This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is called Pinchas which is the name of the grandson of Aharon and the son of our current cohen gadol (high priest) Elazar.  Now our previous parsha ended with Pinchas stopping a plague by skewering one of our princes who was flaunting his relationship with a Midyanite woman, and our current parsha picks up with haShem (god) telling Moshe (Moses) that Pinchas saved the children of Yisrael with his act and so haShem is giving him a brit (covenant) of peace as well as making him a cohen (priest).

Now Pinchas wasn’t a priest before because the priesthood went only to Aharon and his sons.  Their offspring were included only after they had been initiated into the priesthood.  Pinchas, Aharon’s grandson, was excluded because he was born before the initiation took place.

We also are told who the two skewered folk really were.  HaShem then tells Moshe to harass the Midyanites because they are harassing the nation in an evil way.

After the plague has ended, god tells Moshe to count the people again, and we then read a listing of the families of each of the tribes and a tally of each of the tribes (excluding Levi).  When this is finally done, god tells Moshe that the land will be divided by lot amongst these families as their inheritance.  Then we read of the counting of the tribe of Levi, and we are then told that all this takes place on the plains of Moav on the Yardayn (Jordan) river near Yracho (Jericho).  We are also told that only Calev and Y’hoshua (Joshua) were alive from the men that were counted in the original census (done at the beginning of this book Bmeedbar/Numbers).

Right on the heels of the census is a story of the five daughters of Tzlaphchad:  Machlah, Noah, Chaglah, Meelcah and Teertzah.  They come forward because there father died and they have no brother so their family’s inheritance is going to be lost and this does not seem right to them.

Moshe takes their case to haShem who says that they are right and then gives the laws for what to do if a man has no son to give his land to.

Now with all this inheritance business taken care of, haShem tells Moshe to climb up mount Avarim so he can see the land haShem is giving to the children of Yisrael, and after that Moshe will be gathered to his people as his brother Aharon was, and he will die.

HaShem continues by reminding Moshe of the reason he is not allowed into the land.  Moshe then asks god to appoint a new leader for the people and god chooses Y’hoshua and tells him how to transfer the power of leadership to him.  Moshe does as he is told regarding Y’hoshua.  Our parsha ends with Moshe telling the people about the daily, monthly, and holy-day sacrifices, just as god told him to do.

There are a lot of seemingly separate things going on here.  Two years ago, I explained how these seemingly disparate things fit together to show how to transition from generation to generation.

This year, I want to focus on just one of these events:  the transition of power.

There are a couple of things I want to look at.  The first deals with verses 27:16-17 in Bmeedbar/Numbers.  In verse 16, Moshe refers to god as, “The powers of the spirits/winds for all flesh,” when asking god to choose his successor.  In verse 17, Moshe describes the job of the leader as a shepherd tending the flock.  Why does Moshe choose to use these strange descriptions here?

Let’s look at each individually, and then try to put them together.

What I think Moshe is doing when he calls god the, “Spirits/winds for all flesh,” is bringing into the conversation that aspect of god that is intimately involved with the affairs of all fleshy beings, including man.  Moshe is making sure that god chooses a person who will be good for all animals and all mankind.

Why does Moshe feel that this is necessary?  The answer to that is in the second verse.  In this verse, Moshe refers to the nation as a flock.  I think the reason he is doing this is because he realizes that most people don’t want to think and grow and individuate; they just want to follow along like sheep.

Moshe is afraid that if haShem does not pick a leader for the people, some opportunist will come along and lead the people for his personal gain and their detriment.  Therefore, Moshe is asking god, the part of god that is connected to all flesh, the part of god that cares for and is connected to humankind, for a good leader to carry on after him, a leader that will care for the people the way a good shepherd cares for his flock.

This leader, god decides, is Y’hoshua, whose name means, “He will save.”  This we learn in verse 18.

Verses 19-23 tell us how god told Moshe to present Y’hoshua before Elazar the cohen gadol and the people, and place his hands upon him and put some of his glory onto him, so the people will know Y’hoshua is their new leader.  Verse 22 tells us that Moshe did as god commanded and verse 23 says, “And he laid his hands on him and he commanded him as haShem spoke with the hand of Moshe.”

The last few words are what caught my attention.  Why are they there?  Why does our Torah add these words, “With the hand of Moshe?”  They aren’t necessary.

Unless they are trying to tell us something , something that would be hard to describe except symbolically.

The symbolism here is that Moshe tells us god’s words with his hands.

“So what,” I hear you say.  “Here is what,” I say.

This means that the Torah, which is written by the hand of Moshe, is the word of god.

It means even more than that.

The beginning of this verse (verse 23) says that Moshe laid his hands on Y’hoshua.  Why did he do that?  Verse 20 tells us that Moshe is to give from his glory to Y’hoshua.  This glory, which is given from Moshe to Y’hoshua via Moshe’s hands is the ability to express the word of god, just as Moshe has done.  This is what the Torah is trying to tell us by adding, “With the hand of Moshe,” to the end of verse 23.

The next question is why is the Torah trying to tell us this here?

To answer that, I need to bring in a little of the Torah thought from a couple of years ago.  In that Torah thought, I explained that each separate event in this parsha was a repetition of something that happened earlier.  The difference between the current events of our parsha and the earlier events is that the earlier events were with the previous generation and the current events are with the new generation.

For example, we already have been told about the daily, monthly, and holy-day sacrifices we read in our parsha.  Why do we get them again?  At the time, I said it was because all the men who heard it the first time are now dead, and so it needs to be told to the new generation.

Now I want to add to that.  Not only does the new generation (and every generation after) need to be told of these sacrifices, but it has to be told by the new leader.  In this case, Y’hoshua told the people.  I already hear you asking how can I say this because the Torah clearly says just before the sacrifices that god spoke to Moshe saying, “Command the children of Yisrael…” and says right after, “And Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael like all that haShem commanded to Moshe.”

However, what did we read just a verse earlier?  We read that Moshe laid his hands on Y’hoshua and that haShem spoke through the hands of Moshe.  In other words, Y’hoshua now had the ability to share the word of god AS IF IT WAS COMING FROM THE HAND OF MOSHE.  Hence, whatever Y’hoshua taught is just like it was taught by Moshe.  Therefore, the Torah can say Moshe said this even though he was merely standing there quietly while Y’hoshua addressed the people.

The Torah has now performed a neat trick to show us that Y’hoshua is the new leader and has the power to speak the word of god as if it was coming from the hand of Moshe itself.  The Torah does temper this power however by saying that Y’hoshua also has to ask for the judgement of the Urim that is in the breastplate of the cohen gadol before he can act (verse 21).  Nevertheless, we now see how the power of leadership is to be passed on and why our leaders are picked by god itself and why the words of our leaders (who have attained leadership in this manner) are almost like the words of the Torah themselves.

Amazing what a person can get out of our Torah when one reads it in its original language and opens oneself up to it.

This parsha that we are reading is about change from the old to the new.  We started this change many parshas earlier, and this week we really started to experience the transition in our lives.  I bless everybody with a smooth transition and to remember change is not always comfortable to go through.  But have patience, for you will be better off for having gone through it.

If you care to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.