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CHUKAT CONTINUED - D’VAR TORAH GIVEN BY SIGAL HIRSCH - JULY 9, 2022

וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּחַיִּ֔ים – Choose life!

Parashat Nitzavim contains this famous commandment. We read in Devarim, chapter 30, “This day, I call upon the heaven and the earth as witnesses: I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live.”

The text continues, לְאַֽהֲבָה֙ אֶת ה' אֱלֹקיךָ לִשְׁמֹ֥עַ בְּקֹל֖וֹ וּלְדָבְקָה־ב֑וֹ כִּ֣י ה֤וּא חַיֶּ֨יךָ֙  - “To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. For that is your life and the length of your days, to dwell on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them.”

Nitzavim equates “life” with loving God, listening to God and cleaving to Him. There is an explicit line of connection between God, holiness and life. “כִּ֣י ה֤וּא חַיֶּ֨יךָ֙ וְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמֶ֔יךָ” – For that is your life and the length of your days.

Our tradition emphasizes this point time and time again. There is the concept of Piku’ach Nefesh – that saving a life comes before almost every mitzvah commanded of us by God, with just three exceptions – idolatry, forbidden sexual relationships and murder. With Piku’ach Nefesh, preservation of life comes takes precedence over nearly every halachic observance.

In Ve’etchanan, Moses reminds the people of all the mitzvot – the חֻקִּ֖ים וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֑ים – that they must keep when they cross over into the land of Israel, but adds “וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם מְאֹ֖ד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם” – And you shall keep, or protect your souls, very well. Once again, there is the caveat that comes along with the commandments – yes, the people must observe the laws that God has set forth, but they also must care for themselves, uphold life above all else.

This week we read parashat Chukat. The pararshah begins with discussion of the פרה אדומה – the red heifer. It continues with the death of Miriam. After Miriam’s death, the Well of Miriam dries up, and the Israelites do not have water. God tells Moses and Aaron to gather the people around a rock, to speak to the rock, and it will bring forth water. Infamously, Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to it, and God says that Moses and Aaron will not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel after leading them out of Egypt and through the desert. Soon after, Aaron dies, passing on the High Priest role to his son Elazar atop Mount Hor. Amidst complaining over lack of water and boredom over manna, the Israelites finally reach the banks of the Jordan River, just across from the city of Jericho.

While this parashah holds many moments of great significance in the Israelites’ journey to the Land of Israel, I’d like to focus on just the beginning, the description of the Parah Adumah.

The parashah begins with God speaking to Moses and Aaron, saying “זֹ֚את חֻקַּ֣ת הַתּוֹרָ֔ה” – this is the “חוק” of the Torah. In the Torah, there are two types of laws – חוקים  and משפטים. The difference between the two is that משפטים are said to have discernable logic and reasoning as to why we must follow those decrees, whereas חוקים make no sense. These are laws that we are to follow only on the basis that God commanded them. We can do our best to try to understand and explain, but no reason is given by God, and the logic behind חוקים is certainly not obvious.

In parashat Behar, God says “וַֽעֲשִׂיתֶם֙ אֶת־חֻקֹּתַ֔י וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ” – different verbs are even used for the two types of laws – for חוקים, לעשות – to do, and for משפטים – לשמור – to keep, guard or protect. With the verb used for משפטים, לשמור – there is a connotation of emotional or intellectual connection, or understanding. After all, if you are to keep or protect something, ideally, you’d have a sense of why it’s of such importance. We keep Shabbat, because God rested on the 7th day and made it holy, and so we are to be holy, like God. Emotion – check, logic and explanation outlined – check. Whereas for חוקים – God says – ועשיתם – you must do them. The same verb is said by the Israelites upon receiving the Torah, when they famously say נעשה ונשמע – we will do and we will hear/listen – often interpreted to mean that first they will do, then understand.

משפטים include not taking bribes, not stealing – laws that are fairly clear in any morally-based society why we should follow them. חוקים include not eating pork, and one of the most seemingly random mitzvot – the law against wearing shatnez, a blend of wool and linen.

