THE

LORD SPOKE TO MOSHE, SAYING: TAKE AHARON ALONG WITH HIS SONS, AND THE

VESTMENTS, THE ANOINTING OIL, THE BULL OF SIN OFFERING, THE TWO RAMS, AND THE

BASKET OF UNLEAVENED BREAD; AND ASSEMBLE THE WHOLE COMMUNITY AT THE ENTRANCE OF

THE TENT OF MEETING. AND MOSHE DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED HIM. AND WHEN THE

COMMUNITY WAS ASSEMBLED AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TENT OF MEETING, MOSHE SAID TO

THE COMMUNITY, "THIS IS WHAT THE LORD HAS COMMANDED TO BE DONE."

 (Vayikra 8:1-5)

The Oil, Justice, and

Preservation of the World – Between Avraham and Aharon

"Take Aharon along with his sons" – thus says

Scripture: "You love righteousness and hate wickedness; rightly has

God, your God, chosen to anoint you with oil of gladness over all your peers"

 (Psalms

45:8)

Rabbi Yudin, in the name of Rabbi Azaria, interpreted the passage as

referring to our father, Avraham. When he asked mercy for the Sodomites, he

said to Him: Master of the Universe, you vowed that you would never bring a

deluge, as is written (Isaiah 54), "For

this to Me is like the waters of Noah" – a deluge of water you do not

bring, but a deluge of fire you do bring!? Are you circumventing your vow?! If

so, you have not fulfilled your vow, as is written (Bereishit

18) "Far be it from You to do such a thing" – he said

before Him: "Far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth

deal justly?" – if you want justice, there can be no world; if you

want to preserve the world, there can be no justice. You want to hold the rope

at both ends – You want both Your world and justice? If you do not compromise a

bit, Your world cannot exist. Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to Avraham (Psalms 45) "You love righteousness and

you hate wickedness" – you love to justify my beings and you hate to

condemn them, "Rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you with oil

of gladness over all your peers." – who are 'your peers'? He said

to him: By your life, in all the ten generations between Noah and you I spoke

not to a single one of them, but with you do I speak, as is written (Bereishit 12) "And the Lord said to

Avram, Go you forth."

 (Vayikra

Rabba, Parasha 10)

In memory

of my father-in-law, Dr. Emmanuel Halpern,

by

profession a doctor, a lover and researcher of Bible with all his soul,

who went

to his resting place

THE TRAVELS OF THE URIM

V'THUMMIM

Eliezer

Schwartz

"He put the ephod on him, girding him

with the decorated band with which he tied it to him. He put the breastpiece [choshen]

on him and put into the breastpiece the Urim V'Thummim." (Vayikra 8:7-8)

Parashat Tsav (from

Chap. 8 on) is a direct continuation of the Mishkan chapters at the end

of the Book of Shemot. In Parashat Tetsave (Shemot

28) we find considerable detail regarding the preparation of the ephod,

and following this, the preparation of the breastpiece is detailed. Regarding the

Urim V'Thummim, however, nothing is mentioned other than "Thus

before the Lord at all times" (Shemot

28:30). In Parashat Pekudey (Shemot 39),

there is a repetition of the description of the ephod and the breastpiece, in

the context of the execution of the commandment. In this description, there is

no mention whatever of the Urim V'Thummim. It appears then, that the Urim

V'Thummim were not manmade, and therefore their making is not detailed. Some

commentators maintain that the very assembly of the breastpiece on the ephod so

that it "does not come loose from the ephod" creates for these

garments the task of the Urim V'Thummim, without any additional

component. This week's parasha can serve as 'the third text which decides the

matter', for it is written, "Then Moshe brought Aharon… and put the

Urim V'Thummim (Vayikra 8:6-8). A

plain reading of the text indicates that upon the breastpiece something was

added – the Urim V' Thummim.

How, then, were the Urim V'Thummim

made? Commentators are divided on this point (occasionally in strident tones).

