B"H
Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 25:11,13 reads:
פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם ולא כליתי את בני ישראל בקנאתי
והיתה לו ולזרעו אחריו ברית כהנת עולם
Loosely translated:
Pinchas son of El'azar son of Aaron the Kohen (i.e., priest) has turned away my wrath from the Jewish people in his act of zealousness for Me, and I shall therefore not annihilate the Jewish people in my jealousy... And it shall be to him an eternal covenant of priesthood.
Two questions pop out immediately:
1) Why does the Torah find it necessary to list the entire lineage of Pinchas back to Aaron the Kohen.
2) Why was to covenant of priesthood bestowed upon Pinchas, for priesthood is not something that's transferable, purchasable or giftable -- it's can only be hereditaraly given from father to son. Nowhere else in scripture such an unusual gift can be found.
An explanation, but first some background:
Rashi on 25:11 writes:
The tribes were disapproving of Pinchas' actions saying: have you seen the son of Puti, whose mother's father has fattened calves for idol-worship. This person (=Pinchas) has murdered an prince of a tribe of the Jewish nation. Therefore scripture has traces his linage to Aaron the High-Priest.
Why did Rashi uses the long winded "whose mother's father fattened calves for idol-worship" where it could more simply stated "whose grandfather fattened..."?
Yitro (Pinchas' maternal grandfather) was the high-priest of Midian. In his capacity as high-priest he would take calves and feed them to satiation but he wouldn't stop there. After the calves were satiated he continued to stuff them with food until they could hardly function, and then he stuffed them with more food still. The sole purpose of this exercise was to really fatten the calves. But for what purpose, you might ask... Answer: for the sole purpose of bringing a delicious, fat dribbling, juicy sacrifice to idols.
Essentially, Yitro was performing acts of cruelty to animals just for the loathsome activity of idol-worship. Indeed he embodied the attribute of cruelty. (This, of course, was before he turned away from idol-worship and in fact converted to the Jewish belief.)
There's a known principle (need citation) that a father's character traits are inherited by his daughters, while a mother's character traits are inherited by her sons.
So, in saying "whose mother's father fattened calves for idol-worship", the tribes were claiming that Yitro has given his character trait of cruelty to his daughter and she has given it, in turn, to Pinchas. Indeed, with this line of thought, they reasoned that Pinchas has killed Zimri, the prince of the tribe of Shimon, not out of zealousness to G-d, but rather out of cruelty!!! They were prepared to kill him for that....
To settle the matter, the Torah writes "Pinchas, son of El'azar, son of Aaron the Koeh". This is to say, don't look at Pinchas' pedigree on his mother's side, but rather on his father's side. Who's his father? El'azar son of Aharon the Kohen. About Aharon the Kohen it is stated in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) Ch. 1:12:
אהרון - אוהב שלום ורודף שלום אוהב את הברייות ומקרבן לתורה
Loosely transslated:
Aaron (the Kohen) -- loves peace, chases after peace, loves all creatures and draws them closer to the creator.
So, we find that Aaron's attribute is that of love. Since Aaron is the prototype and first Kohen, we must conclude that this attribute of love is inherited by all priests, since priesthood is modeled after Aaron.
So, the Torah is telling us: one might conclude that Pinchas killed Zimri out of cruelty, but know this: Pinchas has done so only out of love for the Jewish nation, in order to stop the plague that was ravaging the Jewish nation at the time -- his turned away G-d wrath.
This then explains why priesthood was gifted to Pinchas: he always had that attribute of love for the Jewish people, though up to this point it was buried and concealed within him -- it did not manifest in the open. But now, that he has demonstrated his love for the Jewish nation, in the most grandiose way, he essentially taken that attribute of love and pulled it out from obscurity and into plain sight. The most appropriate gift to give him, then, is to officially brand him a Kohen -- "loves peace, chases after pease, loves all creatures...."
Showing posts with label kohen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kohen. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Take two Almonds and call a Kohen in the morning...