The Parah Adumah is presented as חוקת התורה – THE חוק of the Torah. Scholars say it is the “Super חוק” – that defies all reason and logic. It is more mysterious, less rationally understood than even other חוקים, which we are not intended to understand anyway! King Solomon famously said, “I had said I would become wise—but it is far from me.” The Midrash continues, “With all other [laws of the Torah] I held my footing, but when it comes to the teaching of the heifer, I analyzed, I asked and I researched [without understanding].”

The Parah Adumah relates to the concepts of טהרה and טומאה – which are translated as ritual purity and impurity. Specifically, the Parah Adumah is the “cure” given for the state of טומאה that a person acquires after being in contact or close proximity with a dead body. While other religions speak of purity and impurity in a way that implies cleanliness or filth, deeply imbued with moral connotations, ritual purity in Judaism is all about life and death.

Rituals for טהרה include ritual handwashing upon waking in the morning, done immediately after we say מודה אני – thanking God for returning our souls to us once again. The other widely known state of טומאה – ritual impurity – is a menstruating woman. When menstruating, the womb expels the unfertilized egg, and Jewish law recognizes the possibility for life unfulfilled.

Water is the purifying agent for most cases of טומאה – ritual handwashing or dipping in the mikvah. Contact with a dead body, even to the point of being withing the same “tent” or building, renders a person טמא. And for this form of טומאה – the most “severe” form – there is only one complete remedy, the Parah Adumah.

The Torah outlines the requirements for the red heifer in great detail, in addition to the purification ritual. The heifer must be completely red – it cannot have even two black hairs. The heifer cannot have done any work it its life – it cannot have had a yoke on its back or have mated. The cow would be slaughtered and burned along with a cedar branch, hyssop sprig and crimson wool.

Then, the ashes would be mixed with water from the Shiloach spring. Anyone who had come in contact with the dead would be sprinkled with the ash water on the third and seventh days after they had become טמא. On the seventh day, they’d immerse themselves in the mikvah, and that night they would once again be טהר.

Incredibly specific, and no reason I can possibly glean. Why a cow? A heifer in particular? Why red? Sages have suggested that the red color represents the passion and urges within. Why burn the cow to ashes and mix it with water? Why the cedar, the hyssop, the wool? There is no clear answer that even the wisest of our ancestors, King Solomon, could determine.

So instead, let’s consider the symbolism of such a ritual. A dead animal is טמא, and a person who touches that animal “contracts” that status. However, that person can become טהר simply by immersing in a mikvah. And yet, as Jews, we are permitted to eat dead animals – but only when they have undergone Shechita – ritual slaughter. This intention, this ritual, this infusion of holiness and respect for the animal’s life, renders upon it a different status – not just not טמא, but כשר – fit for our consumption.

Judaism is a religion of doing, of practice. The meaning behind an act is important, but doing the act even more so. We have additional practices that may seem almost silly, but in doing them, we add meaning and intention, increasing our holiness. Before Pesach, we are commanded to rid our homes of hametz. A person abiding most strictly by the law would have to get rid of everything – either throw it out or donate it. The rabbis created a halachic loophole for us, allowing us to pack away our hametz, selling it to a non-Jew before Pesach, with it reverting back to the original owner after Pesach. A person may choose to simply pack their hametz away in a closet, pretending it is not there. But, by selling it, we add intention and also fulfill the commandment according to halachah.

That’s a matter of crumbs, but here we’re speaking of life and death. We are commanded to do this seemingly absurd and specific ritual to purify ourselves after coming in contact with the dead. Why? To remind us -  וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּחַיִּ֔ים – choose life. Don’t treat death cavalierly. Don’t seek it out. If a person must be faced with the pain of having to be close to a person who has died, acknowledge that pain, acknowledge that according to Judaism, that proximity has now placed you in a different status. During Temple times you would not be able to enter the sacred space of the Temple and engage in the sacred rituals within its walls. We are not permitted to engage in the holiest practices of Judaism while in that state of טומאה.

