Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat BehaalotchaRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Behaalotcha · בהעלותך · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat Ba'alotcha. This week's parasha has 136 pesukim.0:11It is known for the parasha where we come back, where the Torah starts telling us stories, or what we're used to from Sefer Bereishit and Shemot, tales of the Jewish people in the desert.0:24In this week's parasha, we divided it up into five different parts.0:28The first part of this week's parasha, the Torah tells us about the Leviim's avodah, the service of the Leviim in the Mishkan.0:36Second part of this week's parasha talks about Pesach0:39Sheni. Third, the Torah talks about how the Jewish people traveled in the desert.0:44Fourth, the Torah talks about the beginning of the Jewish travels in the0:48desert. And finally, the last part of this week's parasha, which makes up about a third of the parasha, Torah speaks about the transgressions of the Jewish people in the Midbar, in the desert, and their consequences.1:02This week's parasha has five mitzvot, three mitzvot aseh and two mitzvot1:08lo ta'aseh. In Sefer HaChinuch, they number from mitzvah number 380 to mitzvah 384.1:14Now let's get to the parasha.1:16First part of this week's parasha, Torah tells us the avodah, the service of the shevet Levi.1:22And the beginning of the parasha continues from the end of Parashat Naso, where each shevet, represented by its nasi, brought their1:33korban. Aharon, who is from shevet Levi, sees that his tribe didn't participate, and he feels bad.1:39And Midrash tells us Hashem tells him, Don't worry. Your contribution is going to be much greater than theirs.1:46You will light up the menorah. It was not a one-time korban, but rather a daily... Service, where Aharon Kohen would light up the menorah,1:57and then the Torah tells us of how the rest of Shevet Levi were inaugurated to work in the Mishkan.2:04Like we mentioned last week, Shevet Levi replaced the firstborns in the service of the Mishkan.2:10And the Torah tells us in this week how they were to begin working.2:15Five things were needed in order for Shevet Levi to be inaugurated.2:20Number one, they had to be sprinkled with para adumah, from the ashes mixed with the water of para adumah, to cleanse them of any tumat met.2:28Number two, they had to be shaved like a metzora.2:31Number three, they had to bring two korbanot, one korban olah and one korban2:38chatat. Fourth, the Jewish people had to do semichah on them, to put their hands on them and to lean on them.2:44And finally, number five, Aharon had to do tenufah on each member of Shevet Levi, which is a special way of moving them, picking them up and moving them in different directions.2:57Next part of this week's parashah, the third part of the parashah, the second part, excuse me, Torah tells us about Pesach Sheni.3:06First, the Torah tells us about the korban Pesach, the regular korban Pesach.3:10Up till now, the only korban Pesach that the Jewish people brought was when they were in the land of Egypt, in Mitzrayim.3:18Now that this is already the second year of coming out of Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were told to bring korban Pesach.3:24Hachamim tell us this was the only korban Pesach that the Jewish people did in the desert for all the duration of the forty years.3:33Now, after the command was given, there were a few people that were not able to bring the korban.3:38These people had tumat met, and because of this impurity that they had, they couldn't bring the korban, and they complained to Moshe, It's not fair.3:47We should lose out from bringing the Korban Pesach? Who were these people?3:51Two opinions. Some say these were the people who carried the coffin of Yosef HaTzadik until they reached the land of Israel,4:00and some say these were the cousins of Nadav and Avihu, Mishael and Elzaphan ben Uziel,4:08who were told to carry out the bodies of Nadav and Avihu when they passed away just two weeks ago.4:14They didn't have time to become tahor, pure from their tumah, and therefore they weren't able to bring Korban Pesach.4:22After complaining, and not really complaining, but sincerely wanting to bring the korban, Hashem tells Moshe,4:30You know what? Let's make a second chance. Let's give them a second chance.4:34On the 14th of Iyar, they have a chance to bring a Pesach4:40Sheni. But not only them, but this is a mitzvah for generations.4:43Anyone who is tameh or far from the city of Yerushalayim, where he cannot bring the Korban Pesach,4:50has