Shabbat-B'Shabbato – Parshat Pinchas (Abroad: Parshat ) No 1633: 17 Tammuz 5776 (23 July 2016)

AS SHABBAT APPROACHES Pinchas and Eliyahu in the Post-Modern World: A Challenge and a Need - by Esti Rosenberg, Head of the Midrasha for Women, Migdal Oz

This week we have the privilege of reading about Eliyahu in the , which gives us an opportunity to compare two figures, Pinchas and Eliyahu. In what way are they the same, and how do they differ?

We are told that Pinchas "was zealous about My vengeance" [Bamidbar 25:11], while Eliyahu said, "I was zealous for G-d" [Melachim I 19:10]. The zealous reaction against illicit sexual acts leads Pinchas to react quickly, clearly showing the nation the error of their way. In return, the Holy One, Blessed be He, makes a covenant of peace with him. The Haftarah, on the other hand, describes the end of Eliyahu's long career of defending G-d's honor, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, replaces him by Elisha.

What is the difference between Pinchas and Eliyahu?

The Holy One, Blessed be He, testifies that Pinchas "was zealous about My vengeance among them, so that I did not destroy Bnei Yisrael with My zeal." By his action, Pinchas brings the Holy One, Blessed be He, closer to the people. Not only does he take an extreme position in favor of G-d, by doing so he stops the plague that is taking place, and in that way he forms a stronger bond between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the people. Pinchas succeeds in bringing the word of G-d to the world and to the nation, strongly and with his hand held high, while at the same time he acts within the nation – "He was zealous about My vengeance among them." Eliyahu, on the other hand, is not able to act within the people, rather he takes the side of the Creator while he remains alone, in despair, in the desert. "For Bnei Yisrael abandoned Your covenant... And I am alone" [Melachim I 19:10]. As opposed to Pinchas, who remains deeply attached to the nation, Eliyahu leaves the people. The criticizes Eliyahu: "Eliyahu defended the honor of the father (the Holy One, Blessed be He) but not the honor of the son (the nation of Yisrael)... He said to Eliyahu, I cannot accept your prophecy." [Mechilta]. The jealousy and fanaticism of Pinchas is acceptable, while the jealousy and fanaticism of Eliyahu is not.

The Holy One, Blessed be He, reveals Himself to Eliyahu – "After the wind there was an earthquake, but G-d was not in the earthquake, and after the quake there was fire, but G-d was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a thin sound of silence" [Melachim I 19:12]. G-d appears through the silence and teaches Eliyahu about the proper relationship between extremism, moderation, and leadership. Malbim is very precise in his commentary:

"He showed Eliyahu that in wind, earthquakes, and fire G-d does not appear - but only in a thin sound of silence. From this His messengers and should learn not to raise a tumult, not to make loud noise, and not to light flames... For G-d will send His prophets to appear in a thin silent sound, in order to draw the nation to Him with bonds of love and soft words."

In the post-modern world, where clear and definitive values lose from their importance – the absolute and extremist figures of Pinchas and Eliyahu take on a special shine and glow. But it is important for us to be careful and not to lose our contact with the community through our actions. Let us declare the word of G-d in a clear voice, but always with bonds of love and with blessings. This is a difficult task which requires courage, truth, clarity, and faith.

Pinchas "was zealous about G-d's vengeance - among them" – Both parts of this verse are necessary and neither half stands alone.

POINT OF VIEW 1 The IDF Chief and the Kohen Anointed for War - by Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, Dean of the Zomet Institute

"Pinchas Ben Elazar, the son of Aharon HaKohen, calmed my anger... Therefore declare, I hereby give him my covenant of peace, and he and his descendants after him will have a covenant of eternal priesthood." [Bamidbar 25:11-13].

"And Moshe sent them to the army, a thousand men from each tribe, together with Pinchas Ben Elazar the Kohen, to the army. And in his hands he held the holy vessels and the trumpets for blasting." [31:6].

"Elisheva Bat Eminadav achieved five crowns in one day: Her brother-in-law (Moshe) became King, her brother (Nachshon) was appointed a head of a tribe, her husband (Aharon) became High Priest, her two sons (Nadav and Avihu) were Deputy High Priests, and her grandson Pinchas was the priest anointed for war." [ Rabba 20].

"And the people of Yisrael asked G-d... And Pinchas Ben Elazar Ben Aharon stood before them on that day. And they asked: Shall we continue to wage war against our brother Binyamin or should we stop? And G-d said: Rise up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands." [Shoftim 20:27-28].