B"H
Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 17:23 reads:
ויהי ממחרת ויבא משה אל אהל העדות והנה פרח מטה
אהרן לבית לוי ויצא פרח ויצץ ציץ ויגמלש קדים
Loosely translated:
And it came to be on the following morning that Moshe came to the Tent of Meeting and behold the staff of Aharon from the tribe of Levi has blossomed, and a flower grew out of it, and it budded, and bore Almonds.
A couple of questions come to mind right away:
First, why specifically Almonds?
Also, by picking the Almond, in a way it would seem that G-d diminished from the miracle:
We find in Talmud Yerushalmi, Tractate Taanit, Chapter 4, page 23a:
שקד אני רואה מה הלוז הזה משהוא מוציא את ניצו ועד שהוא גומר את פירותיו כ"א יום
Which indicates that an Almond goes from budding to complete fruit in 21 days.
So, if G-d wanted to make a miracle and make a dry staff bear fruit overnight, why pick the fruit that's already the fastest? Theoretically for the miracle to be "big" G-d should have chosen, say, an Avocado or a Banana or some other slow-to-ripen fruit. So, the second question is: why specifically Almonds?
Rashi answers the Almond question saying that Almonds are the fastest fruits which teaches us that to those who oppose the institution of kehunah (=priesthood), like Korach and his gang, punishment comes quickly and swiftly, much like an Almond's ripening.
However, the reason for the Almond appears to go a bit further with its connection to the kehunah But first, some background:
A general philosophical question is as follows: if G-d Almighty decides what we will be getting in terms of בניי חיי ומזוניי (=offspring, life, and income) for the entire year, all on Rosh-Hashana, and the decision is sealed and signed on Yom-Kippur, then why does a person need to come to shul 3 times a day and pray for the very same things? Are we worried that Hashem will "forget" what was decided?
After all, if it's all been decided on Rosh-Hashana then the person might as well sit at the beach -front, put his/her feet up, seep Margaritas, and just wait for בניי חיי ומזוניי to come pouring down from High. No?!?!
Actually, no! The abundance of בניי חיי ומזוניי that is decided on Rosh-Hashana and sealed on Yom-Kippur is purely spiritual. In other words, each person has sort of a spiritual bank account up High, and on Rosh-Hashana G-d make a deposit for the whole year. However, a person still needs to show up three times in synagogue each day to ask for a currency conversion: please G-d, take some of the abundance that was deposited in my spiritual bank account and convert it into tangible בניי חיי ומזוניי in the physical sense.
Now, there's a rule that no prayer goes unanswered, as we find in Talmud Bavli, Tractate Brachot, Chapter 5, page 32b:
כל המאריך בתפלתו אין תפלתו חוזרת ריקם (=anyone who prays with intent, his/her prayer does not go unanswered.) In other words, a person's prayers ascend to the Throne of Glory up High, and are heard by- and acted upon by G-d.
So, the question can then be asked: if that's the case, why don't we always get what we prayed for? Simply answered, some hold that no prayer goes unanswered, though sometimes the answer is "no!" This is a tongue-in-cheek, answer. What's the real deal?
The real deal is that when G-d hears a prayer He certainly answers by sending abundance down to the petitioner, of whatever the petitioner asks for. However, as the abundance flows down from higher loftier worlds, it makes a few stops at Customs (the borders between the higher worlds.) At each border crossing there are Customs agents (aka administering angels.) When the flow arrives these Custom agents start looking at the books: does the petitioner deserve any of the abundance, and if so how much does the petitioner actually deserve? etc, etc...
So, the net effect is that a person prays for spiritual-to-physical currency conversion, but the flow of abundance sent down from High doesn't always arrive when the petitioner expects it, or even in it's original form or in the manner that a person expects. All this is due to Customs...
To help with that, G-d Almighty, in His infinite mercy, sent us help in the form of the Kohamim (=priests). In fact they are commanded to bless us, as we find in Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 6:23,27:
דבר אל אהרן ואל בניו לאמר כה תברכו את בני ישראל אמור להם...
ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם
Loosely translated as:
Speak onto Aharon and his sons: so you shall bless the Jewish people, say to them (=the Jewish people).... And they (=the kohanim) shall place My Name on the Jewish people and I shall bless them.
It is interesting to note that there are two opposites, so to speak, built into these verses: on the one hand it's the kohanim who are commanded to bless the Jewish people (verse 23), while on the other hand it's G-d Almighty who blesses the Jewish people (verse 27). So, who really blesses the Jewish people?
It's quite clear that Hashem holds all the abundance, so really the blessing is coming down from High, per verse 27, so what's the role of the kohanim?
To answer that, we look in Talmud Bavli, Tractate Beya, Chapter 2, page 18a, amongst other places, where it states:
כהנים זריזין הם
I.e., the kohanim are "quick" in their sacred duties. Our sages interpret this also as
"מזרזין הם" = "זריזין הם", i.e., not only are they fast (זריזין), but they also cause other things to speed up (מזרזין).
When a person's abundance is held up at Customs pending review by the Customs agents, the blessing of the kohanim (as quoted above from Bamidbar 6:23) speeds things up. When the abundance is rushed through Customs, there's less time and opportunity for the Customs agents to do proper and thorough analysis of the petitioner's worthiness. Things are rushed through so the abundance arrives better resembling its original form when it left the Throne of Glory, less changed, more pristine, more like what was asked of Hashem. This is the secret of the blessing of the kohanim -- to rush the abundance down.
We see from this that the whole concept of a kohen and his blessings, as well as his tasks around the Temple, are intrinsically connected to the concept of speed. In other words, at the the very essence of a kohen is the concept of speed.
It is natural therefore that the staff of the "real kohen" be adorned specifically with Almonds -- the fastest of fruit, for only the "real kohen" affects the speed of the flux of abundance. Once the other tribal leaders saw the Almond fruit on Aharon's staff, it was abundantly clear who possess the attribute of kehunah -- it's all in the Almond.
Good Shabbos with lots of abundance (and Almonds)!
Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 17:23 reads:
ויהי ממחרת ויבא משה אל אהל העדות והנה פרח מטה
אהרן לבית לוי ויצא פרח ויצץ ציץ ויגמלש קדים
Loosely translated:
And it came to be on the following morning that Moshe came to the Tent of Meeting and behold the staff of Aharon from the tribe of Levi has blossomed, and a flower grew out of it, and it budded, and bore Almonds.
A couple of questions come to mind right away:
First, why specifically Almonds?
Also, by picking the Almond, in a way it would seem that G-d diminished from the miracle:
We find in Talmud Yerushalmi, Tractate Taanit, Chapter 4, page 23a:
שקד אני רואה מה הלוז הזה משהוא מוציא את ניצו ועד שהוא גומר את פירותיו כ"א יום
Which indicates that an Almond goes from budding to complete fruit in 21 days.
So, if G-d wanted to make a miracle and make a dry staff bear fruit overnight, why pick the fruit that's already the fastest? Theoretically for the miracle to be "big" G-d should have chosen, say, an Avocado or a Banana or some other slow-to-ripen fruit. So, the second question is: why specifically Almonds?
Rashi answers the Almond question saying that Almonds are the fastest fruits which teaches us that to those who oppose the institution of kehunah (=priesthood), like Korach and his gang, punishment comes quickly and swiftly, much like an Almond's ripening.
However, the reason for the Almond appears to go a bit further with its connection to the kehunah But first, some background:
A general philosophical question is as follows: if G-d Almighty decides what we will be getting in terms of בניי חיי ומזוניי (=offspring, life, and income) for the entire year, all on Rosh-Hashana, and the decision is sealed and signed on Yom-Kippur, then why does a person need to come to shul 3 times a day and pray for the very same things? Are we worried that Hashem will "forget" what was decided?
After all, if it's all been decided on Rosh-Hashana then the person might as well sit at the beach -front, put his/her feet up, seep Margaritas, and just wait for בניי חיי ומזוניי to come pouring down from High. No?!?!
