Parashas Va'eschanan Shabbos Nachamu :- This Shabbos is Shabbat Nachamu , the Shabbos that comes after Tisha B'Av , and so , this Shabbos gets it's name from the Haftorah , which we read on this Shabbos which is Parashas Va'eschanan , where the Haftorah is Yeshayahu Isaiah 40 : 1 - 26 , and we read this as the Haftorah after Tisha B ' Av because it's first few words are " Nachamu Nachamu , " - " Comfort , Comfort My People , " for after such a tragic day of Tisha B 'Av and the three weeks of Mourning between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B ' Av , we Jews are then Comforted By HaShem , And That HaShem Is Still With us and we look forward to HaShem Comforting us also with Bringing On The End Of Days . In this Parsha of " Va'eschanan , " Moshe continues speaking to the whole nation of the Children of Israel . This Parsha starts out with the word " Va'eschanan , " - " Implored , " where Moshe tells the Children of Israel , how he " Va'eschanan , " - " Implored " and begged HaShem to cancel the decree , where HaShem Decreed that Moshe would not enter the Land and cross over the Jordan , and Moshe Implored HaShem to let Moshe into the Land . Moshe thought that seeing as HaShem Had Allowed the two and a half Tribes to take their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan , and that HaShem Had Allowed Moshe to be a part of the defeating of Og and Sichon and their nations , who were a step toward entering into the Land , Moshe hoped that HaShem Might Change His Mind And Cancel His Decree And Allow Moshe To enter into the Land , but HaShem Did Not . Moshe " Va'eschanan " - " Implored " HaShem many times , but still the decree stood . In fact , Moshe " Va'eschanan " - Implored " HaShem 515 times , to enter the Land . We get this also from the Gematriah of the word " Va'eschanan " which comes to 515 . Our Kabbalah teaches us that every day , the Malachim Angels , Supplicate themselves to HaShem 515 times a day . Only HaShem Truly Knows why this decree could not be cancelled . But Whatever HaShem Does , is for the Good . Even though HaShem Said " No , " Moshe still continued to ask . This teaches us that no matter how much we may feel that there is no hope , there always is and we must carry on praying . Even when a person is set to be executed , and the executioner's sword is above the one to be executed's neck , he should still pray for hope , as even till the last moment , reprieve can come . In the case of Moshe , this was a decree that could not be annulled . Our Rabbis surmise at a few possible reasons . One opinion is that had Moshe gone into Canaan , the Temple would straight away have been built and seeing as it would have been Moshe's holy built Temple , could never have been destroyed . This would have meant the total end of our people had we sinned , for HaShem Rather Chose To Destroy His House - The Temple , Rather than destroy us when we had sinned . Had Moshe built the Temple , it would have been an Eternal Temple and could not have been destroyed and we , as a people , would have had to face that result , Chas Ve Shalom . Also , Moshe had reached the final level and gate of Physical Holiness and thus , did HaShem Say to him ( mentioned later in Torah ) , that " It is too much for you , " in other words dear Moshe , you as Moshe , have now done enough and all that was expected of you , and it is time to rest Spiritually and continue to grow further in Spiritual Holiness in another way . There can be other reasons too , that Moshe was the leader of that generation , and Yehoshuah also deserved his time in his generation , to continue on and also gain Kavod . We are told , that at the End of Days , Moshe will rise and lead those that never got in to the land , he will lead them ( his generation ) into Israel , at the End of Days . But there can also be a much deeper reason . Every Prayer that Moshe Made , was not for himself , besides his " Imploring " HaShem to Let him into the Land . And even that , was not really a prayer for himself , for he wanted to continue teaching the people and bringing them closer to HaShem . He feared that if he would no longer be present , the people would stray and so he wanted to continue to watch over them and be there for them . He also wanted to have the opportunity to do those Mitzvot that could only be done in the Land of Israel . No wonder HaShem Told him that " It is enough . " The very fact that HaShem Gave these Mitzvos through Moshe , was ( as one reason among others ) so that he too would get the Kavod for them as if he had done them himself in the Land . So the deeper reason for him " Va'eschanan , " - " Imploring " HaShem so many times , to the point of such a vast amount of times 515 times , not only showed Moshe's great love for HaShem and HaShem's People and HaShem's Land , but also , that there was a very deep reason why he prayed this many times - 515 times . Moshe was known to constantly pray for his people . He feared that if he was not there , who would pray for us on our behalf . So within this amount of 515 times , Moshe actually covered us till the time of the End of Days ( Aish Dass ) . Moshe passed away in the year 2488 from Creation . The true final date till the End of Days is to be exactly in the year 6093 . If you take 6093 and subtract the 2488 , that leaves us with an amount of 3605 years that Moshe will not be present . If you divide this number 3605 by the amount of Sabbatical Shemittah Years ( Midrash Devarim - Rabbi M Weissman ) , it comes to 515 . So Moshe prayed for us and in his " Va'eschanan " - " Imploring " HaShem , he covered us for the full time till Moshiach comes . His prayers are still watching over us . He was a most holy man of total selflessness . No wonder HaShem Had Moshe ascend the Mountain and put a Blessing on the Land in all directions , for Moshe was covering us and the Land , with his holy prayers . Moshe continues to tell us of HaShem's Laws . Moshe tells of our meeting HaShem at Har Sinai and of how HaShem Gave us the Two Tablets of Stone with HaShem's Holy Ten Declarations on them . Moshe warns first of all about Avodah Zorah Idol Worship , and to stay away from it and the other nations trying to get us to follow their false deities , be they wood or stone or even man . We are to follow HaShem Only and take no note of any nation that entices us to follow anything else that is Not G-D , be it wood or stone , or sun or moon , or man or stars . We are to pray to HaShem Directly with no intermediaries . Moshe again reminds the people how HaShem was Angry with him and didn't let him into the Land . How sad , that till this day , we still didn't pray for Moshe to be forgiven and be able to enter the Land . So many times did Moshe pray for us . May we , even today , remember Moshe and pray that the End of Days comes and that Moshe can finally arise and enter into Israel . So many times did Moshe pray to HaShem to forgive us , even offering for himself to be blotted out , so as to put us first . We owe Moshe so much . We should all pray to HaShem on Moshe's behalf . Moshe then warns that the time will come when the people will make idols . HaShem Will then Scatter us Among the nations in Galus Exile . Moshe reminds us to be faithful to HaShem and return to Him . Moshe , with love for HaShem , reminds us how HaShem , unlike for the other nations , Came And Saved us And Performed Great Miracles For us , out of Love , Taking us out of the bondage of Egypt , Letting us hear His Voice , In The Midst Of The Fire . How HaShem Is The ONLY G-D In Heaven Above And On The Earth Below and that there is NO OTHER . Moshe mentions the Cities of Refuge , where an unintentional murderer can flee to and then Moshe mentions the defeating of Sichon and Og . Moshe then repeats The Ten Commandments . Moshe's Mentioning of the Ten Commandments , is basically the same as the previous mention of it in Shemos , but here , with regards to the Sabbath , Moshe mentions the word " Shamor " - " Safeguard ," but in the Mention in Shemos , the word there is to " Zachor , " - " Remember , " where these two Commandments of Shabbos remind us to " Guard - Safeguard " the Shabbos and Keep It's Laws of the 39 Melachos and to " Remember " It , as doing Kiddush on It and Remembering that HaShem Took us out of Egypt , Bringing Miracles When He Saved us , Like the Acts of Creation , where the Observance of Shabbos shows that HaShem Created Shabbos and Thus Created the six Days leading to Shabbos . We are told that when HaShem on Har Sinai , Gave the Commandment Of Shabbos , HaShem Said Both the words " Zachor , " and " Shamor , " at the very same instant ( Something Only HaShem Could Do ) and so we Remember and Safeguard HaShem's Holy Shabbos . Moshe reminds us how we were unable to hear HaShem's Almightiness and how