Parshat Pinchas

And the daughters of zelophehad [...] Came forward

And they stood before moshe and before eleazar the priest [...]

"our father died in the wilderness, and he was not part of the community that banded together agaist the lord with the community of korah,

For through his own offense he died, and he had no sons.

Why should our father's name be withdrawn from the midst of his clan

Because he had no son?"

(Numbers 27:1-4)

 

"Give us a holding in the midst of our father's brothers" - Said R. Natan: The power of women is superior to the power of men. The men said (Numbers 14) 'Let us put up a head and return to Egypt', but women said 'Give us a holding in the midst of our father's brothers'.

(Sifri, Pinechas Section 1)

 

"And the daughters of Tselophehad came forward" - When the daughters of Tselophehad heard that the land was being apportioned to males and not to females, they all gathered together for deliberation. They said: Not like the mercies of flesh and blood are the mercies of the Omnipresent; flesh and blood are more merciful to the males than to the females, but He who spoke and the world came into being is not so, but both upon males and females, His mercies are upon all, as is written" God is good to all, and His mercies upon all his creations" (Psalm 145)

(Sifri Balak, Section 133)

 

"Rightly do the daughters of Tselophahad speak" - As per Onkylos's translation 'correctly'. thus is it written before me up above, this is to teach that they saw what Moshe's eye did not see. "Rightly do the daughters of Tselophahad speak", their plea was just; happy is the person whose words are accepted by the Holy One.

(Rashi, Numbers 27:7)

 

 

Jermiah was as great a man

And castigator of israel as moshe

Nahem Ilan

Parashat "Pinechas" is usually read after the 17^th of Tammuz and its haphtarah is taken from the first chapter of Jeremiah with its trenchant prediction of Jerusalem's destruction. It is possible to discern an inner connection between the parasha, in which Moshe ordains Joshua and passes on to him, in orderly fashion, the leadership (Numbers 27:15-23), and the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah which describes Jeremiah's appointment as prophet.

Rabbi Avraham Saba (Spain 1440 - Italy 1508) was a major exegete in the generation of the expulsion from Spain. He himself was forced to flee in 1492, resettling in Portugal. In 1497, his two sons were forced to convert before his eyes. He succeeded in escaping to Fez, Morocco. After some months of physical and psychological malady, he recuperated and reconstructed from memory his compositions left behind in Portugal. The greatest of his works was "Tsror HaMor" [Bundle of Myrrh], an encompassing commentary on the Bible, which was later published many times. Bezalel Vechalder produced his improved edition over twenty years ago (Bnei Berak, 5750).

When dealing with Pinechas, R. Saba quotes the midrash "Four were descended from scorned families: Pinehas and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Uriah" and he adds "And here we can speak about Shabbat "The Words" [of Jeremiah] and about the destruction of the Temple, and the admonitions of Jeremiah and about his greatness." R. Sava surveys briefly Jeremiah's prophecies of destruction, weaving into the prophet's forewarnings material from midrashic literature. But he does not make do only with the direct connection to the parasha's haphtarah; he also presents a detailed and interesting comparison of Jeremiah with Moshe. R. Sava first cites shared aspects and then points out dissimilarities. Inasmuch as "Tsror Hamor" is not easily accessible, I present here R. Saba's words in full, deciphering abbreviations and adding - between square parentheses - words of clarification:

And since Jeremiah was as great a person and castigator as Moshe o"h [olov hashalom - peace upon him], who said "These are the words" (Deuteronomy 1:1), they said that Scripture alluded to him when saying "From the midst of your brothers, like you" (Ibid 18:18). And so he said "a prophet like me for your midst" (ibid, ibid., 15, and therefore He said "Before I created you in the womb" (Jeremiah 1:5), and said "He touched my mouth and said to me: Herewith, I put my words into your mouth' (ibid ibid., 9). This is that which is written "A prophet I shall raise up for them and I shall put My words in his mouth" (Deuteronomy 18:18) - and this is "like you". And should you say: But is it not written "But no prophet again rose in Israel like Moshe" (Ibid 34:10)? But just as Moshe said "These are the words" (Deut.1:1), so did Jeremiah say "The words of Jeremiah" (Jeremiah 1:1). And just as Moshe prophesied to Israel forty years, so did Jeremiah admonish Israel for forty years, until his words were to Israel as thorns, and concerning him it is written "If you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, it will come about that those of them you leave will become stings in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will be foes to you" (Numbers 43:35). This refers to the prophet Jeremiah, who was descended from Rahav, whom Joshua spared. And he reprimanded Israel in his book, and he composed the Book of Lamentations [Eicha] in four books, which are four alphabets (the first four chapters, alphabetically arranged], and a short book [Chapter 5, shorter than the first four), which is "Remember, O Lord" (Eicha 5:1), paralleling the book of "These are the words" which presents the story of the revealer, just as "These are the words" which is the story of the first books. He began with "Alas! Lonely sits the city" (ibid 1:1), and I have already explained this at length [the explication was lost]. But the alphabetically ordered "I am the man" (ibid. 3:1) is intended to say that even though he resembled Moshe, the similarity was limited to misfortune. And this is "I am the man who has known affliction under the rod of His wrath" (ibid.) and but not by the rod of the Lord; "Me He drove on" (ibid., ibid, 2), whereas concerning Moshe it is written "And the Lord was going before them by day" (Exodus 13:21). And throughout this alphabetically arranged are allusions to Jeremiah's tribulations, and to Israel's scorn of him because he castigated them, and because he came from a scorned family, as they were wont to say about Pinehas. And therefore Scripture relates his lineage Pinehas, son of Elazar, etc.