Rashi says (Shemot 28:30) "the

Urim V'Thummim"… He wrote the specific Name, which he placed in the

folds of the breastpiece; with it he illumined and completed His words. In the

second Temple the breastpiece was present, for the High Priest could not serve

unless fully attired, but the Name was not inside it."

Ibn Ezra (the expanded commentary, Shemot

28:6) disagrees, revealing one handful, concealing two:

"There are many questions concerning the

ephod and the breastpiece… and our Rabbi Shelomo said that the Urim V'Thummim

were inscriptions of the explicit Name. Had he seen the commentary of Rabeinu

Hai, he would not have said that. The ephod and the breastpiece is a very

profound subject; I will hint at but a bit of the secret, perhaps it will be

understood by one who knows the intent of Him above…

Ramban (Shemot

28:30) disagrees:

"Rabbi Avraham sought a clever

explanation of the Urim V'Thummim… but actually said nothing. But they

are [to be understood as Rashi explained. Regarding his words to the effect

that had he seen Rabeinu Hai's answer, he would have spoken differently, we

have studied and considered it, and we know that Rabbi Avraham was not

referring to it."

The Urim V'Thummim was prepared for

the Mishkan service, but the command extended to further generations as well.

Before his death, Moshe is ordered to prepare Yehoshua to be his successor.

Yehoshua must consult with the priest according to the Urim V'Thummim.

As is written, "And the Lord answered Moshe, 'Single out Yehoshua son

community" (Bemidbar 27:18-21).

Indeed, the dependence upon the Urim

V'Thummim appears later on, in the books of the Early Prophets, under the

term 'ephod'. Ibn Ezra explains (I Shmuel 23:9) that

whenever the ephod is mentioned, the reference is to the complete set, which

includes the breastpiece and the Urim V'Thummim. Ibn Ezra is referring

to David's consulting with Evyatar the priest (ibid.

ibid. 2-4). "David consulted the Lord, 'Shall I go and attack

Philistines into your hands.' Or, as is written elsewhere (ibid. 30:7-8) "And David said to the

shall overtake and you shall rescue.'"

Saul, on the other hand, fails to receive an

answer from the Lord. "When Saul saw the Philistine force, his heart

trembled with fear. And Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not

answer him either by dreams or by Urim, or by prophets " (I Shmuel 28:5). Failing to receive an answer

from God, he turns to the woman who consults ghosts. "Then Saul said to

En-dor who consulted ghosts."

No further mention is made of consultation

with Urim V'Thummim after the period of the Early Prophets. "With

the death of the early prophets, the Urim V'Thummim was annulled" (Mishna, Sotah 9:12). The Talmud expands: "With

the death of the early prophets' – who were these early prophets? Said Rav

Huna, They were David and Shmuel and Shelomo" (Bavli

Sotah 38b). In other words, soon after the beginning of the Second

Temple period, the use of the Urim V'Thummim had already ceased. A

different version has the disappearance of the Urim V'Thummim occurring

at the end of the First Temple period "with the exception of the Haggai,

Zechariah, and Malachi, who were among the last" – they no longer made use

of the Urim V'Thummim. This conforms to the Talmud in Tractate Yomah

which compares the two temple periods: "In five respects the two temples

differed: 1) ark-covering-cherubim, 2) fire, 3) Shechina, 4) the

Holy Spirit, and 5) the Urim V'Thummim" (Yomah 21a). In the days of the First Temple, the Urim

V'Thummim existed; during the Second Temple, they did not.

What replaced the Urim V'Thummim?

The Books of the Prophets teach us that the

prophet became the conduit for transmission of God's messages to the people.

The Talmud adds, "Raba bar Shmuel raised an objection: "He applied

visions of God" (II Chronicles 26) –

is this not in reference to the Urim V'Thummim!" In other words, in

the times of Zechariah the prophet, did they not consult God via the Urim

V'Thummim? The answer is "No – through the prophets" (Sotah 48b); the prophets taught the knowledge

of the word of God.

And what replaced the function of

prophecy after the latter prophets expired?