we asked Moshe to relate to us the rest of the Ten Commandments . Moshe Tells us to keep HaShem's Commandments and so will our days be lengthened on the Land that HaShem Gives us . HaShem , in this Sedra , Then Gives us the Beautiful Blessed Words of the first verse of the Shema , " Shema Yisrael , HaShem Elokeinu , HaShem Echad , " - " Hear O Israel , HaShem Is our G-D , HaShem Is One . " When we Daven the Shema in the morning and evening , as told by the very words in the Shema ( to Daven the Shema when we lie down referring to evening - Maariv and when we arise , at Shacharis referring to the Morning , we are at all times to remember HaShem Taking us out of Egypt . When we Daven the Shema , we say silently after the first verse , " Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto Le'olam Va'ed , " - " Blessed Be His Name Whose Kingdom Is Forever and Ever , " for this goes back to Yaakov , when he was on his bed with his children all around him and he feared that his sons may not be holy enough and they answered him ' Hear O Israel ( Yaakov ) , HaShem Is Our G-D , HaShem Is One , " and when Yaakov heard their words that they in truth , acknowledge the Truth that HaShem is our G-D , and that HaShem Is One ( that there is no other ) , Yaakov was filled with happiness in that he now knew for sure that his sons were holy and followed HaShem Only , and so Yaakov answered , " Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto Le'Olam Va'ed , " - " Blessed be His Name , Whose Kingdom Is Forever and Ever . " Seeing as this second line doesn't appear here in this Sedra , when we say it , in response to the first line of Shema , that second line , said by Yaakov , we say it silently to ourselves . Our Rabbis also tell us , that when Moshe was up on the Mountain , he heard the Malachim say this second line , in praising HaShem , and so , taught it to us . We note that in a Sefer Torah , in this first line of the Shema , the letters ' Ayin ' and ' Dalet , ' are highlighted and made bigger . The reason HaShem Did this , is because if we put the ' Ayin ' and ' Dalet ' together , we get the Hebrew word ' Eid ' which means ' Witness ' for we , as the Jewish people , in all that we follow for HaShem , are to be a Witness for HaShem , to the World , that HaShem Is One and The Only G-D and Creator . For any Jew to say or teach otherwise , that person is taking away from his or her Jewishness . Also , the letters also spell ' Dai ' which means ' enough ' for Only HaShem Is , and for us humans to go toward HaShem , His Torah is ' Enough ' and all that is needed , for there will never be another book or Torah ever , for HaShem's Torah is ' Enough ' and Eternal . We are to love HaShem with all our heart and soul and resources and that means that if we are to acknowledge HaShem , even to our death , then we are called upon to do so . This was the case with so many of our martyrs . As we know , with Rabbi Akiva , he , among others of our sages at the time was called upon to do a Kiddush HaShem and Give His Life for HaShem and while they were combing his flesh with iron combs , he was reciting the Shema . His students were amazed at how he could do this , considering the pain he was suffering at the hands of our enemy the Edomite Romans , and he answered that he was now being given the opportunity to fulfill the first words of the Shema , by loving HaShem with his heart and soul and his resources , as his soul was leaving . The Shema reminds us to continue the eternal tradition of Torah , to teach it to our children at all times , starting their Torah learning with the sweetness of the words of Torah and Honey . The Shema reminds us of the Holy Tefillin worn by Jewish males and the Mezuzot on our doors , that remind us that all is HaShem's , and that our actions and thoughts ( our arm and hand and head on which the Tefillin are put ) , must succumb to HaShem . The same is with the Mezuzos on our doorposts , on the doors of our house , that remind us that all is HaShem's and that HaShem guides our every step , wherever we are and that all our actions are to be according to HaShem Always . Our Gemorrah tells of the story of Onkelos , who was a Roman Convert to Strict Torah Judaism . He was a most holy man . So holy , that his writings appear even today on the side in smaller writing , in every Hebrew Book of the Torah . He had an amazing ability to convert people