What does this comparison offer? There is similarity of principle genre - reproof; there is similarity in prophetic ability - "as myself"/as yourselves"; there is identical duration of function - 40 years; both left behind a written legacy containing five units divided into two: the first four more sophisticated and substantial than the fifth, which is a personal narrative framework for the four preceding chapters. Alongside the similarities can be seen the differences. Jeremiah's prowess equaled that of Moshe only in his admonishment, i.e., in the power of his prophecies of doom. Moshe had something more, which R. Saba does not specify. I conjecture that he is referring to the positive vision which Moshe set forth and also to his being the quintessential national leader. Jeremiah was an oppositional figure, critical of the leadership. This is reason, according to R. Saba, why Moshe merited the Lord walking before him, whereas Jeremiah merited only divine 'tailwind', but not God's leading him.

This comparison offers a variegated range of variables which can be of use in evaluating prophets and comparing them one to the other. It is clear that there exists considerable similarity between external and internal measures for gauging the functioning of Moshe and Jeremiah. At the same time, the dissimilarities are palpable. Which is the dominant? What is the determining factor? R. Saba did not relate to these questions and, needless to say, did not express his attitude towards them. If the subject interests the reader, he is invited to express his views and to crystallize his position himself.

In any case it is clear that the comparison between Moshe and Jeremiah is not the result of any constraints - be they linguistic, literary, historic, exegetical or ideological - it is a conscious choice by R. Saba. Through it we detect both apparent and hidden links between the two figures, clarifying the parameters of comparison between them, and, most important, it assists in underlining the main moral underlying the basis of every comparison: one must not be blinded by great similarity, just as one should not be led astray by blatant differences; similarity and differences are an essential component of every comparison. Evaluation and fine-tuning are the responsibility of the observer, the reader, the thinker.

R. Saba presented his readers with an interesting and fruitful database for consideration of Jeremiah's uniqueness and the tie between the parasha of "Pinehas" and its haphtarah, and the connection between Moshe and Jeremiah. The quoted selection is only one jewel among the many hidden in the "Tsror HaMor" commentary of R. Avraham Sava - "he who was twice-exiled."

Prof. Nahem Ilan teaches in the M.A. program in Jewish studies and in    the B.A. program for Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem studies in Lander Institute.

 

 

Pinehas, son of elazar, 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. Say, therefore, i will grant him my pact of peace.

 (Bamidbar 25: 11)

 

My Pact of Peace - Reward or Safeguard Against Psychological Damage?

As reward for pacifying God's wrath and anger, He blessed him with the quality of peacefulness, i.e., that he not be strict or upset. This was necessary because the act committed by Pinehas, of killing someone, naturally leaves a strong emotional impression, but since it was performed for the sake of Heaven, he received the blessing that he always be calm and peaceful, and that this matter [of having killed] should not affect his heart.

(Haamek Davar 25:12)

 

The act of killing a human being in the name of religious zeal can make a person indifferent to killing. That is why Pinehas required a special blessing from God, so that his zealous deed performed for the sake of Heaven would not change him into a wicked person. The boundary between shedding blood for the sake of Heaven and blood-shed for the satisfaction of human drives can become blurred... Both Pinehas and Eliyahu were motivated by devotion to God, and not by of the hatred of sinners. A person who is zealous for God because he hates sinners does not genuinely serve God; rather he is motivated by his drives and urges and a quest for self-satisfaction. There is no service of God in that - rather it is a case of self-deception.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim Shel Sihot al Parashat Ha-Shavua, pg. 730)

 

Whereupon the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with Korah - when that band died, when the fire consumed the two hundred and fifty men - and they became an example.

