BS"D perhaps a respected sage positioned to address the many spiritual crises that certainly will affect the nascent nation. Therefore there can be no greater expression of Moshe's commitment to To: [email protected] his approach and no greater instruction as to its importance, than to insist From: [email protected] with Hashem's consent, when the nation is experiencing formative and altogether new experiences, that the next leader be focused on the INTERNET PARSHA SHEET individual. Perhaps Moshe is stressing that ultimately our leaders will be measured by ON - 5766 PINCHAS the closeness to Hashem that their charges have achieved. This life long pursuit of "deveikus" (closeness to Hashem) varies from person to person In our 11th cycle! To receive this parsha sheet, go to http://www.parsha.net and click Subscribe or send and is crafted by personal challenges and triumphs. Thus one who has been a blank e-mail to [email protected] Please also copy me at disciplined to see and focus upon the strengths and concerns of others [email protected] A complete archive of previous issues is now available at will be invaluable in shaping lives that are meaningful and genuine in their http://www.parsha.net It is also fully searchable. quest for greater spirituality ("ruchniyus"). ________________________________________________ Copyright © 2006 by The TorahWeb Foundation. All rights reserved. Audio (MP3 and CD) - http://www.TorahWeb.org/audio Video - To sponsor an issue of the Internet Parsha Sheet (proceeds to Tzedaka) http://www.TorahWeb.org/video Divrei Torah - email [email protected] http://www.torahweb.org/dvarTorahIndex.html Shiurim of Rav ________________________________________________ Soloveitchik zt"l - http://www.torahweb.org/ravSet.html Palm Pilot TorahWeb Archive - http://www.TorahWeb.org/palm to subscribe, email From: [email protected] on behalf of TorahWeb.org "[email protected]", with the following ONLY in the body of [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1:26 PM To: the email: subscribe weeklydt [email protected] Subject: Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger - Leadership ______________________________________________ Focused on the Individual The HTML version of this dvar Torah can be found at: From: [email protected] on behalf of Rabbi Yissocher Frand http://www.torahweb.org/thisWeek.html [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 11:30 PM To: Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger [email protected] Subject: Rabbi Frand on Parshas Pinchas Leadership Focused on the Individual "RavFrand" List - Rabbi Frand on Parshas Pinchas - As we begin our yearly mourning for Yerushalaim and Bais Hamikdosh, ironically, the parshas hashavua relates Moshe Rabeinu's initial Grandson of Aharon -- The Lover of Peace & Pursuer of Peace preparations for his own decreed death and his children's subsequent entry Parshas Pinchas is somewhat of a sequel to the events that happened in into Israel. Moshe counts the people one more time, an event which Rashi the previous parsha [Balak]. In parshas Balak, one of the more sordid likens to a shepherd returning the flock with which he was entrusted. Next incidents in the history of the Jewish people occurred. A leader of one of we are reminded of the rules that will govern the distribution of the land. the tribes of Israel publicly and brazenly had relations with a non-Jewish Following that, Moshe concerns himself with his own successor, who will woman in front of the entire community. People were so stunned by this lead the conquest and begin to establish and organize tribal territories and event that they literally did not know what to do. cities. The pasuk [verse] says that Pinchas saw this and he remembered It is here that Moshe gives us a definitive insight into his notion of (according to the Talmud in Sanhedrin [82a]) the law which Moshe had Jewish leadership. Introducing his request that the next leader be previously taught -- that when an individual is having relations with a non- announced, Moshe addresses Hashem as the "G-d of spirits of all people". Jewish woman in public, a person has the right to take the law into his This uncommon reference to Hashem, according to Rashi, refers to His own hands. Pinchas, acting on this law, killed both the man and the infinite capacity to relate to everyone's personal needs and stresses. woman. The plague (which had broken out amongst the people) then Following Rashi's comment, by addressing Hashem in this way Moshe is ceased. advocating that Jewish leaders should, above all else, embody these The narration in Parshas Pinchas continues at this point: "Pinchas the son aspects of Hashem. Thus, Moshe requests that Hashem appoints a person of Elazar the son of Aharon the Priest, returned my anger ... therefore I am who understands that every individual comes with