Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat PinchasRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Pinchas · פינחס · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat0:06Pinhas. This week's parashah has 1680:11pesukim, making it the second longest parashah in the Torah, right after Parashat Naso.0:15And usually Parashat Pinhas is read during the three weeks of the0:19Bein HaMetzarim, unless Parashat Matot-Masei are separated, are read separately,0:23then Pinhas will be read before the three weeks.0:26We divided this week's parashah into five parts.0:29First part, Torah speaks about the reward that Pinhas receives for his heroic act.0:36Second is the Torah counts the Jewish people for the third time and for the final time.0:43Third, Torah speaks about the story of Bnot Tzelofchad and their request.0:47Number four, appointing a new leader.0:51The Torah speaks about the appointment of0:53Yehoshua. And finally, the Torah concludes with the second half of the parashah, the order of the korbanot.0:59Six mitzvot in this week's parashah, and they're all mitzvot1:02aseh, and they number from number 400 to 405 in Sefer1:06HaChinuch. Let's get to the topics in depth a little bit more.1:09First part of the parashah, Torah speaks about Pinhas's reward.1:12Really, the beginning of this week's parashah is a continuation from the end of last week.1:16In the end of last week's parashah, we learned how Zimri, the leader of Shevet Shimon,1:23committed a horrible sin with Kozbi bat Tzur, and Pinhas risked his life.1:29He was moser nefesh to walk into where the aveirah was taking place,1:33and he killed Zimri and Kozbi together.1:37And with his heroic act, he stopped the1:40mageifah, which took the lives of 24,000 people from Shevet Shimon alone.1:44So as a reward, Hashem says, for Pinhas's great reward, he gets two rewards.1:50Number one, the Torah says he gets a brit shalom.1:53I guess we would compare it to the Peace Prize Award.1:56The second reward that Pinhas receives is a2:01brit kehunah. What's this2:02brit kehunah? Now, even though Pinhas was a grandson of Aharon2:05HaKohen, however, he was not selected as one of the Kohanim,2:08because when the selection of the Kohanim came, Pinhas was already born,2:11and only the children that are to be born later on from Aharon and his children2:17were to become Kohanim.2:19But now, with the killing of Zimri, Pinhas was zocheh that he would become a Kohen.2:25Another brit kehunah is that— Eventually, all Kohanim Gedolim would be descendants from Pinchas.2:34There were a few Kohanim, even though it's a small family,2:36but still, that the Kohanim Gedolim should only come from Pinchas,2:40that was a privilege, and that came as a reward for his heroic act.2:44We move on. The Torah now comes to count the Jewish people once again.2:48We counted already in2:50Parashat Bamidbar, and now we're counting them again.2:51And why are we counting them again?2:53It's the third time we count in the Torah,2:55and the answer is given three answers.2:57Number one is because there was just a huge plague that took the lives of many, 200,000 people,3:02and now Hashem wants to see who's left.3:04The second reason is also because now this is 40 years after Moshe3:10Rabbeinu has been guiding the Jewish people,3:12and now the time has come for Moshe to pass away3:15and to give back the Jewish people that he was taking care of.3:18So we had to take a count again to see how many people are left.3:22And the third and final reason, which connects it to the next part of the parashah,3:26is that the Jewish people had to be counted in order to know how to distribute Eretz Yisrael.3:33How was Eretz Yisrael divided?3:35It was divided through a3:38goral, where they would put the names of the shevatim on a piece of paper,3:42and they would place also the names of the parts of Eretz Yisrael on a piece of paper,3:48and then they mix it all together.3:49And there was a miraculous thing that the goral, the lottery, actually spoke,3:53would come out and would say,3:55Okay, this part of Eretz Yisrael belongs to this shevet, to this tribe.3:59In the counting, we find something interesting that we don't find in any other counting.4:04Each family's name receives an extra two letters.4:07For example, Reuven, when the Torah calls the family of4:11Reuven, calls4:13him Mishpachat ha-Reuveni. Shimon, he's called4:15Mishpachat ha-Shimoni. And the same thing is true by every family that's mentioned there.4:18And the Chachamim point out that the reason why there's two extra letters,4:21a yud and4:22a hei, is because the Goyim used to make fun of the Jewish people,4:25and they