he interacted with , to the True Path of HaShem . He was actually the son of a roman leader . Each time his Father would send someone to try to talk him out of his Jewishness , they would leave the presence of Onkelos , as and having become , a believer in HaShem . So his Father decided to again send him men , but warned them not to talk to him and let him engage them in conversation , in case he persuades them . When they arrived at his home , he invited them in , and he started to talk to them about HaShem . They stopped him and told him that they were forbidden to discuss any of these kind of matters with him and that he was to come with them to his Father . On the way out , he told them that he wouldn't get into a big discussion with them , but would just mention one thing . He pointed at the Mezuzah on his door , on the way out and asked them if they knew what it was . They didn't and he told them that with their false beliefs , they have to appoint guards to watch over their fake idol deities and homes , but in Judaism , G-D Himself Stands Watch Over us and the Jewish Home . They all converted to Judaism . How beautiful is our Holy Torah . How beautiful is our Holy Tefillin , Tzitzis and Mezuzos . How beautiful is Holy Judaism . How Beautiful Is The One And Only G-D And Creator HaShem Ha Kadosh Barush Hu , HaShem , The Holy One Blessed Be He . Moshe then reminds us how HaShem Is Going To Give us a Land prepared with all its Beauty , ready for us to enjoy . We are to Fear HaShem And follow Him Only . We are to Love HaShem with all our Heart , Soul and Resources and that also means that we are to give up our own wishes and do what HaShem Wants and not what we want . HaShem Brought us out of Egyptian slavery , and we are to serve Only HaShem . We are not to follow the beliefs and false deities of others , the false beliefs and false deities of those around us . We are not to test HaShem , as we did at Massah , but we are to observe HaShem's Decrees , Ordinances , Testimonies and Laws and Commandments Only . We are to teach our children to do the same and teach them How HaShem Took us Out of Egypt and Did Signs And Wonders For us And Brought us out of bondage. , To a Land flowing with Milk and Honey . We are , in every generation , to continue keeping HaShem's Laws and never to stop keeping them , and never to think the laws have changed , because they will not change and the Laws are forever and we are to keep them always , just as we did then , for Torah Says here , " Le Tov Lanu Kol Ha Yamim Le Chayoteinu Ke Ha Yom Ha Zeh , " - " for our good , All The Days , to give us Life , AS This Very Day . " HaShem Then Warns us through Moshe , that when we enter the Land of Israel , we are to smite the seven nations of Canaan , the Hittites , Girgashites , Amorites , Canaanites , Perizzites , Hivvites and Jebusites , utterly destroying them , not sealing a covenant with them , nor showing them favor . Not intermarrying with them , Not giving our sons or daughters in marriage to them , for they will cause us to go astray and worship other things , Chas Ve Shalom . We are only to worship G-D and nothing else . We are to break apart their altars , pillars and their asheirahs ( false deity trees ) , their carved images , shall be burnt in fire . HaShem Reminds us that we are a holy people unto Him , chosen as a treasured people above all other people on the face of the Earth , because of HaShem's Love For us . We are to observe HaShem's Commandments and HaShem Will Bless us , Safeguarding the Covenant for a thousand generations , for those who observe HaShem's Commandments . For all time , HaShem Instructs us through Moshe that we are to " Observe the Commandments and the decrees and the ordinances that HaShem Commanded " then . So ends the Parsha . So many times did Moshe " Va'eschanan , " - " Implore . " We may wonder at this and ask why HaShem didn't change His Decree . We can certainly understand how Moshe must have felt . He led us through the Wilderness so many years , taking all our moans and groans and complaints . Not easy . He put himself totally out for HaShem and his people not , expecting anything back at all . His only request really for himself , and as I explained earlier on , it was not even totally for himself , because he still wished to serve his people , was to enter the Land . So was HaShem Merciful , in saying " No . " HaShem Never