The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand's vort tonight was about the Haftorah of Parshas Pinchas which is only read when Parshios Matos and Maasei are separate. As this year they are read together, we will not read this Haftorah, but R' Frand felt that the message of the Haftorah was worth discussing.
In the Haftorah we read about Eliyahu and his walking 40 days and nights to Har Horev (aka Har Sinai) where he ascends and stands in the cleft of the rock where Moshe stood when he was receiving the Torah. Thereafter Hashem speak with Eliyahu and he renounces the Jews as complainers. Hashem then tells Eliyahu that he should appoint Elisha to take his place.
R' Frand quoted the Mechilta on Parshas Bo which states that there were three prophets - one who stood for Hashem and the Jewish people, one who stood for Hashem and not the Jewish people and one for the Jewish people and not Hashem. Yirmiayahu stood for Hashem and the Jewish people, while Eliyahu stood for Hashem and not the Jewish people - meaning that he defended Hashem's honor and did not defend the Jews. It was for this reason that Hashem told Eliyahu to appoint Elisha to take his place.
R' Frand next quoted the Radvaz who asked - why did Hashem make Eliyahu walk 40 days and nights without food to get to Har Chorev? He answers that it is because Hashem did not want a prosecutor against the Jewish people. For this reason he wanted Eliyahu to replicate Moshe's ways - by going 40 days without food and going to the site where Moshe received the Torah and specifically where Moshe stood when he received the Torah. Yet after retracing Moshe's steps, Eliyahu stayed as a Kana'i and for that reason Hashem needed him to be replaced.
R' Frand closed the vort by stating that now is not the time for us to be critical of our fellow Jews or those running the land of Israel. For only a prophet truly knows what is correct. But if Eliyahu is chastized by Hashem for constantly finding fault in the Jews, how much more so for us.
R' Frand said that the Medrash states that the reason that Eliyahu comes to every Bris because he complained that the Jews were Mefer their Bris. By coming to each Bris he can testfiy that the Jews are Shomer their Bris.
This is part of the Avodah of the Three Weeks.
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