Priesthood and the Army

The Israeli army is a central anchor of stability in Israeli society as a whole. This is even more so for those of us who grew up within religious Zionism, and who view the establishment of the State of as the thrust of the wings of "the beginning of the redemption." For me and for those like me, the character of the Jewish army is a spiritual goal and a challenge. There can be no greater symbol of a Jewish nation than to have a national army. For sure, we are well aware that the atmosphere in the IDF is a far cry from our dreams of "the soldiers of King ," but in spite of any perceived lack, our IDF is the ultimate realm where it is possible to see the encounter between religious and secular living with our own eyes. This fact is reflected in a number of lines in the general orders of the Chief of Staff of the IDF, with the purpose of allowing combined living in such areas as kashrut, Shabbat observance, "appropriate gender integration," the status of attached to specific commands, giving soldiers a Tanach when they receive their rifles, and other Jewish symbols in the IDF.

Out of this range of Jewish symbols, we can raise the banner of the figure of "The Kohen Anointed for War," who is charged with maintaining the spirit and motivation, together with Jewish awareness, in case of war. The first one to be appointed to this post was the hero of this week's portion, Pinchas, who was Aharon's grandson. He was given this appointment, as is seen in the quote above from the Midrash. His was a personal appointment together with a medal of "eternal priesthood," in recognition of his dedication and self-sacrifice which are described at the end of last week's Torah portion and the beginning of this week. Next week, in the war against Midyan in the Torah portion of Mattot, we will see that during the battle Pinchas was not stationed at the or in a school for new priests.

The Kohen anointed for war stands in the front line of battle. His equipment consists of a surprising combination: "the holy vessels and the trumpets for blasting" – as quoted above. This unique personal load – holy vessels and the trumpets leading a charge – goes along with the priest's complex task, which at first glance appears to entail an internal conflict: a priest who is anointed for war! Without a doubt, the "trumpets for blasting" are a form of "Order of the Day" and a way to instill a fighting spirit among the soldiers.

The New Chief Rabbi of the IDF

The appointment of a new Chief Rabbi in the IDF has just been announced, Rabbi Lieutenant Colonel Ayal Krim. He can be definitely characterized as a man of both letters and military prowess. He has been widely praised in the

2 press by both IDF commanders and rabbis, and it is not my place to minimize his image and his skills by adding my own words.

However, the traitors of Haaretz and their cohorts cannot abide having such a definitive symbol of in the Israel Defense Forces. A principled rabbinate is a thorn in the side of the priests of the "religion of empathy for the other." They want only to create a secular state of Israel like "all the other nations," and they scorn anything that is related to us and to Judaism. They dug deep and found some Torah declarations made by the rabbi (including Midrashic and highly theoretical interpretations), and "hung him out to dry" in the town square, even though they knew full well that this does not correspond to his practical actions and to his approach in his future role. In the same way, they attacked the Commander of the Givati Brigade, Colonel Ofer Vinter, who dared in an Order of the Day in Operation Protective Edge in Azza to quote from the words of the Priest Anointed for War as a way of enhancing the fighting spirit (including even among nonreligious and non-Jews!). And they are now avidly attacking the character of Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, one of the leaders of the Eli army prep school, which provides first-rate officers for the IDF, who happen to wear a kippa under their helmets. His grave sin: a Jewish and Torah-true statement which does not correspond to the current wave of "post-" permissiveness. They scream and spit out: "Stop all support for his institution, and do it now!"

Hypocrisy

The best way to describe such people is in the words of our sages. They are "hypocrites... whose actions are those of but who demand the rewards of Pinchas" [Sotta 22b]. The hypocrisy cries out in reaction to the lack of an outcry against the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Yair Golan, who made an anti-national declaration on Holocaust Memorial Day. The hypocrisy is evident in their support for marginal people from the extreme leftist sector, who occupy senior academic positions and who support a boycott of Israel. In this way, they have gained hypocritical support from the "enlightened" people of Haaretz. Their institutions are given general financial support, sometimes from money whose source is hypocritical in itself...

(Written after the end of Shabbat, Torah portion of Balak.)

NOTES FROM THE HAFTARAH A Sound of Silence - by Rabbi Oury Cherki, Machon Meir, Rabbi of Beit Yehuda Congregation, Jerusalem

What is the meaning of the Divine revelation to the Eliyahu at Mount Chorev? The explanation given by Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook is well known, that in a way it was a lesson for Eliyahu, accompanied by a scolding, since his zealous defense of G-d was not perfect and was tainted by a personal matter, when he said, "They wanted to kill me" [Melachim I 19:10,14]. However, this still leaves us with a need to understand the nature of Eliyahu's vision, which took place in several stages.