Does Anything For Himself . What does He Get out of Giving us a most beautiful Creation around us to enjoy and not destroy , For HaShem Creates , As A Kindness . When we keep destroying the Beauty That HaShem Gives us , HaShem Only Gets Sadness . HaShem Created all things and Gave it To us to enjoy . So all That HaShem Does , is not for Himself . All that HaShem Does , He Does out of Mercy , For HaShem Creates in order to Give . We may not always see the Mercy in every Action That HaShem Does , but we certainly don't see all the terrors that people do . We certainly don't see the whole picture , of why things happen that may not seem logical to our very limited intelligence . But we do know That HaShem Is Not Getting out of us , a wonderful picnic . Look around today at how some people are behaving and at how we treat our fellow Creation . Look how many people don't even acknowledge HaShem as the Creator , Whom HaShem Is , but rather wrongly look to other things to pray to , that are not real and are nothing else , but part of Creation , By HaShem , That HaShem , The One And Only G-D , Created . Only G-D Is G-D . Look at the cruelty done to our fellow man , at the cruelty and abuse that women and children have gone through . Look at the cruelty that is perpetrated on innocent animals and all life . No . This is not how HaShem Wants us to behave . We live in a World today that has so many examples of selfish and self caring people , that one has to realize , How Patient and Merciful , HaShem Has Actually Been With us all , through the ages of time . So we do see , That HaShem Is Merciful In All That He Does . So much is hidden and is so deep . If we wonder about HaShem's Decision , About Moshe , if that was a merciful decision , Moshe will eventually understand when the time comes at the End of Days , That HaShem Was Most Merciful . If we wonder if Moshe's " Va'eschanan , " - " Imploring " was an Act of Mercy on HaShem's Part , all we need to do is look deeper at the word itself , for within the word " Va'eschanan , " - " Imploring , " are the words ' Chein , Nachamu and Chanan , ' which refers to ' Mercy , Comfort and Grace . ' Thus on a deeper level , HaShem's Decision , was Merciful , Comforting and Graceful . We don't see the whole picture on anything . Only HaShem Does , and Knows All . There is so much we don't understand and see . HaShem Is Always Merciful . We are not . In all that HaShem Does , not just for us , but for all of Creation , HaShem Is Most Merciful , Comforting and Graceful . Even within listening to Moshe's " Va'eschanan , " - " Imploring . " We just need to look deeper . In fact , with everything , we need to look deeper , not just into things around us , but also within ourselves as well . We may be surprised what beautiful things HaShem Might Show us . It starts with Trust and Faith , Emunah and Bitachon , in the Creator of Creation , Who Knows All , and So , Desires us to be at one With Him , and Who So Desires our closeness . HaShem Gave us Creation . From then on , it starts with us . It has always started with us , after Creation . It has always been up to us , depending on what we do and how we act . If we follow HaShem Wholeheartedly , the way HaShem Commands Eternally , then Creation will be Complete and we will finally understand so many things and be within the Beautiful Light Of HaShem's Closeness And Love . HaShem Has Always Been Merciful To us . May we be the same and be just as merciful and giving as HaShem Has Always Been . May we all follow G-D , As G-D Asks us To follow Him , In His Torah . And then , our " Va'eschanan , " - " Imploring , " will turn into " Nachamu , " the Final Comfort That HaShem Has So Longed To Show Us And Give us , Since The Beginning Of Creation . Thank You HaShem , with so much love . I wish HaShem With Deepest And Sweetest Love , A Very Beautiful And Special Shabbos Kodesh With Forever Love , and to all of my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Very Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Devarim

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Devarim , starting out the Fifth and last Book of the Torah . This Parsha falls on the Shabbos before Tisha B ' Av and so , the Haftorah , is also a Lament for us , the third Haftorah of Lament between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B' Av . 
The Haftorah is in Yeshayahu Isaiah 1 : 1 - 27 . 
