Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
Aaron’s grandson, Pinchas, is rewarded for his act of zealotry in killing the
Shimonite prince Zimri and the Midianite princess: G-d grants him a covenant of
peace and the priesthood.
A census of the people counts 601,730 men between the ages of 20 and 60. Moshe
is instructed on how the Land is to be divided by lottery among the tribes and
families of Israel. The five daughters of Zelafchad petition Moshe that they be
granted the portion of the land belonging to their father, who died without
sons; G-d accepts their claim and incorporates it into the Torah’s laws of
inheritance.
Moshe empowers Joshua to succeed him and lead the people into the Land of
Israel. The Parshah concludes with a detailed list of the daily offerings, and
the additional offerings brought on Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and the festivals of
Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
” Dvar Torah ”
After almost forty years of wondering in the desert, the Jews finally reached
the borders of Israel and were allowed to move in. At this point, Moshe decides
to distribute the land among the Children of Israel and a portion is given to
each tribe. And each tribe distributes its land among the heads of each family,
which obviously were the men of the house. However, Zelafchad, a man from the
tribe of Menasheh, died in the wilderness and left no sons behind. He was not
part of Korach’s rebellion and his daughters wanted to make sure that they
receive his share in his name. They implore Moshe, Eleazar the priest and the
whole assembly, “Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he
had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s brothers!” Moshe, not sure of
the law regarding father’s inheritance towards daughters, brings the issue
before G-d, and G-d responds saying “The plea of Zelafchad’s daughters is just:
you should surely give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen;
transfer their father’s share to them”.
But in tracing the background of the daughters of Tzelafchad, the Torah seems to
provide redundant information. The pasuk says:
“The daughters of Tzelafchat, son of Hefer, son of Gilad, son of Machir, son of
Menasheh, son of Joseph came near, …….. And they stood before Moshe…” The
Chachamim ask why was it necessary to trace them back to Yosef, and not to Yacov
or even Avraham?? Rashi explains that the Torah is trying to show to us that the
love for Eretz Israel is genetic. Yosef loved the Land of Israel and insisted
that his bones be returned there. This love for Eretz Israel ran in his family
all the way down to Tzelafchad’s daughters, who insisted that they be given
their fair portion in the Land.
But you may argue that how do we know their love for Eretz Israel was genuine,
and they were not interested in the land as a financial benefit?
To answer this question, we first need to find Tzelafchad’s identity. There are
difference of opinions regarding Tzelafchad’s identity. Some say that he was the
wood-gatherer who desecrated Shabath, while others believe that he was among the
group who tried to force their way into Canaan after the decree of the spies.
Either way, Tzelafchad’s death occurred some 38 years before the events of this
week’s Parsha. If Tzelafchad’s daughters were interested in their father’s
estate from a strictly financial point of view, why would they have waited 38
years to ask for it? Also, inheritance is not limited to land. What about his
cattle? What about his other properties? Apparently, they were not interested in
that. It was only now, when they were on the doorstep of Eretz Israel that they
came pressing their claim for inheritance of their father’s portion. This is the
demonstration of their love for the Land. They were silent regarding the cash
and movable properties. However, their inheritance in the Land of Israel
mattered greatly to them. They inherited this affection to the Land from their
great grandfather, Yosef!
Yes my friends, you don’t need to live in Israel to love Israel! Loving Israel
is in our blood! We all try to go to Israel as much as we can and we try to help
Israel in anyway possible. When Israel is at war, we are ALL at war. When an
Israeli soldier gets injured, we ALL get hurt! Throughout the history of Jewish
religion, love for Israel never seized to exist. Avraham left the comfort of his
hometown, where he was well known and successful, to move to Israel. Even Moshe
Rabeinu pleaded with Hashem several times to at least let him walk across the
land, but unfortunately was denied. Ruth, a gentile woman, followed her mother
in law who had nothing to offer her, except the land of Israel!
So, what is it about this land that everybody is so crazy about? Is it because
the land is holy and you feel closer to Hashem? Is it because even the first
time you step foot on this land, it feels like its your hometown? Is it because
everyone around you is Jewish and you feel safe and secure living among your
brothers? Is it because, this is the land that Hashem has given to us jews, and
he protects and blesses it, as long as we keep his commandments? Is it because
the land prospers miraculously, when it’s in the hand of us Jews? Or, could it
be all of the above???
The Chachamim go as far as to say, that just breathing the air in Eretz Israel
has a mitzvah. It is a privilege to live in our times; the time that we can walk
freely on our land and see for ourselves the land flowing with milk and honey.
As I’m sitting in my Jerusalem’s hotel’s balcony watching the beautiful stone
buildings around me, it makes me feel proud to be a Jew. I thank Hashem a
thousand times to have given me the opportunity to come and visit this beautiful
land with my family, the land that Moshe envied so much to just step his foot
upon it!
In Iran, there is a city called Esfehan, and because of its beauty and
character, its been given the title of “half of the world”! But I’m afraid that
they’ve got it all wrong, since the WHOLE world is here in Israel!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards from Jerusalem, Israel;
Martin