Musar for Numbers 26:68

לאזני משפחת האזני . Rashi comments that Ozni is identical with אצבון (Genesis 46,16). Many commentators are puzzled by these various names mentioned, wanting to find some symbolism in them. I have heard that our rabbis have said that the fingers of man have been formed in the shape of pegs to enable him to put them inside his ears so as not to hear evil gossip. The word אצבעון is an allusion to this combination of finger and ear.

ונתתי אותה לכם מורשה. The expression מורשה instead of ירושה, inheritance, is puzzling. The people addressed were after all those slated to inherit the land, not the ones slated to pass it on to their children. We must understand the verse as do our sages who have told us that this particular inheritance is of a different nature than all other inheritances. Under normal circumstances the living inherit from the dead. In this instance the dead inherited from the living. Rashi explained this procedure on Numbers 26,55. As a result, the land returned to the generation that had left Egypt as a מורשה, since the people who died in Egypt died on behalf of the land, though they did not merit coming to the land of Israel. Consequently we may view those that left Egypt as inheriting it from their deceased parents. It was therefore a מורשה, something that had been transferred to them by their parents. It is part of G–d's practice to display grace to those who find themselves in pain.

Every addition of holiness to our status has a mystical connection with the Additional Sacrifices and furthermore contains allusions to a future time. The Torah says in connection with ראש חודש: "This month shall be to you the first (head) of the months" (Exodus 12,2). It means that the Jewish people's calendar is patterned after the lunar cycle. Shemot Rabbah 15,26, comments on this that the great achievements of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to that of King Solomon spanned 15 generations during which they rose to ever greater stature. At that point, when the light of the moon is at its most potent, "Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord" (Chronicles 1,29,23). Just as the light of the moon diminishes progressively from the fifteenth of the month onwards until it is totally extinct at the end of the month, so the generations of the Jewish people after Solomon progressively declined in greatness until, after another fifteen generations, the last Jewish King, Zedekiah was totally blinded, as stated in Kings II 25,7: "He blinded the eyes of Zedekiah." In the future, however, a new light will shine upon Zion, "and the brightness of the moon will match the brightness of the sun" (Isaiah 30, 26). The "light of the sun" referred to in that verse is the mystical dimension added by the offering of the מוסף-sacrifices on the days we celebrate the appearance of the New Moon. The mystical dimension provided by the Sabbath is the concept of a world which is constantly wrapped in the holiness represented by the concept of the Sabbath. The mystical dimension provided by the Passover sacrifice is that it is the anniversary of our original redemption from the bondage in Egypt, which is also the date of the month on which the redemption of the future will occur. (Rosh Hashanah 11) The scriptural source for this opinion is found in Michah 7,15: "I will show miracles as in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt." Israel will then become endowed with an additional level of רוח הקודש, Holy Spirit, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G–d. The festival of Tabernacles, devoted to our reposing in "shade" i.e. the shade offered by the covering of the huts being the spiritual equivalent of sitting under G–d's direct protection- will provide an even greater amount of the Holy Spirit. New Year's Day, of which it says in our מוסף prayer: "This day is the day that recalls the beginning of Your handiwork, a reminder of the first day of Creation," will become the date on which the work of Creation will be renewed once it will resume the direction envisioned by G–d originally. At that time G–d will truly enjoy His works (Psalms 104,31). יום כפור, of course, represents the day in the future when all sins will have been atoned for, and the time of which the prophet Jeremiah 50,20, says: "The sins of Israel shall be sought and there shall be none; the sins of Yehudah, and none shall be found; for I shall forgive those I allow to survive." In the future then these are "My holidays." As long as Israel was steeped in sin, however, we are told in Isaiah 1,16: "Your new moons and holidays fill Me with loathing; they have become a burden to Me." In contrast with this, they will be called: "Holy Convocations," proclaimed by a holy congregation, at a time when we shall have merited eternal life. At that time body and soul will have achieved the mystical union hinted at by the words אך אשר יאכל לכל נפש, in Exodus 12,16. "Eating" is a dimension of the body's needs. The word נפש in that verse describes a dimension of the soul. The "food" (nourishment) of that element of man then is "knowledge of the Lord," as we know from Isaiah 11,9. The verse in Exodus hints at a time when even the body, i.e. "secular" matter, will be filled with such knowledge of the Lord. At that time we will experience fulfilment of the promise or commandment "שאו את ראש," in Numbers 26,2, which is a moral imperative to the Jewish people to elevate themselves to the highest moral/ ethical level they are capable of. The people who were counted at that time were rightly described by our sages as דור דעה, a generation which possessed knowledge (of G–d). This count took place "after the plague," after all those involved in the sin of בעל פעור had died. The term "אחר המגפה" can be understood more broadly as also referring to that time in the future of which it is said in Isaiah 25,8: "He will destroy death forever." During the first count of the people in the desert, the attribute of Justice predominated over the Jewish people, seeing they were all going to die during their trek through the desert, and would not be found worthy to enter the Holy Land. [That count had taken place after the episode of the golden calf, Ed.] Of this latter count, however, it states: "To these (the people to be counted now) the land will be distributed as an inheritance" (26,53). The prophet Isaiah (60,21), has already said of this future ועמך כולם צדיקים, לעולם יירשו ארץ "And your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for all time." The story of Pinchas is an allusion to this point in the future.

