From: Netvort@aol.com <netvort@aol.com>
<br>To: "joshhoff@aol.com" <joshhoff@aol.com>
<br>Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012, 01:45:15 AM EDT
<br>Subject: Netvort: Pinchos 5772

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The Daily Double

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By Rabbi Joshua (Inexorably known as the Hoffer) Hoffman
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            After the petition of the daughters of Tzelofchad to inherit their father’s portion in Eretz Yisroel because he had no sons to inherit it, God informs Moshe that he will die before the nation enters the land. Moshe asks God to appoint his successor to lead the people, so that they will not be like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. When he makes his petition, he addresses God as “God of the spirits of all flesh” (Bamidbar 27:16). Rashi explains this to mean that God who knows that each person has a unique personality should appoint a leader who will be able to deal with each person’s unique character. Perhaps we can suggest that Moshe used the image of a shepherd and his sheep because, as the midrash teaches, he was chosen by God as the leader of the Jewish nation because, when he was the shepherd of Yisro’s flock, he ran after a stray sheep who had run to a stream of water to quench it’s thirst. Moshe had compassion on the thirsty lamb, let it drink its fill, and then carried it back to the flock on his shoulders. Because of Moshe’s concern for this lone sheep, God determined that he would certainly have compassion and understanding for every member of his people, and, therefore, he was the right person to lead them from bondage to freedom. Moshe, invoking this image of shepherd and flock, asked God to provide a successor who would, similarly, deal with each person on his level. God answered Moshe’s request and told him to appoint Yehoshua, a person who had “a spirit within him,” as his successor (Bamidbar 27:18). This episode is immediately followed by God’s command to bring the korban tamid, the constant burnt offering, twice daily: “The one lamb you shall make in the morning and the second lamb you shall make in the afternoon” (Bamidbar 28:4). What is the connection between these two sections of the Torah? One possibility is the recurring image of the lamb, which provokes further speculation, that we will not presently pursue. The Maharal of Prague, in his work Nesivos Olam, in the section on Ahavas Reia, or Love of one’s friend, explains that the korban tamid represents continuity and consistency. These elements are essential in our service of God. In order to be a proper servant one must do his master’s bidding on a constant basis. This holds true when it comes to being a servant of God, as well. Since Yehoshua was to be the successor of Moshe, whom the Torah calls the servant of God, he needed to inculcate within himself this important trait. I would like to suggest a different reason for the importance of continuity and consistency for Yehoshua within the context of Moshe’s request of God to appoint a leader who could cater to every individual.<p>

            Although the trait of consistency has been disparaged, to the point of being called by Ralph Waldo Emerson “the hobgoblin of little minds,” the famed psychologist Erik Erikson took a different view. He said that continuity and self-sameness are the prerequisites for an identity. When Moshe appointed the spies from among the different tribes, he changed Hoshea’s name to Yehoshua by adding a letter ‘yud,’ which connotes the name of God, so that Moshe was thereby praying that God should save Yehoshua from the evil agenda of the spies. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt”l, explained that the letter ‘yud’ marks the personal element in a word. For example, the Hebrew word ‘shulchan’ means ‘table.’ When the letter ‘yud’ is placed at the end of the word, it renders the word ‘shulchani,’ or ‘my table.’ What Moshe was praying for was that Yehoshua should be able to galvanize his inner, personal element, his love for Eretz Yisroel, in order to withstand the efforts of the spies to cast aspersion on it. This element of love for Eretz Yisroel was a defining feature of the tribe of Yosef, as brought out by the daughters of Tzelofchad who came from Yosef. This may be in fact the reason why the episode of their petition is recorded in the Torah directly before the appointment of Yehoshua, who also came from Yosef. As the leader who would bring the nation into Eretz Yisroel, Yehoshua needed to bring out his love for Eretz Yisroel, which was an integral part of his personality. In order to be able to deal with other people on their level and according with their unique personalities, it is first necessary to understand oneself, and one’s own self-identity. For this reason, the importance of consistency and continuity, which are necessary for self-identity, are introduced immediately after Yehoshua’s appointment. Armed with an understanding of his own identity, Yehoshua would be able to deal with the rest of the nation as well. In the words of the uncle of a famous Dane, “This above all: to thine own self be true… Thou canst not then be false to any man.”