Loving God, cleaving to God, that is your life. And so, when exposed to death, God prescribed ritual cleansing and time, through a process that relied on something so rare, that no Jewish person would ever hesitate to value and protect life. -וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם מְאֹ֖ד לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם

 Shabbat Shalom.

PARASHA Matot-Masei - GIVEN BY RINA SHAMOUN - jULY 30, 2022

Last Shabbat, in Parashat Pinchas, we had the beginning teachings of right and wrong, lesson of conduct and behavior between man and G-d, between human beings and humane animal treatment. The Israelite were taught about Equality, Non-Discrimination and Punishment and Reward.

Parashot Matot-Masei conclude Sefer Bamidbar (meaning in the desert) with Benai Israel camped at the shores of the river Jordan, ready to enter the land of Canaan. These Parashot continue with the lesson of conduct and behavior addressing different issues, seemingly with no relation to each other.

Matot starts with rules relating to personal responsibilities, vows made by males and females, where, even though, both are responsible for their vows and commitment, the ultimate responsibility for vows made by females, lays with the man in their life, a father, or a husband.

It than moves to the command to go after Midian in a holy war to avenge G-d. This was the first time the Jewish people formed an official Army. It continues to discuss the rules of dividing the spoil of the war. Special instructions are given, regarding the Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass, Tin and Lead. They had to be burned & melted. I can’t help thinking, it was to avoid a repeat of the עגל, the Calf the Israelite have built in the desert to worship.

The Israelites are now standing on the threshold of life changing. From slaves to desert wanderers to life of self responsibly and accountability. Like a child entering adulthood. When the parent no longer tells them what to do, but warn them or rebuke them, leaving the decisions in their hands.

You see that when the tribes of Reuven, Gad and Half of Menashe requesting to remain on the east side of the Jordan River and not cross to the land of Canaan. That angers Moshe, but understanding he has to let go, Moshe eventually relents by letting them settle in the east side of the Jordan river on the condition that they help their brothers with the war for the land. Here is another lesson TO GET SOME, YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOME.

Masei starts with “these are the travels of the children of Israel who left Egypt”.

The Torah makes a point of naming each place the people passed through and the miracles or punishments that happened there.

It continues to say “Moshe wrote their exit and travels, on the command of G-d, על פי אדוני. That implies that there was indeed importance for the Israelites to remember where they had been.

It continues with Moshe naming all the places they will be going through in the land of Canaan and the order in which they will travel, once crossing the river Jordan.

Why did G-d and Moshe found it necessary, to name each place the Israelite went through in the desert, to the new generation who had no clue where it was, or of naming each place once crossing the river Jordan? Traditional interpreters have been guided by the assumption that, each and every story in the Torah serves a purpose.

The Torah makes a point of mentioning every single place that the Israelites settled so that readers—who are presumably expected to know where these places are—can see the entire narrative as a long journey with a specific destination at the end. From Abraham’s first journey to the west to the final chapters of the Torah with Israel poised to enter the land.

Moral of the story: you can’t face the future without remembering the past.

G-d than proceeds to map out the boarders of the land the Israelites are to conquer.

Masei conclude with the last command and instructions G-d gives to the Israelites, through Moshe, of the cities to be built, to whom and for what purpose. Cities for the tribe of Levi and the cities of refuge, as well as the size of land each tribe is to receive and the importance of keeping the land within that tribe. The Torah proceeds to set the rules of Judgement and punishment in the event of murder or accidental killing.

We, in the Diaspora try to stay in sync with Israel, at least as far as the Torah readings goes. We’ve been a week apart since June when the 2nd day of Shavuot was on Shabbat in the golah, but a regular Shabbat in Israel. That put Israel one parashah ahead. Last Shabbat when we read Pinchas, in Israel they read Matot. This Shabbat they read Masei and we Read Matot-Masei. By combining the two parashot, as of next week, we’re in sync and in the same place, as we should be!

