The Parsha in a Nutshell This summary is adapted from this week’s main Covenant & Conversation essay by Rabbi Sacks, available to read in full via the left sidebar (or below, if you are viewing this on your phone) Moshe, having seen his sister and brother die, knew that his own life was coming to a close, so he prayed…
…Bilam blesses the Children of Israel instead of cursing them. King Balak eventually gives up and leaves, angry and frustrated. Despite escaping Bilam’s curses, the Israelites bring disaster on themselves anyway when Moavite women convince some Israelites to have forbidden relations with them and to worship idols. 24,000 people die in a plague as punishment, until Pinchas, in an act…
…Pinchas Kantrowitz notes that the Ten Commandments could not merely be written; they had to be engraved. The inscription had to be indelibly impressed upon the Tablets. “Charus – engraved” is not incidental; it is imperative. It hints to “cheirus – freedom,” spiritual form directing and defining physical matter. This is ultimate “freedom” from the physical. According to Pirkei Avos,…
Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Why are you here, Elijah?’ He replied, I am moved by the zeal for the Lord, God of Hosts…” The Lord said to him, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind…
…I knew it not.” Why the double “I”? To this, Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (Panim Yafot) gave a magnificent answer. How, he asks, do we come to know that God is in this place? By ve’anochi lo yadati – not knowing the I. We know God when we forget the self. We sense the “Thou” of the Divine Presence when we…
…one reason why Yehoshua was chosen to be Moshe’ successor. There were other distinguished candidates, including Pinchas and Caleb. But Yehoshua, serving Moshe throughout the wilderness years, was a role-model of what it is to be a follower. That is something fundamental that the Israelites still needed to learn. I believe that followership is the great neglected art. Followers and…
…striking act of diplomacy, sent Pinchas, the former zealot, now man of peace, to negotiate. He warned them of the terrible consequences of what they had done by, in effect, creating a religious centre outside the land of Israel. It would split the nation in two. The Reubenites and Gadites made it clear that this was not their intention at all….
…(15 min Q&A video) Highlights from Rabbi Sacks’ “In Conversation with…” Prof. Ron Heifetz on Jewish Leadership (5 highlight videos) Leadership (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech) Message for Hillel Global Leaders Forum 2012 (17 min) Pacing Change (A Covenant & Conversation video for the parshat Pinchas) Rabbi Sacks on the 25th yahrtzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe…
…extreme measures are called for. Mattityahu was a spiritual leader at this time, and had to make a stand to save Judaism and the Jewish people. His role-model in the Torah was Pinchas who made a similar stand in the face of immorality. CHANUKAH WORDSEARCH ANSWERS Just as the Chanukah lights illuminate our homes, Rabbi Sacks זצ”ל lit up the…
…Educational Companion Torah Trivia: this week’s answer Answer 1: The six parshiyot are: Noach, Chayei Sarah, Yitro, Korach, Balak, and Pinchas. Interestingly, four of these six are named for non-Jews. Answer 2: The inanimate object that is described performing a human action is the earth, as it says “and the earth opened its mouth” (Bamidbar 16:32). The inanimate object that…