Chaired by Dr. Ellier Russ. This committee coordinates programs and classes to engage members in lifelong learning. Events include our yearly Scholar in Residence program, Talmud Study, and more. Guest speakers, online webinars and Shabbat morning discussions additionally provide congregants with opportunities to expand their knowledge of Judaism and living a Jewish life.

TORAH PORTION: PINCHAS
July 27, 2024    22 Tammuz  5784
Torah   Numbers 25:10-30:1   Triennial   Numbers 26:52-28:15
  Haftorah:  Jeremiah 1:1-2:3

We believe that in times of great strife, words of Torah can provide stability and comfort in our lives.
We know that you join us in praying for the safety of our soldiers and citizens, and that together we mourn the terrible losses already suffered.
We stand together for a strong and secure Israel.

D'VAR TORAH
    

 Bex Stern-Rosenblatt
 Parashah
 Passing It On

Moses steals God’s thunder in this parashah. He takes the mic. It’s been a rough time for Moses. 

His family has passed. Everyone he grew up with, every contemporary of his, has left this world. He has the numbers to prove it. Yet again, Moses must take a census, must record this new generation. Last time he did this, he did it with Aaron at his side. He recorded those he had shared his life with, those who had witnessed miracles with him, those who had seen him transform from an outsider with a stutter to a humble man who talked with God. This time, it is Aaron’s son by Moses’s side. Those that Moses records never knew Moses the man. They knew only Moses the leader. We read “And among these there was not a man from the reckonings of Moses and Aaron the priest, who reckoned the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.” 

It is all too understandable that looking at these grown children, Moses sees the echoes of their parents. In this census, Moses mentions Dathan and Abiram, Er and Onan, all of whom are dead. But most tellingly, Moses mentions his mom and dad, his brother and sister, his two deceased nephews. Looking at the future, Moses sees the past, and he understands himself in a new role. Moses the transmitter of God’s message becomes Moses the transmitter of history. He has already told God’s message. He has delivered the Torah. His life is coming to a close. Now, he just has to tell his story and the story of all those who lived with him. He must make sure that this new generation understands itself as carrying the legacy, the knowledge, the relationships of those who came before it. This will not be God’s message. This will be Moses’s message. This will be the Book of Deuteronomy. 

There is a huge amount of chutzpah here on Moses’s part. God has told him that his time is drawing to a close—but Moses does not stand down. God has listened to Moses and given him a successor—but Moses won’t stop talking. God created the world once through an act of speech. God said, and there was. In Deuteronomy, Moses too will speak the world that was into being, transforming fading memories into transmittable national myth. 

It begins in our parashah. For the past three books and forty years, we have read, over and over, “And God spoke to Moses saying.” There are two common interpretations for the use of both the word “spoke, dbr” and the word “saying, amr.” Some, including Rashi, hold that the two words refer to different types of speech, harsh speech and gentle speech. God talks with both types. Some, including Rabbeinu Bahya, hold that the use of amr means that the words God addresses to Moses are meant to be passed on, to be resaid, to the Israelites. 

In our parashah, the phrase gets flipped on its head. We read, “And Moses spoke to God saying.” Moses is asking God to provide a successor, a leader to guide the people once Moses is gone. But he does so using God’s language. Moses the humble, Moses who needed Aaron to communicate for him, now addresses God directly. Of course, he had spoken to God before. But never with God’s own form of address. Moses is making God his messenger. After all, God will still be with the people. It is Moses who will be gone. And God listens. God takes no offense at this reversal of roles. God gives Moses his platform, lets Moses have his final book. Moses has earned it.

