Commentary for Numbers 26:19

בני יהודה, the sons of Yehudah. This whole paragraph (19-22) is full of allusions to the history of the Jewish people. The reason the Torah has chosen to present us with these hints when enumerating the family members of Yehudah is because Yehudah is symbolic of the Jewish people as a whole. We have learned already in Bereshit Rabbah 98,6 that when one used to ask a Jew who was a member of a certain tribe to identify himself he would describe himself first and foremost as a Yehudi, not as a Shimoni or Reuveni, for instance. When our verse starts with the words בני יהודה, the Torah has in mind the descendants of Yehudah, not just his actual sons. Er and Onan respectively are allusions to the premature destruction of both the first and the second Temple. This idea is alluded to in Song of Songs 5,2: "I am asleep but my heart is ער, "awake." This means that while the first Temple was standing G'd was very much "awake," watching over my fate. Onan is an allusion to the second Temple. The Torah refers to it as Onan, an expression denoting אונאה, deception, as many of the holy vessels such as the Holy Ark, etc. were missing during the entire period of the second Temple's operation.

The Torah goes on to say that Er and Onan died, a reference to the destruction of both Temples. Departure of the שכינה, G'd's Presence, from the Temple, is described as death. Just as death of a body is the departure of the soul, so the departure of the Holy Presence of G'd is the death of the Temple. The cause, of course, were the sins committed by the Jewish people. Instead of being filled with G'd's Presence, the respective Temples became filled with the negative spiritual forces created through the sins committed. There is also an opinion according to which the specific sins which the original Er and Onan had been guilty of became the cause of the destruction of both Temples (compare Shabbat 62). The Talmud there states that the Jews were causing their bedsteads to become evil-smelling with semen (which was not theirs), committing the same sin as Er who is reported as being "evil" i.e. wasting his semen, in the eyes of G'd (Genesis 38,7). Onan's sin which is held responsible for the destruction of the second Temple, i.e. "senseless hatred" as described in Yuma 9, was that he hated his deceased brother and did not want that his name should be perpetuated through his impregnating his brother's widow (compare Genesis 38,9). The word Onan is derived from the Hebrew אונאה which also describes mutual harassment, i.e. causeless hatred.

The Torah concludes verse 19 by mentioning ארץ כנען, to remind us that these sins were committed on holy soil and that the souls of people who died on such soil because of such sins were returned to the domain of Samael, otherwise known as Canaan. There is also an allusion of a more comprehensive nature here. It is that the reason the Israelites did not hold on to ארץ ישראל permanently was that they never completed the command to drive out or kill the Canaanites completely. Allowing the Canaanites to co-exist with them in the same land enabled the remaining Canaanites to seduce the Israelites into worshiping idols and adopting many of the abominable practices of that nation.

The Torah introduces the sons of Yehudah here with the word ויהיו, a word which usually is a prelude to something painful, some negative experience. The painful experience our verse alludes to is the destruction of the Temple and the exile and persecution which occurred as a corollary of the destruction of the House of G'd. Hail to people who have never had to taste the bitter experience of exile. You will note that the expression ויהיו is not mentioned in connection with any of the other tribes except Yehudah and regarding one of the families of Benjamin, i.e. Bela. The reason for this will be explained in due course.

The Torah writes למשפחותם, according to their "families," as the destruction of the Temple affected all the families of the Jewish nation wherever they were, negatively. Anyone bearing the name Yehudi viewed the Temple's destruction as a personal disaster, i.e. וי היו, they were in a state of mourning.

The reference to Shelah is an allusion to the redeemer who will redeem the Jewish people from their final exile. His name is called שלה. Although when Yaakov blessed Yehudah on his death bed he called the same Messiah שילה (with the extra letter י), this detail does not change the name materially. If you will take a close look at the names recorded here and compare them with the ones in Genesis chapter 46, you will find numerous changes in the spelling. Perhaps the formula שלה is a form of the possessive as it belongs together with the words ויהיו בני יהודה i.e. "inasmuch as all of Israel has to mourn on account of what happened to the Temple and to look forward with fervent hope to the coming of the Messiah." We have a parallel for this in the Talmud where Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi was asked by the Messiah if the Israelites were truly aware of his pain and were sick on his account. The Zohar in Parshat Beshalach comments on Isaiah 52,8: קול צפיך נשאו קול….בשוב ה׳ ציון, "the voice of those who wait for you raise their voice (still further)." Here too the expression ויהיו means that all the families are saddened, שלה, on account of the Messiah who has not yet come. When the verse continues speaking of משפחת השלני, "the family of Shelah," this refers to the generation in whose time Shelah (Messiah) will appear. That whole generation will then be called by the name of the Messiah in commemoration of that event.

