NOW THEY CAME, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THE ENTIRE

COMMUNITY, TO THE WILDERNESS OF TZIN, IN THE FIRST NEW-MOON.

THE PEOPLE STAYED IN KADESH. MIRIAM DIED THERE,

AND SHE WAS BURIED THERE.

NOW THERE WAS NO

WATER FOR THE COMMUNITY,

SO THEY ASSEMBLED AGAINST MOSHE AND AGAINST AHARON.

(Bemidbar 20:102)

"Miriam died there, and she was buried there. Now there was

no water for the community" – The lack of water was

punishment for not having properly eulogized Miriam. "There Miriam died

and there she was buried. And there was no water for the assembly".

Regarding Moshe and Aharon it is written "and the children of

Israel wept over them" – here it does not say "they wept

over her"; it says "There Miriam died and there she was buried"

for at the place where she died, she was buried immediately, and forgotten,

and her absence was not felt. Therefore, they were deprived of water, so that

they would learn – post priori – that the well was was because of Miriam's

merit. Chazal taught that the report of her death was placed next to the

chapter of the [red] heifer, to teach us that just as sacrifices atone, so does

the death of the righteous atone. Why was it placed next to the heifer chapter

in particular? Because the heifer is not really a sacrifice, even though the

Torah terms it a chattat – a sin offering. But the main point is that

just as the heifer comes to to clean it's calf's feces, (the heifer atones for

the sin of the Golden Calf), so the righeous woman, mother of living, upon her

death cleansed the filth of her children.

 (Kli Yakar,

Bemidbar 20:1-2)

The fountain which was hewn from the rock at Horev provided not only the

needs of the immediate hour, but it accompanied the Children of Israel throughout

the duration of their wilderness trek. That is the reason we hear no more

complaints about lack of water. But now, immediately after Miriam's demise, the

fountain dries up, and the community which saw itself for the first time as "the

assembly of the future" lacks the basic requirement for continued existence:

"And there was no water for the community". Regarding the

juxtaposition of "And there Miriam died" with "And

there was no water for the assembly" the Talmud (Taanit 9a) states "The well – in Miriam's

merit". The well which accompanied them from Horev through the wilderness

was given them in Miriam's merit. Miriam's quiet activity on behalf of the

nation's moral future now became public knowledge. Her death was a national

loss, and this became evident following her death, when the waters of the Horev

well ceased to flow.

(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Bemidbar 20:2)

Lovingly

dedicated to the memory of my mother, Miriam Leiser, o"h,

and in

honor of her recently born great-grandaughter, Maayan Kleinhaus – Eisenberg.

"Generation after generation brings

expressions of praise"

THE

WELL, THE ROCK, SPEAKING AND STRIKING

Pinchas

Leiser

Now they came, the Children of Israel, the

give drink to the assembly and their cattle.

So Moshe took the staff from before the

them. (Bemidbar 20:1-13)

When Chazal and the traditional commentators

read these verses, they found in them an endless source for derashot, drawing

from them – through speech – "many waters"… and, as is

known, "Water is none other than Torah". They homiletically expounded

the juxtaposition of the parasha of the red heifer to that of Miriam's death.

Similarly, with great sensitivity, they noted the connection between the death

of Miram and the death of water:

"Rabbi Yossi, son of Rabbi Yehudah,

said: Israel had three great leaders: Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam. And they gave

Israel three fine gifts: the well, the cloud, and the manna. The well – thanks

to Miram; the pillar of cloud – thanks to Aharon; manna – thanks to Moshe. Miriam

died – the well disappeared, as is written (Bemidbar

20) "There Miriam died" and this is followed by "there

was no water for the assembly". (Bavli,

Taanit 9a, and elsewhere).

Chazal, and in their footsteps Rashi and

others, describe a non-conventional reality – a well which accompanies the

Children of Israel in the wilderness. This well is mentioned in Tractate Avot (5:6) among the ten phenomena which were

created Sabbath Eve at sunset. The author of the Siftei Chachamim points out

that the well was attributed to Miriam because "she waited near Moshe on

the Nile, to see what what would happen to him when he was thrown in the

basket."

