspective; rather, Jews must be able to find the means to articulate how this collective experience influences our personal Jewish journey.

We have the opportunity to create both a "place where everybody knows your name" for the Jewish students on campus as well as a space to get away and reflect on our collective experiences as people and as individuals. As Woody Allen was wont to say, "80 percent of success is showing up." The emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual space we provide can give our students the tools they want to experience the growth they seek.

Prepared by Jonathan Willis, senior associate, Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Masei at MyJewishLearning.com.

Just a couple of months ago, I experienced one of the most moving and spiritual days of my life. I participated in the Darfur Rally in Washington, DC, on the National Mall.

I remember walking to the rally by myself, immediately after making a homemade "Never Again" sign with a faded marker on my Metro ride to the Mall. Although I was alone, I quickly found myself in a crowd of friends and family and was energized by the representation of the Jewish community. Soon after the rally, I found myself in a sea of blue-shirted friends, Jewish Seminarians for Justice, and eventually was at their local follow-up training, a program that taught us, the future seminarians of all streams of Judaism, how to continue to fight against the genocide. Walking back from the program, I vowed to myself that I wanted to take on this fight.

Sadly, although I did write letters and donate money after this rally, I did not completely live up to my goals. Once I got back into the routine of going to work and having my own life, I did not do one of the most important things that all Hillel professionals should do - follow up - on myself. From this week's Torah portion, Matot, I gain great value in the nuances of making "oaths" in my life.

Matot begins with Moses speaking on behalf of God to the Israelite tribe leaders about the annulment of vows. Men (women are described later) must carry out all of their pledges or oaths that have crossed their lips. The Torah dedicates one pasuk (verse) to this concept. From this we can learn that we must be very careful with the promises that we make. We are blessed with the God-given gift of speech and may we all strive to use that gift for the greater benefit of humankind. We have the unique power to greatly improve the quality of life by agreeing to drive a neighbor to the grocery store, promising to do carpool for our children, or co-sponsoring a program with another campus organization. However, our words, promises and oaths are only as great as our intentions if we follow-through with them. When we do not fulfill a vow, we have the potential of bringing about neglect, discomfort and distrust to those around us. A vow can lead to a holy or unholy situation. Our goal should be to maximize the holy ones.

The Torah then continues by indicating specific rules on what happens in the case of a woman making vows. In these scenarios it seems clear that when a female is younger and makes a vow, her father can essentially invalidate this vow by simply objecting to it. So too can a husband annul the vows made by his wife. Reading these verses, I was taken aback at how the Torah went into such detail about how a woman's vows were somehow not her own. The Torah dedicates 14 verses on how a father or husband technically has veto power over the vows set forth by a woman - as opposed to one verse in these opening passages regarding the oaths of men. I was deeply concerned by this and struggled to gain meaning in words that seemingly clash with my feminist beliefs. So I looked a bit deeper.

Although I eventually had to absolve my struggles to ancient societal precedents (but encourage you to explore these issues in greater depth), I did find that the Torah set forth a limited time frame in which fathers and husbands could annul these vows - specifically, "on the day that he finds out."

When we look at the chapter on "Laws of Vows and Oaths" in the Shulchan Aruch (the compilation of traditional Jewish laws that are applicable today), we find even more specific details of this halakhah (law). The Shulchan Aruch indicates that "they can only cancel the vow within the day they heard it. That is, if they heard the vow at the beginning of the evening, they may cancel it all night and the entire following day. If they heard [the vow] close to the time that the stars appear, they can cancel it only until the stars appear. Beyond that time they cannot cancel it…." In other words, if we don't take some time to quickly disapprove or approve of something upon hearing about it, it is as if we have approved of the vow. According to the Talmud, "silence is like assent."

I write this on the 17th of Tammuz, the Hebrew date when the walls of besieged Jerusalem were breached in 69 CE. Yesterday, war broke out in Israel. The genocide in Darfur continues even after the death toll reaches 400,000 souls. According to experts in the hunger relief field, 852 million people around the globe suffer from the calamity of hunger - 18 percent of whom are children.

Many of us, myself included, have good intentions of fighting injustice and setting forth vows or goals, if you will, related to these global and social justice issues - but sometimes we fall short. Matot teaches us that we cannot be silent, for silence is approval of the injustices in our world. The summer is a great time to reflect on the vows that we have made in our lives - at our Hillels, with our families, and for ourselves. Have we lived up to them? Should we really have made them if we knew we could not follow through?

As we take some well-deserved time to reflect on the past year, may we all be inspired to be more careful when setting forth vows and not silently stand by the injustices and empty promises in our lives. Rather, let us gain strength in renewing our goals in an effort to communally create a more holy and just society.

Written by Jennifer Schlosberg, senior associate of Hillel's Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps of Hillel's Schusterman International Center

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Matot-Masei at MyJewishLearning.com.

As we approach the end of the book of Numbers, the parsha Mattot opens by emphasizing the seriousness of the vows and oaths we make. We learn from Torah that words are very powerful, and we must think carefully about how we use them. In the first few verses of the parsha we read that any pledge that a man makes in the presence of God can be fulfilled. However, a pledge or oath made by a woman can be overruled by her father if she lives in his house or her husband if she is married. We read:

Numbers 30:4-9

1. If a woman makes a vow to the Lord or assumes an obligation while still in her father's household by reason of her youth, 2. And her father learns of her vow or her self-imposed obligation and offers no objection, all her vows shall stand and every self-imposed obligation shall stand. 3. But if her father restrains her on the day he finds out, none of her vows or self-imposed obligations shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her, since her father restrained her. 4. If she should marry while her vow or the commitment to which she bound herself is still in force,
5. And her husband learns of it and offers no objection on the day he finds out, her vows shall stand. 6. But if her husband restrains her on the day that he learns of it, he thereby annuls her vow which was in force or the commitment to which she bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her.