said, Come on,4:27you think these people are counting themselves4:30and they're tracing themselves to their ancestors?4:32You think they're really their children?4:34These were slaves for 200 years in Mitzrayim.4:37If the Egyptians ruled over them4:39and they had complete rulership over them,4:41they treated them whatever they want.4:42You don't think they did what they wanted with their wives?4:46So because of that, to answer that,4:49Hashem said, Oh yeah, I'm going to put my stamp on these families4:51to show that these are pure children,4:55pure families from the Jewish people.4:58And the total, after recounting with the Jewish people,5:01the total came out to be 601,730 Jews.5:05Shevet Levi, again, was not counted together with all the rest of the Jews.5:08They were counted separately,5:09and there were 23,000 members from Shevet Levi.5:13And the Torah points out that all these people that were counted5:16are a new generation.5:17The only ones who survived, those who came out of Mitzrayim,5:22were Yehoshua and5:23Kalev. Everyone else died in the5:26desert as a result of the sin of the5:28meraglim. And then the Torah moves on to the third part,5:32Bnot Tzelofchad. As the land was being distributed to everybody,5:36the daughters of Tzelofchad noticed5:37that they might not get a share.5:38Their father, Tzelofchad, died in the desert,5:41but he didn't have any boys.5:44And because he didn't have any boys,5:45so it looks like his portion would be skipped,5:48because the halacha says, the Torah says,5:50the inheritance goes from father to son.5:53Girls do not inherit.5:55Lemashal, if there's a person who has four boys and three girls,5:59the boys only get the inheritance,6:01and the girls don't get the inheritance.6:02Over here, Tzelofchad didn't have any boys,6:04so he shouldn't lose out6:06because, you know, he doesn't have any boys.6:08So they came and they asked Moshe Rabbeinu the question,6:11and Moshe Rabbeinu didn't know the answer,6:13and Hashem taught him the answer6:15as a result of the question6:17that was initiated by6:19Bnot Tzelofchad. And here the Chachamim point out that they were righteous women,6:22that they were able to introduce a halacha in the Torah.6:25And the halacha comes out like this,6:27that Hashem gives Moshe the order of inheritance,6:30meaning if a person passes away,6:33the first people to inherit are his boys.6:36If the boys are not alive anymore,6:39then any descendants that these boys have6:42are the next in line to inherit6:44from the person passing away.6:46If the person who passed away doesn't have any boys,6:48and he doesn't have any descendants from these boys,6:52then the— The property or the whatever he has,6:56the inheritance goes to the girls.6:58If the girls are not alive anymore by the time he passes away,7:02it goes to any descendants that he has from these girls.7:05If his boys and girls are not alive7:08and he doesn't have any descendants from them,7:09let's say a person who doesn't have any children,7:11then the inheritance goes to the deceased direct family,7:16his brothers or his uncles,7:17and then there's all different order over there.7:20Once Moshe was dealing with divining the land7:22and giving inheritance in Eretz Yisrael,7:24he felt, oh, must be that Hashem is allowing me to distribute Eretz Yisrael,7:29must be that the gezeirah is over,7:31the decree for me not to come to Eretz Yisrael is over.7:34I'm allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael.7:36Hashem comes and tells him, no,7:38the decree still remains, and it's time for you to pass away,7:41and I want you to come see the land which you will not enter.7:45And Moshe said, okay.7:47And the time when he's being told to pass away,7:49what does Moshe think about?7:50He thinks about the Jewish people.7:52That's the greatness of Jewish leaders.7:55He says to Hashem, but who's going to lead this nation?7:58I understand I have to go, but—8:00Hashem, you should appoint a new leader. You should appoint a person to lead this great nation.8:05They shouldn't be left without any leadership.8:07And Moshe was thinking that his children are the most befitting people to lead the nation.8:12Now, this is Moshe Rabbeinu's opinion. That's not coming because it's his family,8:16but it's coming because he believes that they're really great.8:19However, Hashem says, although your children may be great, and they might be more qualified in your eyes,8:25however, Yehoshua bin Nun deserves the leadership.8:27Why is that? The Chachamim explain because Yehoshua bin Nun worked the hardest from everybody else.8:33He was not only a student of Moshe Rabbeinu; he found Moshe