Pinchas 5774: A Different Approach

By Rabbi Joshua (reflectively known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

The second half of Parshas Pinchas is devoted to a description of the various sacrifices brought in the course of the year, primarily those of Shabbos and the holidays, but including, as well, that of Rosh Chodesh.  Interestingly, in Parshas Emor, in which Shabbos and the various moadim are described, and their sacrifices briefly referred to, Rosh Chodesh is not mentioned. What is the reason behind this difference?  Rav Amnon Bazak, in his Nekudas Pesicha, offers two explanations, of which we will mention the second, before making a suggestion of our own.

Rav Bazak suggests that Rosh Chodesh displays two characteristics, that of regularity and that of innovation.  Rosh Chodesh, similar to Shabbos and the moadim, is a regularly recurring event. However, Rosh Chodesh is not referred to as “shabbaton,” or “a holy convocation” as all the other days mentioned in Parshas Emor are called, and, so, Rosh Chodesh does not appear in the section on moadim in Parshas Emor.  On the other hand, Rosh Chodesh changes every month, and serves as the basis of the Jewish calendar, and, because of this function, is included in the list of days that we find in Parshas Pinchas.

Perhaps we can suggest another explanation for the inclusion of Rosh Chodesh specifically in Parshas Pinchas, by taking note of its placement directly after the appointment of Yehoshua as Moshe’s successor, following Moshe’s request of God to appoint the appropriate person to fill that position. We have mentioned in the past Rav Dovid Feinstein’s observation that the section on korbanos, particularly the twice-daily tamid, follows this appointment, because, as the Talmud (Nedarim 37b) tells us, the Jews will possess Eretz Yisroel in the merit of these sacrifices, and Yehoshua, after all, was the one who would lead the nation to conquering the land. We may add, that assuming the leadership of the people includes a certain amount of self-sacrifice, which, again, makes it appropriate to juxtapose these two sections.  On another level, as we will see, a sacrifice of personality would be necessary to serve as Moshe’s successor, and this level of sacrifice was symbolized by the sacrifice of Rosh Chodesh.

When Moshe asked God to choose a successor, he addressed Him as “Lord of the spirits of all flesh.”  Rashi explains that Moshe was asking God, as Creator of all personality types, to appoint a leader over the congregation who would be able to tolerate and deal with each person according to his own unique personality.  The ability to treat each person in this way requires a certain amount of self-contraction, obliteration, to some degree, of one’s own personality. This is exactly what is symbolized by the moon, which is characterized by the fact that it does not have its own light, but, rather, reflects the light of the sun.  This is also what characterized Yehoshua, and is part of the meaning behind the statement of the midrash that Moshe’s face resembled the face of the sun, while Yehoshua’ s face resembled that of the moon.  Moshe understood that the new generation needed a different kind of leadership, and alluded to that need in his request for a successor.  Symbolically, this change could be likened to the difference between the sun and the moon, and the inclusion of Rosh Chodesh in the section that follows adds to that message.