The entire Book of Devarim , was spoken by Moshe to the Children of Israel , in the last 37 days of his life , starting on the 1st of Shevat and he ended just before he passed away on the 7th of Adar . This entire Parsha as well as the other Sedras in the Book of Devarim , was Moshe's parting message From HaShem , reiterating HaShem's Laws , Given at the time we were for a year at Har Sinai and also those Laws Given By HaShem To Moshe , in the Tent of Meeting . Here in this Parsha , Moshe starts out with a rebuke to us , meant totally out of love for HaShem and for us , knowing he ( Moshe ) would not be with us , as we enter the Land , and Moshe wanted his last words then to us , From HaShem , to remain with us , when he departs .
We read a few Parshas ago , how Bilaam , spoke only the words HaShem Let him speak , and HaShem Put In Bilaam's mouth , praises for our people , out of the mouth of Bilaam our enemy , yet , out of Moshe 's mouth , who loves us , HaShem Put Moshe's start of Moshe's Speech , as a rebuke . Why was this so , for our beloved Moshe to rebuke us quietly and for Bilaam to praise us ? For our enemy to end up praising us , that is A Total Miracle From HaShem and even for Bilaam our worst enemy to praise us , that sets the stage for lesser enemies to have to acknowledge us . In the case of a rebuke , had it come from Bilaam , it would not have been well - meaning and could have harmed us negatively , but from Moshe , who always meant us well , it would be just like a parent , rebuking their child out of love , for their welfare , to get that child on the True and Proper Path , so that child can better themselves . 
HaShem Starts the Parsha out by Saying That the words of Moshe was to " El Kol Yisrael , " - " To all of Israel , " for all of Israel was to come out and listen to Moshe Speaking , Men , Women and Children , in whom the future rests . HaShem Miraculously Increased the Volume of Moshe's Voice , so that it would carry and be heard , throughout the Camp , and all who listened , could understand it the same as the one next to them , in the same way , even though each person has their own levels of understanding different things .
The first word of the Parsha , is " Eileh , " - " These . " If we take the Gematriah of the word " Eileh , " it comes to 1 + 30 + 5 = 36 and if we take this number 36 and re-translate into Hebrew Gematriah letter placings in the order of the Hebrew Alphabet , we get a ' 30 and a 6 ' and the Hebrew Letters that have the values 30 and 6 are the Hebrew letters ' Lamed - L ' and ' Vav - V ' and putting this together , we get the Hebrew word ' Leiv ' - ' which means ' Heart , ' thus " Eileh " - " These " words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel , were words spoken to the people's ' hearts . ' When we speak to a person's heart , and not just to their mouth , the message is more penetrating and shows more , that you are truly concerned for the other person's heart and welfare , and speak out of total caring for them . This was HaShem and this was Moshe .
Moshe speaks to them " on the other side of the Jordan , for Moshe was not permitted then to enter into the Land . But why would Moshe be referred to as speaking to them " Bamidbar , " - " In the Wilderness ? " The Wilderness , beside that it was where they physically were , has a deeper meaning , and that is that , to be holy and religious and follow HaShem Wholeheartedly , one is to make oneself like a Wilderness , which is open and empty and ownerless , suggesting total openness and selflessness in listening to HaShem and putting ones own wants aside , being like an empty vessel with no selfish thoughts and being totally accepting in Trust and Faith of what HaShem Wants and Tells us To Do , being forever humble and prostrate to HaShem's Will Only , always knowing that we know so little and that we humbly had so much to learn , no matter how much we study . Torah was given in a Wilderness , that is ownerless , to show , that all HaShem's Creation has a part in following HaShem and that as a Wilderness is ownerless , and owned only by HaShem , so is Torah Owned By HaShem and we are all obligated to Follow and keep It . Also within the word " Bamidbar , " is the word " ' Devor' im , " which refers to Speaking , for when we Humble ourselves to HaShem , and Listen to Him , as we would do in a Wilderness , we can truly hear HaShem Speaking to us , when we make ourselves humble and open to receive , just like a " Bamidbar , " - " Wilderness . ' Dovid Ha Melech knew that he could come close o HaShem by spending time alone , sometimes for days by himself , just by going into a desert alone . 