(Bemidbar 26:10)

 

The voice of your brother's blood: Soil which has soaked up innocent blood does vengeance against its sons

And Rav Yehudah the son of Rabbi Hiyya said: From the day the earth opened its mouth to receive Abel's blood, it had not opened again, for it is said: From the end of the earth we hear singing: Glory to the righteous! (Yeshayahu 24:16), and not from the mouth of the earth.

His brother Hezkiah questioned him: [What about the verse] whereupon the earth opened its mouth?

He told him: It opened for evil, but it did not open for good.

(Sanhedrin 37b)

 

Let the Lord, God of the spirits for all flesh, appoint a man over the community, who will go out before them and come in before them.

(Numbers 27:15:16)

 

Among the personality traits deemed proper for Israel's leaders, Moshe includes: "appoint a man over the community, who will go out before them and come in before them". The Midrash elaborates: "who will go out before them" - who will not do as others do, that he not take out tens of thousands and bring back a thousand, take out thousands and bring back hundreds".

The Midrash is referring to those national leaders who guard their own lives far from the field of battle, but do not hesitate to send their legions to war despite the heavy losses - "talking out thousands and bringing back hundreds."

It is the duty of the leader to be "a man ...who will go out before them" accounting for all his troops, doing everything necessary to avoid as much as possible loss and sacrifice.

The Midrash adds a beautiful parable: "What did Moshe resemble? A faithful shepherd ordered by his master "Leave my sheep". He replied: I will not leave until you tell me whom you are appointing in my place!"

(Y. Leibowitz: Seven Years of Discussions on the Weekly Parasha, p,. 734)

 

When a king of flesh and blood goes to war against his enemies, he sends his soldiers to kill and to be killed.

He may love his soldiers or he may not love them.

He may have regard for them or he may not have regard for them. Even if he has regard for them, however, he regards them as dead, for the angel of death is close upon the heels of a man who goes to war, and accompanies him to kill him. When he is cut down and slain by an arrow or a sword or any of the other instruments of destruction, another man is put in his place and the king does not sense his lack, for the nations are many and their troops are many. If one of them is killed, the king has many replacements.

But our King, the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, wants life and loves peace And pursues peace and loves His people Israel. He chose us, and not because we are a large nation, for we are one of the smallest of nations.

Owing to the love with which He loves us - and we are few - each one of us is, for Him, an entire legion. For he does not have many replacements for us. If one of us is missing, heaven forefend, the King's forces are diminished, and His kingdom is weakened, as it were. For His kingdom lacks one of His legions, and His greatness is lessened.

(S.Y. Agnon, Preface to Kaddish - to be recited by the bier of Israel's fallen.

Adopted From Leon Wieseltier's translation in "Kaddish")

 

Pleasing Odor, Nahat Ruah, the Will of the Lord

A pleasing odor - Nahat ruah [Nahat Ruah can be translated as "satisfaction," "gratification," "tranquility," "serene spirit," "pleasure"] - pleasure - for me, for I spoke and my will was executed.

(Rashi, Bemidbar 28:8)

 

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the reyah nikhoah [pleasing odor] , and the Lord said to Himself: Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man's mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.

(Bereishit 8:20-21)

 

Reyah nikhoah does not mean "pleasant odor" but rather: the satisfaction of the request and aspirations of the other.

(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, Bereishit 8:21)

 

What need have I of all your sacrifices? says the Lord. I am sated with burnt offerings of rams and suet of fatlings, and blood of bulls; I have no delight in lambs and he-goats. That you come to appear before Me - who asked that of you? Trample My courts no more; Bringing oblations is futile, incense is offensive to Me. New moon and Sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide.

(Isaiah 1:11-13)

 

What need have I of all your sacrifices - Rabbi Elazar said: Prayer is superior to all offerings, for it is written What need have I of all your sacrifices and it is written, And when you lift up your hands... Though you pray at length, I will not listen. Rabbi Yohanan said: Any priest who has killed someone shall not lift his arms [to bless], as is written, Your hands are stained with blood.

(Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah 247:387)

 

Then the offerings [minhat] of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord - In the future, an abundance of knowledge will spread and will penetrate even animals. They will not do evil nor will they destroy on the mount of My holiness, because the earth will be full with knowledge of the Lord and that offering which will then be the minha offering - from the vegetable - shall be pleasant to the Lord as in the days of yore.

(Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Olat R'IYaH p. 282)

 

But it is obvious that in these days of enlightenment there will be no such concept of pleasing the Lord with tens of thousands of streams of oil.

(Rabbi Hayyim Hirschenson: Malki Bakodesh, Part 1, p. 32)

 

 

 

 

 

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