a second chance during Iyar, the month of Iyar, on the 14th of Iyar, which is known as a Pesach4:58Sheni. We move on to the third part of this week's5:01parashah: how the Jewish people traveled in the desert.5:04First, the Torah speaks about, as a background, exactly what happened as they traveled through the 42 travels in the desert5:13since they left Mitzrayim.5:15Torah tells us that not each travel was the same, meaning how long they camped in these different cities was not the same.5:24Sometimes they would camp in a place for a day, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few years.5:31They never knew exactly when the time came that they had to pick up and travel,5:36but— The Torah tells us clearly that the Jewish people went and traveled, and they didn't complain.5:42Wherever they saw that Hashem said, now we have to travel, the Jewish people traveled, and they walked,5:50and they packed and unpacked and settled and traveled exactly like Hashem told them.5:56Now, how did they travel?5:57First, I'll give you a little bit of a background of the setup of the Jewish people in the desert.6:03We already explained in Medbar the way they were set up.6:06However, when they traveled, there were three steps when they began moving, traveling,6:13and then there were three steps that had to be taken when the Jewish people would stop traveling and they would settle.6:20As a background, the Mishkan was in the middle, and the Jewish people were surrounded by clouds6:27on six sides: one on top, one on the bottom, one on the right, one on the left, one in front of them, one behind them.6:34There was a seventh cloud that, when they camped, this seventh cloud was over the Mishkan,6:41and when they were ready to travel, this cloud would get up. The first step would get up,6:48would pick up from the Ohel Moed, from the Mishkan, and would go forward,6:52forward meant towards the east, to the tribe of Yehuda, which camped in the east,6:57and would go over them and stand over them like a pole.7:01Once they saw that, they knew that they're ready to travel.7:03However, they didn't travel yet.7:05There was the sounds of the trumpets, the chatzotzrot, which we'll soon discuss.7:09After the trumpets, Moshe would say the following words:7:12Kuma Adonai veyafutzu oyvecha veyanusu mesanecha7:17mipanecha. Get up, Hashem, and let your enemies run away from you.7:20And then, after these three things happen, the Jewish people will travel.7:25Now, as they were traveling, how did they know when to stop?7:28And again, three steps.7:30Number one is that the pole in front of them, this pillar of cloud that was in front of them,7:36would roll over, would fold back, and become like a roof over the tribe of Yehuda.7:42That was already the sign that they should stop.7:44Then Moshe would say, Shuvah Adonai ribvot alfei Yisrael,7:51and only then everybody would camp,7:54and the cloud would descend back to the Ohel Moed on top of the Mishkan.8:00This is how the Jewish people traveled,8:02and like we mentioned, there was also the8:03chatzotzrot, and this week's parashah discusses these chatzotzrot, these trumpets.8:07Hashem tells Moshe, make two silver trumpets.8:10And these trumpets, the way they were blown,8:13would signal exactly what the Jewish people needed to know.8:17If both trumpets were blown,8:19and by the way, they were blown by the Kohanim at all times,8:22if two trumpets were blown,8:24then this was a sign that the whole nation should assemble,8:27should get together in front of the Ohel Moed, in front of the Mishkan.8:30If only one of the trumpets blows,8:33then it's a sign for the nesi'im, the leaders,8:36that they should all come in front of the door of the8:39Ohel Moed, which is the Mishkan.8:41And when they would blow,8:43now these two ways that they blow,8:44they blew a straight blow, a straight sound.8:48However, if they would blow together8:51the two trumpets and a teruah,8:54which is a broken-up sound8:55like what we hear on Rosh Hashanah,8:59which is tu tu tu tu tu,9:00along with a straight sound, tu,9:03this is already a sign that we are traveling,9:06like we mentioned beforehand.9:08And if they would only blow with a teruah,9:12this was a sign not only in the Midbar,9:14but even when they reached the land of Eretz Yisrael,9:17that there was something, a problem,9:20there was an epidemic, a war,9:23something bad that was happening,9:25that the Jewish people had to be alerted,9:27that they should do teshuvah and pray9:29more sincerely to Hashem9:31to save them from the upcoming epidemic.9:35And finally, the Torah