Every addition of holiness to our status has a mystical connection with the Additional Sacrifices and furthermore contains allusions to a future time. The Torah says in connection with ראש חודש: "This month shall be to you the first (head) of the months" (Exodus 12,2). It means that the Jewish people's calendar is patterned after the lunar cycle. Shemot Rabbah 15,26, comments on this that the great achievements of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to that of King Solomon spanned 15 generations during which they rose to ever greater stature. At that point, when the light of the moon is at its most potent, "Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord" (Chronicles 1,29,23). Just as the light of the moon diminishes progressively from the fifteenth of the month onwards until it is totally extinct at the end of the month, so the generations of the Jewish people after Solomon progressively declined in greatness until, after another fifteen generations, the last Jewish King, Zedekiah was totally blinded, as stated in Kings II 25,7: "He blinded the eyes of Zedekiah." In the future, however, a new light will shine upon Zion, "and the brightness of the moon will match the brightness of the sun" (Isaiah 30, 26). The "light of the sun" referred to in that verse is the mystical dimension added by the offering of the מוסף-sacrifices on the days we celebrate the appearance of the New Moon. The mystical dimension provided by the Sabbath is the concept of a world which is constantly wrapped in the holiness represented by the concept of the Sabbath. The mystical dimension provided by the Passover sacrifice is that it is the anniversary of our original redemption from the bondage in Egypt, which is also the date of the month on which the redemption of the future will occur. (Rosh Hashanah 11) The scriptural source for this opinion is found in Michah 7,15: "I will show miracles as in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt." Israel will then become endowed with an additional level of רוח הקודש, Holy Spirit, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G–d. The festival of Tabernacles, devoted to our reposing in "shade" i.e. the shade offered by the covering of the huts being the spiritual equivalent of sitting under G–d's direct protection- will provide an even greater amount of the Holy Spirit. New Year's Day, of which it says in our מוסף prayer: "This day is the day that recalls the beginning of Your handiwork, a reminder of the first day of Creation," will become the date on which the work of Creation will be renewed once it will resume the direction envisioned by G–d originally. At that time G–d will truly enjoy His works (Psalms 104,31). יום כפור, of course, represents the day in the future when all sins will have been atoned for, and the time of which the prophet Jeremiah 50,20, says: "The sins of Israel shall be sought and there shall be none; the sins of Yehudah, and none shall be found; for I shall forgive those I allow to survive." In the future then these are "My holidays." As long as Israel was steeped in sin, however, we are told in Isaiah 1,16: "Your new moons and holidays fill Me with loathing; they have become a burden to Me." In contrast with this, they will be called: "Holy Convocations," proclaimed by a holy congregation, at a time when we shall have merited eternal life. At that time body and soul will have achieved the mystical union hinted at by the words אך אשר יאכל לכל נפש, in Exodus 12,16. "Eating" is a dimension of the body's needs. The word נפש in that verse describes a dimension of the soul. The "food" (nourishment) of that element of man then is "knowledge of the Lord," as we know from Isaiah 11,9. The verse in Exodus hints at a time when even the body, i.e. "secular" matter, will be filled with such knowledge of the Lord. At that time we will experience fulfilment of the promise or commandment "שאו את ראש," in Numbers 26,2, which is a moral imperative to the Jewish people to elevate themselves to the highest moral/ ethical level they are capable of. The people who were counted at that time were rightly described by our sages as דור דעה, a generation which possessed knowledge (of G–d). This count took place "after the plague," after all those involved in the sin of בעל פעור had died. The term "אחר המגפה" can be understood more broadly as also referring to that time in the future of which it is said in Isaiah 25,8: "He will destroy death forever." During the first count of the people in the desert, the attribute of Justice predominated over the Jewish people, seeing they were all going to die during their trek through the desert, and would not be found worthy to enter the Holy Land. [That count had taken place after the episode of the golden calf, Ed.] Of this latter count, however, it states: "To these (the people to be counted now) the land will be distributed as an inheritance" (26,53). The prophet Isaiah (60,21), has already said of this future ועמך כולם צדיקים, לעולם יירשו ארץ "And your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for all time." The story of Pinchas is an allusion to this point in the future.

