Masei: Territoriality

After the Bnei Yisroel leave Egypt they "wander" in the desert. Why did they need to invade the territory of the Canaanites? Why could the desert bloom for them? It appears that most of the wandering time was peaceful, no one else was claiming the land they were traversing. Did Gd simply reject the early Zionist dream?

The wandering in the desert was a type of exile. It is similar to the exile of the unintentional killer( also detailed in the parsha). The exile ends with the death of Aaron, the high priest. Perhaps, it is an atonement for the unintentional killing of the Egyptians.

The first exile is that of Adam from the garden of Eden. This exile is the result of Eve's trespass. Thus, she is the one who was most severely punished. In the parsha, the entry into the land is an undoing of the exile from Eden. Perhaps that is why it ends with the daughters of Zelophchad being disenfranchised.

Matos: the aging Moshe

actually, it happened last week. the leader was no longer the source of all edicts. Law was springing directly from the people. The daughters of Zelophchod generated the general laws of inheritance. ( see Rashi on Bamidbar 27:5; [So Moses brought their case The law eluded him, and here he was punished for crowning himself [with authority] by saying, “and the case that is too difficult for you, bring to me” (Deut. 1:17) (Mid. Tanchuma Pinchas 8). Another interpretation: This passage ought to have been written through Moses, but Zelophehad’s daughters were meritorious, so it was written through them. — [Sanh. 8a])

In the beginning of the parsha, the verbal power of women is compromised, as if to limit the processes: 1. of others generating the law ( and thus the pronouncement is to the tribal chiefs, rather than the people) and 2. of women gaining status.

Then there is the attack on Midian. this is taking up the thread that was mentioned in the beginning of last weeks parsha and dropped ( 25: 16-18). צָרוֹר אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִים וְהִכִּיתֶם אוֹתָם. יח כִּי צֹרְרִים הֵם לָכֶם בְּנִכְלֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר-נִכְּלוּ לָכֶם Now ( 31:2) the war is described. נְקֹם נִקְמַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֵת הַמִּדְיָנִים

What is this Midyan enmity? The context is that Moshe's religious awakening occurs in Midyan where, he incidentally marries a Midyanite woman. Now this nation that corrupts Israel by seducing the men with their wily women to serve their false gods must be destroyed! Weird. Further, the great zealot, Pinchas, has some Midyanite ancestry. Are they erasing their origins, like Darwin argues: the descendants, who compete for the same habitat as their ancestors, are the agents of the extinction of their forebearers.

After the war, the purification of the booty is described by Elazar, not (the aging) Moshe ( see Rashi on 31:21). The transition to the new order is well under way.

Finally there is the arrangement with Reuben and Gad. Again, an arrangement that emerges from the (interested) people themselves. One cleverness of the solution is that the agreement with these tribes, that have already had their portion assigned, must fight with their cousins until all the land is apportioned. This forms a model for all the tribes: that they not abandon the group effort until the mission is accomplished.

Balak: Unity of Ritual

The gemarrah ( daf yomi) in Soath ( 47a) אמר רבי חנינא בשביל ארבעים ושנים קרבנות שהקריב בלק מלך מואב הובקעו מישראל ארבעים ושנים ילדים איני והאמר רב יהודה אמר רב לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ובמצות ואף על פי שלא לשמה שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה שבשכר ארבעים ושנים קרבנות שהקריב בלק מלך מואב זכה ויצתה ממנו רות שיצא ממנו שלמה שכתוב ביה (מלכים א ג) אלף עולות יעלה שלמה ואמר רבי יוסי בן חוני רות בתו של עגלון בנו של בלק היתה .

Balak is rewarded for the 42 offerings he makes, in the attempt to have Bilam deprecate the Bnei Yisroel! What can this mean?

The overding principle of the Parsha is the ability of non-Hebrews to communicate and possibly influence the One Gd ( of Israel). fairness demands that this be true. This is clearly a problem. It brings into focus the tension between a national GD and a universal Gd.

Balak gets two kinds of rewards for his actions. The first, his wish is granted albeit in a small way. One young man is killed for each sacrifice. This would seem to be a testimony to the efficacy of his technique.

The reward of a great Legacy, other extraordinary descendents, may be a testimony to his faith. If he did not sincerely believe in the Gd to which he was offering his sacrifices, then, presumably, he wouldn't offer them. The reward is simply evidence of his sincerity. Lishma does not necessarily mean sincere ; it may mean for a good purpose.

Last years: last years edition

Death: root of prophecy

When Eldad and Meidad prophecy in the camp ( Numbers 11:27 וַיָּרָץ הַנַּעַר וַיַּגֵּד לְמֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר אֶלְדָּד וּמֵידָד מִתְנַבְּאִים בַּמַּחֲנֶה. כח וַיַּעַן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה מִבְּחֻרָיו וַיֹּאמַר אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה כְּלָאֵם.) Chazal say that their prophecy was that Moshe would die. The prediction that a person will die is an excellent bet and thus it is likely to come true, a true prophecy.

But the thought a person dying changes your relationship with that person. It also changes your perspective about yourself. Thus, it contains a moral lesson, which is another requisite component of prophecy, the quality that separates proephecy from prediction.

Chukas: the laws of (magic) nature

This is probably the most magical parsha, the most mysterious. There are elements that reproduce the creation story: the forbidden food וְנַפְשֵׁנוּ קָצָה בַּלֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל , the serpent, and death. The parsha has themes that are linguistic ( edom.. para aduma, dam,adam, edom) and conceptual .. the danger ( the poorly defined sin of Moshe and Aaron at the water bearing rock) and mystery ( the purifying mei nidah of the parah aduma; the need for chet to complete the purification process) of the sacred . Ultimately, the chok, the law that has no explanation, is nature; and the predictable and important aspect of nature is that everybody dies.

So the parsha begins dealing with death.The (blood) red cow that never worked and had no flaws dies to repair the impurity inflicted upon people by contact with a dead human ( adam) [n.b. human from humus, soil... the Latin tradition of Edom!] And there are references to Nida ( the renewal of the life cycle) and Chet ( possibly the cause of death; or involved in the renewal cycle, depending upon your religious preference).

Now that we are prepared to deal with it, Miriam dies. Death is reborn. Just as in the creation story, death is an impetus for change of venue. the death of Miriam and Aaron mark the beginning of the conquest of (the) land. Perhaps the idea that Aaron pursued peace comes from his influence on international relations. There are no wars as long as Aaron is alive. ( Chazal say that the nations gained the courage to attack when they saw Aaron dead, perhaps Aaron's peaceful influence was more direct while he was alive)

The first war ( to rescue [the solitary] captive) rejects the conquered land. That land is not Incorporated into the territory of settlement. But subsequent conquests are Incorporated into greater Promised Land. Cf: the criticism of David for conquering Suria prior to the completing the consolidation of (the) Promisedland.

The (homeopathic [Fraser]) magical cure for the snake bites is either difficult or fun or embarrassing. It is embarrassingly (common) magical. So much so that Chizkiya hides it during his reign. It is fun if you believe that it is a true therapeutic intervention, that the psychological perspective has a life-or-death impact upon physical events. It is difficult to understand.