וישלח אתם משה אלף למטה לצבא אתם ואת חס בן אלעזר הכהן לצבא וכלי הקדש ðפי וחצצרות התרועה בידו
Moshe sent them ... and Pinchas ... and the sacred vessels (31:6) The gemara explains that the "sacred vessels" included the Aron Hakodesh. Inside the Aron were the remnants of the luchos that Moshe broke. R' Yissachar Dov Rokeach z"l (died 1927; the "Belzer Rebbe") asks: Why would they take a reminder of the sin of the Golden Calf to the battlefront. Should we not fear that it will "testify" against them before the Heavenly Court? He answers: Just the opposite - the broken luchos are a reminder that no matter how low the Jewish people fall, Hashem remains willing to accept their repentance and take them back. (Sefer Maharid)
ויקצף משה על פקודי החיל שרי האלפים ושרי המאות הבאים מצבא המלחמה
Moshe was angry with the commanders of the army (31:14) R' Simcha Zissel Ziv z"l (the "Alter of Kelm"; died 1898) developed a strategy to never to lose his temper. He had a special jacket that he had set aside to wear when he was angry. He said, "When I feel anger coming on, I know that I have to get my special jacket. But, by the time I do, I am no longer angry." (Quoted in Ve'karata La'Shabbat Oneg)
חשת ðאך את-הזהב ואת-הכסף את-ה את-הברזל את-הבדיל ואת-העפרת
This is the law of the Torah ... Only the gold, and the silver (31:21-22) A wise man once explained: Every Jew would like to fulfill "the law of the Torah.": "Only the gold, and the silver"; they serve as the Evil Inclination not allowing him to do so. (Chiyucha shel Torah)
ויאמר אליהם משהאם תעשון את הדבר הזה י ה' למלחמה...ðאם תחלצו לפ
“Moshe said to them, ‘If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before Hashem for the battle, and every armed man among you shall cross the Jordan before Hashem, until He drives out His enemies before Him, and the Land shall be conquered before Hashem, and then you shall return–then you shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Yisrael, and this Land shall be a heritage for you before Hashem’.” (32:20-22) R’ Yoel Leib Herzog z”l (1865-1934; rabbi in Lomza, Poland; Leeds, England; and Paris, France; father of Israel’s first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi Herzog z”l) asks: Why does Moshe Rabbeinu mention Hashem’s Name five times in telling the tribes of Reuven and Gad what their obligations are? He answers: We read (Tehilim 105:44-45), “He gave them the lands of nations, and they inherited the toil of regimes, so that they might safeguard His statutes and observe His teachings.” This teaches that Eretz Yisrael was given to us on the condition that we observe the Torah. Otherwise, we will be exiled. The tribes of Reuven and Gad reasoned that, given this condition, exile was inevitable, so why bother fighting for the Land? In contrast, the land on the east bank of the Jordan is not subject to this condition. But, Moshe told them that they were wrong; as part of the Jewish People, they were subject to the same condition as their cousins from other tribes. The only way to secure their land, Moshe told them, was by observing the Five Books of the Torah–alluded to by the five mentions of Hashem’s Name. (Imrei Yoel)
The second of the two Parashot we read this week begins, “These are the journeys of Bnei Yisrael, who went forth from the land of Egypt . . .” R’ David Twersky z”l (1808-1882; first Tolna Rebbe) writes: Here, the Torah is hinting at the way to serve Hashem–i.e., that a person must journey from point to point and from level to level until he reaches the highest level. For the simple Jew, who cannot merit complete D’veikut / attachment to Hashem all at once, this means beginning with “Sur mei’ra” / “distance yourself from bad,” from physical desires, and from bad Midot / character traits. After that, one can progress to “Asei tov” / “do good,” Mitzvot and good deeds. [Of course, one is obligated to perform Mitzvot even before ridding himself of negative traits. The Tolna Rebbe is merely addressing which aspect of Divine service a person should focus on.] The Tolna Rebbe continues: Torah scholars, who are already on the level of “Asei tov,” also must progress step-by-step until they reach true D’veikut. Thus, we read (Tehilim 84:8), “They advance from strength to strength.” Likewise, we read (Zechariah 3:4), “I shall permit you movement among these immobile ones.” The “immobile ones” is a reference to angels, who always remain on the same level, because they have no Yetzer Ha’ra to challenge them. Man, in contrast, is a physical creature, and he must constantly fight the Yetzer Ha’ra. The weapon man has for this fight is the Torah. At the highest level, the Tolna Rebbe writes, a Torah scholar studies and prays because it is the right thing to do, with no conscious awareness of his own accomplishments. To achieve this very high level, one must perfect his Yir’ah / awe of G-d. This, he writes, is alluded to in the verse with which we began, “Eleh mas’ei” / “These are the journeys. . .” The Gematria of that phrase (216) is the same as the Gematria of “Yir’ah,” and also of “Gevurah”/ “strength.” By journeying step-by-step until one acquires “Yirah,” one will have the “Gevurah” to conquer his Yetzer Ha’ra, as we learn in Pirkei Avot: “Who is a ‘Gibor’ / ‘strong person’? One who conquers his Yetzer Ha’ra. (Magen David)
