A thought on Parshios Matos - Massai

"...musabos shem..."
"...names were changed..." (Matos 32:38)

"...bamidbar Sinai..."
"...in the Sinai desert..." (Masei 33:15)

In tracing our people's steps through the desert, the Torah recounts the names of settlements and encampments, noting that some of them took on different names over time. The Chezkuni explains that the original names were given by Amon and Moav who occupied those lands. When Sichon and Og ruled there they gave the places different names. Once our nation ruled we gave them a third set of names.

Meanwhile, with regard to Sinai, the Chezkuni writes that the wilderness area is called midbar Sin - the desert of Sin --- back in parshas Yisro (19:2). The Torah called this desert Sinai after the giving of the Torah. What happened? Since the "ten commandments" were given in that desert, the letter yud was added to the name Sin (yud signifies the number ten) so Sin became Sinai.

We understand the rationale for changing names of places. New rulers or new occupants need to sever traces of former denizens, so they select a name more to their liking. Sometimes names are altered to conform with the dialect of those who now dwell there. In our own history, Brest-Litovsk became Brisk for us. Deutschkreuez became Tzelem for the Chassidim who lived there.

That Sin became Sinai is a remarkable insight! We passed through that parcel of wilderness and stopped at the foot of one of its mountains. When that leg of our journey was over, we never returned there as a nation nor has that obscure spot remained a sacred place for us. We name an occasional hospital after it or a congregation here and there but for the rest of Jewish history, that mountain and its surrounding desert is just a footnote in some of our prayers and songs.

Yet, the Torah saw fit to commemorate the world-changing event there by awarding midbar Sin with a permanent name change. Though we might forget the true location of that mystic mountain and might not remember who owns that region anymore, the reality is that Heaven kissed earth just one time in history (see opening of Avos d'Rabbi Nosson) and the world changed forever with the giving of the asseres ha'dvorim (Shmos 34:28). With no permanent shrine or mark to ever etch that moment into the world's psyche, something needed to occur that would always declare the greatness of that unparalleled act.

So Sin became Sinai, and the rest of the world still knows that Mt. Sinai was the spot where the Jews received the Torah. As for us, the only reminder we need is the Torah itself. We hold the Torah, we learn Torah and we know that Moshe kibel Torah mi'Sinai. And because we learn Torah, and we learn the Chezkuni, we now know that within the word Sinai itself is a hint of the celestial saga which changed the planet, changed the world, changed our people, and which gives us the power to bring about positive and enduring changes in all worlds always.

I travel to London shortly so this is going out early. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Pinchas

"...Kazbi bas n'sie Midian achosam...""...Kazbi the daughter of a Midianite prince, their sister..." (25:18)

Last week's parsha recounted the saga of Kazbi daughter of Tzur, a prince of Midian, who was killed by the avenging zeal of Pinchas. Here, the Torah refers to her as "the sister of the Midianites." What does this change of title teach?

The Chezkuni cites a midrash which puzzles over this point. How was Kazbi a sister of her people? The answer is that once she gave up her life for her people, her people were henceforth identified through her. They prided themselves in being "sisters of Kazbi." Midianites would refer to themselves as "kasbians."
Devoting yourself to a cause can lead to others elevating you to the status of an icon. Giving up all that one has for the sake of a heavenly cause can indeed guide others to see one as a model. When a person lives and dies for a value or principle, others will identify that value with the martyr or saintly figure who promoted that value.They will consider themselves his disciples and followers.

In today's world, we hear about the dreaded jihad: there are people set on self sacrifice in the process of eliminating their enemy. We Jews need to think about "yihad", which is the dedication of ourselves to those causes which find favor Above, and about which others will say of us, "they lived their lives as Yehudim should."

To a degree, each time a yeshiva or seminary is named after someone whose life was devoted to great things, we call its students by that name "He is a real Chaim Berliner" or "she is a real Sara Schneirer type."

I challenge each of us to contemplate this over Shabbos: with whom do we truly want to be identified? Who out there would want to identify with us? Are the people who would consider themselves our "sisters" and "brothers" people with whom we would want to be seen with?

And reflecting back on Kazbi: what will your cause be?Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshios Chukas & Balak

"... gader mi'zeh v'gader mi'zeh..."
"...a stone wall to this side and a stone wall to that side..." (22:24)

The Torah goes into detail here about how Bilam smashes his leg into a wall.

The Chezkuni cites a midrashic source which identifies the "stone wall" with the stone monument erected between Yakov and Lavan in parshas Vayetze (Bereishis 31:45-52). The scope of this midrash is that when that monument, known as Gal Eid, was established, two stone pillars were placed to demarcate the territory of Yakov and that of Lavan. A sword was placed in between them.

The two men vowed that this monument (gal) would be a witness (eid) that neither side violate the other nor violate the other's domain.

When Bilam (a descendant of Lavan) violated that covenant by riding toward the Jewish encampment, the stone wall, which was a "witness", fulfilled the Torah's mandate (Devarim 17:7) - "the witness shall be the first to strike him" and thus was used to admonish Bilam. It served as the means of warning him, for he smashed his leg against the wall. The "witness" forewarned him.

Bilam later disregarded this warning sign, and continued his plot to violate our people. Thus, later on (31:8) when the Torah says that Bilam was killed with a sword, the allusion is to the covenantal sword placed between the stones. He was punished by the "witness".

We sometimes wonder about HaShem's ways, and even puzzle over the meaning of His commandments. We must not forget that His ways are actually mirrored through the commandments which He gives us. Take the mitzva of having a witness initiate the punishment of a convicted criminal, or violator of severe Torah transgressions. We might view this as a curious idea, or we might ascribe to it some deep meaning or profound mystical interpretation. We might be right, too.

But what we see from this Chezkuni is that this mitzva is a reflection of a broader universal reality: HaShem has structured into the world a principle that says that a witness to something enters into a relationship with that which is witnessed. When something is wrong, and is being witnessed, then the role of the witness is both to forewarn and to reprimand the violator. Setting up a monument as a witness to a covenant means that there is a retaliatory or reactionary process underway. Even with an inanimate witness, the gal eid, the world must see consequence of that testimony. Hundreds of years later, with Yakov and Lavan long gone, the monument still attested to a pact. When someone dared violate that pact, the role of the "witness" had to be enacted. With no one mortal to admonish the violator, admonishment still had to occur. With no human to mete out punishment, punishment still was needed.

Thus, as Yakov and Lavan had agreed (Bereishis 31:52) "...these stones will serve as witness and this monument will serve as witness..." And so it did.

No event in our world is serendipitous. Nothing is coincidence or happenstance. When something is right, then good will follow it. When something is not right, then there will also be a compensatory follow up. This is cosmic law as well as a law of the Torah, which is saying the same thing. The world is a commentary on HaShem's Torah.

Good Shabbos. D Fox