tells us that9:37there was one more place where they blew,9:39and that is on Rosh Chodesh,9:42the holidays, and on Shabbatot9:43when they bring the korbanot,9:45they would blow these trumpets together9:47when they bring those korbanot,9:49especially in these three times:9:50Rosh Chodesh, the holidays, and on Shabbat.9:53And with that, we move on to the fourth part9:55of this week's9:56parashah. Torah begins to tell us9:57that the Jewish people started traveling,9:59and when did they begin traveling10:01from Har Sinai on Rosh Teires Yisrael?10:03And that was the second year from coming out of Egypt,10:07which is the year 2449 from creation of the world,10:10on Chaf Iyar, on the 20th of Iyar.10:14Bnei Yisrael began traveling from Har Sinai,10:16and they reached to, going to Kibrot Hataavah, first stop.10:20The Torah speaks in detail of how they traveled.10:23You look in the10:24parashah, and over there it mentions that10:26Yitro was headed back to Midian,10:28and Moshe told him,10:29Listen, we're going to Eretz Yisrael.10:30Whatever blessings that we will get,10:33you'll also be part of it.10:34But Yitro declined the offer,10:37and he wanted to go back to Midian10:38in order to convert and to bring his people10:42closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.10:43And then we come to a special part10:47in this week's10:49parashah, which the Gemara in Shabbat explains10:51as a sefer by itself,10:52a book by itself.10:54And clearly you can see that this looks different,10:57because these two pesukim,10:59which are 85 letters altogether,11:02are surrounded by an upside-down, backwards letter nun.11:09And it's a special, special two pesukim,11:12and it's considered a sefer by itself.11:13It's a lot of depth to those two pesukim.11:16Obviously, we can't spend so much time on it,11:18but I'll tell you something small that the Chida says.11:19The Chida says that all the Jewish history11:24and their galut and their travels11:26are all contained within these two pesukim.11:29So you could give hours and hours and weeks of class11:33just on these two pesukim.11:35Finally, we get to the fifth part,11:36the last part of this week's11:37parashah, that tells us. Of the different nisyonot,11:43transgressions and trials of the Jewish people in the desert.11:46And we begin with a place called11:49Tav'era. Over there, it says that the Jewish people complained.11:53It wasn't really the Jewish people;11:55it was really the erev rav.11:56The erev rav were complaining.11:58We're traveling; we were not stopping. Three days of traveling now.12:01Hashem was making them travel so long12:02because He wanted to get them to Eretz Yisrael quicker.12:04But these people complained, the erev rav,12:06and therefore a pillar of fire came,12:10or a fire broke out,12:11and that started killing people,12:13and people started burning.12:14And they came to Moshe crying,12:15Moshe, help us.12:16Moshe prayed,12:18and that fire just got swallowed into the ground.12:21I can't even say if it wasn't swallowed in the ground,12:23if it would continue,12:24it would keep on burning forever.12:26So therefore it had to be swallowed into the ground.12:29Then the Jewish people move on to the next location,12:32which is called Kibrot12:34HaTaavah, and it's only called that way12:35because of the events that took place.12:37What took place then?12:39Again, the erev rav complained.12:41But this time,12:43the Jewish people were affected,12:45and they also complained.12:46What was the complaint about this time?12:47About the man.12:49We're always eating12:51the same food.12:52It looks the same all the time,12:54always man, man.12:55We want some meat.12:57Moshe at this time tells Hashem,12:59Listen, Hashem,13:00I can't do this by myself.13:02Hashem tells him,13:03Okay, if you can't do it by yourself,13:04I'll give you some assistance.13:06Go get me13:07seventy zekenim. Go gather seventy elders.13:10Moshe had a difficult time doing this.13:12How do you take seventy from twelve tribes13:15if each tribe brings13:18six, and this way each tribe has an equal representation?13:22It'll come out to13:23seventy-two. So Moshe took seventy-two pieces of paper.13:26On seventy he wrote zaken,13:28and on two he left them blank.13:30And from these pieces of paper,13:34they were given to the appropriate people,13:36six zekenim from each tribe.13:38Moshe selected the13:43seventy zekenim, and Hashem gave from the power of13:45Moshe—not that it diminished from any of his13:47power—but He gave from the power of Moshe13:49to these seventy elders13:50that helped Moshe guide the Jewish