Thoughts from the week that seem to resonate with Parshat Pinchas, this week’s Torah reading.
I was listening to a great shiur (lesson) from Rav Eyal Vered discussing the legal action brought by the daughters of Tzelafchad. They come before Moshe laying claim to what would become their father’s portion in the Land of Israel, if he were alive. He represented one of the families of Manashe but died in the desert leaving no male heirs. While it seems they immediately bring their case to Moshe, this does not make sense. A legal system had been set up where there were minor courts and then greater courts that would adjudicate issues. If the lower court could not come to a decision, they would move up to the next. Courts of 10, 50, 100’s and so on until reaching Moshe.
In this case, no one knew how to rule on their claim and so the case finally reached Moshe. Moshe, after seeing the process where each previous judge was willing to diminish his standing by moving the case to someone above them, a sign of humility and respect, he too acted in the same manner. Moshe turned to all the judges before him and said I will bring this to Gd, showing humility and respect to the other judges.
Gd response is not an answer but rather a circular response which brings the daughters’ claim back to them.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהֹוָ֖-ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
And Gd said to Moses,
כֵּ֗ן בְּנ֣וֹת צְלׇפְחָד֮ דֹּבְרֹת֒ נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֤ן לָהֶם֙ אֲחֻזַּ֣ת נַחֲלָ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֣י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וְהַֽעֲבַרְתָּ֛ אֶת־נַחֲלַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ן לָהֶֽן׃
“The daughters of Tzelafchad speak justly. Give to them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them.
Gd seems, through humility and respect, brings the issue back to the daughters, justifying their claim.
It appears from the process that the daughters were not as concerned with the land as they were with carrying on their fathers name, not wanting to diminish part of the tribe of Manashe. This is one of the reasons that the case kept moving higher and higher up the courts. It took the divine stamp to clarify that the deep desire of the daughters was just and right. Their action teaches us that 1) always ask and state your case, 2) a desire to nurture life has great value and often rises above what might be understood from a more narrow view of the law, and 3) humility and respect are a great way to build a nation.
We can all learn from that.
Another point from Parshat Pinchas is, that while there is a command at the beginning of the parsha to wage war against the Midianites, as it says:
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖-ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
Gd spoke to Moses, saying,
צָר֖וֹר אֶת־הַמִּדְיָנִ֑ים וְהִכִּיתֶ֖ם אוֹתָֽם׃ כִּ֣י צֹרְרִ֥ים הֵם֙ לָכֶ֔ם בְּנִכְלֵיהֶ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־נִכְּל֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם עַל־דְּבַר־פְּע֑וֹר וְעַל־דְּבַ֞ר כׇּזְבִּ֨י בַת־נְשִׂ֤יא מִדְיָן֙ אֲחֹתָ֔ם הַמֻּכָּ֥ה בְיוֹם־הַמַּגֵּפָ֖ה עַל־דְּבַר־פְּעֽוֹר׃
“Assail the Midianites and defeat them for they assailed you by the trickery they practiced against you—because of the affair of Peor and because of the affair of their kinswoman Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite chieftain, who was killed at the time of the plague on account of Peor.”
The Israelites do not go out to war right away. The reset of this parsha and a good chunk of the next deal with everything but war. We count the tribes and name the families. We delve into the Levities. The apportioning of the Land is discussed, along with the story of Tzelafchad’s daughters. Yehoshua is chosen to succeed Moshe. We run through a series of holidays and service in the Temple to be followed upon entering the Land. Everything but war.
Yet, there is a deep message here to the People of Israel and to all of us that when you go out to war you better know why. What are your roots and what is your mission? The focus is on life, building a holy nation and a House of Prayer for all the nations (Yeshayahu).
To that end, I want to comment on current statements from our leaders. Gallant responded in a press conference following the Houthis attack that hit Tel Aviv, killing one and injuring another 9, that we have been patient but enough is enough. Netanyahu claims that whoever attacks Israel will be hit hard, in his speech to the US Congress. These are just a couple but the message has been repeated before.
Well, I think after 9 months of war with Iran and its proxies that these statements don’t hold much water. I think Israel certainly has the capacity to do so but not the desire. There may be a lot of reasons for that but the words still sound a bit hollow.
Yes, we hit the Houthis and I am all for more of that. However, we have had over 7000 attacks by Hezbollah, with a dozen dead and we are still in a tit for tat with them. There are some 80,000 Israelis who have been forced from their homes in the north. A very large number of homes and buildings have been hit by anti-tank missiles and drones across the northern border.
It seems attacks on Tel Aviv get a lot more attention. Or, as Matan Barnas put it, whose parents Noah and Nir were killed in their car by a Hezbollah missile while they were driving in the Golan: “We are all equal but some are less equal than others.” He was responding to the special reports following the attack in Tel Aviv and to the fact that the media ran no special reports after his parents were killed and that there was no major military response.
In short, many citizens in the periphery, along the border and in Judea and Samaria, are tired of the talk and are expecting a serious response to a situation growing quickly intolerable.
Taking a hint from this week's parsha, just as Pinchas dealt with the head of the problem, and put an end to the plague devastating Israel, we should do the same. Israel should have skipped the Houthis and taken out Iran’s air defenses and began a campaign against their military and economic assets with the message that when Hezbollah is on the other side of the Litani and the Houthis are back in the bag we can talk about a ceasefire. But I guess we are not there yet.
On that note, Shabbat Shalom to all,
Meir
Image by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay