Am/Kahal v Edah – The Groups that Led to Moshe and Aharon’s Departure

Parshas Chukas

by Rabbi Avi Billet

For ease, the following words are presented over and over in Hebrew as the emphasis below is how they are used in the Torah’s text: קהל = Kahal; עדה = Eidah; עם = Am; בני ישראל = Bnei Yisrael; קהל ה' = K’hal Hashem. Each word or phrase refers to a group of people, and the ensuing discussion surrounds whether they are the same group or different groups

 The fallout from Mei Merivah seems clear in the story, but what is unclear is WHAT WENT WRONG. Elsewhere in the Torah Moshe and Aharon are told of different general flaws in that tale as to why they won’t be entering the land – לא האמנתם בי להקדשני, מריתם פי, מעלתם בי, לא קדשתם אותי – and a legitimate question to ask is, in using those terms: Is God talking to Moshe and Aharon, or is He talking to the people or about the people themselves? Who didn’t have faith? Who rebelled against God? [See Bamidbar 20:24;27:14; Devarim 32:51]

Aharon's Worthiness

Parshat Korach 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

One of the counter-claims that Moshe makes to those challenging Aharon is ואהרן מה הוא כי תלינו עליו – “and what is Aharon that you are complaining against him?” (16:11) In other words, why do you have a problem with him, when he is not the one who appointed himself? If you have issues with me, keep them aimed at me, and leave Aharon out of this! 

 The Kotzker Rebbe explained Moshe’s response to mean, “Do you know WHAT Aharon is? Do you know WHO Aharon is? Do you have any concept of his greatness and his holiness?”

 It’s a real attempt at shutting down those who are challenging the man hand-picked by God to be the Kohen Gadol. 

Biblical Names Sometimes Reflect Character

Parshat Shlach

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 The Torah presents individuals and groups of people using names that sometimes reflect something about them. The Talmud (Sotah11b) tells us that the father of Kalev ben Yefuneh was named Chetzron, and that “Yefuneh” is a word describing how he “turned himself away from the viewpoint of the spies.” (This is based on Divrei HaYamim I 2:9,18. A number of commentaries quote this Talmudic statement) 

Kalev is credited with marrying two women (see Divrei HaYamim above, and Rashi there on 2:18) – first Azuvah, and after her death, Efrat, and our Sages tells us Efrat was Miriam, and the name Efrat (אפרת) is because the Israelites multiplied (פרו ורבו) in her merit. 

Moshe’s father-in-law is credited with having up to 7 names, each one speaking something about the man, more than helping us know what his real name was. 

Even Moshe Rabbenu’s name, the one he is most famous for, was given to him by the daughter of Pharaoh. The Sages teach us (Vayikra Raba 1) that he had ten names, and the Midrash there explains each name’s significance: Yered, Chever, Yekutiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanoach, Toviah, Shmaya ben Netanel, Hasofer, Halevi. Presumably his parents named him when he was born, but that name is not revealed to us in the Torah. 

 Similarly when it comes to the nation of Israel, they are sometimes referred to as עם (nation), קהל (community), עדה (assembly), and בני ישראל (Children of Israel). Do each of these words really mean the same thing? Are they referring to different groups of people? Do they refer to different attitudes of the people? Is it dependent on context for us to figure out who we are reading about? 

Was Aharon Punished Along With Miriam?

Parshat B'haalotkha 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Though I touched upon this subject last year, many issues with the tale of Miriam and Aharon speaking about Moshe remain unresolved. One question that should easily stand out is “was Aharon punished?” 

The rules of Lashon Hora are fairly clear that both speaker and listener (the mekabel) are guilty of the deed (see the Introduction to Lashon Hora in the Sefer Chafetz Chaim). Even if a person merely listens and does not respond, the person is considered to have been an active participant. If indeed that is what Miriam and Aharon engaged in, and are therefore guilty of, it would seem that Aharon should have been similarly punished. 