CHUKAT CONTINUED - D’VAR TORAH GIVEN BY Susan pavane - JULY 16, 2022

Thank You to Rich for the opportunity to give this D’var Torah,

Even though it’s a little scary to do this, I’ve always like this parsha. I think being a former elementary and nursery school teacher a story with a talking donkey is right up my alley. Spoiler alert – I don’t have a deep text revelation about this parsha, mostly I have a lot of but it’s a good story!

Balak is one of six parshas in the Torah that are named for people who are central characters – two for non-Jews, all for righteous people, not counting that Korach started a rebellion, caused a plague, but he thought he was helping the Jewish people all except for Balak - he was trying to destroy the Jewish people. Why was it named for him?

Balak was the king of Moab, he was scared as the Israelites approached his land, afraid they would defeat his army, overrun his country, so he did what a scared king does he called on the greatest prophet, sometimes referred to as a wizard, of the land - Bilaam (even their names are confusing?) to come and curse the Jews. Why not ask him instead to bless the Moabites?

Bilaam, who is not Jewish doesn’t answer the messengers until he consults with God. Interesting that he as a reverence and fear of the Jewish God and through a dream God tells him not do it so he refuses to go. Balak sends the messengers back again, promising Bilaam silver and gold, anything he wants. This is where the straight reading seems like Bilaam is willing to listen to God, but God gives him the freedom to use his free will to go if he wants to, and he does, but he must say what God tells him to say, yet it seems God really didn’t want him to go? Why not just tell him not to go?

It says Bilaam saddles up his donkey quickly and leaves right away which indicates he really wants to do this and get his money, that he was anxious to curse the Jews. In fact, the term Bilaamite can mean a greedy, not so nice person.

On the way, three times his donkey swerves off the road, presses Bilaam’s foot against the wall, stops abruptly and finally lies down in the middle of the road. Each time Bilaam beats him with a stick and threatens to kill him. Finally, God opens the donkey’s mouth so she can speak (yes, the donkey is referred to as a she) she says ‘why are you beating me? I’ve always been a loyal donkey; don’t you see there is an angel from God blocking the road?’ Balaam then sees the angel; he acknowledges he was wrong. The angel warns him again to only say what God tells him to say. Interesting the great prophet doesn’t see the angel, but the lowly donkey does?

When Bilaam gets to Moab he is treated royally. Balak builds altars and makes sacrifices, then takes Bilaam to see the Jewish people below them and curse them. The first time he sees a portion of the Israelite camp. Bilaam says that God will not let me curse these people, I must say what God tells me to say, some of what he says is:

‘No harm is insight for Jacob, No woe in view for Israel. the Lord their god is with them ‘

‘May my fate be like theirs!’ The second time the same thing happens.

Of course, Balak is furious and the third time he takes Bilaam to see the entire camp below him, tribe by tribe, this time is different, Bilaam begins with. ‘Word of Bilaam son of Beor,  Word of the man whose eye is true Who hears God’s speech’

He isn’t saying God’s words, this time he sincerely praises and blesses the Jewish people. He didn’t have to include the beautiful descriptions of the Israelites. Bilaam has changed and his curses turned into blessings. Some say this is the essence of the parsha, it demonstrates that God always watches over the Jewish people. Realize that no Israelites knew about this, not even Moses, but God was still protecting the Israelites in all different ways and wouldn’t let Bilaam curse them.

One message I take away is that we don’t know people until we really know people, until we see them up close. Balaam believed what Balak said about the Jewish people and said the first two times what God wanted him to say but didn’t mean it. The third time after he saw the Jewish people up close, he saw how they lived together, created community, respected each other’s privacy by not facing their entrances directly looking into another tent, he changed, and he sincerely praised them

With people and with ideas/opinions, we can believe all kinds of things we are told, we see a lot of this today, but we have to determine for ourselves what is true, not what kings and talking heads tell us.

In his praise Bilaam included, and didn’t have to, the beautiful line that is repeated in the morning it is the only prayer commonly used in Jewish services that was written by a non-Jew.

Ma tovu ohalekha Ya'akov, mishk'notekha Yisra'el.

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!

Shabbat Shalom

PARASHA Devarimi - GIVEN BY Stuart Stein - august 6, 2022