Actually, no! The abundance of בניי חיי ומזוניי that is decided on Rosh-Hashana and sealed on Yom-Kippur is purely spiritual. In other words, each person has sort of a spiritual bank account up High, and on Rosh-Hashana G-d make a deposit for the whole year. However, a person still needs to show up three times in synagogue each day to ask for a currency conversion: please G-d, take some of the abundance that was deposited in my spiritual bank account and convert it into tangible בניי חיי ומזוניי in the physical sense.
Now, there's a rule that no prayer goes unanswered, as we find in Talmud Bavli, Tractate Brachot, Chapter 5, page 32b:
כל המאריך בתפלתו אין תפלתו חוזרת ריקם (=anyone who prays with intent, his/her prayer does not go unanswered.) In other words, a person's prayers ascend to the Throne of Glory up High, and are heard by- and acted upon by G-d.
So, the question can then be asked: if that's the case, why don't we always get what we prayed for? Simply answered, some hold that no prayer goes unanswered, though sometimes the answer is "no!" This is a tongue-in-cheek, answer. What's the real deal?
The real deal is that when G-d hears a prayer He certainly answers by sending abundance down to the petitioner, of whatever the petitioner asks for. However, as the abundance flows down from higher loftier worlds, it makes a few stops at Customs (the borders between the higher worlds.) At each border crossing there are Customs agents (aka administering angels.) When the flow arrives these Custom agents start looking at the books: does the petitioner deserve any of the abundance, and if so how much does the petitioner actually deserve? etc, etc...
So, the net effect is that a person prays for spiritual-to-physical currency conversion, but the flow of abundance sent down from High doesn't always arrive when the petitioner expects it, or even in it's original form or in the manner that a person expects. All this is due to Customs...
To help with that, G-d Almighty, in His infinite mercy, sent us help in the form of the Kohamim (=priests). In fact they are commanded to bless us, as we find in Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 6:23,27:
דבר אל אהרן ואל בניו לאמר כה תברכו את בני ישראל אמור להם...
ושמו את שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם
Loosely translated as:
Speak onto Aharon and his sons: so you shall bless the Jewish people, say to them (=the Jewish people).... And they (=the kohanim) shall place My Name on the Jewish people and I shall bless them.
It is interesting to note that there are two opposites, so to speak, built into these verses: on the one hand it's the kohanim who are commanded to bless the Jewish people (verse 23), while on the other hand it's G-d Almighty who blesses the Jewish people (verse 27). So, who really blesses the Jewish people?
It's quite clear that Hashem holds all the abundance, so really the blessing is coming down from High, per verse 27, so what's the role of the kohanim?
To answer that, we look in Talmud Bavli, Tractate Beya, Chapter 2, page 18a, amongst other places, where it states:
כהנים זריזין הם
I.e., the kohanim are "quick" in their sacred duties. Our sages interpret this also as
"מזרזין הם" = "זריזין הם", i.e., not only are they fast (זריזין), but they also cause other things to speed up (מזרזין).
When a person's abundance is held up at Customs pending review by the Customs agents, the blessing of the kohanim (as quoted above from Bamidbar 6:23) speeds things up. When the abundance is rushed through Customs, there's less time and opportunity for the Customs agents to do proper and thorough analysis of the petitioner's worthiness. Things are rushed through so the abundance arrives better resembling its original form when it left the Throne of Glory, less changed, more pristine, more like what was asked of Hashem. This is the secret of the blessing of the kohanim -- to rush the abundance down.
We see from this that the whole concept of a kohen and his blessings, as well as his tasks around the Temple, are intrinsically connected to the concept of speed. In other words, at the the very essence of a kohen is the concept of speed.
It is natural therefore that the staff of the "real kohen" be adorned specifically with Almonds -- the fastest of fruit, for only the "real kohen" affects the speed of the flux of abundance. Once the other tribal leaders saw the Almond fruit on Aharon's staff, it was abundantly clear who possess the attribute of kehunah -- it's all in the Almond.
Good Shabbos with lots of abundance (and Almonds)!
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