A Covenant Of Inner Peace Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein Insights from Hassidut PRESS THE PLAY ARROW TO WATCH ON YOUTUBE   https://youtu.be/ZydWMNVsUAQ?si=KaIwVu2HnjPauc4W Rabbi Daniel Silverstein teaches Hassidut at the CY and directs Applied Jewish Spirituality (www.appliedjewishspirituality.org). In these weekly videos, he shares Hassidic insights on the parashah or calendar.   THE WHITE FIRE: POETRY ON THE PARSHA      The Daughters of Tziofchad Speak Ilana Kursha No woman is so brazen as to come Petition Moses with her own request But we are five. Our strength in numbers lies We dare to hope he’ll act at our behest.  For not just for ourselves do we come forth We seek out neither fortune nor great fame Tzlofchad was our father. When he died He left just us to carry on his name. We’re not so young. Yet none of us has wed We’re Tzlofchad’s daughters still. That’s how we’re known.  Why shouldn’t we inherit? Though not men, We seek to call his share of land our own.  Our plea comes from our love not just for Father But also for the land. Unlike those spies Who quaked inside their boots and warned of giants We long to see the land with our own eyes.  And surely Moses whose most fervent dream Was crossing with his people to the land Which he, their leader, longed to see himself— We dare to hope to God he’ll understand.  For Moses is a man of God. And yet-- A man of God is nonetheless a man. And men have far more mercy on their kind It’s always been that way. Since time began. But God is not like man. His grace extends To all God’s creatures. Though we make our plea To Moses, we direct our hearts above To He who spoke and caused the world to be.  God of all flesh, of woman and of man, Grant us our father’s portion in the land. The Talmud teaches that the Torah was given in black fire on white fire (Y. Shekalim 6:1). The black fire is the letters of the Torah scroll, and the white fire is the parchment background. In this column, consisting of a poem on each parashah, I will try to illuminate the white fire of Torah – the midrashim, stories, and interpretations that carve out the negative space of the letters and give them shape.

 PINCHAS 5784: Follow the leader

Shabbat Shalom Weekly

by Rabbi Yitzchak Zweig

JULY 26, 2024
Pinchas, Numbers (25:10-30:1)

GOOD MORNING! As the United States approaches the last few furious months of a presidential election year, the question of what innate qualities and characteristics make for a worthy leader is heavily debated.

Being an effective leader is sometimes a matter of guile and cleverness. I am reminded of the boss who always scheduled a weekly staff meeting for Friday afternoon at four-thirty. When an employee finally got up the nerve to ask why, the boss explained, “I’ve found that late Friday afternoon is the only time none of you want to argue with me.”

In this week's Torah portion, we find some instructive lessons on leadership.

“Moses spoke to God saying, ‘May the Almighty, God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over the congregation, who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall take them out and who shall bring them in […]’” (27:15-17).

This week's Torah portion includes a remarkable conversation between Moses and the Almighty about the succession plan for the leadership of the Jewish nation after Moses.

Initially, and particularly after seeing that the daughters of Tzelafchad eventually prevail in their quest to inherit their father’s share in the Holy Land (see last year’s edition of Parshat Pinchas here for more on the topic), Moses is emboldened to make a request of his own; that one his children inherit his position as leader. God, however, has other plans and informs him that Joshua, Moses’ faithful student and protégé, is to be rewarded for his many years of devotion to Moses and the Jewish people (see Rashi 27:16).

God then asks Moses to get Joshua on board with this plan and tells him: “take to yourself Joshua son of Nun […]” (27:18).

The great Biblical commentator known as Rashi explains (ad loc) that God wanted Moses to persuade Joshua by telling him how fortunate he is to lead the children of the Almighty – the Jewish nation. But just a few verses later (27:22) when Moses actually fulfills what God asked him to do – “Moses did as God commanded him. He took Joshua […]” – Rashi (ad loc) comments that Moses persuaded Joshua by informing him of the great reward in the World to Come for the leaders of the Jewish people.

God asked Moses to explain to Joshua how fortunate he was to be offered the ultimate leadership position of God’s children, yet in practice Moses basically talked to him about the retirement benefits. Why did Moses seemingly alter what God had initially asked him to tell Joshua?

To understand what transpired we must first examine how Moses characterizes the leadership requirements for this job. Moses makes a specific request that the Almighty appoint someone who “will go out in front of them and come in before them.” Moses then adds, “who shall take them out and who shall bring them in […]”(27:17). This request seems a bit contradictory: Does the leader go out in front of them and come in before them, or does he take them out and bring them in?

There is a very enigmatic statement in the Talmud (Kethubot 105b) regarding leadership (and it’s one that haunts synagogue rabbis the world over). Abaye says, “A young rabbi who is beloved by the people of his town, it is not because they think he has such fine character, it is because he doesn’t properly rebuke them in matters regarding religion.”

Abaye’s statement is very difficult to understand: If a rabbi is beloved, it’s because he isn’t doing his job. However, the converse seems just as bad: If he is doing his job (criticizing his constituency), he will be despised. Surely, a hated rabbi cannot be considered to be doing his job properly either!

