Shalom Friends;
Parshat Beha’aloscha is being sponsored by Ron and Rena Rosenberg of Ramat Beit Shemesh, dedicated Lilui Nishmas for the recent Yahrtzeit of Rena’s Father, Baruch Yecheskal ben Yaakov HaLevi. To the Rosenberg family, many thanks for your sponsorship and your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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Featured in the news in United States over the past couple of years has been a commitment to something called “second chance” which was meant to remove barriers that prevent those with a criminal record from becoming productive members of society upon their release from incarceration.
One Perek into Parshat Beha’aloscha, Torah relates:
“Moshe spoke to the B’nei Yisrael to make the Pesach offering. They made the Pesach offering in the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, in the afternoon, in the…Sinai; according to everything that Hashem had commanded… There were men who had been made impure by a human corpse and could not make the Pesach offering on that day; so they approached… Moshe and… Aaron on that day. Those men said to him, ‘We are impure through a human corpse; why should we be left out by not offering Hashem’s offering in its appointed time among the B’nei Yisrael?'”
“Moshe said to them, ‘Stand and I will hear what Hashem will command you.'”
“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, ‘Speak to the B’nei Yisrael, saying: If any man will become impure through a corpse or [will be] on a distant road… he shall make the Pesach offering for Hashem, in the second month, on the fourteenth day in the afternoon, shall they make it; with matzot and bitter herbs shall they eat it.'” (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 9, posukim 4-10 as rendered to English in The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah with Rashi Commentary, page 99-101)
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin entitles an entire section of his discussion of our Parshat Beha’aloscha: “Second Chances” regarding offering of the Korban Pesach and eating matzot and bitter herbs for those of Am Yisrael who need in his sefer, “Unlocking The Torah Text,” Sefer Bamidbar (pages 71-81).
Rabbi Goldin asks questions regarding this “second chance” (ibid, pages 71-72):
Why does Hashem create a second chance in conjunction with… only the festival of Pesach? The law does not provide, for example, a Yom Kippur Sheini for those unable to fast on Yom Kippur. Nor is a Succot Sheini mandated for those who cannot sit in the Succah on the festival of Succot. What dimension unique to the festival of Pesach warrants the creation of an official makeup date?
…Exactly who is allowed to participate in Pesach Sheini? …The Torah’s definition of such inability [to offer the Korban Pesach at the appointed time] is puzzlingly restrictive. Why limit the observance of Pesach Sheini only to those who are ritually impure or who are at a distance from the Beit Hamikdash at the time of the offering of the Korban Pesach? What of those individuals who are constrained from taking part in the Korban Pesach for other reasons? Is someone too ill to participate on Pesach, for example, included in the opportunities offered by Pesach Sheini? If not, why not? If so, why doesn’t the Torah say so?
Rabbi Goldin now provides a number of pages of approaches in answer to these questions, of which this author excerpts (ibid, pages 74-75, 78):
So elemental is the Korban Pesach, so fundamental to our identity and experience as Jews, that Hashem provides a second chance for those who are initially unable to participate. Pesach is, after all, where we begin as a people. No one should miss out on the yearly renewal of our shared affiliation. No one should be excluded as we re-create our first steps together.
The journey towards Judaism opens with the step of belonging. Each year, as that journey is reaffirmed, every member of the community must be given the opportunity to join.
The Rabbis… interpret the Biblical mandate much more extensively. In two sentences in the Mishna, they increase the reach of this makeup festival:
An individual who is ritually impure or at a distance and did not perform the first [Korban Pesach] shall perform the second [on Pesach Sheini].
[An individual who otherwise] erred or was legitimately restrained from performing the first [Korban Pesach] shall perform the second [on Pesach Sheini]. (Rabbi Goldin citing Mishna Pesachim 9:1)
The legal verdict is clear. The laws of Pesach Sheini apply not only to those who are impure or at a distance, but to all those who are legitimately constrained from participating in the Korban Pesach at its appointed time.
…The Rambam is… emphatic: both the convert and the young adult are obligated in the rituals of Pesach Sheini. (Rabbi Goldin citing Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Korban Pesach 5:7) Even individuals who were not practicing Jews at the time of Pesach are to be given the opportunity to affiliate with the community once such affiliation becomes possible.
Finally, we turn to our last remaining question concerning Pesach Sheini. Why aren’t the laws of this festival of second chances included in the Halachic code from the outset? Why does Hashem delay the transmission of these edicts until objections are raised by those unable to participate on Pesach itself?
A fascinating, well-known answer to this question is suggested in the Midrash and quoted by Rashi. Hashem deliberately delays the transmission of the laws of Pesach Sheini in order to reward the individuals who approach Moshe concerning the Korban Pesach. So great is the merit of these individuals that Hashem allows a section of the Halachic code to develop as a result of their efforts. (Rabbi Goldin citing Sifrei, Bamidbar 68)
Rabbi Goldin makes these points in concluding discussion of Pesach Sheini (ibid, pages 80-81):
…Through a delicate interweaving of thought and law, in… the narrative of Pesach Sheini…, a… pervasive message emerges: when you perceive participation with your people to be a cherished gift worth fighting for; when you feel diminished by an inability to take part in a Torah ritual; when you view a Mitzvah as an opportunity and not as an obligation, you are worthy of a portion of the Torah inscribed in your name.
With the investment of time and effort, the observance of Mitzvot can deeply enrich our personal and family lives.
When we learn to view Mitzvot as opportunities and not burdens, we too will merit inscription in the unfolding scroll of our nation’s story.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them and that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, at government expense; both due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. May our dear brother Jonathan Pollard be liberated and truly free, as Naama Issachar is now free and home — which can only occur when Jonathan is home in Israel and carrying for his ill wife Esther Yocheved bat Rayzl Bracha, and that the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of five and a half years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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