If one looks at this week's parsha it is astounding how it correlates to the situations going on in Emanuel and the general situation in Israel. For anyone who doesn't know what has been going on lately (which means you have been living under a rock somewhere in the middle of Mongolia), there was a Flotila that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza. As per usual the boats were asked by the israeli navy to divert to an Israeli port and the goods would be shipped to Gaza from Israel on land. This was in order to make sure no weapons are entering Gaza. However, one of the ships would not comply and the Israelis went aboard to talk (armed with paintball guns as their primary weapons) to the people and they were ruthlessly attacked. The Israelis tried to defend themselves, but needed to use their hand guns in order to protect their own lives. They ended up killing 9 activists that were attacking them and trying to kill or capture them. These people also had known terrorist connections. Anyway, the entire world, save Germany and the USA, immediately condemned Israel for protecting herself.
So, we have the entire world, an external force isolating Israel and encouraging her enemies like Iran, Syria and Gaza to continue their threats and aggression against Israel. In this week's parsha the Moabites and the Midianites try to hire Bilaam to curse Israel in order that Israel be destroyed. They used this tactic because they already saw Israel Conquer Sichon and Og, because Sichon and Og attacked Israel and the Moabites and Midianites saw that military might could not overpower Israel. The Midianites saw that Bilaam could not curse them, so they left. The Moabites tried to get Bilaam to curse Israel, but to no avail. In the end of the day, the Midianites and the Moabites sent their women to entice the men of Israel to sin and they succeeded.
Just like the enemies of Israel in ancient times realized that they could not overpower Israel through military might, so to the enemies of Israel in today realize this. So they both tried or are trying to wage a different type of war, make Israel look bad. Both succeeded! Israel today is more isolated than ever and Israel back in ancient times was in big trouble and was in fear of being destroyed.
Now, what is the Emanuel case doing here? If anyone reads the last few pasukim of this week's parsha, I think it is clear. Zimri, a prince of one of the tribes, made an internal conflict within the camp. External problems have always led to internal problems when it comes to the nation of Israel. However, Zimri really divided the camp. This is exactly what is happening in Israel. Right after this Flotila mess we have many thousands, hundreds of thousands of Jews, that are seemingly pro discrimination. I hear arguments that this protest was not pro discrimination, but pro religious education. I say that the protest might have been pro religious education, which is great, but it must also have been pro discrimination because of what one of the leading authorities at this rally said. Rav Efrati said that there is no discrimination in the Charaidi community against Sephardim, in fact, Ashkenazim learn the great sephardic commentaries as well as Ashkenazi commentaries and he blamed discrimination on the secular Zionists (Found here). I am not sure if he knows this, but there are quotas on how many Sephardim most Charaidi institutions will allow (somewhere around 30%). (found here and here Look for what Rabbi Dovid Landesman says in comments to E-man, the second time) That seems like discrimination to me and most other people. If the protest had nothing to do with Charaidi discrimination against Sephardim, then why did he mention, during a rally cry, only the Zionists discriminate? He was rallying everyone to deny that the Charaidim discriminate! Which anyone and everyone knows is false. He was rallying everyone to continue their discrimination against Sephardim. If this was truly just an issue of religious education then NO MENTION of discrimination should have occurred. Apparently, that was not the case.
So, we have people supporting discrimination against fellow Jews, en mass, while there is a severe existential threat! However, hopefully someone will come forward like Pinchas. Pinchas was able to unite the entire Jewish nation and help us defeat the existential threat. Without his ability to unite the "clans" of the Jewish people, we might have been lost. Hopefully, we can find someone to unite the Jewish people today. I don't mean that anyone is evil or anyone should be punished, rather I think the idea of discrimination should be completely eradicated from the Jewish people. This would be a MAJOR step towards uniting the Jewish people and bringing the Moshiach, or, at the very least, uniting the nation of Israel (Klal Yisroel) into overcoming her enemies.
Showing posts with label Balak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balak. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Dealing with Baal-Peor and The Responsibilities of Leaders
At the end of this week's Parsha, Balak, we have a dreadful situation. The people of Bnei Yisroel are acting inappropriately with Moabite women and these women are causing the Israelite men to worship idols, specifically, the Baal-peor. This caused the wrath of G-D to come on the people of Israel in the form of a plague. However, what is intriguing about this situation is how G-D told Moshe to stop the plague and how the plague was ACTUALLY stopped.
The story happens like this (Bamidbar 25:3-9)
This seems very interesting because the plague abated for a completely different reason than what G-D had told Moshe. G-D told Moshe that when he hanged "them" (we will see who them is in a minute) then the plague will subside. However, we see that the plague dissipated after Pinchas killed a single sinner. What is going on here. Did the parameters that G-D set forth for the plague to end occur or did they not? In the previous Parsha, Chukas, G-D told Moshe to make a snake and put it on a poll and that would heal anyone affected by the plague of snakes and that is what occurred. However, here it seems like G-D allowed something else to revoke the plague.
