Enjoy, Enjoy

 I wrote this many years ago, and since I was on vacation the week of Va'eschanan and didn't have the time to write something new, I present this from waaaaay back.

Parshat Va'etchanan

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The Talmud (Taanit 30b) quotes the mishnah when it says there were no holidays (literally "good days") on the Jewish calendar as great as the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. The Talmud delves into the greatness of the 15th of Av (which falls this year on Shabbat), famously describing how single girls would dance in the fields and single men would meet them in the greatest singles events of all times. 

 It's a strange turnaround from Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the calendar, which we observed 6 days ago. How could we have such a drastic change? 

 We can look to the haftarah – Nachamu Ami – "be comforted, My people" because things will change. Things will get better. 

 But perhaps we can find even greater inspiration from the parsha itself.

Appointment of Judges… by Moshe with No Input from Yisro?

Parshat Devarim 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Devarim Chapter 1 begins Moshe’s first of a few final speeches that he gives over in the last month of his life. In this chapter, after we are given a glimpse of where the Bnei Yisrael are, and certain coordinates that either help us pinpoint their location or remind us of certain stops on the way, Moshe tells over two narratives from the beginning of the sojourn in the wilderness – first of the time he appointed a system of judges, and second a retelling of the tale of the spies. 

 Let us explore the first of these two retellings. 

Preparing for and Fasting - Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av

Halakhic literature discusses the requirement to fast on the two 25-hour fasts, and how just about everyone is obligated to participate, even pregnant and nursing women (who are given dispensation on the minor fast days), and how seriously the Jewish community should view these fast days and their personal observance of them. 

A healthy person who can manage 25 hours without food or drink should do exactly that - no food or drink for 25 hours.

That being said, exceptions are made for those who cannot fast due to medical reasons. (See Shulchan Arukh 612 + 618)

One approach encourages people to utilize the פחות פחות מכשיעור method, which allows for someone who must be hydrated, for example, to consume around 1.5 oz every 9 minutes. In other words, drink some water (or other hydrating drink) in a small shot glass, then do it again every 9 minutes (that distance of time prevents the two 'shots' from being considered a "combined" consumption), and the person is still considered to be fasting. 

People who have more complicated medical situations, in general, should eat what is needed to tide you over until after the fast. Don't have a multi-course fancy meal! But be sure to eat what is needed, perhaps once mid-day, perhaps an early morning breakfast and an early afternoon mini-lunch, and then wait until the day is over to have the traditional "break-the-fast-meal" with other family members or friends. 

There is a simple rule: If fasting will wind you up in the hospital, you are WRONG if you insist on fasting.

The Road To Freedom Includes Lifting Others Up

Parshat Masei

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

 In one of his essays on the parsha, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks questions the need for the list of the Masa’ot, the stops of the journey of the Bnei Yisrael through the wilderness. Noting that the journey from Egypt to Israel shouldn’t have taken more than a few weeks, and in fact we will see in next week’s parsha that the place from which they crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land was אחד עשר יום מחורב,  eleven days away from Sinai, Rabbi Sacks compares this journey to what Nelson Mandela called the Long Walk to Freedom. 

 Then he writes “The real journey to freedom, however, is not a physical one. It is a mental, moral, and spiritual one. It is long, arduous, and demanding, and there are challenges and failures along the way…. God was with the people. Yet they lacked the faith in themselves or in God to take the challenges in their stride.” 

Going through the narrative of the Exodus, when the Torah says they didn’t go through the land of the Pelishtim in order to avoid war, he notes that they nonetheless saw war anyway, as well as other travails. Egypt gave chase to the splitting of the sea, there was no food or water, Amalek attacked. 

 We learn early on in the book of Yehoshua that the nations in Canaan were frightened of Israel regarding their size and therefore perceived military might, and the Israelites knew God was on their side and that they could not lose. “Yet fear overwhelmed their capacity for rational thought.” 

How Old Were Tzlafchad’s Daughters?

Parshat Pinchas

By Rabbi Avi Billet

One of the tales in the parsha concerns the daughters of Tzlafchad and their request to be given their father’s portion in the land. Much of this is discussed in the Gemara of Baba Basra – around pages 116-120, along with the Talmud’s varied tangents. 

While it certainly seems from the context that the event of the daughters of Tzlafchad took place in the 40th year (which makes sense for many reasons), there is a slight possibility that the Torah is not presented in a chronological order, and that the events here could have happened at any time prior… it is just told to us at this point, at the cusp of the people entering the land. 

Balak Couldn’t See What He “Saw”

Parshat Balak

 by Rabbi Avi Billet

There is a very simple question that challenges the premise of Parshas Balak. 

Why is Balak getting involved in a fight that doesn’t concern him? 

We understand Bilaam. He is wired a different way. In many ways he is consumed by hatred for Bnei Yisrael. He demonstrates over and over that all he wants to do is curse the Bnei Yisrael, even though God told him he can’t. We can also understand him because he is a mercenary. He’ll go anywhere for money. And he’s a rabid anti-Semite. 

But Balak is the king of Moav. Moshe is going to tell us in Devarim 2:9 that he had been told אל תצר את מואב – essentially, leave Moav alone. As members of the family – remember that they are descendants of Lot, Avraham’s nephew, they were untouchables. Even with the incest that brought about the existence of Moav, the Torah nonetheless tells us that the Bnei Yisrael were to leave Moav alone! 

Rashi, Targum Yonatan and others note that Balak may have been the king of Moav, but he was a Midianite. This can help explain why he is going about this personally, and not as much as the king of Moav. In Balak’s view, it is Midian and Yisrael that have a conflict. 

Did the Mei Merivah Story Happen in the 40th Year?

Parshat Chukat 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

There is a common theme in Rashi in the Parshas in the book of Bamidbar. Rashi thematically connects certain pieces of narrative, suggesting they are presented in the Torah in a particular order so they may come across to teach us specific lessons. 

Bamidbar 6:2 – Rashi asks why the section on Nazir is presented next to the section on Sotah. He suggests they are thematically connected in that one who sees the Sotah procedure should refrain from drinking wine. 

Bamidbar 12:1 – Rashi says that Miriam opens the conversation about Moshe because the episode of Eldad and Meidad prophesying caused Tzipporah to lament over her husband ‘leaving her’ to always be available to talk to God [even though the Torah gives no indication about this – it seems Moshe sent her away (Shemos ch. 4 after the hotel incident) when he went to Egypt (see Shemos 18 when she returns to him with her father), and we never hear from her again]. But their separation (if indeed it remained) is not attached to Moshe being a prophet, but more due to ALL of his responsibilities. We have no indication in the Torah that Tzipporah stayed with the Bnei Yisrael.