The Parsha Also Says , that Moshe spoke " Ba' Aravah , " - " In the Aravah , " though some of our Rabbis refer these names to places there , other Rabbonim go deeper , where ' Ervah ' ' can refer to a ' responsibility ' ( Zilberman Hebrew Dictionary ) , for it was in this place's vicinity that some of our people did not hold to the responsibility of believing in HaShem , but near here , wanted spies sent to the Land , which caused an uproar and brought us Tisha B' Av . Also , the word ' Erev ' refers to ' Evening , ' a time of darkening before the light , where in this vicinity , the people doubted HaShem and then had to return back to the Wilderness for many years ( like the ' dark ' ) , and only after many years ( almost 40 years ) , could only then enter Eretz Yisrael ( the Light ) . The words , " Opposite the Sea of Reeds , " was where HaShem Split the waters , but the word written is " Suf " not " Yam Suf , " for the word ' Sof ' also means ' end ' for the people had finally reached the end of their journey through the Wilderness and were about to finally enter into Eretz Yisroel . 
Torah then mentions " Bein Paran U ' Vein Tofel , " for it was in this vicinity of Paran , from where the Spies left from to spy out the Land , before they came back and we had to wander till the end of 40 years . But within the word " Paran , " is the word ' Pur ' - which refers to casting lots , like in the happening of Purim , done by Haman , for it was in Paran , when the spies also caused a debate among the people ( like casting lots to decide either way ) , whether they should enter the land or fear what the spies came and told them from tent to tent . Could this be why later in time , at the happening of Purim , we had to suffer anguish , at the ' Pur ' - ' Lot ' that Haman cast every day till the date of Purim in Adar . The word " Tophel " is mentioned as is " Lavan , " where Rashi explains that the word ' Tiflus , ' means ' calumny , ' which means ' false and malicious defamation ( Everyday dictionary - Patterson ) , which is what happened by the Spies there in that region , and the reference to " Lavan - " - which means ' white ' can be a reference to the Mannah . The mention of " Hazeroth " is also a deep reference to rebellion , for it was in and near Hazeroth , that Korach's rebellion took place , and it was also there , that Miriam was stricken with Leprosy , for Loshon Horah . The reference to " Di - zahav , " which means ' a mass and abundance of gold , " can also be a reference to the Chait Ha Eigel - The Golden Calf " thus , within Moshe's words , was a rebuke , but meant for positive and holy reasons . Torah here also mentions that this place is also eleven days from Chorev , which is the place of Har Sinai , where the place before the Ten Commandments were given there , was called ' Sin'a ' which means ' thornbushes , ' for the place was usually quite dry there , had many thornbushes , and as we know , it was there That HaShem Appeared To Moshe Within the thornbush , again a symbol of humility , and that no matter how much suffering our people face , HaShem Will Always Be Within us And Help us . The place ' Sin'a ' had a Hebrew Letter ' Yud ' added to the name , after the Ten Commandments were Given there , to make it " Sinai " for the Hebrew Letter ' Yud ' is 10 Gematrically , and so , the name of the place became " Sinai . "
The mention of Kadesh Barnea , is a reference to the Spies sent off from the area and also the area where Moshe and Aharon were judged not to be able to go into the Land , at the Waters of Strife .
So everything in Torah has deeper meanings and as our Sages say , each word and connotation can have 70 deeper interpretational meanings of depth . 
The Parsha of Devarim , as I mentioned , starts out Moshe's Speech to the whole of the Children of Israel . As HaShem Says , in verse 3 of this Sedra's first chapter , all that Moshe Spoke , was according to The Word of HaShem . 