"It was taught (in a Barayta): With the

death of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi – the Holy Spirit left Israel; instead,

use was made of the Bat-kol" (Sotah,

ibid.). Even after the times of the prophets, the word of God could be

received – through the Bat-kol [a heavenly voice]. It appears that those

able to receive the Bat-kol were, as a rule, the sages. Stories

regarding the use of Bat-kol are recorded. For example, "Once, as

they were sitting in the upper storey of Gurya's home in Jericho, a Bat-kol

descended from Heaven and said: There is one among you who is worthy of the

divine presence, but his generation is not deserving — they looked at the

Hillel the Elder… and another time they were sitting upstairs in Yavneh, a Bat-kol

from Heaven said to them: There is one among you who is worthy of the divine

presence, but his generation is not worthy – they looked at Shmuel HaKatan… (Sotah, ibid.)

Thus we see how the Holy Spirit passed from

the Urim V'Thummim to the prophets, and from them to the Bat-kol.

But the major change occurs after the destruction of the Second Temple, as is

best illustrated in the story of the oven of Aknai (Baba

Metsia 59b):

"It has been taught: On that day, Rabbi

Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument, but they did not accept

them. Said he to them: 'If the Halacha agrees with me, let this carob tree

prove it!' Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place

– others affirm, four hundred cubits. 'No proof can be brought from a

carob-tree,' they retorted. Again he said to them: 'If the Halacha agrees with

me, let the stream of water prove it!' Whereupon the stream of water flowed

backwards. 'No proof can be brought from a stream of water"… Again he

said to them: 'If the Halacha agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!'

Whereupon a Bat-kol cried out: 'Why do you dispute with Rabbi Eliezer,

seeing that in all matters the halacha agrees with him!' But Rabbi Yehoshua

arose and exclaimed: 'It is not in heaven.'… We pay no attention to a Bat-kol,

because long ago You wrote in the Torah at Mt. Sinai (Shemot 23) 'After the majority must one

incline.' Rabbi Nathan met Elijah and asked him: 'What did The Holy One,

Blessed Be He, do in that hour?' 'He laughed [with joy],' he replied, 'Saying, 'My

sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me."

We learn that the Sages ordered

discontinuation of the Bat-kol in favor of decisions deriving from human

deliberation. We even 'conscript' The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to support this

position.

Regarding that same Rabbi Eliezer it is

written: "When Rabbi Eliezer died, a Torah Scroll was interred" (Sotah 49b). By way of paraphrase, it

may be said that when Rabbi Eliezer died, the Urim V'Thummim were

interred. Or perhaps, even more correctly: From that day on, our Urim

V'Thummim is not in Heaven, but is in rational discussion by mortals.

Dr. Eliezer Schwartz is a physician

Priesthood and Monarchy Can Be Inherited – Torah Can

Be Earned Only Through Personal Effort

Rabbi Shim'on said: There are three crowns – the Crown of Torah, the

Crown of Priesthood, and the Crown of Monarchy – but the crown of a good

reputation is superior to them all. How the crown of Priesthood? If one gives

all the silver and gold in the world, he is not given the crown of Priesthood,

as is written (Bemidbar 25) "And

it shall be for him and his seed after him for an everlasting covenant." The

crown of Monarchy – even should one give all the silver and gold in the world,

he is not given the Crown of Monarchy, as is written (Ezekiel 37): "And David, my servant, shall lead them

forever." But such is not the case with the crown of Torah… such is

not the labor of Torah; whoever so desires to take may come and take, as is

written (Isaiah 45) "Let all who

thirst go to water" – toil in the words of Torah.

(Avot D'Rebbi Natan, Chap.

