LEADERS WANTED – Pinchas – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

LEADERS WANTED – Numbers 27 – Pinchas – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          After taking a census of his people, Moses gets a look at the Promised Land, although only from Mount Abarim, one of the peaks of the mountain called Nebo.   He hears the Divine warning that, since he will not enter the Land himself, he can expect to die as his brother Aaron died, in solitude on a mountain top.  But while Aaron had his son Elazar with him to anoint as High Priest to succeed him, his brother Moses to transfer his clothes to his son, and both of them to bury him, we will see at the end of Deuteronomy that Moses will die in total solitude and G-d will bury him.  Moses will have plenty to do from now till then.  This “mountain view” is therefore nothing but a preview.  And an opportunity to speak with G-d.

          How does Moses use this opportunity?  Does he beg the Almighty to reconsider, to let him lead his people across the Jordan?  Does he pray for immortality?  Maybe he would like to, but he knows better.  He asks the Eternal One for a successor, a leader “who will go before the people to take them out and bring them in,” one who will galvanize them to win wars, and inspire them to build their future in peace.

          The answer Moses gets can teach us lasting principles about choosing leaders.  He is told to take Joshua, his lieutenant who grew into maturity as Moses’ devoted helper, one of only two spies who brought back a positive report about the Land, who in his youth was described in the Torah as a “boy who did not move out of the Tent of Meeting.”     Take Joshua, says G-d, ”a man who has spirit…  Place some of your glory on him… Let him stand before Elazar the Priest to hear the word of G-d.”  Then Joshua and the people will take action.

          Elazar, son of Aaron, will supply the law, but he will not be the leader.   By now, he and his brother Itamar learned from their father and from their uncle Moses what their role should be.  High Priest is not head of state.   Ayatollahs are notably missing from Jewish history.   The notable exception is the family we recall every Hanukkah – the Maccabees.   Matisyohu – Mattathias, the senior head of the Hasmonean clan, is identified in our prayers as kohen gadol – the High Priest.  He and his soldier sons freed the people from the Syrian Greeks who tried to eradicate their faith and their culture.  And then they set up a theocratic dynasty which became corrupt and earned the disapproval of the rabbis of the Talmud, who played down Hanukkah rather than glorify that dynasty.

          Speaking of dynasties, of course, we note that Moses also had two sons.  Why are they ignored?   Perhaps because they succeeded in ducking the stigma of being the undeserving progeny of a great man.  Neither Gershom nor Eliezer shows up in the Torah narrative much after their birth in the desert, well before the Exodus. 

          Clearly, selecting a leader is no easy job.  Not even for Moses.  As our history progressed, from tribal chiefs to judges to kings, it didn’t get easier.  And when David had to deal with his various sons, bloodshed and revolt scarred the country before Solomon, the wise one, secured the throne. 

          Democracy complicates the process still further.  Whether in Israel or the United States, in Germany or Russia, in Cuba or Egypt or any other country officially using the election process, brilliant and successful leaders are rare.  Too often momentous mistakes can produce inept, corrupt or evil leaders.  Results for the people can be disastrous. 

          Over and again, Moses’ prayer rings in our ears: “Let the G-d of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the people, who will bring them out and bring them in, so the nation will not be like a flock without a shepherd.”

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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FOR ALL US TALKING DONKEYS – Balak – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

FOR ALL US TALKING DONKEYS – Numbers 22-31 – Balak – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          You see your friend riding a bicycle too close to the lane of a fast moving truck, what do you do?  You yell “Look out!”  Right?   But what if you lost your voice?  Do you catch up with your friend and pull him away?

          Such emergencies spice this week’s Torah reading, in the story of the soothsayer from P’tor, known in Jewish tradition as Bil’am harasha – Balaam the wicked. 

          Why wicked?  Early in the story we might accept Balaam as a friend of Israel.  After all, he declares his faith in the Jewish G-d, he apparently follows Divine orders, and he even gives Israel its most famous blessing in the words we repeat when we enter any synagogue: Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov – “How goodly are your tents, Jacob.” 

          How does Balaam deserve the end he gets in Chapter 31 when the Israelites defeat the kings of Midian, and finding him there, “slay him with the sword?”  

          He gets warned, but rejects his warnings. 

