Pinchas: July 11, 2009
Numbers 25:10 - 30:1

Précis: This parasha begins with a reward for Pinchas’ zealotry in slaying the offending adulterers at the conclusion of the previous parasha. (His reward: the hereditary High Priesthood for his family). The parasha continues with a second census conducted by Moses, with war being declared against Midian. The laws of inheritance are amended to provide, at least in certain cases, for daughters to inherit their fathers’ estates. Joshua is appointed the successor to Moses as leader of the People. The parasha then shifts to details of daily sacrifices, offerings for the new moon, and Festivals.


28:1-2 “And Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ‘Command the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, ‘You shall bring forward my sacrifices to me, my food, for my offering by fire, my pleasant smell, at its appointed time.’”

Do we really believe in a God who needs “food?” Who enjoys a “pleasant smell?” Have Jews ever really believed so? The anthropomorphic nature of these lines is quite obvious, and was a cause of concern for the earliest rabbinic interpretation. Former Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Schorsch calls this expression a "linguistic fossil” - a phrase which is embedded in language but no longer has a current meaning. We have examples of this in the English language as well, such as our “going to the ends of the earth.” Even when anthropomorphic language was used in the Bible, he maintains, the language had already become a “fossil.” He argues that Jews had already left behind the idea that a God needed the sustenance of a sacrifice.

Do we believe in a God who needs ritual sacrifices, even after the termination of animal sacrifices almost 2,000 years ago? What do we make of those among the traditional Jewish community who pray for the restoration of animal sacrifices at a re-established Temple in Jerusalem?

The concept of “linguistic fossils” implies that over time, our rituals and words may have changing inflections, purposes or even meanings. Yet, the fact that the same words or rituals are still used imbues them with a direct link to an earlier time. In other words, the linguistic “fossil” provides an important sense of tradition and connection.

Chukat-Balak: July 4th, 2009

Numbers 19:1 – 25:9
This week, we read a double parasha. We also celebrate America’s independence, which serves to kick-off this particular d’var.

Précis: In Chukat, the parasha begins with a discussion about the Red Heifer, used for ritual purification after one comes into contact with a dead body. The reading returns to narrative with the death of Miriam, and the mourning for her by the people in the wilderness of Zin. With her death, the well of water disappears, and Moses strikes a rock to provide water to the People. Soon thereafter, Aaron also dies. The Israelites engage in warfare with the Canaanites in a series of battles which conclude the parasha.

In Balak, the King of Moab is fearful because of the success of the Israelites against other Canaanite peoples, and he hires a local magician named Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam begins the journey riding upon his ass, which refuses to proceed and actually talks to Balaam, protesting Balaam’s foul treatment of the poor beast. Balaam then sees an image of an angel, and refuses to complete Balak’s mission. Balak reiterates his command to Balaam to curse the Israelites, but instead Balaam pronounces a blessing. The parasha ends with an interesting brief episode: Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, sees an Israelite having sexual relations with a Midianite woman (a violation of a commandment not to fraternize with the Canaanites), and he slays both of them and, in the process, staves off a plague that had been threatening the Israelites.

Numbers 24:5 “How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel.”
Balaam, called upon to curse the Jewish People, instead pronounces a blessing. These words form the basis for the traditional prayer one says upon entrance into a synagogue (Ma tovu….). In the text, the expression is one of astonishment at the encampment of Israel in the wilderness. In our prayer books, the words form a prayer of gratitude for the sustenance and maintenance of the congregation.
This week, we celebrate the best that is America. In important ways, the United States has been a source of sustenance and maintenance for the Jewish People. Without overstating it (and without total disregard for the negatives which are certainly part of our American-Jewish experience), few can doubt that America has come closest to being the “Goldena Medina (Golden Land)” than any other location in the long Diaspora of the Jewish People. Here we are free to worship as Jews, live our lives in amazingly different ways, and to love, criticize, defend and support America according to our own hearts.
When we as Jews celebrate America’s birthday, we should make it a particular point to realize how fortunate we really are. In the long history of the Jewish People, we have rarely been so free to be what we want to be. One can say without hesitation, “How fair are your tents, O America.”