Your Torah Navigator

1. If vows were once so vitally important, why does the Torah make it clear that a woman's word, or vow, could be annulled at the word of her husband or father? 2. What does this say about a woman's status within the Jewish people during ancient times? 3. How have gender roles in Judaism changed since ancient days? 4. How do we read Torah and give it the honor it is due when it seems contradictory to our views today?

A Word

These rules reflect an age when a woman was subordinated to her husband or father. But Judaism has given us what could be seen as the first steps in women's liberation. In later generations, our rabbis and sages limited the above law to young girls not past the age of 11 or 12. The ketubah, or traditional marriage contract, too, is often viewed as a positive step forward for women that was institutionalized and made binding by the rabbis. With the establishment of the ketubah, women were given documentary proof of their marriage and some protection in case of divorce from their husbands.

In modern times, the Jewish people has come a long way in recognizing the strength and importance of women, both in the life of a family as well as in the life of the Jewish people. Today, women serve many congregations and Jewish communities in positions of leadership. Although the movements may differ in the types of roles that men and women offer the synagogue, our Jewish tradition reflects an understanding of just how much women can and do contribute to the continuation of the Jewish people. It is sometimes difficult to read words of our beloved Torah and wonder how they could apply to us today. But we can be proud that our Jewish tradition reflects an ongoing understanding of the individuals who make up the Jewish people. Furthermore, our Jewish tradition teaches us to honor and respect the words of a woman.

Prepared by Rabbi Andrea Steinberger, Campus Rabbi, Hillel at the University of Wisconsin.

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Matot at MyJewishLearning.com.

The '80s sitcom "Cheers" details the goings-on inside a Boston bar replete with a bizarre mix of characters not found in most local pubs. The entire philosophy of the show (if there is such a thing as a sitcom philosophy) is stated in the show's theme song, which says:

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.

A sense of place gives us grounding and a feeling of security. In turn, this gives us room to grow and become more fully aware of our potential and ideally realize it. A sense of space also allows us to explore our personal and collective history, discovering meaning and sustenance by learning that our past has meaning – in essence showing us how far we have come.

This week's parsha, Masei, the last one in the Book of Numbers, records the 42 camping sites our Israelite ancestors stayed at during the course of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The beginning of the parsha, for the most part, is just a list that duly details each place, sometimes with a more extensive note if something significant took place there. What is the Torah's purpose in taking up an important piece of textual real estate with seemingly inconsequential details?

Torah scholar Nehama Lebowitz points out that "the Torah itself prefaces the chapter with the portentous words 'Moses wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, by the commandment of the Lord.'" God wanted the Israelites to remember each stage of the journey to the Promised Land. The question remains, why?

Medieval commentator Rashi thinks the Israelites need to remember the good and the bad that had happened to them during the wilderness journeys so that they will have a degree of perspective when they reach their new home in Canaan. Knowing how they had successfully come through many trials and travails would give the Israelites a sense of accomplishment and security.

Immersing oneself in the immediacy of a particular event oftentimes does not give us the space to derive personal significance from it. We cannot put the episode, whether happy or sad, frightening or invigorating, into any particular context. It is only when we have the time and space to reflect back upon our experiences are we able to find meaning. By helping Jewish students discover the collective history they all posses, essentially showing them the stages the Jewish people have traveled through, we can help them create a safe space in which they may grow not only as Jewish individuals, but also as human beings. This is not to say that every Jew must understand and relate to Jewish history and experience with a similar perspective; rather, Jews must be able to find the means to articulate how this collective experience influences our personal Jewish journey.

We have the opportunity to create both a "place where everybody knows your name" for the Jewish students on campus as well as a space to get away and reflect on our collective experiences as people and as individuals. As Woody Allen was wont to say, "80 percent of success is showing up." The emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual space we provide can give our students the tools they want to experience the growth they seek.

Prepared by Jonathan Willis, senior associate, Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Masei at MyJewishLearning.com.

At the beginning of Parshat Masei, the Torah offers an exhaustive history of the travels of the Bnai Yisrael, from the Exodus from Egypt until they reach the Jordan and the threshold to the Promised Land (Numbers 33:1-49).

An introductory verse to this section states: "Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by the Lord. Their marches, by starting points, were as follows (32:2)." According to the commentary of the Ohr HaChaim (1696-1743), G-d instructed Moses to record the journeys as they occurred, and now informed him that his journal was to be included in the Torah. Moses, in the view of the Ohr HaChaim, functioned as a chronicler, contemporaneously recording events. The history of the Jewish people is sacred; our story is Torah.

Monday is Rosh Chodesh Av, the beginning of the nine days of mourning that culminate in Tisha B'Av, traditionally the saddest and most tragic day of the Jewish calendar. Jews around the world mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples, along with a host of other calamities that befell the Jewish people.

Amos Elon, the Israeli journalist, recently recorded a conversation he overheard between two Germans. One, a Jewish historian, explained to the other why the Jews would never forget the Holocaust. "Because [the Jews] are the people of memory. Hundreds of cities must have been sacked and razed in the first century. Only the Jews still speak of the destruction of their Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. (The New York Times Magazine, January 26, 1997)."

Earlier this week in Jerusalem, our people suffered a terrible blow. We, as Jews, mark this horrific loss of life, and record it for ourselves and for generations to follow. The history of the Jewish people is sacred; our story is Torah. We pray for the day when violence and tears are no more, when "our mouths shall be filled with laughter, our tongues, with songs of joy."

Prepared by David Moss, University of Houston Hillel