Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Pinchas  – Erev Shabbat 6 July 2018

Week of 1-7 July 2018 

 Torah portion: Numbers 25:10-30:1 Haftarah: Jeremiah 1:1-2:3


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Inheritance is an important theme in this week’s reading.  There is the case of the daughters of Zelophehad.  And there is the question of who shall succeed Moses and lead the people into the Land.  For it will not be  one of Moses’ sons; instead it will be the son of Nun, Joshua. Why does the lord instruct Moses to choose Joshua? (Num 27:18-19) Is it because he is brave and resolute, as he demonstrated in the war against Amalek (Ex 17:9-13) and as one of the spies who ventured into Canaan (Num 14:6-9)?  Yet he shares with Caleb this courage and this faith that the Israelites will prevail.  What sets Joshua apart?

 

According to the Sages, this is how Moses approached the lord about his successor:

 

Moses said: Now is the time to make my claims.  If daughters inherit, then it is only right that my sons inherit my glory! Said the Holy One blessed be He to him: “Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof” (Pro 27:18) Thy sons idled away their time and did not occupy themselves with study of the Torah; but, as for Joshua, much did he minister to thee and much honor did he apportion thee.  He would betake himself early morning and late in the evening to thy meeting house, arranging the benches and spreading the mats.  Since he served thee with all his might, it were meet for him to minister to Israel, that he lose not his reward. “Take to thee Joshua the son of Nun”—in fulfillment of the text: “Whoso keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Leibowitz, 342-343)

 

“Much did he minister to thee”—Joshua is described in Torah as the faithful servant of Moses, seemingly always there at his elbow (Ex 24:13, 32:17; 33:11; Num 11:28).  And almost the last words said by Joshua, in the book which bears his name, are: “As for me and my house, we will serve the lord. “(Jos 24:15) Could it be that Joshua’s devoted service to the people of Israel and to the lord is inspired by the example of Moses?

 

Moses is always ready to serve others. What casts him out of his comfortable life as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter is the sight of an Israelite being beaten by an Egyptian.  He kills the Egyptian, and while this is not to condone homicide, his motive is to rescue the victim of the beating.  He flees to the land of Midian and there rescues the daughters of the priest of Midian from shepherds who won’t let them water their flock.  He then waters the animals himself (Ex 2:11-22) He encounters the lord in the burning bush  when he is “tending the flock” of his father-in-law. (Ex 3:1) This same father-in-law later on thinks that Moses, as the leader of the people,  works too hard! (Ex 18:17-18) He is constantly burdened with the people’s needs and demands, their fear and anger.  Complaining to the lord about “the burden of all this people,” he asks; “Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me, “Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant”? (Num 11:11-12) Despite his understandable exasperation, it is a beautiful image, very different from the usual depiction of the stern figure holding the tablets of the Law.   It is in keeping with the description of him as “a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.” (Num 12:3)

 

Reflection:  As the people trudged through the desert, Moses may well have helped tired women by carrying their children. Think of him in this way and reflect on the relationship between leadership and service.

 

Bibliography:  Leibowitz, Nehama. Studies in Bemidbar (Numbers), Jerusalem, pp. 342-343.

 

This week’s teaching commentary is by

Anne Morton, Winnipeg, Canada

Bat Kol alum 2010

Email: anmorton@mymts.net

 [Copyright © 2018]

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

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