Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Pinchas

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 began his first vort by noting that although Moshe is told about his inability to enter the Land of Israel in this week's parsha, the actual story of his death is discussed in V'Zos HaBeracha. Specifically in the last aliyah (Devarim 34:1-3) Moshe is shown the entire land from North to South and East to West. Thereafter, Hashem says to Moshe in 34:4 "זֹ֤את הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֠שְׁבַּ֠עְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָ֨ם לְיִצְחָ֤ק וּלְיַֽעֲקֹב֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֣ אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָ בְעֵינֶ֔יךָ וְשָׁ֖מָּה לֹ֥א תַֽעֲבֹֽר" R' Frand remarked that he would occasionally cry when this part of the Torah is read as its sad that Moshe did not get to enter the land. But why would Hashem show it to him and then tell him - I am showing it to you, but you can't enter?

R' Frand quoted R' Uziel Malefsky who noted that there are seven figures who are "Ro'im" and that they correspond with different Middos. Moshe's Middah specifically was Netzach - that what he did and what he touched lasted forever. Moshe gave the Torah and it is eternal. Moshe formed Bnei Yisrael and they are eternal. Had Moshe been involved in the conquest of the land, the Jews would never have gone into Galus, but that was not Hashem's plan.

So why was Moshe shown the land? So that he would desire to enter, as that feeling was implanted in our DNA. R' Frand remarked that over the last 600+ days, life in Israel has been very difficult, but people are continuing to travel there and to move there to live. This is the legacy of Moshe's desire to enter the Land of Israel.

R' Frand said a second vort related to Hashem's directive to Moshe in Bamidbar 27:20 - וְנָֽתַתָּ֥ה מֵהֽוֹדְךָ֖ עָלָ֑יו לְמַ֣עַן יִשְׁמְע֔וּ כָּל־עֲדַ֖ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל. The Gemara in Bava Basra learns that Hashem directed that Moshe only give מֵהֽוֹדְךָ֖ but not the entirety. The people of that generation observed that Moshe was like the sun and Yehoshua was like the moon. The elders of the generation then observed woe to us (using the terms Busha U'Klima). But why specifically the elders of the generation?

R' Frand quoted R' Yitzchak Volozhin who theorized that there was a difference between the younger and older members. The younger generation said - Yehoshua is just starting out, he will one day grow to be Moshe. But the older members said - we remember Moshe - he was like this from day one.

R' Frand closed the vort by stating that while no one, other than perhaps Korach, was jealous of Moshe, the Zekenim of that generation were jealous of Yehoshua. They looked at him and saw someone who did not have the natural abilities of Moshe, but who had obtained this position by diligently observing Moshe 24 hrs a day and "cleaning up the Beis Medrash." They felt that they could have been Yehoshua if they had put in the effort, but they had not.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Balak

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.

In discussing the dialogue between Balak and Bilaam, Rashi identifies three instances where Balak told Bilaam to say one thing to Hashem, but Bilaam said something different to Hashem. In Bamidbar 22:6 Balak tells Bilaam וְעַתָּה֩ לְכָה־נָּ֨א אָֽרָה־לִּ֜י אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֗ה. But when Bilaam relays this to Hashem in Bamidbar 22:11, Bilaam states   עַתָּ֗ה לְכָ֤ה קָֽבָה־לִּי֙ אֹת֔וֹ. Rashi explains that this is a more severe form of cursing.

Similarly in Bamidbar 22:6, Balak states אוּלַ֤י אוּכַל֙ נַכֶּה־בּ֔וֹ וַֽאֲגָֽרְשֶׁ֖נּוּ מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ, but in Bamidbar 22:11, Bilaam states אוּלַ֥י אוּכַ֛ל לְהִלָּ֥חֶם בּ֖וֹ וְגֵֽרַשְׁתִּֽיו. Rashi again explains that whereas Balak only wanted the Jews gone, Bilaam's request was to wipe the Jews out from the world.

A further example from Bamidbar 22:6 is the use of אָֽרָה־לִּ֜י אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֗ה  these people whereas Bilaam states in 22:11 הָעָם֙ which is this nation - the Jewish nation and is a further indicia of a desire to wipe out the Jews.

R' Frand stated that Bilaam was not trying to deceive Hashem as to Balak's request. Rather, his hatred for the Jews colored what he thought that he heard. Balak was the king of Moab and wanted to solve a problem. But Bilaam hated the Jews and he heard greater language of what was stated.

R' Frand said that this is an example of the maxim - you hear what you want to hear. The same way that love can influence a person's views, so too does hatred. Because you hear what you want to hear.