Another problem is that Rashi writes that the prince Elitzur ben Shedeyur and some of his asscociates of the tribe of Reuben, was one of these two hundred and fifty men! Rabbeynu Bachyah writes on this subject that even the princes who had offered the 12 offerings described in Parshat Nasso were part of the two hundred and fifty men. Our sages further point out that in one place these men were described as קריאי מועד, and in another place as נשיאי העדה. In Parshat Bamidbar 1,16, they are referred to as קרואי העדה, נשיאי מטות אבותם. We know from Numbers 26,9, that the term קריאי העדה is used by the Torah for people who had provoked Israel into rebellion against G–d. It is certainly mindboggling to think that people of such calibre who had witnessed all these miracles should forfeit their standing as holy people by joining such a self-seeking rebellion. When we think of someone like Nachshon ben Aminadav who had risked his life being the first to enter the sea before it had even split, it is quite inconceivable that he should have lowered himself to such a degree! On the contrary, we find that Nachshon's merit even helped his descendants long afterwards, since our sages say that it did not prove helpful anymore to Elimelech the husband of Naomi in the book of Ruth, since the latter emigrated from the land of Israel (Baba Batra 91a).

And (Sanhedrin 101a): "R. Chisda said: 'If one argues against his Rabbi, it is as if he would argue against the Shechinah, viz. (Numbers 26:9) ["who strove against Moses and Aaron with the congregation of Korach] when they strove against the L-rd."' And R. Chamma b. Chanina said: "If one quarrels with his Rabbi it is as if he would quarrel with the Shechinah, viz. (Numbers 20:13): "They are the waters of Merivah (contention), whereby the children of Israel strove with the L-rd" [in striving with Moses].'" And, along the same lines: "R. Chaina b. Pappa said: 'If one rails against his Rabbi, it is as if he would rail against the Shechinah, etc.' … R. Avihu said: 'If one arraigns his Rabbi, it is as if he would arraign the Shechinah, etc.'" And the four levels that the Gemara mentions below are meant to apprise us that even thinking alone [against one's Rabbi] is also a great issur.