Moshe refers to our dwelling at and around Har Sinai and how after the year of being there , HaShem Tells us to leave . Moshe then refers to the appointment of Judges and then Moshe refers to the incident of the Spies and the sad result of our rebellion , which we still suffer today , which took place on Tisha B' Av , which is about to come . 
Moshe then refers to the incident of what happened to him with regards to water from the rock and how he and Aharon were not permitted to enter the Land . Moshe also refers to those who , after the incident of the Spies , still wanted to enter the Land and were told ' No , ' but did not listen and were smitten . 
Moshe then Speaks of us coming toward Canaan and what happened with us when we wanted to enter the areas of Eisav , Moav and Ammon . Moshe Speaks of the conquest of Sichon and Og ( who had an iron bed as nothing less could hold his heavy large tall weight ) and how the two and a half Tribes of Israel , Reuvein , Gad and half the Tribe of Manasseh , would take their territory on the other side of the Jordan . The Parsha ends with Moshe talking of the command to Yehoshuah Joshuah for what to do when HaShem Has him lead us over the Jordan and How HaShem Will Be With us And Wage War For us , Against our enemies and the nations of Canaan , when we enter into the Land . And so ends the Parsha .
The very fact that the Parsha is called " Devarim " - " Words " shows that these are The Words Of HaShem . Within the word " Devarim " is the word " Daber " - " which means " Speak , " for within this Book of the Torah and within every single word within the Torah , HaShem Is Reaching Out To us And " Speaking " To us . HaShem Says Very Clearly Here , In this Parsha that HaShem Speaks to Moshe and the Sedra Says clearly that these words are spoken " to all Israel , " which doesn't just mean for then , but for all time . HaShem Was Thus Speaking to the Jews then and , with the reference to that this is spoken to " all Israel , " this also means to every Jew - all Israel - all Jews , past , present and into the future , HaShem Is Still Speaking These Words To them . HaShem's Words Are Eternal , And Penetrate Through Time And Space , and nothing can stop Them and so , HaShem's Words Carry Through The centuries . Not only that , but HaShem Is Still Speaking To us today , tomorrow and in days still to come forever .
The word " Devorim " in this Sedra , is written as " HaDevarim , " for it is HaShem Who Speaks These Words To All Israel . If we would only stop our physical pursuits and sit in peace , we would hear HaShem's Melody of Words , Singing Sweet And Beautiful Words of Love , within us .
HaShem Speaks To us all the time . Sometimes when we are learning a Mishna , or a Gemarrah or one of the Taryag Mitzvos or a verse in Torah or Tanach , and we stop and wonder about understanding something we have just read , and we suddenly from within our soul , get an explanation , like a flash of Light Of Illumination , we can know that That Flash Of Light Of Illumination , Answering us , Is HaShem " Devarim " - " Speaking " To us And Giving us Clarity on that something , that we wondered about . HaShem May Have Given That Answer To us At The Moment when we asked or May Have Even Given us The Answer , right at the beginning of Creation , Or Maybe Given us The Answer At The Time we received The Ten Commandments On Har Sinai , For HaShem Knew , that we would at a later time in Creation , ask that very question , or wonder about that very thing . How Wonderful Is HaShem . HaShem Has Been With us All Along , And Has Carried us And Stood By us , Throughout Time , not just at the beginning of Creation , But Carries us From day To day And From generation To generation , Never Leaving us , But " Devarim " - " Speaking His Words To us Every Day And Giving us Those Words of Holy Torah And Comfort , Exactly When we need it And Exactly When we need to grow and climb higher in Holiness . HaShem Is Within Every Breath we take and Within Every Ray of Sunlight And Within Every Song of Creation that is all around us . 
All we need to do , is to listen and step away from the physical mundane things around us , and focus on what is True Long - Lasting value , and that Is HaShem's Torah True . HaShem's Pathway To Shamaim . HaShem's Waiting Love , That Surrounds us Always , wherever we are and wherever we go . 
So let us Truly open ourselves up to HaShem's Love , and Listen with Love , to HaShem's Beautiful " