Bamidbar 33:37 -- "They camped at Hor Hahar, at the edge of the Land of Edom" -- As we know, Aharaon Hakohen was buried at Hor Hahar. The Shach comments that, just as we fortify the cities and provinces that lie on the border of a country with strong walls and defenses, so too Aharon was buried on "the edge of the Land of Edom," on the border between Edom and the Land of Israel, to protect Bnei Yisrael from attack by the Edomites.
Why was it specifically Aharon who would provide the best defense, and why specifically at the border with Edom? Perhaps it was because Aharon Hakohen was the "oheiv shalom v'rodeif shalom," the one who always sought to make peace between fellow Jews. In contrast, Edom, the descendants of Esav, stood for hatred of one's brother. Esav sought to murder his borther Yaakov, and the nation of Edom, his descendants, came out to attack Bnei Yisrael when they asked if they could just cross through their territory. Who better to stand guard against brotherly hatred than Aharon, the representative of brotherly love?
MASAI
" These are the journeys of the Children of Israel." (33:1)
There were 42 stations at which the Jews sojourned and camped. A question can be asked, why is it so important for the Torah to record all of the Journeys of The Israelites? It must be that the Torah is teaching us a lesson about ourselves and what our purpose in this world is. Perhapes ,Bezrat Hashem , I would like to propose the following answer. A Jew, like the Israelites, encounters many journeys and encampments in ones life time. A person is constantly on the move.However, what do we do at each stop.Do we sactify the location with holiness ,or not? This is a very fundamental question. For instance, when we find ourselves at a spot and the opportunity to speak Loshon hara occurs, do we sanctify the place by holding our tongue and prevent a sin from occuring? Or when we are at a location and have a few minutes to study Torah, do we grab the opportunity?
"Elazar the Kohen said to the men of the armies. . ." (Numbers 31:21).
Wait a second there is something different here. Elazar is the one speaking to those returning from battle, teaching them about the laws of koshering utensils. Elazar is certainly up to the task, but we have come to expect Moshes in this role, instructing the Jewish people in Hashem’s commandments. What happened to Moshe?
As usual, Rashi points the way, explaining that Moshe forgot these laws, making it necessary for Elazar to teach them in his stead. Forgot these laws? How is that possible? Moshe,the man who spent forty days and forty nights studying with Hashem on Mt. Sinai, forgot a law? Indeed, Rashi continues, Moshe forgot the laws as a result of allowing himself to become angry at the soldiers upon their return from their battle with Midian. Although he had good reason to be upset, Moshe's anger caused him to overlook these laws, making it necessary for Elazar to transmit them in his place.
At the beginning of the second of this week’s parshas, Parshas Masei, the Torah presents a list of the places where the Jewish people camped during their stay in the wilderness. Listed among their journeys, we are told, "They traveled from Chatzeirot and they encamped in Ritmah" (Numbers 33:18). Rashi points out that the name Ritmah actually alludes to an event which occurred in that place, the evil report of ten of the twelve spies sent to spy out the land of Israel. Ritmah, Rashi explains, shares its root with a word used in Tehillim to describe slander: "Hashem, rescue my soul from the lips of falsehood, from the tongue of deceit. What does it give to you and what does it add to you this tongue of deceit? It is like the sharpened arrows of a warrior with the coals of broom-wood (retamim)" (Psalms 120:2-4).
Since the possuk compares slander to retamim (broom-wood), Rashi suggsts, the name Ritmah hints to the spies’ sin of lashon harah, slander against the land of Israel.
At first glance, this interpretation of Rashi seems difficult to understand. Even within the verse in Tehillim, the main point apparently is to compare the harmful words of slander to hot coals! The fact that the coals are from broom-wood seems to be a minor, perhaps even insignificant detail! Why, then, would the Torah choose such an indirect reference to slander to allude to this historical event of the spies slandering the Holy Land?
I speak, therefore I am!
The Gemara Baba Metzia (58b) tells us that when Rav Dimi arrived to Babylon from Eretz Yisrael, Abaye asked him: "About what are they careful in the West - what Mitzvah do they especially adhere to?
The response was "they take extra special care not to embarrass others in public".
Why was it that they were specifically cautious in Eretz Yisrael regarding this and surely this prohibition also applies to Chutz La’aretz?
Our Sages teach us of a critical story that occurred close to the destruction of the Temple.
The nation had fallen to a low spiritual state characterized by baseless hatred. The story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza was the pivotal event that ignited Emperor Nero's rage and caused the destruction of the Holy Temple:
A Jew who had a friend named Kamtza and an enemy named Bar Kamtza made a feast. He told his servant to invite Kamtza, but by mistake the servant invited Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza took this as a gesture of forgiveness and put on his finest clothes and attended the feast. But when the host noticed Bar Kamtza, he demanded that
The Netziv delivers a wonderful halachic explanation of pasuk 53 of perek 33. The pasuk reads ‘you will/shall inherit the Land and dwell in it, for I (HaShem) have given the Land to you to inherit it.’ It all seems a bit repetitive? And why does HaShem stress the fact that He has given the Land to us - what does that have to do with our taking possession of the Land? The Netziv explains that Bnei Yisrael needed to perform an act of acquisition to Eretz Yisrael to effect its change in ownership. Given that no money and no contract was going to pass between Klal Yisrael and the nations which currently occupied the Land, the only viable act of acquisition of land remaining was a chazaka, whereby part of the land is improved or changed in some way by the new owners - thus symbolising a certain element of control that goes with ownership. Anyway, the problem is that when acquiring more than one field, a chazaka must be performed to each individual field to acquire the entire land mass. So how were Klal Yisrael supposed to acquire Eretz Yisrael - it would take some time to perform a chazaka on each field? Here, says the Netziv, lies the key to understanding our pasuk. For only in the case of a sale must one perform a chazaka to each individual field - but if the land is being given as a present then one act of chazaka on one field is sufficient to acquire the entire land mass. This is why HaShem told us that He is giving us the Land - for since the Land is a present then we will be able to acquire (‘inherit’) it with ease. Thus, the words of the pasuk ‘I have given the Land to you to inherit it’ refer to the facilitation of our making an act of acquisition on the Land to own it.
Referring to some of the consequences of sinning in Eretz Yisrael, the final pasuk of perek 35 reads ‘do not make the Land in which you dwell impure…’ This is but one illustration of the special connection Klal Yisrael have to the Land of Israel - a unique relationship whereby what we do affects the Land itself. In this context it refers to our sinning causing the Land to degenerate into becoming impure, but there are other examples too. On a physical level, only when Klal Yisrael occupy Eretz Yisrael does the Land bloom. Across history the Land has become relatively infertile when occupied by other nations, but when we gradually came back to the Land from the 1900s onwards then our Land started to bloom again - crops were grown and the Land showed its fertileness. Similarly, on a spiritual note, our being in the Land seems to infuse the Land with an added dimension of kedusha which effects certain mitzvos which apply there. Thus, the mitzvos of Yovel and Shmittah (mide’oraisa) are dependent upon the majority of Jews living in Eretz Yisrael. In summary, note the special bond between Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
As its name implies, Massei repeats the various journeys that Bnei Yisrael traversed in the desert. Why are these journeys repeated? Rashi (33:1) writes that this serves to highlight and revise HaShem’s chesed to us in that we were made to travel constantly - we camped at some places for long times rather than staying only briefly in each place before setting off again. The Sforno adds that this enumeration of the journeys extols the merit of Klal Yisrael too; for it shows their willingness to have ‘followed’ HaShem out into the desert upon His command - completely relying on Him for their needs.
To sponsor this website or to advertise to the thousands of people that see ShortVort.com every month or hundreds that receive the weekly email contact moishe@shortvort.com
Site Dedication
This website is dedicated to the memories of
Moshe Shlomo ben R'Shmuel | Shlomo ben R'Chaim | Aryeh Leib ben Pinchas Tzvi