The two words "לאמר" that we mentioned earlier as apparently superfluous, have something in common. The repeated "דבור" suggests that there was an exoteric (נגלה) as well as an esoteric (נסתר) element in what the Torah tells us here. In 25,10 the exoteric meaning is to inform the people of the noble lineage Pinchas was descended from, whereas in 25,12 they are to be informed of an additional dimension of Pinchas' greatness, i.e. that he is equated with the prophet Elijah. This is alluded to in the words "because he displayed jealous fervor on behalf of his G–d" (25,13). The letters in the expression “לאל-היו,” are identical with the word “לאליהו,” “to Elijah.” The latter also excelled by displaying jealousy on behalf of G–d, something that he himself is quoted as saying to G–d in Kings I 19,10. He referred to his having slain four hundred Jewish priests who had forsaken the Torah to serve the idol Baal instead. Elijah's performance on Mount Carmel was similar to that of Pinchas at Shittim. The name אליהו (which in the Bible is frequently spelled without the letter Vav at the end) contains two names of G–d, i.e. El and Ya-h. In his encounter with Zimri Pinchas restored the honor of the name El, since the Israelites at the time had been guilty of insulting that name of G–d by serving the El of the Moabites and Midianites, "וישתחוו לאלהיהן" (Numbers 24,2). The second of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits a Jew prostrating himself before an alien deity (Exodus 20,4). Pinchas' deed restored the relations between G–d and Israel which the people's behaviour had upset. His deed, when analysed, consisted of discrediting a man and a woman who respectively were leaders of their tribes, or, in the case of Cozbi, whose father was an ancestral tribal head. The Torah emphasizes the word איש and אשה, when referring to these two both in 25,8, and in 26,14-15, although there is no need for this. We have mentioned repeatedly that the letters "י and ה" in the Hebrew for "man" and "woman" teach us that only when they remain aware of G–d's Presence in this world are they safe from burning up in the passion of their sexuality, seeing that without those letters of G–d's name their names would signal merely masculine and feminine "fire" respectively. The name of G–d contained in those two people whom Pinchas slew was Ya-h. These two had disgraced the name of G–d by their conduct. The Torah in order to draw our attention to all this repeats: …. ושם … איש … ושם האשה, (26,14, 26,15). Rashi already explained that at the count of the people after this episode the peculiarly worded names of the tribes i.e. ה-ראובנ-י, and not simply ראובן demonstrated that the name of each tribe contained the name of G–d. G–d thus personally testified-that the members of all these tribes were conceived while their respective parents maintained absolute chastity. This too is the meaning of Psalms 122,4: שבטי י-ה עדות לישראל, "Israel are G–d's tribes, as per G–d's personal testimony." The letter ו in the word שלום, is "amputated" in 25,12. Baal Haturim points out that the numerical value of that word equals זהו משיח, "this is the Messiah." By diminishing the size of that letter, it is as if one had not thought about the last letter in the name of אליהו. Elijah is the prophet who announces the imminent arrival of the Messiah and prepares people for that. Removing part of the letter ו is meant to convey to us that Elijah (as alluded to by the absence of the last letter in his name), will materialise when one least thinks of him.. The letters added to the names of the tribes during this count therefore can be viewed as making up the second name of G–d contained in the name אליה, the name Ya-h. The Torah informs us in Exodus 6,25 that Pinchas' father had married one of the daughters of Putiel, who according to Midrash Hagadol fattened (play on word Putiel) all the idols in the world and the other tribes despised him on account of his ancestry. Since the name פוטיאל concludes with the letters of the name of G–d, however, the Torah alerts us to the fact that he converted to monotheism, i.e. El Ya-h. The whole verse is an allusion to Joseph who controlled his desire in his involvement with the wife of his master Potiphar, whose similarly sounding name reminds us of what took place then. Just as Joseph preserved the holy covenant with G–d at that time, so Pinchas, his descendant maternally, restored the holy covenant with G–d by taking G–d's revenge on Zimri. As a result, G–d granted him "My covenant Peace." Targum Yonathan on that verse says that Pinchas was made into an angel who would live until he could announce the final redemption. It is further written (of Pinchas) that G–d's covenant of life and well-being was with him (Malachi 2,5), that "the true Torah was in his mouth. He walked with Me in peace and equity, nothing perverse was on his lips. He served Me with complete loyalty; he held many back from committing iniquity, for the lips of a priest guard knowledge and people seek Torah from his mouth, seeing that he is an angel of the Lord G–d of Hosts" (Ibid 6). This verse clearly alludes to Pinchas, since Pinchas became an angel, as our sages comment on Joshua 2,4, (Tanchuma quoted by Rashi). Since Pinchas held back many from sinning, he is described by the prophet as having the true Torah issuing forth from his mouth. "Truth" is an element that reinforces and strengthens religious belief and practice. It is not something merely personal, but is something that must be demonstrated to the community in order to be capable of convincing such a community to do penitence. Such a result is called אמת, truth. Truth is something of an everlasting nature.