The waters which flowed from the well were

the source of life. When Miriam died, the well disappeared, the source of life

disappeared. The people react to the lack of water and Miriam's absence

indirectly, with feelings of desperation and death wishes (Rabbi Efrayim of

Lunchitz, author of "Kli Yakar" explains that they did not eulogize

Miriam properly and did not mourn her death in a direct manner). Moshe and

Aharon cannot cope with these feelings, and they flee to the entrance of the

Tent of Appointment. Some commentators understand this flight as a failure of

leadership, which finds expression further on in the parasha. Many

commentators, Rishonim and Achronim, dealt with the question of "the

sin and its punishment" of Moshe our teacher (an extensive summation of

the different approaches may be found in Prof. Nechama Leibowitz's STUDIES IN

THE BOOK OF BEMIDBAR) and they found different reasons for the prevention of

Moshe's entry into Eretz Yisrael.

A plain-reading of Chapter 20:7-13, must call

the reader's attention to the connection between the striking of the rock and

Moshe and Aharon's not entering Eretz Yisrael. :

God spoke to Moshe saying: Take the staff

bring this assembly into the land that I am giving them.

The Holy one, Blessed Be He, commandes Moshe "to

speak" to the rock so that it release its waters; Moshe does not speak,

but he "strikes" the rock. True, "many waters" flow

from the rock after its being struck, but Moshe and Aharon are accused of a

lack of faith, and of missing an opportunity to publicly sanctify the Lord, and

therefore it was decreed that they may not enter Eretz Yisrael, – or, more in

keeping with the text – they will not bring the assembly into the land. In

other words, their leadership responsibility will end before the entry into the

land.

This reading ignores the wider context

Miriam's passing. Perhaps this is the reason why the commentators do not

consider the striking of the rock to be sufficient reason for the punishment

given Moshe.

Close study of the verses permits a reading

with reveals a connection between the different events described in the parasha

– with ramifications for future generations.

The Generation of the Wilderness was an

impatient generation. When it left Egypt, it was promised that it would reach

its destination, a land flowing with milk and honey. The desert reality slaps

the face of the generation, crises often marked by expressions of despair are

heard; no food, no water, no hope. In these situations, the nation comes with

harsh complaints to the leaders who brought them to "die in the desert".

We find different manifestations of this hopelessness. The sin of the Calf,

Korach, the spies, the Waters of Controversy, Baal Pe'or, all these express the

difficulties of this generation to manage a situation of uncertainty.

Sometimes, in especially difficult moments, Moshe does not have the strength to

contain the despair and the anger.

When the life of her younger brother was in

danger, Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aharon, waited until Pharaoh's

daughter discovered Moshe's basket and saved him. Thanks to that waiting, to

that patience, that ability to contain unclear situations which usually arouse

great apprehension, Miriam – and with her all the Children of Israel – acquired

a well which was a source of life, a source of hope in a situation of

wilderness uncertainty.

With Miriam's death, the people's ability to

wait disappeared – "And when Miram died, the well was taken away".

The patience vanished. The people's capacity (and also, temporarily, that of

Moshe and Aharon) for accommodating uncertainty disappeared. Perhaps the

Generation of the Wilderness – of which Moshe and Aharon were a part – is

so-called because of its inability to cope with wilderness situations.

Different periods in the life of a nation are

characterized by uncertainty; in order to deal with the 'wilderness'

uncertainty, patience and moderation are needed, belief in a better future is

required. Leadership which can lead a generation in wilderness situations is a "leadership

which speaks", not one which "strikes". Only despair, resulting

from lack of faith, hope, and tolerance, can create the dangerous illusion that

complex situations can be resolved by use of force. The parasha of "Mei

Meriva" –The Waters of Rebellion – and its adjacency to the death

of Miriam teach us the perils attendant upon the blurring of boundaries between

power and holiness. Sometimes, an entire generation pays the price of such

blurring of boundaries.