In this week’s Torah reading Moses is teaching us the core fundamentals of leadership. Every leader has two roles; one is to lead by example, the other is to direct the people to do what needs to be done. The primary responsibility of a leader is to inspire the people to act in a certain way, i.e. a leader needs to be relatable and charismatic enough that the people will follow his lead. They need to look up to him and want to emulate him and the way he conducts his affairs. He must foster communal buy-in to help fulfill his vision for the community.

But a leader also has an important, albeit secondary, role; to make sure his followers are doing what they are supposed to be doing, even when they don’t want to do the right thing. This is a much harder task, as it must come from an outside force rather than an inner motivation. A leader sometimes has to pressure and demand his constituents to do the right thing, even when they don’t want to.

Moses' request from the Almighty is essentially a job description that reflects these two roles; “he must lead them out and lead them in,” in other words a communal leader is to an embodiment of proper behavior, to show – by example – how others should conduct their lives.

But on occasion, when they don’t want to follow his lead, he must then “bring them out and bring them in.” A true leader has to know how and when to apply the appropriate pressure to his constituents, for their own sake and for the sake of their community, so that they do the proper thing.

With this explanation we now understand the two versions of what Moses was to tell Joshua. God was telling him to persuade Joshua by extolling the privilege of inspiring the children of the Almighty through leadership. The Hebrew word Rashi uses in his comments on that verse (27:18) is “l’hanhig – to lead.” To be chosen as a paradigm for how a community should behave, that is, indeed, a privilege.

However, in the second verse, the one when Moses is convincing Joshua to take the job, he references the less pleasant aspect of leadership (and one that Moses knew all too well) – that of criticizing wrongdoings and demanding that the constituents do things that they prefer not to do.

For this reason, Rashi in that context (27:22) uses the Hebrew word “parnes – provider.” The ultimate power behind a leader is that he is their provider, which is how he can compel them to do the right thing. This aspect of leadership is rarely appreciated at the time, and consequently this can be a very difficult and unpleasant thing to do. Therefore, Moses tells Joshua, “The reward for the providers of the Jewish people is in the next world.”

In history we find some fascinating examples of leaders who sometimes combined both of these aspects of leadership 1) by serving as an example and 2) by getting their constituents to do something that they really preferred not to do.

Scurvy, a disease caused by a severe deficiency in vitamin C, was the scourge of ocean-going sailors for millennia. The symptoms of scurvy are both terrible and dramatic; it is estimated that between the 16th-18th centuries over two million sailors died from it. Because the typical ocean voyage required many months at sea (with, of course, no refrigeration), sailors relied on foods that were heavily salted or non-perishable. Fruits and leafy vegetables that naturally contain vitamin C were unavailable on long sea voyages.

While the U.S. Navy continued to struggle with scurvy through the 19th century, the British Royal Navy discovered in the 18th that it was caused by a lack of vitamin C and began storing lemons and limes on their ships and carefully rationed them to their sailors (this is why Brits are commonly referred to as Limeys).

Another enterprising ship’s doctor discovered that smelly sour cabbage (or sauerkraut) had an incredible amount of Vitamin C. But how was he going to convince his shipmates to eat what seemed like spoiled cabbage? The ship’s captain came up with the solution – he had them parade through the deck in full view of all the sailors, a huge platter of sour cabbage to be delivered to his cabin. Pretty soon, every sailor was demanding that they be given the same “fine food” that the captain seemed to be enjoying. Sure enough, as sailors began to commonly eat sour cabbage, symptoms of the disease disappeared.

Just as Moses ensured that Joshua fully understood both roles of leadership, we must understand and apply these same principles in our own homes.

A parent’s primary leadership role is to inspire and educate one’s children to follow the proper path to live. A person’s children have to look at his example and feel like they want to emulate him. Of course, a key component of this is that the parent needs to be someone worthy of emulation.

But perhaps of even greater importance is the secondary role; a parent has to criticize and gently redirect his children when they make mistakes. But even then, the primary goal is to make sure the children understand he is doing it out of love for them, not because he wants to control them. In this way, they will choose to follow in his path long after they have left their parents’ house.

Rabbi Gaber lead several Adult Education programs using ZOOM  "You don’t have to leave the warmth and comfort of your home to hear a discussion on confronting Antisemitism and Hate or the Human Genome or to discuss how to bring Judaism into the 21st century. 

See the CBOI On-line Learning page in Learn Navigation bar to see all the  On Line Zoom Learning sessions.