everywhere.8:35He was also the person, the first one to come into the Beit HaMidrash,8:39to come in to set up the study hall where people would come to learn,8:42and he was the one to make sure that everybody is learning.8:45Therefore, this is the type of leader that we need for the Jewish people,8:48one who is going to ensure that the Jewish people will continue to learn throughout their lives.8:54And Hashem tells Moshe, take Yehoshua and appoint him as the Jewish leader in your place.9:02And then the Torah tells us the parashah of Korbanot.9:05The Chachamim explain the connection over here.9:07While Moshe was busy trying to find a leader for the Jewish people,9:11Hashem tells him, now that you're still a leader,9:14you command the Jewish people to follow what it says in the Torah.9:18And one of the fundamental things in our religion is the korbanot,9:22the daily worship of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.9:26And here, from the second half of the parashah until the end,9:29the Torah tells us about the korbanot,9:30the sacrifices that were brought in the Mishkan in the desert9:34until they had the Beit9:38HaMikdash, and all the korbanot that they brought on every single day.9:43Now, the order of the korbanot is familiar to most of us,9:47and the reason for that is because we read these parts throughout the year9:50when every holiday is appropriate.9:52In this parashah,9:54Parashat Pinchas, Torah tells us each holiday9:56and the appropriate korban that was brought on that holiday.9:59There are eight different types of korbanot depending on the day.10:04Okay, one of them is brought every single day, and that's called the korban tamid.10:07And that's the first one we'll start out with.10:09The korban tamid consisted of a sheep,10:14one lamb. I would say sheep, it's really a lamb, a baby sheep,10:17and it was a korban10:19olah. In order to know what olah is,10:21then you'll have to check Parashat Vayikra and Tzav.10:23Over there we discuss what olah is.10:26And one korban was brought in the morning,10:28and one korban was brought in the afternoon time.10:31And this was the korban tamid that was to be brought every single day,10:34regardless of what day it is, whether it's Shabbat or Pesach,10:38no matter what it is, every single day there's a korban tamid.10:40Now, keep in mind also that besides the korban, the korban10:45which is the animal,10:46there's also10:47nesachim. In Parashat Shelach we discuss what is10:50nesachim. We don't have the time to go into it.10:52And the nesachim, in short, consist of three main things,10:56and that is fine flour, solet,11:01shemen, which is olive oil,11:02and then yayin, which is wine.11:04The fine flour is mixed together with the oil,11:07with the olive oil,11:08and that's burnt on top of the11:10mizbeach, while the wine is poured in the southwestern corner of the11:18mizbeach. Okay, that's the nesachim that were brought with every korban.11:21And each type of animal that was brought11:25had separate different11:27nesachim. To see this in full, you'll have to check Parashat11:31Shelach. We're just pointing out that when we mention the korban over here,11:34we're only speaking about the animals in this week's11:37parasha, and the nesachim, the Torah even mentions the appropriate11:40nesachim, which you'll have to know by looking in Parashat11:45Shelach. Now, on Shabbat, there was a special korban,11:49and that's why we have Tefillat11:50Musaf. The korban on Shabbat was korban olah of two lambs,11:54and that was brought together.11:56Then the Torah speaks about the holidays.12:00And each holiday and each time,12:02what they brought on the holiday,12:03and that's where we have the appropriate12:05tefilot. For example, Rosh Chodesh, we have Musaf,12:07and all the holidays we have a tefillah called Tefillat Musaf.12:11That was—today we pray Musaf in place of the korbanot12:14that we had brought when we had the Beit HaMikdash.12:18In order for us to remember all the korbanot,12:21what they brought on each day,12:22we made a shorter list,12:25and we hope that this gives us a way to remember it.12:28From Rosh Chodesh, the Torah speaks about Rosh Chodesh,12:31the three holidays, which is Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot,12:36and also Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur,12:38and Shemini Atzeret as well.12:40In all these times,12:43the korban had with it one korban12:47chatat, and the korban chatat is always going to be a goat,12:52se'ir lachatat. Plus, you also had as a korban olah12:55three different types of animals,12:57and they are a par, which is bull,13:00ram, which is an13:02ayil, and