Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The division of the Land takes place before the Jews get there. This is to teach us that before we embark on change, we have to have a plan what that change will bring.

Reuven, Gad & half of Menasha agree to help the Jews conquer the land before they tend to their lands east of the Jordan. We learn that sometimes we have to put our personal needs aside for society.

The command to kill all the people of Midian seems strange to us until we realize that the entire society was evil. The Torah commands us to destroy evil. No nuance in this case.

The admonition not to make idle vows or oaths is important. If we make a vow or oath and do not keep it, we are violating the Torah. We must endeavor to keep any promise we make even if it not a vow or oath.

Right after Moses anoints Joshua to be the next leader the Torah mentions the daily offering. This is to teach that we have to be consistent in our action and that a seemingly minor act is as important as a major one.

We learn that you should teach your children to want to do the right thing. That they should not just fear the consequences of doing the wrong thing.

We read about the holidays in this week’s portion. The importance of the holidays is that they remind us of what is important to us, our communities. When we are a part of our communities we have the cure for the reasons of the period of mourning.

Today is the 17th of Tamuz. It is the beginning of the 3 weeks in which we commemorate the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem. The reason that is given for their destruction was that Jews did not behave properly one to the other.

After dealing with the internal problems the Jews were commanded to destroy the Midianite nation. Even though the evil that we visited upon the Jews happened due to their own sinfulness, it did not excuse the actions of Balak.

While Pinchas’s act in killing Zimri was justified, he was disturbed that he had taken a life. The taking of a life, even if justifiable is not something to be taken lightly.