 Pinchas

Leiser, edotor of "Shabbat Shalom" is a psychologist.

"Look" ['Habet']– >From

Below to Above, from Above to Below?

Rashi (Bereishit 15:5) explains: "This

is the meaning of "habata" ['looking'] – from above to

below."

And should you say: Is it not written: "And he will look at the

copper serpent and he will live"? It may be said that this is

the explanation: The serpent will look at him. But does it not also say "They

looked at Him and [their faces] lit up" – which is also

from beneath to above? It may be said "The entire universe is full with

his glory". The R'eim explained as follows: The habata mentioned

here – i.e. in Bereishit 15:5, is from above to below.

 (Siftei

Chachamim, Bereishit 15, 5)

YIFTACH'S SIN

This was Yiftach's error with regards to his daughter. He thought than

when the declaration of a leader in Israel is to kill persons, or that whoever

disobeys his order deserves the death penalty, and also if one should vow

during wartime to offer a person or persons as a sacrifice, the vow is binding,

and he did not know that the above declaration of the king and the Sanhedrin is

intended to destroy the rebels or whoever trangresses their injunctions and

decrees; but Heaven forbid that a vow be taken to offer as sacrifice something

which is inappropriate for an offering to God. Therefore it is said in

Bereishit Rabba (63) that he was not even obligated to make monetary substitution

(for the object dedicated), and therefore he was punished with her blood.(Money and blood share a common root – ('domim'

–'dom'))

 (Ramban,

Vayikra 27:29)

One must not crown Yiftach with a halo of a national hero; one should

not be impressed by his act as if it were an act of great sacrifice prompted by

patriotic emotion. His act was cruel and without basis. We can accept as valid

the words of Chazal, who judged him to be an am ha-aretz, empty-headed

and rash. Enthusiasm in itself is no guarantee of proper and desireable

direction; enthusiasm without a compass, which lacks the restraint of Torah –

is liable to result in utter destruction. In the words of Midrash Tanhuma

(Behukotai 5) "What caused Yiftach to lose his daughter? He did not study

Torah."

 (Studies In The

Book Of Bemidbar, Prof. Nechama Leibowitz z'l)

"HER PATHS ARE

PATHS OF PLEASANTNESS AND ALL HER WAYS ARE OF PEACE"

"Now this is the Instruction for the slaughter offering of

shalom ("Shelamim")": That which is

written "Her paths are paths of pleasantness and all her ways are of

peace" means that everything which is written in the Torah is

written for the sake of peace. And even though the Torah speaks of wars, this

too was written for the sake of peace. You find, that The Holy One, Blessed Be

He, abolished his decree because of peace. When? When The Holy One, Blessed Be

He said to Moshe "When you set siege on a city for many days"

(Devarim

20:19), and all pertaining to that subject, The Holy One, Blessed Be He,

said to him that no spoil may be taken, as is written "You are to

devote them to destruction, yes, destruction"

(Ibid. 20:17) But Moshe did not do so; rather he said, Shall I go

and smite both he who sinned and he who sinned not? But I shall come upon them

in peace, as is written, "Now I sent messengers from the Wilderness of

Kedemot… words of peace, saying, Let me cross through your land" (Ibid. 2:26-27). When he saw that he (Sichon)

did not come for peace, he smote him, as is written, "So they struck

him and his sons and all his people" (Bemidbar 21:35). Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, I said "You

are to devote them to destruction, yes, destruction" but you did not

do so! By your life, as you spoke so will I do, as is written, "When

peace (Devarim 20:10). Therefore does

it say, "Her paths are paths of pleasantness and all her ways are of

peace" (Mishlei 3:17)

 (Tanchuma Tsav,

3)

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak

Frankenthal and Dr.

Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish

Goldberg

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