Great interview by Tess Kenter of Amy Skopp Cooper on Camp Ramah!

Parashat Matot-Masei [Numbers 30:2-36:13] is the double portion that concludes our reading of the Sefer B’midbar [Book of Numbers]. As befits a double portion, the longest Torah reading of the year, it is filled with a variety of material, including the annulment of oaths and vows made by women at the beginning of Matot [Numbers 30:2-17] and the itinerary of wilderness journeys [Numbers 33:1-49] at the beginning of Masei, among other passages of great interes. A perhaps minor note about this wilderness itinerary is the associated command [33:2] to record them in writing. We spent almost our entire conversation on the phenomenon of writing in the ancient world and why this particular passage required a written record. We hope you enjoy it. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Pinchas [Numbers 25:10-30:1] has a lot of interesting material, such as the denoument to the Pinchas episode from last week [25”10-18], the daughters of Zelophechad receiving the inheritance from their father [27:1-11], and the holodiay readings [28:1-30:1], But since this Shabbat is July 4th, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we devoted the show to the religious significance of that event and how we might mark the day religiously. Occasionally we made connections to the parashah as well! Shabbat Shalom and Happy Birthday America!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. The double parashah Chukat-Balak [Numbers 19:1-25:9] is rich with interesting material, including the red heifer [Numbers 19], Moses & The Rock [Numbers 20:1-13], the prophet Balaam and the scene with the talking donkey [Numbers 22-24], and the first half of the story about Pinchas [Numbers 25:1-19]. We find it difficult to pass up any opportunity to discuss Moses & The Rock, and it is to that story that we devoted most of our conversation. This morning Jeremy’s grandson, Eliyahu Aviv, was welcomed into the covenant of Abraham. Mazal Tov! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parashat Korach [Numbers 16-18] is described by Jacob Milgrom as “Encroachment on the Tabernacle”. We know it better as the multi-layered account of a series of rebellions, the best known of which is Korach’s rebellion. However, the discerning reader can identify relatively easily 2 or 3 more, each distinguished by a different rebel or set of rebels, and a different object. Korach himself is unhappy that Moses has received the leadership position and Aaron the priesthood; he makes the claim that all the people is holy. We discuss the character of Korach and how we best understand him: as a demagogue, as a person with a legitimate claim, or perhaps some mixture of the two. The good news this week, and the reason for the delay of our podcast, is the birth yesterday of Jeremy’s [and Amy’s] first grandchild, a boy. Mazal tov to both sets of grandparents [Ira and Sheri Balsam], and of course the parents, Didi and Ariel Kalmanofsky.

The main story in parashat Sh’lach [Numbers 13:1-15:41] is the tragedy of the spies. In some ways, this sin, the failure of the Israelites to recognize that their destiny is to conquer the land no matter what the odds, is their greatest sin. For the rabbis, there seems to be little question, for they associate the sin of the spies with Tisha B’Av, the worst day on the Jewish calendar, whereas the sin of the Golden Calf is associated with the 17th of Tammuz, a prelude to Tisha B’Av. The verb la-tur, “to seek out, spy out, explore”, which is repeated many times througout the narrative of the spies, is picked up in the final section of the parashah, which we know as the third paragraph of the Sh’ma. There, the tzitzit, the ritual fringes, are intended to prevent Israelites from being led astray by their hearts and eyes. In a sense, this paragraph comes to remind us that the very act of la-tur, seeking out, is fraught with danger. Whether the initial command comes from God or Mose, or even the people themselvies is, perhaps immaterial. It is the command to la-tur, to scout out, without the requisite controls suggested by the tzitzit, which dooms the spies. We are often led astray. God provides the means to withstand the temptation. Now that war seems to have resumed, our thoughts and prayers are with those defending the United States as part of the United States Armed Forces and those defending Israel as members of the Israel Defense Forces. May peace soon descend on the region and all other troubled areas on earth. Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat B-ha’alotcha [Numbers 8:1-12:16] is a particularly rich parasha, with passages about, among other things, the menorah, the second Passover for those unable to make the Passover sacrifice in Nisan, the trumpets whose blasts would summon the people to act in certain prescribed ways, and various complaints by Moshe and the people whose resolution required divine intervention. Our conversation focused on the second Passover [9:1-14] and the trumpets [10:1-10]. Feel free to leave comments below. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Naso [Numbers 4:21-7:89] features, among other things, the law of the suspected adulteress [sotah in Hebrew], the nazir [the person who seeks more piety than is required by normative biblical law], and the gifts of the chieftains in chapter 7, at 89 verses the longest in the Torah. Between the laws of the nazir and the gifts of the tribal chieftains we find a passage of 6 verses which contain the priestly blessing [Numbers 6:22-27]. This passage is perhaps the earliest liturgy in the Bible since its use as a liturgy is as it appears in the Torah. The Shma, in contrast, which is also a very old liturgy, was cobbled together from 3 texts which serve a different function in the Torah than it does in the prayerbook. There are perhaps other texts similar to the priestly blessing, such as the recitation voer the first fruits [Deuteronomy 26:5-11] and the vidui ma’aser [the confession over the tithes], but it is fair to say that the priestly blessing has been in continual liturgical use from the days of the Torah down to our own, long after the destruction of the Temple and the loss of sovereignty in the land. So while the 6 verse passage is far shorter than the other units in the parashah, its significance in Jewish life is all out of proportion to the word-count of the passage. We spent most of our conversation unpacking this passage. As always, we request that you send your responses to our show here, or in another platform that you prefer. Shabbat Shalom!

This Friday and Shabbat is the holiday of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, also known as Hag Ha-biqqurim, the pilgrimage of first fruits and z’man matan torateinu, the season of the giving of the Torah. As Jeremy explained the midrash, the rabbis were sensitive to the notion of the giving of the Torah, developing the idea that the Torah was not received until the time of Esther and Mordecai. You will have to listen to the show to find out how we unpacked this! Suffice it to say, our focus was on Shavuot; even though the Ten Commandments figured in our discussion, that passage is read on Friday. We did not get to the Torah Reading for Shabbat, which we last heard on the last day of Pesah. Hag Same’ah and Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat B’midbar [Numbers 1:1-4:20] is the first parashah in Sefer B’midbar [Book of Numbers]. There are a lot of names and numbers, the opening chapters detailing the census of the Israelites in the second month of the second year of their journey in the wilderness. There are numbers provided for each of the tribes, for each camp [3 tribes for each direction (east, south, west, and north)], and the beginning of the levitical census. As Jacob Milgrom makes clear in his JPS Commentary on the Book of Numbers, much can be learned from these names and number. Our focus was on the redemption of the 273 first-born who had to be redeemed because they did not have a corresponding Levite. While originally the first-born became the priest, the new law provided for the tribe of Levites to be designated as priests, necessitating that the first-born now be redeemed for 5 shekels so they could be desanctified as it were. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat B’har-B’hukotai [Leviticus 25-27] is the concluding parashah of Sefer Va-yiqra [Book of Leviticus]. The parashah may be divided into three parts: 25:1-26:2, which Baruch Levine entitles “The Principles of Land Tenure”, 26:3-46, the “Epilogue of the Holiness Code”, featuring the tokheha [26:14-45] often translated as reproof [Levine’s preferred term is “execration”], and chapter 27, “Funding the Sanctuary”. We spent a lot of time exploring the meaning of the sabbatical and jubilee years described in chapter 25. Shabbat Shalom!