MATOT-MASSEI, NUMBERS 30:2–36:13

                                     

 MATOT-MASSEI, NUMBERS 30:2–36:13

 

Moses is commanded by Hashem to exact revenge from the Midianites for their part in seducing all those Jewish men, a precursor to Jewish assimilation.  A 12,000-strong, hand-picked army is led by Pinchas.  This is Hashem’s war, waged against Midian (but not Moab). All adult Midianite males are killed, along with Balaam and Midian’s five kings. We do not suffer loss of life.

Moses at the age of 120 is ordered to fight a war against Midian, a war for Hashem, just before he is to be gathered to his ancestors…Why him?…Why then?  Could it be that he had to clear the slate because of his Midianite wife or father-in-law or is it because he did not speak out and come forward at the incident of Zimri and Cozbi?

 How many of the Midianite casualties were kinsmen of Yisro, Moses’ father-in-law?

Zipporah, Moshe's wife had six sisters, perhaps their families were involved.  What do you think?

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                The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews, watercolor by James Tissot, 1896-1900.

At 31:14-18 we experience some strong words said by Moses to the officers of the returning army:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם משֶׁ֑ה הַֽחִיִּיתֶ֖ם כָּל־נְקֵבָֽה

“Moses said to them, "Did you allow all the females to live?”

“They were the same ones who were involved with the children of Israel on Balaam's advice to betray the Lord over the incident of Peor, resulting in a plague among the congregation of the Lord”.

“So now kill every male child, and every woman who can lie intimately with a man you shall kill”.

“And all the young girls who have no experience of intimate relations with a man, you may keep alive for yourselves”.

It is difficult to relate to these words and resultant actions, but about 500 years later it will happen again when King Saul is commanded to kill without exception all of the Amelekites…wow.

As an aside, the word for female is נְקֵבָֽה.

The root comes from the word orifice or hole, and is hardly politically correct.

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The Haftarah portion comes from the Prophet Jeremiah (2:4-28, 4:1-2), and is in regard to our continuing intransigence:

​ At 2:25 it reads: “but you said, "I despair. No, for I love strangers, and I will follow them."

This verse is reminiscent of Rabbi Meir Kahane:

“For so long as the Jew has even one ally, he will be convinced - in his smallness of mind - that his salvation came from that ally. It is only when he is alone - against all of his own efforts and frantic attempts - that he will, through no choice, be compelled to turn to G-d.

October 7 may have just done that.

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There is more than one way to view the Parshah.  In 1898 Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn published an authoritative text referred to as a “maimar”.  It is entitled Heichaltzu”.  In it the Rabbi tries to understand what and why did Midian have anything against the Israelites.  He concluded that Midian harbored a baseless hatred, sinas chinam, שנאת חינם, against the Israelites.

The text for Heichaltzu can be found at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/83659/jewish/Heichaltzu-Chapter-I.htm

Among many other things the Rabbi found that he name Midian (מדין) is etymologically related to the word  מדון meaning strife and contention. 

Baseless Hatred against Israelites is so apparent today as evidenced by October 7th.

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We conclude Sefer Bamidbar:

חזק, חזק, ונתחזק

Be strong; Be strong, and let us strengthen one another.

Chazak Chazak Ve-Nit’Chazek

PINCHAS, NUMBERS 25:10–30:1

 

PINCHAS, NUMBERS  25:10–30:1

 

 EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

 The Parsha begins with Pinchas stepping  forward and doing in Cozbi and Zimri.

Pinchas' action is called an extra-judicial execution. There is no Court of Law; On his own, Pinchas assumes the role of Judge, Jury and Executioner.

I have a hypothetical question for you to consider:

If there had been a Beth Din, a Court of Law, and you were appointed to defend Zimri, what would you put forward as a defense? One answer is found in the following song:

https://youtu.be/p6svH5Qavzs?si=BVDleQQfWgtNDZsv

In some years (not 2024) the Haftorah portion is also connected to extra-judicial executions:

It comes from the First Book of Kings, 18:46, 19:1-21.  The Prophet Elijah is running for his life.  Ahab and Jezebel are after him because on his own volition, in a manner similar to Pinchas,  Elijah summarily had 950 Prophets of Baal put to death.