Before answering this perturbing question, I think an explanation of who the "them" is in verse 4 is needed. Just to refresh our memories the verse says (Bamidbar 25:4)
This verse can be understood in one of two ways: 1) Rashi (ibid) quotes the explanation that this verse means that G-D commanded Moshe to gather the heads of the nation (רָאשֵׁי הָעָם) and that the heads of the nation should hang all the sinners that worshiped the Baal-peor. 2) The Midrash Tanchuma (Balak 19) , Midrash Rabba (Bamidbar 25: 23) and the Yalkut Shemoni (Chapter 25) all contain the opinion Rashi speaks of, but they also have a conflicting opinion. This other opinion seems to read into the words much easier than the "strained" reading of Rashi. This other opinion, in the name of Rabbi Yudan or Yehuda, that is quoted says that Moshe was commanded by G-D to hang the heads of the nation (רָאשֵׁי הָעָם) and this would remove the plague (anger of G-D) from being upon Israel.
If we use the second reading, that the heads of the nation (רָאשֵׁי הָעָם) are the ones that G-D commanded to be hanged, I think it is very easy to answer our question of how could the plague abate if the requirements that G-D put in place do not seem to be fulfilled. The answer is simple, these requirements WERE fulfilled!
In order to understand how the requirements of G-D were, indeed, fulfilled we need to understand what the requirements were in the first place. In order to do this we must dissect the verse already quoted (Bamidbar 25:4):
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם, וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַיהוָה, נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-יְהוָה, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the heads of the nation, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'
The main requirement here is that they be hanged "in the face of the sun." Rashi (ibid), as well as a dozen other commentaries, tells us that this expression means that they are to be hanged in public so that everyone will see them. G-D is not requiring Moshe to kill all of the sinners, only the heads of the nation and to display their executions publicly. Why publicly? In order that everyone see that the nation is sinning and that they must stop immediately and only then will the "anger of G-D," manifested as a plague, go away.
The command of G-D was that Moshe was to make a public spectacle that would cause all of the sinners who were worshiping the Baal-peor to stop. Therefore, Moshe must have thought that another approach might work with even less bloodshed as stated in verse (Bamidbar 25:5) says:
ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו, הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר. 5
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: 'Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.'
This command seems to be contrary to the command of G-D. However, if we understand G-D's true command then it is not against G-D's command at all. G-D wanted the plague to end, therefore, He suggested that the quickest and least deadly way to end it would have been to hang the leaders of the nation, but Moshe thought that he could input some invaluable ideas here. It seems to me that Moshe must have thought that if he gave the command to kill all of the worshipers of the Baal-peor then only after a single worshiper was killed or even about to be killed, everyone would do teshuva and beg for forgiveness and there would be little to no bloodshed. The reason I believe this is that, it seems like from the pesukim that no one was killed by the judges. The last verse of the Parsha (Bamidbar 25:9) gives a total number of deaths due to plague, but none due to judges killing. This is in contrast to other places in the Torah where it gave the numbers of people killed. For example, by the sin of the Golden Calf (Eigel Hazav) in Shemos 32:28 it tells us that the Levites killed 3,000 men for worshiping the Golden Calf. If anyone was killed here not by the plague, but by the judges, it should have told us.
The reason G-D did not propose this idea in the first place was because He realized what would happen. Had it not been for Pinchas there would have been much more bloodshed and division in the camp of Israel. Thankfully, Pinchas was able to kill Zimri and Cozbi in such a public fashion that the desired effect took hold and G-D's requirements to end the plague were fulfilled. Everyone immediately realized their sins and turned away from serving the Baal-peor. Once this happened G-D's anger went away and the plague ceased. We can see this from the last few verses in the Parsha (Bamidbar 25:6-9):
ו וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא, וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל-אֶחָיו אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית, לְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה, וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְהֵמָּה בֹכִים, פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.
And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.
Zimri was committing this sin publicly and everyone knew about it. This was the main requirement that G-D gave Moshe: that EVERYONE sees what happens to these sinners.
The most interesting part of this idea comes from the fact that G-D told Moshe to hang the heads of the nation. I could not understand why G-D would kill these, seemingly, innocent people just because some of their followers were sinning. It made me realize something that is true about all types of leadership: if your followers do something wrong it IS your fault. As the Rambam in Hilchot De'os Chapter 6 tells us, "Whoever has the possibility of rebuking sinners and fails to do so is considered responsible for that sin, for he had the opportunity to rebuke the sinner." This is why anyone who is in a position of command is held responsible for what their subordinates do. Whether you are the CEO of a company like BP, the Principal of a school or the Rabbi of a sect of Chassidism, if your followers mess up it is on YOU! This is why one should always enter the role as a leader with fear and trepidation. It is no easy task leading a community, it is hard to convince people that your views are right and that they should follow what you say. However, just like a president is responsible for any misdeeds of his or her country or the general is responsible for his or her army, so too any leader must realize and accept that they have full responsibility and the faults and responsibilities are on them.