          It starts when Balak, king of Moab, sends messengers to P’tor to ask this famous soothsayer to come and curse “this nation that came out of Egypt” and now frightens Moab.  Balaam invites the messengers to stay overnight, while he communicates with G-d and is told not to go with them.  “Do not curse this nation, for it is blessed.”  So he stays home.  Balak does not give up, however.  He sends higher-ranking nobles, and promises great honor to Balaam, a kind of write-your-own-ticket deal.  Again Balaam consults the Divine and gets this answer: “If they came to invite you, go.  But only the words I put in your mouth may you say.”  The next morning, Balaam saddles his donkey, takes his two servants with him and begins his journey with Balak’s representatives.  No sooner are they on the road than the Torah tells us: “G-d was angry because Balaam went.”

          What happened here?  Did G-d change His mind?   Not likely.  The commentary called Or haHayyim (“Light of Life”) explains the story.  While Balaam refused the first invitation and told the messengers G-d would not permit him to go, he behaves differently now.   He just picks himself up and goes.  Not a word about Divine permission or about the limitations on it.  He acts as if he is above all that, just doing what he wants to do.

  That is his first mistake.  The Torah describes him confidently riding down the road, oblivious of a Divine angel – presumably the malach hamovves, the angel of death – standing in front of him with a drawn sword.  His donkey sees the angel and veers off the road into a field to save Balaam’s life, whereupon he slugs the donkey.

          Mistake #2 proceeds from there.  Balaam decides that now that he is going to Balak, nothing – not even G-d — can keep him from damaging Israel.  Sensing this, the angel with the sword intercepts Balaam at a narrow spot between two fences.  Again the donkey swerves and bruises Balaam’s leg against one wall.  Again Balaam slugs the donkey.

          Mistake #3 involves Balaam last night, relying on his own witchcraft to determine if this trip will really benefit him, and he decided that it will make him rich and powerful.  So he ignored the first two warnings.  He keeps riding.  This time the angel of death blocks the road at a turn so narrow that there is no way to get around him.   So the donkey sits down.  Furious, Balaam takes a stick and starts beating the donkey.

          Now comes “Look out!”  G-d “opens the donkey’s mouth” to ask: “What did I do to you, to make you strike me three times?”  Balaam rages: “You ridiculed me!  If I had a sword in my hand I would kill you.”  More reasonable than he is, the donkey pleads: “Am I not the same donkey you rode all your life?  Did I ever do this before?”  Balaam has to admit: “No.”  Only then does he see the danger.  He bows before the angel, who tells him that if not for the donkey’s alert action, “I would kill you, and keep her alive.”  For some unstated reason, Balaam’s donkey is female.  Her warning is worth heeding.

          Still Balaam does not change his mind.  The Torah text traces his course.   He reluctantly speaks the words of blessing that G-d puts in his mouth.   So Balak withdraws his offer.  Then Balaam, no longer trusting in his sorcery, sets out to destroy Israel another way.  He organizes a campaign of seduction.  “The men of Israel began to whore around with the daughters of Moab,” we will read in Chapter 25, resulting in an epidemic of idolatry and disease.  The plague spread by Balaam’s sacred prostitutes kills 24,000.    When the Israelite army conquers Midian, no talking donkey will warn Balaam this time.  His evil life ends on a sword.

          Most of us cannot grab our friend’s bicycle and pull it away from the truck.  But we can yell “Look out!”  And hope that the leaders take warning from us, the talking donkeys.   We need to talk.  Those who do, can be heroic – or mistaken. 

Is Edward Snowden a talking donkey?

Is a rabbi or minister who warns against measures that destroy the American family a talking donkey?

And what about John Bolton?  Another talking donkey?

Think about it.

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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ALL ABOUT MIRIAM – Chukas by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

ALL ABOUT MIRIAM – Chukas, Numbers 20 – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

At the beginning of Chapter 20 in the Book of Numbers we read of the death of Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron.  Tersely the Torah says: “The people stayed at Kadesh.  Miriam died there and was buried there.”  Period.

At the end of the same chapter we read of the death of Aaron.  As High Priest, he is first taken up the mountain by his brother Moses, along with his son Eleazar.   There he takes off his priestly clothes, the evidence of his position, and dresses Eleazar in those clothes as his successor.  Then he dies peacefully, and the entire camp mourns him, shedding tears for 30 days.