Whatever concern you may have with the lack of due process, sometimes the only way to deal with evil is to exterminate it.

PASSING THE TORCH

There is another connection between the Parshah and the Haftarah portion.  Elijah is physically exhausted.  He has been running for his life and is utterly spent.  Hashem recognizes that it is time for Elijah to pass the torch on to a successor.  At 19:18 Elijah throws his cloak over Elisha; the torch has been passed. In the Parshah at 27:18 Hashem commands Moshe to take Joshua and lay his hands upon him which Moshe does, and this torch too is passed on.

OPEN REBELLION

The Baal Peor incident was a religious political event that nearly cost the B’nai Yisrael their very existence. It was not just that someone from the tribe of Shimon wanted to have sex with a Midianite woman. Consider these facts:

1. One does not have sex in front of the Ohel Moed, in the eyes of Moshe and in front of the whole congregation unless one is making a political point.

2.The perpetrators were a prince from a substantial Shimonite family and a princess of the Midianite kingdom. (This also calls into question Moshe’s father in law who was a priest of Midian.)

3. Compare the two census’. In the first census, Shimon’s numbers totaled 59,300 people. In the aftermath of the incident Shimon totaled 22,200 souls, a reduction of 37,000 people lost, or about 60 per cent. 

This was a full blown rebellion. Consider the timing just before the death of Moshe, and its effect on Joshua, our soon to be leader.

As for the Tribe of Shimon, land-wise they were subsumed into the Tribe of Judah.

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 Pinchas is inexorably linked to the wiping out of assimilation and an attempt to destroy Judaism.  When we were exiled to Babylonia, we Jews were again faced with the prospect of assimilation, a vestige of which is the pagan names that we have assigned to the months of the years.  Today we are in the month of Tammuz.

Tammuz is the god of the harvest; he was loved by the goddess Ishtar.  She was known as the goddess of prostitutes, and her alternate names of Har and Hora gave rise to the terms “harlot” and “whore”. 

Tammuz was killed by a boar. Ishtar was devastated by his death.

When Tammuz died, all vegetation died.  Humans animals would no longer mate, and the Earth, herself, was dying.  Ishtar journeys to the netherworld and revives Tammuz  saying: "Great Tammuz is reborn, the fruits of the Earth are ours once more. Bring them forth, let us enjoy them!"

 Tammuz should be a reminder for us of the shame of assimilation.

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You can see the inroads of assimilation in our texts as far back as the prophet Ezekiel, 6^th century BCE.  In the Book of Ezekiel at 8:14 consider this verse:

וַיָּבֵא אֹתִי, אֶל-פֶּתַח שַׁעַר בֵּית-יְהוָה, אֲשֶׁר, אֶל-הַצָּפוֹנָה; וְהִנֵּה-שָׁם הַנָּשִׁים יֹשְׁבוֹת, מְבַכּוֹת אֶת-הַתַּמּוּז

“Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz."

At that time, probably before the destruction of the Temple,  Jewish women were ceremoniously mourning for a pagan god, Tammuz.  Today, on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz we are still mourning, but now for the Temple’s destruction.

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                                                   The Daughters of Zelophehad (Dalziels’ Bible Gallery), 1865–81 

At 27:4-5, the four daughters of צְלָפְחָד ask to inherit land from their deceased father’s estate, saying:

“Why should our father's name be eliminated from his family because he had no son? Give us a portion along with our father's brothers. "

לָמָּה יִגָּרַע שֵׁם-אָבִינוּ מִתּוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ, כִּי אֵין לוֹ בֵּן; תְּנָה-לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה, בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אָבִינוּ 

Moses does not know the answer since traditionally only sons inherit.

“So Moses brought their case before the Lord”.

    ן וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מִשְׁפָּטָ

לִפְנֵי יְהוָה                                    

What is remarkable here is Moses is not fearful of saying that he doesn’t know. 

Even more remarkable is that Hashem is not fearful of setting aside an established tradition and doing justice with kindness.