people.13:53Two of these elders were Eldad and Medad.13:56The Torah tells us that they had a special prophecy14:00beyond more than everybody else,14:02and they prophesized that14:04Moshe would eventually not enter14:06Eretz Yisrael; it would actually be14:08Yehoshua. And Yehoshua came and told Moshe,14:11Moshe, how could these people say such a thing?14:13We gotta get rid of them.14:15You gotta mean to say, let them become regular people.14:18They shouldn't become14:19zekenim. They shouldn't have any14:21nevuah. However, Moshe corrects Yehoshua, and he says,14:23These are the good guys.14:24These are guys who are giving prophecy.14:27No, they should be left alone.14:29And then Hashem brings meat to the Jewish people.14:32What was the meat?14:34The Torah tells us that there was a slav.14:35These are quails. These are birds that came,14:38and so much came of them14:40that the guy who collected the least14:43had ten piles of these birds.14:46However, these birds were given as a punishment.14:49This meat was given as a punishment,14:50and there was an epidemic14:52where many people lost their lives.14:55Those who were troublemakers14:57died on the spot,14:59and those who were not troublemakers15:00died in their sleep15:02eventually after three days,15:03after seeing that Hashem could provide them with the meat.15:06And finally, the last part of this week's15:09parasha, which speaks about complaints,15:11is when the Jewish people move on to15:13Chatzeirot. In15:16Chatzeirot. Torah tells us that Miriam15:19was standing next to15:20Tziporah, who was the wife of15:21Moshe, and she hears her15:22saying, Oh, you know,15:25she heard the news about Eldad and Medad,15:27who were15:28prophesying. They said, Oh, I feel bad for their wives,15:30because now15:31their husbands are going to leave them,15:32just like my husband left me.15:34Miriam says, What do you mean?15:36Why did your husband leave you?15:37She says, Because he's a prophet.15:38So Miriam goes over to15:40Aharon in front of Moshe,15:40and she says, I don't understand.15:41Me and you are both prophets.15:43We didn't leave our spouses.15:45Tziporah is such a15:46tzaddeket. Why would our brother leave her?15:47Now, she meant to correct her brother.15:50However, she misjudged the situation.15:53She didn't realize15:54that Moshe is not like any other prophet.15:56He was told by Hashem,15:57because of his great level.16:00That he has to separate from his wife, but she didn't know that.16:03But Hashem let them know that.16:05And when Hashem let them know that Moshe was special,16:07he is greater prophet than anybody else,16:12Miriam was stricken with the disease of tzaraat for speaking16:16this lashon hara, which Hashem considered lashon16:19hara. And Torah tells us that Moshe prayed for her,16:22and she had tzaraat for only seven days.16:24And like the rule of a metzora who had to stay outside the Jewish camp,16:28Miriam stood outside the Jewish camp,16:31and the Jewish people waited seven days for her,16:34and that was her reward, that she waited for Moshe16:38when he was in water. The Jewish people waited for her,16:40and from that Torah tells us that the Jewish people traveled from Hazerot to Midbar Paran.16:45What are we to learn from this week's parasha?16:48Short lesson, but important lesson.16:50We find that there were different people who expressed their criticism in this week's parasha:16:54the Erev Rav about the man, about traveling;16:57the Jewish people about the man;16:59Yehoshua about Eldad and Medad;17:02and Miriam of Moshe.17:04The common denominator by all of them was that they expressed their opinions based not on facts,17:11but on their own feelings.17:12They didn't understand the facts of the matter,17:16and they said their own feelings.17:19However, it created a big problem, like we see by the Erev Rav,17:22it created lo aleinu an epidemic, a plague.17:25People died.17:26And by Moshe Rabbeinu, by Miriam meaning, you know, there were people who got hurt because there were bad feelings.17:36So therefore, we are to learn from here an important lesson.17:39Our opinions are important.17:41We're entitled to have an opinion,17:42but before we make our opinion, we have to make sure of two things.17:47Number one, that it's based on truth,17:49and number two is even if it's true, it has to be something that Torah permits us to say,17:54because otherwise we could fall into the same trap that these people who were great themselves fell.18:00We should be zocheh that we should use our mouth properly, like the Torah commands us at all times.18:29Shabbat shalom.