A Thought on Parshas Chukas

"...mayim chaim el keli..." "...with spring water in a utensil..." (19:17) The Torah gives detailed instructions for cleansing impure people. One step in the process involves the use of "live water" (water which has flown from a running spring) and a utensil. The Panae'ach Raza offers an allegorical interpretation of the above words, utilizing the methods known as drush and remez, not unlike we learned last week in Parshas Korach. Here, he notes that the word "keli" (vessel or utensil) consists of three letters, kof, lamed, yud. Those three letters are also the first letters of the three words (which are often found in a trio) Kohanim, Leviim, Yisroelim which are the three subdivisions of the Jewish nation. Moreover, in context, our verse is discussing purification through the medium of living water, which is also an allegory for Torah, as our sages have explained that "Torah is comparable to water", and the Torah is also referred to as a "Tree of Life." Hence, in instructing us about the use of living water in cleansing our impurities, the Torah is also hinting at how any Jew, of any background, or any origin, can achieve the greatest form of cleansing - the purification of the self and the soul - through the study of the Living Torah whose properties are likened to water. The Panae'ach Raza offers this interpretation in the name of Rabbeinu Aharon. My late rebbe and Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon Rav Simcha Wasserman zt'l would often say that when our sages compare Torah to water, they intend to capture the unique liquid property of water which is that "it takes on the shape of its container." A caring person will spring forth with Torah lessons which are compassionate and considerate. An intense person will emit Torah lessons with a serious quality. The finest application of our Torah, however, is when we learn in a manner which inspires us to change our very nature. The Torah is indeed a Tree of Life and life implies the capacity to grow and to change. Whether we are Kohanim, Leviim or Yisroelim, our path to healthy transformation is through immersion in the waters of Torah. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Korach

"...tistarer..." (16:13) "...you're trying to rule over us..." Korach and his band of supporters were abrupt and direct in their confrontation of Moshe. They insinuated that he was guilty of nepotism and they accused him of seizing absolute power. Our verse is somewhat atypical of their focused, terse allegations in that it uses a doubled expression (tistarer;histarer) when a single word would have sufficed to make that point. What is the hidden message of this word emphasis, given that the Torah never includes a redundant or superfluous term? The Panae'ach Raza moves into a more kabbalistic mode of interpretation here, drawing on the approaches of remez and drush. He first offers the observation that when we view Hebrew words from the standpoint of their numerical equivalents (the gematria system wherein each letter doubles as a number, with alef equalling one, bais two and so on), we will note that the gematria of tistarer (tof shin tof raish raish) is 1500. What makes that unique, he writes, is that this is the highest numeric value of any single word in the Torah! The word may consist of a mere five letters but each tof equals 400, the shin 300 and each raish 200, totaling one thousand five hundred. Quite a large hidden significance for such a small cluster of letters. Now that the Panae'ach Raza has introduced this noteworthy facet of this small word, he branches into the significance of the word having that particular numeric value. What is 1500? He points out that were we to take the entire alef bais and add up the numeric values of all its letters, we would get a total of 1495. Now, other than this happening to be three years after Columbus left Spain during the Inquisition (which had not happened during the life of the Panae'ach Raza so it probably is a spurious correlation), what does 1495 suggest? You will note that it is only 5 points lower than 1500. The Panae'ach Raza then notes that in Hebrew, there are five other letters which we must contend with, namely that there are "final" letters for mem, nun, tzadi, pae and chof. Adding those five letter-variants to the overall gematria of the basic alef bais, we come up with a total of 1500. This was the contention of Korah and his crew. They were saying, in cryptic fashion, "Moshe - you hold no advantage over the rest of the nation. You heard the Torah being given, which is written with the letters of the alef bais, yet so did we. We all received the Torah from HaShem and we all have equal rights as to how it is practiced, too". This angle of critiquing Moshe, as if he was not in a position to claim superiority over the nation in that HaShem had given the Torah to everyone, was presented by wily Korach through this show of his deeper grasp of deciphering the Torah's secrets. He attempted to prove that a small group can have greater significance than meets the eye, just as the word tistarer contains more value than words of greater size and prominence, so that his small band of conspirators could claim greater quality despite their lesser quantity, and supersede the rule of Moshe. Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Shlach

