Change now and avoid the holiday rush! #Pinkhas#devartorah#parashathashavua

Years ago a friend and colleague, Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky, introduced me to a wonderful book entitled #Parasha by Sivan Rahav-Mer, an Israeli journalist. I will like to share with you one of her insights in this week’s Parashah, Pinchas.

“Korach’s sons, however, did not die.” (Numbers 26:11) This short verse is one of the most optimistic ones in the Torah, surprising us with the news that’s sons are alive and well. Korach had led an aggressive uprising against Moses, attracting many followers, which was quashed when the earth opened up and swallowed them alive. Korach, his family, and followers all died in this tragic end to the rebellion. Or so we thought. Rashi tells us that at the last minute, as they were about to die, Korach’s sons had a change of heart and “during the dispute they contemplated repentance."  At the 11^th hour, they realize what a terrible mistake the father had made and decided to abandon the rebellion, saving their lives.

“What a message of hope for us! Even when all seems lost, we can still change course. Even if we have erred, it is never too late to rethink our path in life. It takes a lot of courage to announce our mistakes and our intention to mend our ways, but it can be done. We can go against our surroundings, and our family, we can stand up to a charismatic father, even when the battle has already begun. Just look at Korach’s sons. They did it and did not die.” (Page 246)

We read at the very conclusion of this Torah portion the holiday cycle including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as another reminder is not too early to think about the changes we want to make in our lives to become the people we truly want to be. To paraphrase a popular advertisement, “Change now and avoid the holiday rush!”

 

Khullin 62b and 63a Chesed must be done for everyone, not only for one’s friends

The Gamara has been identifying kosher and nonkosher birds. Most the time the identification doesn’t help us because the amoraim were identifying birds with their Aramaic name in ancient Babylonia. Daf TB Khullin 62b records another disagreement between Rashi and Tosafot.

The Gamara records the disagreement about the swamp rooster (תַרְנְגוֹלָא דְאַגְמָא) and the swamphen (תַּרְנְגוֹלְתָּא דְּאַגְמָא). “Abaye says: The swamp rooster is one of the eight uncertain cases, and this is the mardu, i.e., the marda mentioned earlier. Rav Pappa says: The swamp rooster is forbidden, but the swamphen is permitted. And your mnemonic to remember this is the statement of the Sages with regard to the verse: “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4), that an Ammonite man is unfit to enter the assembly, but not an Ammonite woman. Mareimar taught: The swamphen is forbidden, because the Sages saw that it claws its prey and eats it. And this is the giruta, a non-kosher bird (see 109b).” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashi in massekhet Nedah maintains that the swamp rooster (תַרְנְגוֹלָא דְאַגְמָא) and the swamphen (תַּרְנְגוֹלְתָּא דְּאַגְמָא) are indeed the male and female bird. Tosefot ד"ה תַרְנְגוֹלְתָא writes that one cannot explain that the swamphen is permitted and the swamp rooster is forbidden because of the halakhic principle “anything that comes out of a kosher animal is kosher anything comes out of a nonkosher animal is nonkosher.” For example, milk from a cow is kosher, but milk from a pig or a camel is treif. How could the swamphen be kosher whose chic swamp rooster the nonkosher?! Consequently, they explain that the swamphen and the swamp rooster are two different kinds of birds, one being kosher and one being nonkosher.

Daf TB 63a explains how the stork (ḥasidah -הַחֲסִידָה) got its name. “And why is it called ḥasida? Since it performs acts of lovingkindness [ḥasidut] for its fellows, giving them from its own food.” (Sefaria.org translation) If the stork performs acts of lovingkindness, ḥesed, why is it a nonkosher bird? Rabbi Zelig Pliskin his book Love Your Neighbor explains the reason why the stork is not a kosher bird. “Ramban writes that the birds enumerated in this portion (Shemini) are forbidden for consumption because of their cruelty. If so, the stork should be permissible since it does kindness.

“The Chidushai Ha-Rim answers thus: the stork disfavors only for those that are his friends. Since it does not do chesed for strangers it is considered unclean. Chesed must be done for everyone, not only for one’s friends.” (Page 229)