ויעל אהרן הכהן אל הר ההר על-פי ה' וימת י ישראל מארץ ðת הארבעים לצאת בðשם בש מצרים בחדש החמישי באחד לחדש
“Aharon Ha’kohen went up to Mount Hor at the word of Hashem and died there . . . in the fifth month on the first of the month.” (33:38) The Gemara (Ta’anit 26b) teaches: When the month of Av arrives, we lessen our joy. R’ Michel Zilber (Rosh Yeshiva of the Zvhil yeshiva in Yerushalayim) observes: The first day of Av is the yahrzeit of Aharon Ha’kohen. Our Sages relate that when Aharon died, the Clouds of Glory disappeared. The holiday of Sukkot, which commemorates the Clouds of Glory, is referred to as “Z’man Simchateinu” / “The time of our joy.” Conversely, then, the day when the Clouds of Glory vanished should be a day when our joy is lessened. (Tipah Min Ha’yam)
יכם והיה ðואם לא תורישו את ישבי הארץ מפ ם ðיðיכם ולצðאשר תותירו מהם לשכים בעי בצדיכם וצררו אתכם על-הארץ אשר אתם ישבים בה
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land before you, those of them whom you leave shall be pins in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you upon the Land in which you dwell (33:55) R' Chaim ben Attar z"l (1696-1743; Morocco, Italy and Yerushalayim) observes: "They will harass you upon the Land in which you dwell." If we fail to expel the nations from Eretz Yisrael as G-d has commanded, then not only will they possess the part of Eretz Yisrael in which we do not live, they will also harass us in the part of Eretz Yisrael in which we do live. (Ohr Hachaim)
והיה כאשר דמיתי לעשות להם אעשה לכם
And it shall be that what I had meant to do to them, I shall do to you (33:56) R' Pinchas Halevi Horowitz z"l (1730-1805; rabbi of Frankfurt- am-Main and author of important Talmud commentaries) asks: Why will G-d punish us for not conquering Eretz Yisrael by doing to us what He had meant to do to the prior inhabitants of the Land? Isn't it punishment enough for us that the nations with whom we share the Land will be pins in our eyes and thorns in our sides? He explains: The Canaanite nations deserved to be exiled from Eretz Yisrael because of their sins, and it was our task to carry out Hashem's Will and to exile the Canaanites. Even if we failed to perform that task, however, G-d's Will must still be done; the Canaanites must still be punished for their sins, if not by human hands (ours), then by G-d's Hand. It is the way of the world that once G-d releases destructive forces into the world, those forces do not necessarily distinguish between the righteous and the sinner. (This is why, for example, Hashem commanded that Bnei Yisrael remain indoors on the night of the Plague of the Firstborn and also protect themselves by performing the mitzvah of painting their doorposts with blood.) Thus, once Hashem releases destructive forces against our neighbors in Eretz Yisrael, those forces are likely to strike us as well. (Panim Yafot)
חל ðשיא אחד ממטה תקחו לðשיא אחד ðו את-הארץ
And one leader from each tribe shall you take to posess the land (34:18) When the names of the princes of the tribes are listed here, most of them are referred to as being "of the tribe of the sons of..." (Reuven, Shimon, etc.) However, two of them, Binyamin and Yehuda are referred to only as being "of the tribe of..." Why? R' Moshe Sternbuch explains that Binyamin and Yehuda were the tribes which were destined to provide kings for Yisrael (i.e. Shaul and David, respectively). Even though a king or other leader, like every person, comes from a tribe, he should not consider himself to be "of the sons of..." Rather, he must belong to all of the people. (Taam Vodaas)
ה לכם ðוהקריתם לכם ערים ערי מקלט תהיי פש בשגגהðס שמה רצח מכה ðו
“You must designate for yourselves cities of refuge” (35:11) and a killer runs there - one who kills unintentionally. We see from here that the only time a killer gets the death penalty is when he has the intention to kill. In order for him to be punished his mind and his actions have to be in unison. We should learn from here that the opposite is also true. For one to receive true reward for the Mitzvahs that we do, we must have the correct intention when we do the Mitzvah. (Rabbeinu Bechaye)
והיו לכם הערים למקלט מגאל ולא ימות י העדה למשפטðהרצח עד עמדו לפ
The cities shall be for you a refuge from a redeemer. (35:12) The Ir Miklat served two separate purposes. On one hand it was a protection for the unintentional killer. While inside the city the relative of the victim was forbidden to kill the murderer. On the other hand, living in the city was a punishment for the killer. He was required to stay within the city limits. So much so that the Torah warns You shall not take atonement money for one who has fled to his city of refuge - to return and dwell in the land. A special warning that a killer could not buy his way out of the punishment of being in Ir Miklat. We see that Ir Miklat served both as Din (punishment) and Chesed (protection) at the same time. (HaSteipler)