Now wait a minute.  Wasn’t Miriam worth a few tears?   She started her career by saving her baby brother Moses from Pharaoh’s genocidal edict, and providing the Egyptian princess with a Hebrew nursemaid for him – namely her mother.  She continued her service by leading the women of Israel in song when they crossed the Red Sea on dry land.  She is called n’viah — a prophetess – both there and in the later books of the Bible.  All right, she badmouthed Moses’ wife.  But so did Aaron.  And Miriam took her punishment for that offense, spending a week in quarantine outside the camp.  During that week the people stayed where they were; they would not move on without her.   She was important to them.

Just how important Miriam was, we learn from the very next sentence after her burial.  “There was no water for the people, and they protested to Moses and Aaron.”  In this succession of events, the rabbis found a connection.  Miriam was the connection.  In her merit a miraculous water well accompanied the people on their desert trek.   When she died, no more water.

Of course, something else is missing from the story of Miriam’s death.  Who buried her?  After all, she had next of kin.  If Abraham could insist on buying the Cave of Machpelah to bury Sarah…if Isaac and Ishmael could overcome their conflict with each other and join in burying their father Abraham… if Jacob could build a special tomb for Rachel… did Miriam have to be buried by some impersonal burial society?

These questions bring up another, also quite interesting question.  Besides her brothers, did Miriam have any family of her own?  The Torah mentions none.  No mate, no children.  True, later commentators and Talmudic rabbis associate Miriam’s identity with several other women who are named in the Torah, including the wife of Caleb – Joshua’s fellow-spy and the only other one who brought a positive report about the Holy Land.  They also posit that Miriam, by another name, had a son named Khur who climbed the mountain with Moses.  But none of these connections appear in the Torah text.  And none of them figure in Miriam’s last rites.  On the textual evidence, she died as she lived – by herself.

Considered this way, Miriam emerges as an exception to the pervading Jewish ideal of family growth.  She did not bear any future leaders.  She said what she thought, and did what she believed in.  She benefitted her people in her own unique way.  Among the great women of the Bible, she clearly stands alone.

No wonder hers is a favorite name ever since her time.

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

 

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A RABBI’S FAMILY – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Baruch

A RABBI’S FAMILY – by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          This week’s blog is not a comment on the Torah portion.  Not that this week’s reading is dull. Anything but.  It tells the story of Korach — a bitter rebellion within the Israelite camp in the desert. Plenty of commentary is already available on it.  I just happen to be otherwise occupied.

          Recently the death of a prominent Israeli rabbinical figure prompted publicity about his family.  It is a very big family, and he lived to see four generations of his descendants.  According to the reports, they number somewhere around 1,000 individuals.  Of course they include both blood relatives and in-laws.  Still, a goodly number.

           I would estimate that his extended family – those whose lives he touched – numbered many times that total.  And that estimate holds true for other rabbis who are much less prominent.  The Jews we guide through life-cycle events (Bar Mitzvah, wedding, bris, Torah study, illness and funerals and mourning), the Jewish students who come to us for instruction, the religious searchers who consult us for a way into Judaism, the litigants who demand our services on a Halachic court, the activists who join us in supporting a worthy cause, and, yes, even those who engage in public debate against us – all become part of our extended families.

          Over the years I am grateful for the experience of having young people who once sang in my junior choir, or whose coming-of-age services I once conducted, come back to me ten or fifteen years later for their weddings.  At a recent funeral a middle-aged brother and sister insisted on taking a picture with me to show their aging parents, because I once officiated at their bar mitzvah and wedding services.  Something we shared was important to them and they want to honor it.  In doing so, they honor me. Bless them.

          All this nakhes – this pleasure – does not come without some tzores – some trouble.  What did you expect? 

          In your immediate family your children sometimes misbehave, sometimes disagree with you, criticize you, rebel.  Don’t they?  After all, if my wife and I frequently cancel out each other’s vote at election time, what can we expect of our children? 

          Extended families and professional families only extend those differences.  All of which brings to mind a happy occasion and its sidelights.

          I had the privilege of conducting a wedding in a family I have been connected with for over 60 years.  The young bride is bright and beautiful, and very positively Jewish.  Her groom is a fine choice for her, and brings a fine family background and a strong commitment to their union.  They did not rush into marriage, but went together long enough to know each other well.  Their ceremony attracted friends and relatives from near and far, and the dinner and dancing afterwards lasted well into the night. Vigorous horas, with the wedding couple and their parents hoisted on chairs, and the usual shouts and applause.  Toasts and presents – the whole shmeer, as they say! 

          Did I do a good job?  The bride and groom thought so, at least they said so.  Presumably they listened to a few of the words I said to them under the wedding canopy. 

