This week’s Parashah opens with Pinchas’ reward for his courageous act of killing Zimri. Our Sages teach that Bnei Yisrael criticized Pinchas; in contrast, the Torah records, Hashem praised him, as we read (25:11), “He zealously avenged Me among them, so I did not consume Bnei Yisrael in My vengeance.” In the toxic environment created by those who made a great Chillul Hashem / desecration of G-d’s Name, Pinchas made a Kiddush Hashem / sanctification of G-d’s Name, writes R’ Menachem Ben-Zion Sacks z”l (1896-1987; rabbi and pioneering educator in Chicago).
Nevertheless, continues R’ Sacks, as great as Pinchas’ merit was, Hashem saw fit to reward him with His “covenant of Shalom / peace.” Hashem was emphasizing that zealotry has a place, and Pinchas did a great thing, but zealotry must not become a way of life. Zealotry must be exercised only within the framework of Shalom.
Midrash Rabbah teaches: “Great is Shalom, which was given to Pinchas, for the world operates only with Shalom.” We read (Mishlei 3:17) about the Torah itself, notes R’ Sacks, “Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its pathways are Shalom.”
R’ Sacks concludes: The last prophet, Malachi, defines the covenant of Shalom as follows (Malachi 2:5-6), “My covenant of life and Shalom was with him . . .The Torah of truth was in his mouth, and no injustice was found on his lips; he walked with Me in Shalom and fairness, and he turned many away from sin.” Those are the hallmarks of Shalom. (Menachem Zion)
“May Hashem, Elokim of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly . . . and let the assembly of Hashem not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” (26:16-17)
Rashi z”l explains: Why is the expression, “Elokim of the spirits,” used? Moshe said to Hashem, “Master of the Universe! The dispositions of everyone are known to You, and You know that they are not like one another. Appoint a leader for them who will bear each person according to his disposition.” [Until here from Rashi]
R’ Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal z”l Hy”d (1885-1945; rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva in Pieštany, Czechoslovakia) writes: A rabbi’s primary responsibility is to the masses and the children, for the learned congregants will figure out on their own how to fear Hashem and observe the Torah. The unlearned are the “sheep” of whom Moshe speaks in our verse, as we read (Yechezkel 34:31), “Now, you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are man.” Commentaries explain: Now, when you are unlearned in Torah, you are like sheep, but in the future, when (Yeshayah 11:9), “The earth will be as filled with knowledge of Hashem, as the water covering the seabed”--then you will be “man.”
Naturally, writes R’ Teichtal, a Torah scholar would rather keep company with people like himself. In contrast, it is hard for a Torah scholar to find common ground with an unlearned person. How can he succeed? If he can “bear each person according to his disposition,” i.e., if he can lower himself to his audience. We read (Tehilim 29:4), “The voice of Hashem [comes] in power,” and Midrash Rabbah notes that it does not say “His power.” Rather, the Torah can be understood on each person’s level, and so a teacher of Torah must speak.
R’ Teichtal adds: We read (Shmot 34:29-34), “Moshe did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant when He had spoken to him. Aharon and all Bnei Yisrael saw Moshe . . . and they feared to approach him. Moshe called to them . . . he would command them regarding everything that Hashem had spoken to him on Har Sinai. Moshe finished speaking with them and he placed a mask on his face. When Moshe would come before Hashem to speak with Him, he would remove the mask until his departure; then he would leave and tell Bnei Yisrael whatever he had been commanded. When Bnei Yisrael saw Moshe’s face, that Moshe’s face had become radiant, Moshe put the mask back on his face.” Moshe’s level was much higher than Bnei Yisrael’s, and his mask was a reminder of the vast gulf between them. By removing his mask until he finished speaking to Bnei Yisrael, he indicated that he wanted to speak to them on their own level. (Mishneh Sachir)
“Command Bnei Yisrael and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My fires, My satisfying aroma, you shall be scrupulous to offer to Me in its appointed time.’ And you shall say to them, ‘This is the fire-offering that you are to offer to Hashem--Kevasim bnei shanah / male lambs in their first year, unblemished, two a day, as a continual Olah-offering. The one Keves / lamb shall you make in the morning, and the second Keves / lamb shall you make in the afternoon . . . It is the Tamid / continual elevation-offering. . .’” (28:2-4, 6)
The Mishnah (Ta’anit 4:6) teaches that five calamitous events occurred to our forefathers on the 17th day of Tammuz. One of these was that the bringing of the Tamid was interrupted by the Romans, and it has not been reinstated since.