41, Mishna 1)

The

Impurity of a Corpse – Two Aspects

The Torah was severe with regard to human impurity (of the deceased)

more than with any other impurity, classifying it 'the father of all fathers of

impurity', to discourage people from being in the company of their beloved

deceased, lest they grieve too much, or lest they beseech the dead and those who

consult ghosts. Another reason the Torah was so strict regarding this impurity

has to do with respect for beings, so that they not make of their skins

wineskins and carpets, and from their bones they not make utensils for their

use, for this is to dishonor human beings. And so said our Sages, of blessed

memory: Why is the skin of a [dead] person declared impure? So that one not

make carpets out of his parents' skins. And why are a man's bones impure? So

that one should not fashion ladles out of his parents' bones, and according to

their love – their impurity.

(Chizkuni Bemidbar 19:16).

Readers

Write:

 "Scholars, Be Careful What You Say!"

I should like to preface my reaction to Rabbi Chipman's interesting and

important article (Parashat Ki Tissa) by

stating that I know him to be a pro-feminist who has done much for the

advancement of the status of women in Judaism – especially with regard to Torah

study. Were I to suspect that this subject is not close to his heart, I might

not have penned this reaction to his article. Davka because it is a

reasonable assumption that he would never intentionally insult women, I decided

to comment on the phrasing of a central sentence of his position. Chipman

writes:

But what God didn't bargain for is that the

people were… well, people. Their "true" concerns were the ordinary,

mundane stuff of life: getting up in the morning and knowing that they have

something to eat, both for themselves and for their women and children…"

One may adduce from this that women are not 'people'! Or perhaps they

were not included in the giving of the Torah? This semantic stumbling block

could have been avoided by writing "something to eat, for themselves and

their families."

 Dr. Devorah Weissman

Rabbi Chipman

replies:

As Dr. Weissman has pointed out, I slipped up, and I thank her for her

comment.

It should be added, however, that even though I drew a certain

comparison between people as they are, my article dealt primarily with a

description of the creation of the Children of Israel in the desert, during the

sin of the Golden Calf. There is no denying that the culture of the period was

clearly patriarchal. In a number of passages in the parasha under

discussion, women are expressly described as being attached to the men, and events are described from a male

perspective, e.g., "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of

your wives, your sons, and your daughters" (Shemot 32:2). It appears that I was carried away by the Bible's

linguistic ambiance.

                                                                        With

all blessings,

                                                                        Jonathan

Chipman

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam

Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem

Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

This weekly publication was made possible by private

donors

To our readers:

We will be happy to have you actively participate in "Shabbat

Shalom" by:

·     

Letters to the editor

·     

Publication of Divrei Torah (in coordination with the

editorial board)

For details, contact Miriam Fine (053-920206)

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards

its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $1000
• English edition distributed via email $

  100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc.

Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in

advance to appear in the English email.

US or British tax-exempt contributions to OzveShalom may be made through

the New Israel Fund or through P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc.

Contributions should be

marked as donor-advised to OzveShalom/Netivot Shalom, the Shabbat Shalom

project.

New Israel Fund, POB 53410, Jerusalem 91534 (Please include Israeli

address and telephone number)

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD,

United Kingdom (British tax exemption)

P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New

York, New York 10017 USA

About us:

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of

a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of

tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts which have always been central to

Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of

Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes

that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the

pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a

fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an

option but an imperative.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's programs include

both educational and protest activities. Seminars, lectures, workshops,

conferences and weekend programs are held for students, educators and families,

as well as joint seminars for Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. Protest activities

focus on issues of human rights, co-existence between Jews and Arabs, and

responses to issues of particular religious relevance.

9,000 copies of a 4 page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah

reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are

distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email.

Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's educational forums

draw people of different backgrounds, secular and religious, who are keen to

deepen their Jewish knowledge and to hear an alternative religious standpoint

on the subjects of peace and social issues.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an

ideological vacuum in Israel's society. Committed both to Jewish tradition and

observance, and to the furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in

a unique position to engage in dialogue with the secular left and the religious

right, with Israeli Arabs and with Palestinians.

Our activities are funded by donations and are organized by one part

time employee.

OzveShalom/Netivot Shalom                Tel./Fax

972-2-5664218

Pob 4433                                             Email:

ozshalom@netvision.net.il

Jerusalem 94310, Israel                        www.

netivot-shalom.org.il