          But I left something out.  I did not mention the name of one deceased member of the family – actually a man who was a good friend to me in his time.  Although I thought of him and how he would enjoy this wedding, the bride never knew him, and I was speaking to her.  So I did not mention him there.  I heard disappointment about that omission, and I regret it.  Just one example of how tzoris mixes with nakhes.

          Other episodes are more extreme.  More than once in setting up a wedding procession, I heard a lady protest: “I’m not standing with him!”  Nothing ever seems to quiet intra-family conflict, in fact asimha can sometimes aggravate it. 

          If it can happen in a celebrating family, how much more likely for conflicts to complicate a community activity.   We still have a lot to learn about getting together for a common purpose. 

          Today we see some alarming disarray in family life.  Up to now the family is the basic unit of every society, whether tribal or industrial.  Congregation and community, neighborhood and nation – all follow in logical growth.  We don’t all have to agree, but we have to live together and work together. When we please and inspire each other – and even when we disagree or disappoint – we need to connect. To be concerned. 

          Every rabbi can look around and maintain some kind of connection with the extended family assembled by his life’s work.  Maybe this blog will reach some of my “nephews and nieces!”  Welcome home…

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MIRIAM STARTED IT – B’haalot’kha – Num 12—by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Baruch
Rabbi Baruch Cohon

Rabbi Baruch Cohon

MIRIAM STARTED IT – B’haalot’kha – Num. 12—by Rabbi Baruch Cohon

          First it was Miriam, then Aaron who spoke against their brother Moses, as the Torah tells us, “because of the Cushite wife he took.”  And so opens a singular story of family friction, dismal punishment and recovery.

          The word “Cushite” challenges the commentators.  “Cush” is the Hebrew name of Ethiopia.   Was this a new wife?  A new black wife?  Was Miriam racially prejudiced?  No, says Ibn Ezra.  In all his 120 years Moses only took one wife, namely Zipporah, daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian.  And Ethiopia is many miles from Midian.  So the Midianites are not Africans.  But they are tent-dwellers in a hot country, and ”have no whiteness at all” but are tanned very dark.  So what does Cushite mean?   Both Rashi and the Midrash insist that Cushite refers to Zipporah’s beauty.  One proof cited is from gimatria –which does not mean Geometry, it means Numerology.  Every Hebrew letter is also a number, and the sum total of the letter-numbers in cusheet = 736, identical to the sum total of the letters in the words y’fat mareh – “beautiful appearance.” 

          Another proof states that everyone acknowledged Zipporah’s beauty just as they acknowledge that an Ethiopian is black.  It was obvious.  Not only did she have good looks; she also behaved beautifully.  So what is Miriam’s beef?

          Rashi says Miriam objected, not to Moses’ marrying Zipporah but to his sending her away.  Just a few sentences earlier we read about two men named Eldad and Meydad “prophesying in the camp.” When this report came out, Miriam was with her sister-in-law, and heard Zipporah say: “Alas for the wives of these men.  If they are moved to prophecy, they will separate from their wives the way my husband separated from me.”

          Judging from this insight, Moses and his marriage experienced the familiar pattern of a man’s calling, his work, damaging or even destroying his family life.  And Miriam’s action qualifies her as an ancient feminist.  Indeed we have no record of Miriam herself ever marrying or raising a family.  Her devotion to her birth-family is total.  She guards the basket where her baby brother floats in the Nile.  She convinces the Egyptian princess to let her take him to a Hebrew wetnurse – their mother.  Later she is described as a prophetess at the Red Sea, leading the women in sacred song and dance.  In her merit a well is said to accompany the Israelites on their desert trek.  And now, when Miriam badmouths her brother Moses, she is struck with leprosy!  A leper in Hebrew is m’tzora – which the rabbis parse as an abbreviation for motzi shem ra – “bringing out a bad name”, in other words slander.  In Miriam’s case the punishment is physical and requires her to stay outside the camp for a week.  It is brother Aaron who appeals to the leader Moses, who in his deep humility offers the most compact prayer – just five short words – for her recovery: El na r’fa na lah — “Please, G-d, please heal her!”  And in respect for Miriam, the camp does not move until she is healed and returns. 

          No wonder that the strength and talent and devotion that characterized Miriam made hers a favorite name that Jews give their daughters all through history.

You can contact Rabbi Baruch Cohon for further discussion and/or comments at: baruch.c.2011@gmail.com

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