The Yalkut Shimoni quotes a Midrash Tehillim 1,15, on Psalms 1,1, that the person who is praised there as not following in the footsteps of the wicked, refers to the sons of Korach who did not follow in the footsteps of their father, since the Torah said: סורו נא מעל אהלי אנשים הרשעים, "Please stand clear of the tents of these wicked people" (16,26). The next statement in that same Psalm, i.e. ובדרך חטאים לא עמד, "and he did not stand in the path of the sinners," is a reference to the מחתות החטאים האלה בנפשותם, "the censers of those sinners who had forfeited their souls" (17,3). The third statement in that verse in Psalms is supposed to refer to Korach himself, i.e. ובמושב לצים לא ישב, "he did not sit amongst the scoffers," i.e. he who did not sit amongst those scoffers is to be congratulated. The latter had been scoffing at Moses and Aaron. The Midrash here quotes an example of the apparently oppressive nature of Torah legislation which Korach is supposed to have used to show that Moses and Aaron were insensitive to the plight of widows and orphans. Verse two of that same Psalm in which it says such a praisewothy person took delight in the teaching of the Lord, is applied to the sons of Korach, who sang the praises of G–d, refusing to quarrel with Moses, etc. The remainder of that verse extolling people who study Torah day and night is also applied to the sons of Korach. Verse three, which describes such people as comparable to trees planted near an abundant supply of water, is applied to the sons of Korach who after they saw what had happened to Korach, Datan and Aviram were found standing tall like the mast of a ship, since the Torah says ויהיו לנס, "and the became like a flag." [another meaning of that word could be "mast", at any rate something compelling one's attention. Ed.] Verse 4 in that same Psalm continues: "not so the wicked," which is again applied by the Midrash to Korach and his companions. The statement following in the Psalm in verse 6: "for G–d knows the way of the righteous," is applied to the sons of Korach also, and finally the end of that verse "the path of the wicked is doomed," is another reference to Korach and his congregation. So far the Midrash.

A person has to conduct himself at all times in such a way that he does not arouse the suspicion of transgressing laws either vis-a-vis G–d or vis-a-vis his fellow man. The example of the Sotah teaches this lesson, since she had to undergo public embarrassment in order to prove her innocence. The Zohar there says that the whole of Israel was treated in a like manner by Moses at Marah. When the Israelites came out of Egypt and they came to Marah and found the water unfit to drink they were given the kind of מים המאררים that one gives to a woman suspected of unproven marital infidelity. All the Egyptians had been saying that the children of the Israelites who left Egypt were in reality the offspring of Egyptians who had slept with Jewish women. As a result of such accusations a number of Jewish husbands suspected their wives of infidelities committed in Egypt. Also Jewish wives suspected their husbands of infidelities committed with Egyptian women. This is why G–d told Moses to examine the truth of these accusations by means of these waters, to eliminate unfounded suspicions. After that episode G–d gave them חוק ומשפט ושם נסהו, "there He gave them statutes and social laws, and there He examined them" (Exodus 15,25). The Torah attests to this by calling the tribes “שבטי י-ה עדות לישראל” that all these accusations had been unfounded. An allusion to this can be found in our verses in the peculiar description of the tribes as הראובני, השמעוני, etc, instead of ראובן, שמעון, etc. The extra letters ה and י, spell the two lettered name of G–d, י-ה, and indicate that all the tribes were pure, no one had committed any infidelity, otherwise the Torah would not bestow this compliment on them. When the Priest examines the Sotah in our paragraph, the purpose is similar to that of Moses at the time.

Then he should recite as he stands by the doorway beside the mezuzah in his tallis and tefillin: “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is one. O Unique and Unitary One, unify my heart to love and fear Your great, mighty and awesome Name with all my heart and soul.” Afterwards he should recite the eight verse beginning with the letter hei in Tehillim, Chapter 119 (verses 33-40). Then he should recite Mishlei 18:10, “The name of Hashem is a mighty tower, the righteous man runs into it and is protected.” And Tehillim 122:4: “The tribes of God, as a testimony for Israel to give thanks the Name of Hashem.” You recite eight verses of Tehillim 119 because they begin with the letter hei and end with the letter yud, spelling out the Name Y-h, which is the Name that served as testimony to the purity of the tribes of Israel in Egypt, as it is stated HaReuveiny (Bamidbar 26:7). [That is, when the families of Israel are listed in that passage a hei is appended to the beginning of each name and a yud to the end of each name, indicating that Hashem Himself attested to their purity].