R' Frand made reference to a Gemara in Gittin 45(a) which discussed R' Ilish who was in jail with another person who knew bird language. A crow came and began speaking. R' Ilish asked the other man - what did the crow say? He responded that the crow was saying - Ilish run away. R' Ilish responded - crows are liars, never trust crows. But then a dove came and also chirped. R' Ilish asked - what is the dove saying? He again responded - Ilish run away. This statement was accepted by R' Ilish who noted that the Jews are compared to a dove, so I can trust it and R' Ilish ran away.

R' Frand quoted R Akiva Eger who in turn cited the Aruch who states that R' Ilish did speak bird language as well as Seder HaDoros who said that we see from this that R' Ilish did not speak bird language. R' Akiva Eger said - the Seder HaDoros is wrong - R' Ilish did speak bird language, but you see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear. He did not want to believe the crow because crows lie. And when he heard the dove he did hear it, but he thought, maybe I am hearing what I wanted to hear, so he asked the other man to interpret it. R' Ilish thought he knew what the dove was saying, but said - I can't trust myself as I want to get out of here so quickly. Because he recognized that a person's perceptions are influenced by what they think and their preconceived notions.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chukas

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.

In Bamidbar 21:4-10, the Torah recounts the story of the Jews' complaint about the manna and the Jews punishment for speaking out. This is not the first time that the Jews complained about the Manna as they had complained in Parshas Behaalosecha as well. But why did they complain again and why complain about the manna at all? The manna tasted like whatever the consumer wished it to taste. If he wanted meat it would be meat and if he wished for dairy it would taste like dairy. The medrash explains that the manna's miracle also included that it would not become waste in a person's body. So why did the Jews complain about the manna?

R' Frand's next question was --why did Hashem punish the Jews with snakes? There were many other punishments during the time the Jews were in the desert?

R' Frand quoted the Gemara in Yoma which asks why did the manna fall every day (other than Shabbos) instead on once per year. The Gemara answered by way of a mashal about a King who needed to provide for his son. The king would give his son an allowance once a year. Not coincidentally, this was also the only time that the king would see his son. The king changed his habit and began to give his son his needs on a daily basis. As a result, he would see his son much more often.

R' Frand then connected the mashal to the Jews in the desert. Since the manna fell daily and would spoil if kept an extra day, the Jews needed to go out and gather manna every day. The Jews complained about the manna because they did not want to be beholden to Hashem and need to seek Him out for sustenance on a daily basis.

R' Frand next discussed the reason that the snakes were chosen as punishment. He quoted R' Shimshon Refael Hirsch who observed that the Torah uses the word וַיְשַׁלַּ֨ח (Bamidbar 21:6) as opposed to וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח? He explains that the word וַיְשַׁלַּ֨ח is Pi'el - and the conjugation means that Hashem released the snakes as opposed to sending them. The snakes had always been there, but Hashem held them back and protected the Jews. But once they said that they did not want the connection with Hashem the snakes were released. This is also why they are referred to as הַנְּחָשִׁ֣ים הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים the snakes (as a definite article) because they were always there.

R' Frand also quoted R' Bukspan from Miami who observed that the snake was previously mentioned in the Torah in Bereishis where he received a curious punishment. As explained by the Sfas Emes, Hashem tells the snake that he will crawl on his stomach and eat dirt. On the surface, this appears to be a blessing as the snake will never want for food. However, on a deeper level it is apparent that it was truly a punishment. Hashem in effect said to the snake - I don't want to see you ever again. You can eat eat all the dirt you want, just don't come back to me. This was the message to the Jews who did not want to have a connection with Him. Hashem was saying to the Jews - you don't want to depend on Me on a daily basis for food? Well, if you want to be like the snake, then I will send the snakes after you.

R' Frand concluded the vort by stating that the cure for the plague of snakes was more than just looking at a copper snake. It was looking at a snake which was raised up on a pole. Hashem was thus hinting to the Jews - if you look up and recognize that it all comes from Me, then you will be saved.

R' Frand closed the vort by telling a story he received by email from a woman who had made Aliyah from Baltimore and lived in a neighborhood in Israel which had both Kollel families and an army base. There was a Kollel husband who was shopping in the supermarket with a cart loaded with 1500 NIS of groceries. An army officer offered to pay for his groceries and the Kollel husband asked why. The officer explained that he had recently gone to Ukraine to install the Iron Dome and that after he returned he received a request to come back. It seemed that in Ukraine the system was intercepting at a 50% rate whereas in Israel it was 95%. He went back and tested the system but it was working fine. The officer then explained to the Kollel husband that the difference was that in Israel the men learning in Kollel were protecting the country and that was why the interception rate was much higher. As such he wanted to thank the Kollel husband and pay for his groceries.

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