The Devotions of the Nesiim - the Same but Very Different

Parshat Naso

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

Chapter 7 contains the offerings and gifts of the Nesiim, which are presented as being mostly the same as one another, both in words and even in their cantillation. Why all the repetition? Why not just say ONCE what each Nasi brought as a korban, and then say “Each Nasi brought this same offering”? 

 Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch explained that when the Torah describes each Korban, introducing it with the word קרבנו, the Torah is telling us that each one brought HIS OWN Korban, irrespective of knowledge of what each Nasi brought before him. After the fact, as it turned out, each set or group of offerings was the same. 

 Think, for example, how many people give donations in multiples of 18. There isn’t a “requirement” to do so, yet many people will end up giving the same donation because of an association to the word חי (“life”) which has a numerical value of 18.

 Sometimes people think alike, even if they don’t consult with one another. And so, Rav Shternbuch explains, each Nasi happened to think alike. But they weren’t copying one another. In listing each set of korbanos, the Torah might have presented a different result from each Nasi had they actually been different. The fact is that each one came to his contribution on his own, without consulting others. That they turned out the same is coincidental. 

 So what was the thought process? Here are some possibilities.

Are We Celebrating the Giving of the Torah on the Right Day?

Shavuos Morning Sermon 5786/2026

In looking over some material that I used many years ago, I came across a question that had never bothered me. But now it actually bothers me. Before I share the question, let us consider a little bit of background information. 

Background

We read this morning that the Bnei Yisrael arrived at Sinai at the beginning of the third month, even though there are other ways to read it – such as “בחדש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים” – “in the 3rd month after they left Egypt, meaning now into the 3rd month since traveling, sixty days into the journey – they came to Sinai.” This reading would put their arrival there at the 15th of Sivan the earliest, with Matan Torah coming a few days after that. 

 While that is a legitimate reading of the text, it is essentially universally accepted that they arrived at Sinai at the beginning of the 3rd month on the calendar, which we now call Sivan. They received the Torah a few days later – though the Talmud records a debate as to whether it was the 6th or 7th of Sivan. 

 And while I know I just said “received the Torah” – technically they heard the Aseres HaDibros. They said נעשה, and in Mishpatim we hear about their saying נעשה ונשמע, and in Va’Eschanan the version we hear is ושמענו ועשינו. And over the next 40 days Moshe Rabbenu had a Chavrusa with Hashem during which time he was told the Mishpatim of Parshas Mishpatim, and perhaps even all the Mitzvos of the Torah, but the people weren’t really exposed to it until Moshe came down with the 2nd set of Luchos. So when the people received the Torah is a matter of perspective or preferred point of view. 

Is It Really a Numbers Game?

 Parshat Bamidbar

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

When we go through the census of the tribes, we find that most tribes’ population are in the 40,000s and 50,000s. The largest tribe is Yehuda with 74,600. The next is Dan, with 62,700. 

 The smallest tribes are Ephraim, Menashe and Binyamin, with 40,500, 32,300, and 35,400 respectively. A reasonable perspective to add is that Yosef’s tribe is second to largest, because Ephraim and Menashe together would equal 72,800. This would make Binyamin the actual smallest at 35,400, as long as we count Levi separately (as the Torah does). They are counted from age 30 days and up (everyone else is 20 and up), and their total – the way the Torah summarizes it – is 22,000. A number of commentaries note that it’s actually 22,300 – a point beyond the scope of our topic here.

 Ramban pins their relatively stunted growth on the tribe of Levi somehow not being subjected to slavery, and therefore not being blessed in the manner described in Shemos as פרו וישרצו וירבו ויעצמו במאד מאד – the population explosion that other tribes had. Incidentally, when counted from the ages of 30-50, to see how many could serve in the Mishkan, the tally was 8,580.

 And yet this is still not such a great method of measurement. How many slaves died? How many children weren’t born due to tiredness or the threat of Pharaoh’s soldiers? How many babies did Pharaoh have murdered? Was a particular tribe treated differently than the others by God? Surely population growth is not a competition.