Eliyahu leaves his young assistant behind in Beer Sheva (19:3), just as Avraham left his young servants when he started to climb up to the Binding of Yitzchak. Eliyahu goes into the desert and asks to die, similar to the way that Yitzchak was willing to be brought up as a sacrifice. And an rescues Eliyahu, reminiscent of the rescue of Yitzchak. The angel gives him another command, to eat cake baked on coals and to drink from a flask of water, reminiscent of the way that Yitzchak ate when he was about to bless his son Yaacov. Thus, all that happens until this point is a repeat of the actions of the , specifically the process of elimination which led to the choosing of Yisrael. This all hints that once Yisrael was chosen it was wrong for Eliyahu to give up on the nation.

From this point on, Eliyahu's actions can be compared to those of Moshe. He does not eat for forty days and forty nights, and he climbs up to the cave where Moshe spent his time on Mount Sinai. However, instead of defending the

3 people as Moshe did, he accuses them: "Bnei Yisrael have abandoned Your covenant!" [19:10]. And he is therefore told to leave the cave, as opposed to Moshe who received a revelation. For Eliyahu, we are told, "Behold, G-d passed by" [19:11]. With Moshe, it is written, "And G-d passed in front of him" [ 23:6], revealing the trait of mercy. In Eliyahu's case, the harsh trait of justice was revealed, with its destructive power: "A great and powerful wind which smashes mountains and shatters rocks before G-d" [Melachim I 19:11].

It may well be that the same wind is what caused rocks to fall from Mount Sinai in the time of Moshe, when anybody who climbed up the mountain would be "stoned or thrown down" [Shemot 19:13]. The phenomena of an earthquake and fire also took place in Moshe's time: "And the mountain trembled very much" [19:18], and "the appearance of the glory of G-d was like a fire devouring the peak of the mountain" [24:17]. However, Eliyahu is taught that "G-d does not appear in the wind... or the earthquake, or the fire," since the name of "yud-heh-vav-heh" indicates mercy, which is the proper trait for leading the nation. Wind, earthquake, and fire are elements of punishment: Storms in this world, a quake when the soul leaves the body, and fire in Gehenom. As opposed to these, a "thin sound of silence" [Melachim I 19:12] denotes patience and mercy as a way of leading. On seeing this, Eliyahu "wrapped his face in his cloak" [19:13], similar to Moshe who put a mask on his face when he was told that G-d had forgiven the nation for the sin of the Golden Calf. And then Eliyahu was privileged to experience another revelation, "And behold, there was a voice" [ibid], reminding us of what Moshe heard in the Tent of Meeting, coming from the space between the two "keruvim."

WHEN THE CHILDREN OPEN THEIR HEARTS Pay Attention! - by Meirav Maggeni, Author of Content and Stories in Chemed, the Religious School System

She is prettier than I am, smarter than I am, and has an endless number of friends (who are always speaking to her on the phone). She is funny and creative, and wherever she is people pay attention to her. Who is it, you ask? It's my big sister, Tamar. Don't get the wrong idea. It's not that I don't love her, or that I don't enjoy being with her. Everybody says that there have never been sisters closer than we are, but the truth is that inside, in my heart, I often feel a pinch. I guess that is what is called "jealousy."

Just listen to what happened one Shabbat, when my grandparents and some aunts and uncles came for a visit.

The Shabbat meal was especially merry. We sang, we shared Torah insights. Tamar was continuously getting compliments for the tasty cake that she had baked and for the amazing answers she had given to Abba's questions about the Torah portion. Tamar's name kept coming up in the discussion, for a number of different reasons. And what about me? As time went on, I began to feel like a snail in danger which had to crawl back into its shell. This time, in my heart, I really felt jealous. I began to think, "Just look how they are all praising Tamar all the time, but what about me? Why doesn't anybody pay attention to me?"

When we were clearing away the dishes, Tamar turned to me quietly, and she said, "Hey, sister, what's the matter?" I didn't answer, but Tamar was able to surprise me, as usual. She said, "I know what's bothering you, the same thing happened to me." But I told her straight out. "No, you don't know what is bothering me. It could never happen to you. Go ahead, tell me why I am upset."

Tamar gave me a mysterious smile, and gave me a barrage of questions, without waiting for any answers. "Did you see how Savta got so excited about your dress? She said you have excellent taste. Did you see how Sabba's eyes opened wide when you read the essay that you wrote. He said that your writing is excellent for your age. Did you see how much praise Imma gave you

4 for the salads you made, and how Aunt Nava enjoyed the jokes you told her on the way home from the ?"

