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Home -> 5778 -> Shelach

כי תבאו אל ארץ מושבתיכם אשר אני נתן לכם

Moshe Marcovich
In Shelach, 5778

When you will come to the Land of your dwelling places that I give you. (15:2)

Chazal (Midrash Rabbah 17:3) ask why Eretz Yisrael was called Eretz Canaan (after the pagan tribe that inhabited the land prior to the Jewish nation’s arrival). It is not as if they were a nation whose moral demeanor was something of which to be proud. Their spiritual affiliation was paganism. So why did they warrant such distinction? Chazal attribute their distinction to the fact that, when they heard that Klal Yisrael was on the way to evict them from the Holy Land, they cleaned up the land, preparing it for its new inhabitants. Hashem said, “Since you prepared the land…

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Home -> 5778 -> Shelach

וישכמו בבקר ויעלו אל ראש ההר לאמר הננו ועלינו אל המקום אשר אמר ד' כי חטאנו

Moshe Marcovich
In Shelach, 5778

They awoke early in the morning and ascended toward the mountain top saying, “We are ready, and we shall ascend to the place of which Hashem has spoken.” (14:40)

The other night, the entire nation had been trembling with fright, weeping incessantly (and unnecessarily) with bitter tears, demonstrating abject fear that they would be forced to ascend to Eretz Yisrael and conquer its inhabitants. Suddenly, their attitude changed. Not only were they now prepared  to go into battle – they went. We all know the outcome of that ill-fated trip, but what prompted them to go? What happened to the trembling, the fear? How did it dissipate overnight? Horav Reuven Karlinstein, zl, addresses this question, but first, he describes the scenario (based on Chazal) which so captivated Klal Yisrael,…

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Home -> 5778 -> Shelach

כל נשיא בהם

Moshe Marcovich
In Shelach, 5778

Everyone a leader among them. (13:2)

The word Nasi, prince, leader, is comprised of four letters which, when separated, make up two words which are opposites of one another. Nasi – nun, sin, yud, aleph: within these four letters are the words yeish, which means “there is,” and ayin, “there is naught.” Otzar HaChaim sees this as an allusion to the quality of a Nasi’s character. The Nasi who considers himself to be a yeish (there is; he is something), in actuality, has nothing; he is an ayin. The Nasi who views himself through the eyes of humility, who sees himself as an ayin, is thus…

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Home -> 5778 -> Shelach

שלח לך אנשים

Moshe Marcovich
In Shelach, 5778

Send forth men, if you please. (13:2)

Rashi notes the words Sh’lach lecha, “Send for yourself,” suggesting that the lecha, for yourself, is superfluous. The pasuk should have said, Shlach anashim; “Send men.” What is added by lecha? Rashi explains that Hashem was intimating that He had not commanded Moshe Rabbeinu to send spies: Ani eini metzavecha; “I am not commanding you to do this. It is up to you – if you want to do it – then you may send.” Sometimes a person predetermines his decisions. He is not going to change, to give in, to concede that he might be in error. Nothing will…

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Home -> 5778 -> Beha'alosecha

והמן כזרע גד הוא... והיה טעמו כטעם לשד השמן

Moshe Marcovich
In Beha'alosecha, 5778

Now the Manna was like coriander seed… and its taste was like the taste of dough kneaded with oil. (11:7,8)

The manna which descended daily from Heaven had varied tastes – as described by the Torah. In Shemos 16:4, it is referred to as bread from Heaven, with a taste “like a cake fried in honey” (ibid 16:31). Here it is described as having the taste of dough kneaded in oil. The Talmud Yoma 75b explains that for the young, it tasted like bread; for the elderly, it was like oil; and for the infants, its taste was similar to honey. These three tastes seem to contradict an earlier statement made by the Talmud (75a) that a person who ate…

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Home -> 5778 -> Beha'alosecha

ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע באזני ד' וישמע ד'

Moshe Marcovich
In Beha'alosecha, 5778

And the nation was complaining; and it was bad to Hashem’s ears. And Hashem heard. (11:1)

