We don’t speak before Eicha or Kinnot at night. But it’s Erev Tisha B’Av, so I’d like to use this time to introduce things.
There is a phrase in the prophet Yirmiyahu (6:26), in a verse that predicts the destruction of the Temple. He tells Klal Yisrael that they will don sackcloth and wallow in ashes in what he calls “Avel Yachid,” a phrase that is hard to...Read more...
The end of the book of Bamidbar represents a type of conclusion to the Torah. There is another book of course but it has an intentionally repetitious aspect, which is why we call it Mishne Torah and the Septuagint called it Deuteronomy (both of which mean “repetition”) So as we reach this conclusion, with what is the Torah leaving us?
I want to suggest something based on...Read more...
Every month corresponds to a bodily function. The month of Tamuz is about seeing. Even the Parashiot normally associated with the month deal with seeing. Because these are harrowing Parashiot, they are mostly about failures in seeing. But from the failures one can learn what the proper sense of seeing is supposed to be. This is part of the preparation for the Three...Read more...
I’ve pointed out many times that there is no date stamp in this Parasha. The Midrash connects its timing to the Mitzva of Tzitzit at the end of last week’s Parasha. That would suggest that this is part of the sequence of dissolution which began two weeks ago and hits its nadir this week. Next week, we will skip 37+ years forward to the last year in the desert. If the Midrash is right about the sequencing,...Read more...
