From:                              JoshHoff@aol.com

Sent:                               Friday, July 18, 2008 1:29 AM

To:                                   JoshHoff@aol.com

Subject:                          Netvort:parshas Pinchas,5768

 

                                                        The Secret to Success
                    By Rabbi Joshua ( secretly  known as The Hoffer) Hoffman 
 
After Moshe has a census taken to determine to whom the Holy Land will eventually be apportioned,   the daughters of Tzelaphchad approach him and tell him their story. Their father died in the wilderness and left no sons, and, since the land was given to the male members of the various families, their father was left without a portion. Why, they asked, should their father's name be omitted ( 'lama yigara'-literally, 'why should it be deprived'- Bamidbar, 27:4)) from his family  be deprived of his portion? Therefore, they said,give us a portion in Eretz Yisroel to establish our father's claim to representation there. Moshe tells them to stand by while he consults God, and comes back with the halacha in this case. Immediately after this incident, God tells Moshe that he will not enter the land with the people, and Moshe asks God to choose a leader for the people who will lead them in his absence. Rashi notes that Moshe asked for the appointment at this time because he had just seen that the daughters of Tzelaphcahd asked him to assure their father's inheritance, and this made him think about his sons as his own successor. God replied that Yehoshua, his student, would be the next leader, and not Moshe's sons. Rav Moshe Sternbuch , in his Ta'am Va'as, notes in his Ta'am VaDa'as notes that Moshe already knew that  only sons inherit their fathers, and that he would not lead the people into Eretz Yisroel,before the entire incident of the daughters of Tzelaphchad.What, then, was it in the presentation of the request by the daughters of Tzelaphchad, that  moved Moshe to ask for a successor precisely at this point of time.? Although Rav Sternbuch offers an answer of his own, I would like to offer an alternative approach.
 
 
Rav Moshe Tzvi Neriah,in his Ner LaMaor,cites a midrash ( Bamidbar Rabbah, 21:10) which says that the reason the incident at  Ba'al Peor is mentioned in the Torah next to the section which speaks of the death of the generation of the wilderness is because the women of that generation did not participate in the sin ofthe eigel,nor in the sin of the spies,nor in the incident at Ba;'alpeor. In this sense,then,the  women were more successful than the men in remaining faithful to God while they were in the wilderness. Why was this so? Rav Neriah then cites a verse in Micha (5:4) which is included in the haftarah to parshas Balak, in which God tells the people, through the prophet,that when He took them out of Egypt,he sent them Moshe, Aharon and Miriam..Targum Yonasan there writes that Miriam was sent to teach the women. Apparently,then,says Rav Neriah, Miriam was more successful as a teacher than were Moshe and Aharon,despite the fact that we refer to Moshe as 'our teacher,' and that Aharon was known for teaching the people to act kindly toward each other,and perform acts of chesed.What,then,was Miriam's secret of success?Rav Neriah sa that only Miriam,among the three teacher mentioned by Micha,sang and danced with the people she was sent to teach. Although this is mentioned only  once, in regard to the song which was sung after the crossing of the Yam Suf,we can assume that this was not the only time she sang and danced  danced with them. Rather,it is only brought as an example,and reflected Miriam's usual practice of participating in the joyous occasions of his followers. Otherwise, the singing dancing at the sea would have been viewed by the women as something that was unusual and inappropriate. Participating in this way helped develop a connection,or a bond, between Miriam and those she was sent to teach,and accounts for her success in training them so well that they remained loyal to their calling when the rest of the nation did not.. Based on these remarks of Rav Neriah,I believe,we can understand why Moshe chose that time to ask God to provide a leader for the people.

 


Rav Yehudah Shaviv, in his commentary MiSinai Ba,points out that the expression used by the daughters of Tzelapchad, 'lama yigara shem avinu ,or  'why should our father's name be deprived,'is similar to the expression used by those who a sked for a second chance to bring the korban Pesach thirty- eight years before,when they said,'lama nigara,'or ' why should we be deprived?'  ( Bamidbar, 9:7).The incident with the daughters of Tzelapchad,says Rabbi Shaviv, constitutes a continuation of that spirit of personal connection with regard to doing mitzvos. This connection was needed in performing mitzvos in Eretz Yisroel, as part of God's nation acting as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,serving as an example for all mankind.. The manifestation of this spirit at this time,says Rabbi Shaviv,reflected the readiness of the people to continue their journey with the proper spirit,after so many years of the journey that were filled with complaints against God. Moshe,then, now understood,through the request of the daughters of Tzelaphchad and the way in which it was phrased,  that it was Miriam,who taught the women through developing a close connection with them,who was able to permeate their spirit in this way. Therefore, he implored God,to Whom he referred at this time as the "God of the spirit of all flesh,' to choose,as the leader of the nation,a person who could relate to the spirit of each individual,as Rashi explains in his description of the essence of Moshe's request. Leading the nation in this way, by developing a personal connection with them,would help prevent a relapse of the condition that persisted  among the men in the wilderness for thirty-eight years.

 

 

 

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