"...va'yikra Moshe l'Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua..." "...and Moshe called Hoshea son of Nun "Yehoshua"..." (13:16) Moshe Rabbeinu had a faithful student named Hoshea. In this verse, the Torah relates how Moshe called him by the name "Yehoshua." Rashi brings us an interpretation, which has become very well known, that Moshe wanted Hoshea to have the extra letter yud in his name to fortify him with spiritual strength. With the addition of that letter, the name of HaShem which is written with yud and hae would now preface his name. This would empower Hoshea (now called Yehoshua) to withstand, with HaShem's help, the wiles and conniving of those fellow travelers who sought to disillusion the nation. A number of questions have been raised about this interpretation. Firstly, we have earlier references in the Torah to Moshe's student being called Yehoshua. This passage, the prelude to the reconnaissance mission of the scouts, is seemingly not the place or time when the name change was made. Secondly, if Moshe's concern was to protect Hoshea via this adding-a-letter, why didn't Moshe similarly outfit the loyal Kalev with a name change? The Panae'ach Raza offers an alternative interpretation of the verse. He suggests that immediately from the time that Moshe took Hoshea on as a disciple and found him worthy, he changed his name to Yehoshua via the additional letter. This happened much earlier, well before the current episode in our parsha.The reason for this name change, he opines, is that we find a precedent for that elsewhere. When a person finds favor and is viewed as a trusted servant, his status is elevated through a name change. Avram became Avraham. Yaakov became Yisroel. Yosef became Tzafnas Panae'ach. Daniel became Beltshazar. Chanania, Mishael and Azaria became Shadrach, Meshael and Abed-nego. Moshe altered the name of his trusted servant to confirm that he was worthy of respect and this paved the way for the nation of Israel to view him, eventually, as the natural and hand-picked successor of their great leader Moshe. ************************* "v'im nefesh achas te'cheta..." "...and if a soul sins..." (15:27) Earlier this year, on Parshas Emor, I presented the view of the Panae'ach Raza who holds that the term nefesh is a reference to the soul which is eternal, and which lives on after life has ended. His view emphasized that it is the nefesh which is of the highest importance in a mortal's existential reality, for the nefesh is the transcendent dimension of human potential. During mortal existence, we "have a nefesh" but in life after life, we are a nefesh. That Parsha Thought generated great discussion. There was considerable back-and-forth from people who get my Parsha Emails. In particular, the exceptionally bright Westreich brothers of New York and Los Angeles took me to task on this Panae'ach Raza. After quite an exchange, I agreed to continue developing the concept. Well, the above verse is used by the Panae'ach Raza to shed more light on his thinking. He notes, as should we, that the person who sins is referred to here as a "nefesh", rather than as an "odom" (person) or "ish" (man). Why no reference to the person, the body, the corporeal? After all, if a person lacks a body, his soul cannot sin. The departed spirits, in their higher realm, can do no wrong. At a physical level, they probably do nothing at all! What the Torah is hinting at here is that when a (living) person commits a sin, it does not really affect his physical body. Sooner or later, that body will die and decay, returning to dust. What is damaged, however, is the soul. The nefesh comes from a place of holiness and purity. When one fails in his mission to maintain a mortal life of kedusha v'tahara, he compromises the supernal sanctity of the only aspect of self which endures, and which, in the plan of eternity, is all that matters. The impact of iniquity is, for all purposes and intents, on the soul alone. Thus, when a person sins, it is the nefesh asher te'cheta - the soul alone which will bear that sin. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas B'ha'aloscha

"...v'hayisa lanu l'eynaim..." "...and you would be eyes for us..." (10:31) Moshe Rabbeinu negotiates with his father in law Yisro, asking that he accompany the Jewish nation on the trek towards Israel where they will settle the land. The idiom of "eyes" takes on a number of interpretations in the eyes of our noted commentaries. Most see the expression as "you will be (or, you have been,) our guide. Yisro was a wise and perceptive man, and the idea seems to be that Moshe urged him not to abandon the people but rather to offer his insights and foresight. Given that Moshe was capable of his own insights, and given that his foresightedness was through the prophetic instructions given to him from Above, it is not at all clear to us why the vision and acuity of Yisro's eyes would have seemed so important at that point in time. The Panae'ach Raza offers four different glimpses into the idiom of "be our eyes." He suggests that the term "eyes" might mean "the foundation", as we see in the prophet Zecharia (3:9) whose vision of the building of the Bais HaMikdash is the seven faceted (eyed) foundation. where "eyes" means "major facets" or foundational heads. In other words, Moshe was asking Yisro to enter Israel in order to hasten the building of the Mikdash. The verse's idiom means "you will contribute to the founding of the Temple." The Panae'zch Raza offers the interpretation of Rabbeinu Yosef who understands "eyes" as the enlightening of the people's eyes through his wise counsel. The verse's idiom means "you will brighten our eyes for us." In the name of Rabbeinu Eliezer, the Panae'ach Raza offers that "eyes" means vistas and pathways. Moshe was asking Yisro to serve as a seasoned guide and scout for the people, in that he knew the terrain between the desert and the Promised Land. The verse's idiom means "you will envision the journey ahead and point out the important places." The Panae'ach Raza seems to prefer another interpretation, wherein "eyes" actually means "l'maraos ha'ayin" - for appearance sake That is, Moshe suggested to Yisro that by staying with the people, everyone would conclude that there must be true merit and greatness in HaShem's benevolent bond with the Jews, for otherwise the noble Yisro would never have forsaken his own kingdom with its homeland and wealth. Thus, "you will be there for the eyes of those who look at the Jews" and will be a "public relations" agent for Shomayim. The verse's idiom is "and you will be there for the eyes of those who look at our nation", promoting a sense that we are HaShem's nation, and that you too value and recognize that this is more important to you than your own wealth and prestige. All of us are the "eyes" of the Jewish people: wherever we go, the nations of the world (and our fellow Jews) gauge the role that HaShem plays in our lives by how we conduct ourselves. If we act in a manner consistent with the values which we assert, we appear accepting of and content with our role as avdei HaShem. When there is a disconnect between our professed standards and our actual behavior, that is evident to others as well. Keep an eye on that. Good Shabbos. D Fox