strengths and granting him My Covenant of Peace" [Bamidbar 25:11]. Rash"i here cites a weaknesses and who pays attention to individual pursuits and very famous Medrash, which explains why the Torah goes to such great aggravations. Hashem accepts Moshe's concern and appoints Yehoshua by lengths to tell us the genealogy of Pinchas: Some members of the saying that he is a "man in whom there is spirit" which, explains Rashi, is community were skeptical about the use of such brazen tactics, killing a person who is attuned to the individual makeup and spirit. someone publicly. They cynically traced his behavior to that of his maternal All of this in and of itself should not surprise us. After all, Moshe himself grandfather, Yisro, who in his earlier years had "fattened calves for idol is faulted by his father in law for investing himself in the disputes and worship". People began to murmur, "How does this grandson of a Priest of questions of individual Jews, at a time when others may have developed Idolatry have the audacity to kill the Prince of one of the tribes of Israel?" elaborate strategies for teaching and implementing the newly revealed Therefore, the pasuk traced his genealogy to Aharon -- his paternal Torah law. Indeed, according to medrash, Moshe displayed this focus on grandfather. the individual while still a humble shepherd, running after a runaway Why did tracing Pinchas' genealogy to Aharon satisfy anyone? Everyone sheep, bringing it back to the group, selflessly concerned for its wellbeing realized that Pinchas had two grandfathers. What does it help that he was on the way. the grandson of Aharon? No one disputed that. This would not seem to Nevertheless, we cannot ignore that were we in Moshe's position at this mollify anyone's complaint -- that in this instance he undertook an action juncture in time, we would, I believe, have vastly different priorities. which reflected on his descent from a Priest of Avodah Zarah [Foreign Would we not be consumed with appointing a military mind who will ably Worship, i.e. -- idolatry]. ready the people for the battles ahead; or a wise administrator who will The Sha'arei Orah, by Rav Meir Bergman, explains the answer: Everyone establish a nation of wanderers into an efficient agrarian society; or knew that Pinchas had two grandfathers, and everyone knew about genes 1 and genetics. But the people analyzed what had happened and they argued as follows: Transcribed by David Twersky; Seattle, WA [email protected] We know that one of his grandfathers was Aharon. However, we know Technical Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD that Aharon was the most peace-loving man that one could ever meet. He [email protected] These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa was the quintessential "lover and pursuer of peace." But Pinchas had portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on another grandfather as well. This other grandfather was an idolater; he was the weekly Torah portion Pinchas: Tape # 154, Writing a Halachicly into paganism and all that that suggests. So, they reasoned, if we are Sanctioned Will. Good Shabbos! wondering from whom Pinchas got the ability and character to get up in ______________________________________________ front of everyone and kill somebody, it seems certain that he did not get this quality from Aharon, the man of peace. Which grandfather, which [From last year] genes, were coming into play here? It must be the act of the grandson of a From: [email protected] on behalf of Rabbi Yissocher Frand Priest of Avodah Zarah! [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 2:13 AM To: Therefore, the verse says "No, that is not true!" The genes that were [email protected] Subject: Rabbi Frand on Parshas Pinchas responsible for this action, at this time, were the genes of Pinchas the son of "RavFrand" List - Rabbi Frand on Parshas Pinchas - Elazar the son of Aharon the Priest. This is what Aharon himself would have done. Tzelafchad's Daughters Were Motivated By The Land, Not The Money One might ask, "But would the 'Man of Peace' take a spear and spear two The daughters of Tzelafchad came to Moshe to ask for their deceased people publicly"? The Chasam Sofer explains that this act might not be father's portion in the Land of Israel, since their father had died without associated with the "Lover of Peace" (Ohev Shalom), but it is associated sons to inherit his portion. with the "Pursuer of Peace" (Rodef Shalom). In tracing the lineage of the daughters of Tzelafchad, the Torah seems to The terminology of 'Rodef' in the expression Rodef Shalom should give provide redundant information. The pasuk says that they were "the us pause. It seems to have connotations that do not fit in with the context of daughters of Tzelafchad, son of Chefer, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son peace.