Tamar didn't make anything up, everything she mentioned really happened. But how could it be that I didn't notice any of it? Why did I get the feeling that I was not a success and that nobody was interested in me? Tamar didn't leave me any room for doubts, it was almost as if she could read my mind. She told me, "If you look at yourself in a positive way (with a "good eye") you will be able to get to know your good points and how special you really are. Only then will you be able to notice how everybody admires you. It all depends on keeping a good outlook."

I was very surprised. I asked her, "How do you know all this?"

Tamar surprised me again. "I learned the meaning of a good eye from you! When you were born, Sabba and Savta came with all our aunts and uncles to visit. They were very excited about the new baby – that is, about you. They brought you presents and they were very interested in every new thing you learned to do. I felt that I wasn't important anymore, that nobody was interested in me, that nobody cared about me. I was really jealous. One day, I started to cry and I told Imma that I had been sad ever since you were born. Imma gave me a big hug, full of love, and taught me to look at my good side. She showed me to see myself without making any comparisons to others – to see how wonderful I am. It was fun. We made up a game that I still play to this day..."

"Please teach it to me too," I said. So she said, "The name of the game is 'Pay Attention.' The goal is to look at everything about you that is good and to collect good things about you during the day – Things you succeeded in doing, good deeds, good thoughts, and compliments that people gave you. Concentrate on yourself, not on anybody else! No comparisons to others, no bad feelings! And even if you didn't get any compliments, you can give them to yourself. You can have a lot of fun with this. When you look at yourself with a 'good eye' it will warm your heart and you will be happy and you will feel good. At first it might be a bit difficult, but the more you play the longer your daily list of good things will grow."

"Tamar, you're wonderful!" I gave my sister a big hug, and I already felt better. My feeling of jealousy had already begun to dissipate into thin air.

Ever since I started playing the game that Tamar taught me, I feel free and much happier than before, without any foolish jealousy. The game goes with me wherever I go, to school, to our youth movement. I continue playing at night when I go to bed, and it's still there when I wake up in the morning. It has simply become part of me. And now, here is a little secret, an extra benefit of the game: The more I pay attention to the good things in me, the more it makes me want to become even better.

So if you also have a brother or a sister that makes you jealous, or even a neighbor or a cousin, get rid of your feelings – start playing the game!

HOLY AND SECULAR To the Minister of Education – Reactions - by Rabbi Amichai Gordin, Yeshivat Har Etzion

Two weeks ago, we reacted with harsh criticism to the plan of the Minister of Education to place the realm of educating teachers under almost total control of the academic "ivory towers," by giving exclusive responsibility to the Council for Higher Education and the Budget Committee (Malag/Vatat). We received many painful comments about this matter from educators who oppose the behavior of the Ministry of Education in such an important and meaningful area.

I feel that I cannot leave these reactions untouched in my private mailbox. The future of our children depends on the training that their teachers will receive, and we must not allow ourselves to ignore harsh comments from people whose hearts are loving and in pain. I will try to be a spokesman for these comments in the small space allotted to me. 5

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The educators have no complaints about the concept of incorporating academic thought into teacher training. They believe in the importance and power of knowledge, and those who spend most of their time teaching such knowledge do not disparage academic studies. Anybody who has studied and done research for years and attained the status of a doctor or a professor is intelligent and can teach a lot to those who want to teach students.

To integrate higher education into the preparation of teachers is a worthy concept, and nobody will oppose it. However, the problem is the continued and deepening control of the academic world as a whole on teacher training.

The control involves both the realm of knowledge and the training itself. In the area of knowledge, the existing teachers are worried in particular about the study of holy subjects. These must be based not only on external and dry study but also on the internal link between the Torah itself and the great spirit that can be found among the pages of the books. The academic world can contribute to the study of the Torah, but if this study will be based only on an academic approach the result will be cold and disconnected study which lacks any soul. A teacher of oral Torah whose knowledge of the Gemorra is based only on academic studies will find it hard to fire up the students to be enthusiastic about the subject.

The fact that academia will be in control of teacher training upsets the people who wrote to me even more. Three important leading teacher's colleges appointed new heads starting with the coming year. One college appointed a professor of law, another chose a professor of psychology, and the third appointed a professor of international relations. All of these people are important and serious scholars, who are very prominent in their fields. The educators who wrote to me say that they have no problem with the specific people who were chosen. They appreciate that the professors are willing to devote their time to this important subject. They could have all continued to spend their time in research, but instead they have agreed to take positive action to improve the future of our children. We wish them all great success.