There may be an additional message in the fact that the Torah added the letter נ when speaking of the family of Shelah, i.e. השלני. Normally only the letters ה or י are used in adding the possessive clause to such names. We must refer to Shabbat 32 where the Talmud explains Zachariah 8,23 אשר יחזיקו עשרה אנשים מכל לשונות הגוים והחזיקו בכנף איש יהודי to mean that in the days of the Messiah 10 people of each of the 70 nations will hold on to the fringes on the garment of a single Jew begging to be allowed to go with him, etc. The same idea is hinted at in the word השלני. All the nations of the world will claim שלו אני, "I belong to him," i.e. to the Messiah."

לפרץ משפחת הפרצי. This is an allusion to the authority wielded by a Jewish king who may infringe on fenced in private property in order to make a roadway (Sanhedrin 20). The verse tells us that the descendants of Peretz will all be kings, enjoying the right to be פורץ גדר, to tear down fences in order to claim a right of way. We are told in Baba Metzia 113 concerning messianic times that every Jew will be considered as a prince. This is supported by Isaiah 49,7: "kings will behold them and rise up (in their honour)." The word פרץ is also an allusion to the great פרצה, "breach," which the Messiah will make amongst the Gentile nations.

לזרח משפחת הזרחי; this is a reference to what is written in Isaiah 60,2 וכבוד ה׳ עליך זרח, "and the glory of the Lord will shine upon you." The prophet goes on in verse 19 of the same chapter: "your light will shine continuously" (not by day only, or by night only, but continuously, forever more). In other words, the family of Zerach will be instrumental in assuring us of G'd's eternal light.

It is also possible that the entire paragraph refers to three manifestations which will occur during the messianic period. 1) the arrival of the Messiah from the tribe of Ephrayim as we learned in Sukkah 52. 2) The Messiah of Davidic origin will reveal himself. 3) The final stage of the redemption when G'd personally and directly will rule over us. The name Shelah is a reference to the advent of the Messiah descended from Ephrayim; the Torah hints that he will be smitten and die as a result of the sins of the Jewish people. The word שלה then must be understood as similar to Samuel II 6,7: ויכהו שם על השל, G'd killed him there (Uzzah) because of the sin." [he had tried to steady the ark instead of letting the ark steady him, an inadvertent sin. Ed.] The word פרץ refers to the Messiah from the house of David who would make a פרצה amongst the Gentile nations. and who would avenge the blood of the Messiah from the tribe of Ephrayim. Concerning G'd's eternal rule over us, the Torah wrote לזרח, alluding to G'd's light which would shine forever from then on.

The reason the Torah writes the word ויהיו in connection with פרץ though he symbolises the Messiah from the house of David, is that the arrival of the Messiah will be accompanied by many painful episodes, so much so that some scholars who lived during the time of the Talmud expressed the wish not to be alive during that time. The expression בני פרץ, allude to two separate phenomena which will originate through the arrival of פרץ, i.e. the arrival of the Messiah. One is that G'd will build the "courtyard of the King," i.e. third Temple, and the Jewish people will all be members of His entourage. This is what is meant by the words לחצרון משפחת החצרוני. [the word חצרון is related to חצר, courtyard. Ed.] The second result is alluded to by the words לחמול משפחת החמולי, i.e. that G'd will relate to us at that time with all the pity (חמלה) possible.

When the Torah writes אלה משפחות יהודה, "These are the families of Yehudah," it is a hint that they would experience both the pleasant and the unpleasant aspects of the redemption. לפקדיהם, refers to the fact that being numbered contained positive and negative elements (compare Zohar Chadash volume 1 page 160. [I do not have a Zohar Chadash on Pinchas. Ed.]) Our paragraph mentions two kinds of numberings.

The Torah speaks of 76,500 fighting men who were counted amongst the tribe of Yehudah. [The author indulges in fanciful speculation of the time of the redemption based on the numbers of the tribe of Yehudah. The speculations have proven irrelevant. I do not propose to go into detail. Ed.]