TO BE CLOSE TO HASHEM One of the things Moshe said to B’nei Yisrael when he rebuked them for the Sin of the Spies was: – You murmured in your tents and said, “Because the Lord hates us He took us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the…
LET’S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT The Children of Reuven and the Children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock… They said to Moshe and Elazar… Let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not bring us across the Jordan. (32:1-5) Moshe Rabbeinu’s reaction to this request was rather harsh. …
WHAT’S THE CONNECTION? Many parts of this week’s parashah are directly or indirectly connected to the Holy Land. Immediately after concluding the story of Pinchas (including the order to take revenge against the Midianites for their share in the deaths of 24,000 Jews), HaShem commands Moshe and Elazar to count the Children of Israel. What…
TEMPORARY TENTS OR PERMANENT DWELLINGS מה טובו אוהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל (במדבר כד:ה) How goodly are your tents, O Ya’akov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael (24:5). What exactly are “the tents of Ya’akov” and “the dwelling places (משכנות) of Yisrael”? Many answers have been given to this question. Rashi (based on Chazal) explains that they…