However, where is the Ministry of Education in all of this? Where is the Minster of Education? How did the Ministry approve these appointments? Three new heads of teacher colleges were chosen to lead the realm of education, how can it be that not one of them has a basic understanding of the subject of education? Would anybody ever consider appointing a professor of international relationships as the head of a medical school? Is the realm of education so far down in the dumps that it is necessary to appoint as heads of the main institutions that will educate our teachers professors from every other area than education?

The main examples of things that bother those who wrote come from the area of management of the colleges, but they are relevant for the entire system. They range from the required activities of the lecturers in academic pursuits (which will influence their advancement) and not in practical educational experience (since this will not impact on their advancement), and on to the requirement of a minimum number of professors in all the main subject areas, as a criterion of the quality of the colleges. In effect, academia has swallowed up the preparation for teaching.

With pain, it is possible to understand how the Malag will be interested in academic skills to the exclusion of educational training (which explains why it will not budge one inch from the academic requirements, but is not overly worried about educational experience), but many of those who wrote to me do not understand how the Ministry of Education is willing to "sell" teacher education to the world of academia, which will be in total control. How does the Minister of Education let something like this happen?

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6 Ontario, Canada, has a population of about thirteen million. About a decade ago, the province made a dramatic revolution in education. Professor Ben Levine, who headed the process, was once asked how he had succeeded so well. Among other things, Levine pointed out the approach that education is a mass effort, and therefore it will never be possible to have a situation where all the teachers are excellent. Therefore, he explained, we did not try to improve the teachers, we improved the education. These are the teachers we have, and we must give them the best tools, in order to help them succeed. The province of Ontario has shown that such an approach can work. Instead of improving the teachers, they improve the teaching methods.

If we want to improve our educational system, we must improve the system which prepares the teachers. The educational system cannot be viewed as a stepchild of the academic world, which will consider it a minor area of interest. If we want excellent teachers, the realm of preparing teachers must be seen as a preferred child of Israeli society, not as a rejected stepchild.

For reactions and comments: [email protected]

ZOMET AT THE CROSSROADS Shabbat Hotplate - by The Zomet Institute

It is hard for us to imagine how we would observe Shabbat without having a hotplate available. The possibility of eating hot food on Shabbat morning clearly adds to our enjoyment of the Shabbat. Because of the low heat, a hotplate is not capable of cooking anything, and in fact in order to keep the food hot it is usually necessary to cover the pots and sometimes to add even more than one cover. The hotplate maintains a constant relatively low heat, and adding more pots or removing some has no effect on the heat.

In order for a hotplate to be approved by Zomet Institute, we make sure that it does not have a thermostat which turns the electricity on and off to keep it at a desired temperature. If a hotplate does have a thermostat, then adding or removing pots or other utensils would have a direct influence on the heat generated. In addition, we make sure that the heat intensity cannot be adjusted on Shabbat using a switch or a control that can be reached from outside the hotplate. If these conditions are met, we give our approval to the hotplate, so that you will be able to continue enjoying Shabbat the way you deserve.

RIDDLE OF THE WEEK by Yoav Shelosberg, Director of "Quiz and Experience"

Pinchas A figure in the Torah portion Is connected both to good and to evil. (With our thanks to Shulamit Citron from Bnei Berak.)

Answers for last week – the riddle was: He is an animal which appears in the writings of a prominent author. His father has wings. - The answer: Balak son of Tzipor. - "Balak" is a dog who figures prominently in Shai Agnon's book, "Temol Shilshom." - "Tzipor" – a bird, which has wings.

(With thanks to Mehachem Steinmetz from Petach Tikva.)

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We will be happy to publish your riddles here, with proper credit to the author. Send your suggestions to the e-mail address given below.

Do you have a bar/bat mitzva coming up? Are you looking for a special quiz? To order: www.hidonim.com e-mail: [email protected] 7

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SHABBAT-ZOMET is an extract from SHABBAT-B'SHABBATO, a weekly bulletin distributed free of charge in hundreds of in Israel. It is published by the Zomet Institute of Alon Shevut, Israel, under the auspices of the National Religious Party. Translated by: Moshe Goldberg To subscribe: http://www.zomet.org.il/eng/?pg=subscribe&CategoryID=165 Visit the Zomet Institute web site: http://www.zomet.org.il Contact Zomet with comments about this bulletin or questions on the link between modern technology and halacha at: [email protected] Or: Phone: +972-2-9931442; FAX: +972-2-9931889 (Attention: Dan Marans) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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