The story happens like this (Bamidbar 25:3-9)
This seems very interesting because the plague abated for a completely different reason than what G-D had told Moshe. G-D told Moshe that when he hanged "them" (we will see who them is in a minute) then the plague will subside. However, we see that the plague dissipated after Pinchas killed a single sinner. What is going on here. Did the parameters that G-D set forth for the plague to end occur or did they not? In the previous Parsha, Chukas, G-D told Moshe to make a snake and put it on a poll and that would heal anyone affected by the plague of snakes and that is what occurred. However, here it seems like G-D allowed something else to revoke the plague.
Before answering this perturbing question, I think an explanation of who the "them" is in verse 4 is needed. Just to refresh our memories the verse says (Bamidbar 25:4)
| ד וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם, וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַיהוָה, נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-יְהוָה, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. | 4 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the heads of the nation, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.' |
If we use the second reading, that the heads of the nation (רָאשֵׁי הָעָם) are the ones that G-D commanded to be hanged, I think it is very easy to answer our question of how could the plague abate if the requirements that G-D put in place do not seem to be fulfilled. The answer is simple, these requirements WERE fulfilled!
In order to understand how the requirements of G-D were, indeed, fulfilled we need to understand what the requirements were in the first place. In order to do this we must dissect the verse already quoted (Bamidbar 25:4):
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם, וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַיהוָה, נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-יְהוָה, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the heads of the nation, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'
The main requirement here is that they be hanged "in the face of the sun." Rashi (ibid), as well as a dozen other commentaries, tells us that this expression means that they are to be hanged in public so that everyone will see them. G-D is not requiring Moshe to kill all of the sinners, only the heads of the nation and to display their executions publicly. Why publicly? In order that everyone see that the nation is sinning and that they must stop immediately and only then will the "anger of G-D," manifested as a plague, go away.
The command of G-D was that Moshe was to make a public spectacle that would cause all of the sinners who were worshiping the Baal-peor to stop. Therefore, Moshe must have thought that another approach might work with even less bloodshed as stated in verse (Bamidbar 25:5) says:
ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו, הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר. 5
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: 'Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.'
This command seems to be contrary to the command of G-D. However, if we understand G-D's true command then it is not against G-D's command at all. G-D wanted the plague to end, therefore, He suggested that the quickest and least deadly way to end it would have been to hang the leaders of the nation, but Moshe thought that he could input some invaluable ideas here. It seems to me that Moshe must have thought that if he gave the command to kill all of the worshipers of the Baal-peor then only after a single worshiper was killed or even about to be killed, everyone would do teshuva and beg for forgiveness and there would be little to no bloodshed. The reason I believe this is that, it seems like from the pesukim that no one was killed by the judges. The last verse of the Parsha (Bamidbar 25:9) gives a total number of deaths due to plague, but none due to judges killing. This is in contrast to other places in the Torah where it gave the numbers of people killed. For example, by the sin of the Golden Calf (Eigel Hazav) in Shemos 32:28 it tells us that the Levites killed 3,000 men for worshiping the Golden Calf. If anyone was killed here not by the plague, but by the judges, it should have told us.
The reason G-D did not propose this idea in the first place was because He realized what would happen. Had it not been for Pinchas there would have been much more bloodshed and division in the camp of Israel. Thankfully, Pinchas was able to kill Zimri and Cozbi in such a public fashion that the desired effect took hold and G-D's requirements to end the plague were fulfilled. Everyone immediately realized their sins and turned away from serving the Baal-peor. Once this happened G-D's anger went away and the plague ceased. We can see this from the last few verses in the Parsha (Bamidbar 25:6-9):
ו וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא, וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל-אֶחָיו אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית, לְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה, וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְהֵמָּה בֹכִים, פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.
And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.
Zimri was committing this sin publicly and everyone knew about it. This was the main requirement that G-D gave Moshe: that EVERYONE sees what happens to these sinners.
The most interesting part of this idea comes from the fact that G-D told Moshe to hang the heads of the nation. I could not understand why G-D would kill these, seemingly, innocent people just because some of their followers were sinning. It made me realize something that is true about all types of leadership: if your followers do something wrong it IS your fault. As the Rambam in Hilchot De'os Chapter 6 tells us, "Whoever has the possibility of rebuking sinners and fails to do so is considered responsible for that sin, for he had the opportunity to rebuke the sinner." This is why anyone who is in a position of command is held responsible for what their subordinates do. Whether you are the CEO of a company like BP, the Principal of a school or the Rabbi of a sect of Chassidism, if your followers mess up it is on YOU! This is why one should always enter the role as a leader with fear and trepidation. It is no easy task leading a community, it is hard to convince people that your views are right and that they should follow what you say. However, just like a president is responsible for any misdeeds of his or her country or the general is responsible for his or her army, so too any leader must realize and accept that they have full responsibility and the faults and responsibilities are on them.
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