kevasim, which is lambs.13:04Okay,13:05the numbers just differed, but they didn't differ so much.13:07On Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, and13:09Shavuot, they all had the same korban.13:11And what is that?13:13That's two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs13:17as a korban olah,13:18and like we mentioned, one goat for korban13:22chatat. On Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Shemini13:25Atzeret, we also had the same korban.13:27And what was that?13:28That was one bull, one ram, and seven lambs13:32for korban olah,13:33and korban chatat had one goat.13:36The difference was on Sukkot.13:39On Sukkot, we brought two rams instead of one,13:44like the other holidays,13:46and fourteen lambs instead of the seven lambs13:49for korban olah.13:50Plus, the bulls also different—were different.13:53What was the difference by the bulls?13:56On Sukkot, every single day they brought a different amount of bulls.13:59On the first day they brought14:0113, the second day14:0212, the third day14:0311, fourth day 10, and so on14:05until the last day, the seventh day of Sukkot,14:07they brought seven lambs, seven bulls.14:10Altogether, if you add up all the bulls that were brought on the holiday of Sukkot,14:13it equals14:1470. That was the difference.14:16Sukkot had different korbanot from all the other holidays,14:19in that the bulls totaled 70 bulls.14:23And this, we hope, is the way to remember the korbanot.14:26Let's repeat them again.14:28Every single time we had Musaf besides Shabbat,14:31we had a korban chatat that consisted of one goat.14:36Pesach, Rosh Chodesh, as well as14:39Shavuot had the same korban,14:41and that was two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs.14:48Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Shemini Atzeret had the same korban,14:51which is one bull, one ram, and seven lambs for korban olah,14:54and with the korban14:56chatat. And with that, we'll move on to the lesson from this week's15:01parashah. We find two characters in this15:04parashah that were not favored in the beginning to receive a certain promotion,15:09but later on they received their promotion,15:11and that was given to them as a reward for what they did.15:14Number one is15:15Pinchas. Pinchas was given reward,15:17and he got the brit kehunah and the brit shalom.15:20He got the peace treaty with him and HaKadosh Baruch Hu,15:25and he also got to become a kohen.15:28And how come he received it?15:29How come he wasn't up for it?15:31Well, he didn't seem to be up for it15:33because a kohen, the halacha says15:35if a kohen kills, he's not allowed to do birkat kohanim,15:37he's not allowed to work in the15:39Beit HaMikdash, even if he kills by accident.15:40Here, it's the exact opposite.15:42It's only because Pinchas killed that he was15:46zocheh to become the kohen.15:48So how come he deserved such a thing?15:51How come he deserved to become the kohen15:54or to get that promotion?15:55The answer is because Pinchas did— A brave, a brave.16:00He sacrificed himself. He was ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.16:05He earned it. He worked hard for what he did.16:08And like the Gemara says, when the Gemara wants to speak about a person who doesn't work hard and just wants to receive reward,16:14the Gemara says,16:18יש מעשה זמרי ורוצים שכר כפנחס. There are people who act like Zimri and they want reward like16:22Pinchas. Meaning, Pinchas worked hard and therefore he deserved his16:25reward. And there are people who don't work hard, who don't do the right thing, and that's16:32מעשה זמרי. The second person in this week's parashah to receive a promotion, that16:37was Yehoshua. Yehoshua received his promotion by becoming the new leader,16:40even though at first Moshe didn't feel he was qualified, because Moshe felt that his children were more qualified.16:45But again Hashem says, You give the leadership to16:49Yehoshua. Why? Because Yehoshua worked harder than anybody else.16:54And that's the lesson from this week's parashah.16:58When there's hard work, Hashem pays reward equally.17:02Even though these people didn't see, and you have two extremes:17:05Pinchas did something unbelievable and he saw his reward immediately,17:10and Yehoshua worked very hard for the forty years being Moshe's student.17:14He didn't see his reward until at the end of forty years.17:17In either case, we learn one thing:17:19you work hard, Hashem rewards you,17:21whether He gives the reward immediately or He gives it much, much later on.17:25Even forty years later on, Hashem never holds back reward from those who work very hard.17:55Shabbat shalom.