R’ Zvi Yisrael Thau shlita (founder of Yeshivat Har Ha’mor in Yerushalayim) writes: From amongst the many Korbanot / sacrifices that were offered in the Bet Hamikdash, the Tamid stands out in its centrality and importance. The Tamid, which was offered every day, was the foundation for all other sacrificial offerings. The daily service began with the morning Tamid and ended with the evening Tamid. Thus, the Tamid framed all the other Korbanot.
R’ Thau continues: The Jewish People aspire to elevate nature--to refine it and sanctify it. For the most part, nature is consistent and cyclical, as we say in Kiddush Ha’levanah, “He gave them a law and a schedule, that they not alter their assigned task.” The Tamid, which was offered with unrelenting regularity, sanctified the Jewish People’s routines and ensured that they did not devolve into being just another part of nature. (Kovetz Sichot L’bein Ha’meitzarim: Avodat Ha’Tamid)
R’ Yitzchak Drohobycer z”l (one of the earliest disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov; died 1750) observed: People usually hold on to their anger at other people until Erev Yom Kippur, when people appease each other. That is not proper, however. Rather, before one goes to sleep each night, he should forgive anyone who wronged him during the preceding day. If someone wrongs him at night, he should forgive that person before morning, says the Zohar.
This is alluded to in our verses, says R’ Yitzchak: This is the offering that will be a “satisfying aroma,” i.e., that will be pleasing, to Hashem. Take your anger, which is “Kevasim bnei shanah” / pent-up (“Kavush”) within you for a whole year, and address it properly twice daily instead. (Imrei Yechiel)
Shabbat
Midrash Rabbah teaches: Hashem says: “Do you think I gave you Shabbat to your detriment? I gave it to you for your own good!” How so? Rabbi Chiya bar Abba explained, “Sanctify Shabbat with food, drink, and clean clothes, and enjoy yourself, and I (Hashem) will give you reward.” [Until here from the Midrash]
Commentaries ask: Could one possibly think that Hashem gave us Shabbat to harm us? Of course not! R’ Eliyahu E. Dessler shlita (Mashgiach Ruchani of the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak) explains:
R’ Ze’ev Wolf Einhorn z”l (Grodno, Belarus; died 1862) writes that the Midrash is contrasting Shabbat and other Mitzvot. Most Mitzvot are meant to temper or weaken man’s physical drives, to fight the material urges that drag a person down and prevent him from reaching lofty spiritual realms. Shabbat, in contrast, sanctifies those same physical drives, allowing us to serve Hashem through the urge to eat, drink, wear nice clothing, and enjoy other physical pleasures. The Midrash should be understood, therefore, as expressing wonder that Shabbat calls upon us to serve Hashem in a way that is counter-intuitive.
R’ Dessler continues: R’ Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik z”l (1820-1892; rabbi of Brisk, Belarus; author of Beis Ha’levi) writes similarly that there are two types of Mitzvot--those meant to break nature’s hold on man, and those meant to sanctify nature. Shabbat is the latter type of Mitzvah. But why must we sanctify nature? The Beis Ha’levi answers: Since Shabbat testifies that Hashem created nature, including man’s natural urges, its observance necessarily must involve sanctifying nature and using those natural urges to serve Him. Only in this way do we declare that there is none but Hashem, R’ Dessler elaborates. Only in this way do we reveal Him to the world, which is the ultimate Oneg Shabbat / Sabbath pleasure.
R’ Dessler adds: It follows that there is a fundamental difference between how we serve Hashem on Shabbat versus on weekdays. All week long, our focus must be on rising above nature and connecting to higher spiritual realms--for example, not letting our rush to get to work detract from the time and attention that prayer deserves. On Shabbat, in contrast, we serve Hashem with our physical nature, but we sanctify it. (Sha’arei Ha’zemanim: Shabbat p.48)
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