Simply, the pasuk teaches that the Bnei Yisrael complained, moaning about the long journey through the wilderness which was forced upon them. They were not happy about it, and their complaints reached Hashem’s “ears.” This led to Hashem’s punitive response to their complaining. The Chasam Sofer offers an alternative approach to these pesukim. Understandably, describing Hashem in anthropocentric terms – such as eyes, ears, hands – is purely figurative, since Hashem has no physical form. The nation (at this point) believed in the figurative “eyes” of Hashem, accepting that He sees everything. They also accepted the figurative “hand” of Hashem,…

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Home -> 5778 -> Beha'alosecha

ויהי בנסוע הארון

Moshe Marcovich
In Beha'alosecha, 5778

When the Aron would travel. (10:35)

The well-known pesukim, which are recited when the Torah is removed from the Aron Kodesh, are placed in our parsha and are separated from the rest of the parsha by two inverted nuns. Chazal (Shabbos 115b) teach, “Hashem placed a symbol before and following these pesukim in order to underscore that this is not the rightful place for these pesukim to be recorded in the Torah.” The more appropriate place is in Parashas Bamidbar where the Torah records the nation’s masaos, journeys. Why were they placed here? Chazal explain that the Torah seeks to differentiate the first puranios, punishments, from…

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Home -> 5778 -> Naso

זאת חנוכת המזבח ביום המשח אתו מאת נשיאי ישראל

Moshe Marcovich
In Naso, 5778

This was the dedication of the Altar, on the day it was anointed, from the Princes of Yisrael. (7:84)

The Torah has just enumerated in detail the offerings of each Nasi, Prince/leader. Twelve Nesiim each brought identical offerings. Yet, the Torah chose to detail each Nasi – offering separately. The Rambam explains that while each Nasi brought the same offering, his machshavah, thought – process and reasoning, for arriving at the decision to bring this specific korban was distinct from that of any other Nasi. Their conclusions were identical; their machasvos, however, were different. Thus, the Torah follows the thought process. Why? Does it make a difference how they all arrived at the same decision concerning what to offer?…

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Home -> 5778 -> Naso

ויהי המקריב ביום הראשון את קרבנו נחשון בן עמינדב למטה יהודה וקרבנו קערת כסף אחת

Moshe Marcovich
In Naso, 5778

The one who brought his offering on the first day was Nachshon ben Aminadav, of the tribe of Yehudah. (And) His offering was: one silver bowl. (7:12,13)

Concerning Nachshon ben Aminadav’s korban, offering, the Torah adds the prefix vav, and (and his korban). The vav ha’chibur, connecting vav, is present to connect the word to the previous sentence. Since Nachshon’s korban was the first offering brought by the Nesiim, the vav is superfluous. It should have said simply korbano, his korban. The Daas Zekeinim miBaalei HaTosfos explain that the Torah wrote this way in order to circumvent the possibility of Nachshon becoming haughty due to his being the first Nasi to bring a korban. Thus, the Torah wrote v’korbano, and his korban, as if to say –…

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Home -> 5778 -> Naso

וזאת תורת הנזיר ביום מלאת ימי נזרו... והקריב את קרבנו לד'... וכבשה אחת בת שנתה תמימה לחטאת

Moshe Marcovich
In Naso, 5778

This shall be the law of the nazir: on the day his abstinence is completed… He shall bring his offering to Hashem… one unblemished ewe in its first year as a sinoffering. (6:13,14)

The nazir completes the time limit of his own abstinence and brings varied korbanos. One of the nazir’s korbanos is a chatas, sin-offering. The Ramban explains that the nazir is considered a “sinner” solely because he ended his vow of abstinence. Having achieved such a lofty spiritual perch he should have remained there, ensconced in spirituality. Why did he leave? Why did he return to a mundane life? Once a person takes a giant step forward/upward, he indicates that he is special. Why not stay in that position? Returning is an indication of weakness, warranting a sin-offering. Ish or isha…

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