Pinchas: Legacy

One of the themes of the Torah is that rules need not apply. There are cases of disinheritance. One of the first is that of Ishmael.

Daf yomi is Gittin- divorces. The first divorce in the Torah is that of Hagar, Abraham's consort. She is sent to Kadesh, a location that Onkelos glosses as Rekem. The first Mishnah of Geitin says that a divorce document form Rekem or Heger requires the formula, "befonei nechtav, befonei hectam,' meaning that these palces are outside of the Land of Isreal. Kadesh (holiness) related to kedushin ( marriage) becomes rekem ( emptiness).

In Pinchas, Kadesh is recalled as the place that Moshe struck the rock. The place where Moshe and Gd divorced.

Both Moshe and Zelophchod died for their own sins, not the sins of the community. The contrast with Jesus is obvious.

The word ubar connects themes in the parsha. The exposition of inheritance law, in reaction to the points made by the daughters of Zelophad, hinges on the word veha'avartah ( 27:7). The word is clearly out place since Rashi struggles with its translation ( related to wrath; passing over) The root of the word is also related to the fetus ( ubar). Then ( 27:12) Moshe is told to ascend Mount Ha'avarim ( ayin both times). This is the mount of his death because od Gd's wrath, the mount of his passing over.

The gemarrah in brochoth ( mishna 4:4) includes the word ibur in the short prayer said in circumstances of danger ( כל פרשת העיבור יהיו צורכיהם לפניך). The gemarrah talks about Gd being pregnant with anger.

The idea of the fetus unifies aspects of the parsha. Pinchus kills Zimri and Cazbie while they are in the act of making an ubar ( fetus). He thus prvents the Midian-Israel alliance to be formed by intermarriage. Thus he acquires ( koneh) (25:11 ) Gd's acquisition: the independence of the people of Israel. This is the ubar that generates the wrath of Gd.

Then there are the Musaf offerings with their menochoth and libations. Mishna yomith

last years Pinchas

Sunrise, Sunset: facing any direction but east

לכל הרוחות אין מחזירין חוץ מרוח מזרחית Yerushalmi Brochoth 35a

ואף רב ששת סבר שכינה בכל מקום דא"ל רב ששת לשמעיה לכל רוחתא אוקמן לבר ממזרח ולאו משום דלית ביה שכינה אלא משום דמורו בה מיני ( Baba Bathra 25a)

What doew the east mean? It is the direction of the rising sun. THe new day. The world forgives the last day. A new dawn of hope. These ideas are not Jewish!

At the end of the day, the day is purified ( Tehair) by the setting of the sun. The sun, like the tamei person, plunges into the Mikvah ( the sea) and is purified. It is the west, where the sun sets, that is abode of the shechinah that that the Jews long for.

Watches: 3 vs 4

The gemarrah in brochos 3b tries to determine how many watches there are in the night.

the motivation is that the time limit for the evening shema, according to R. Eliezer, is the end of the first watch. The number of watches will, therefore, determine when this time limit arrives.

What are the points:

1. The number of watches never changes. Gideon and David and we have the same system of watches. In our day, we might doubt this, but the gemarrah does not.
2. the language of Tanach is absolutely precise. If it says watch, it means one, watches, more than one ( presumably 2)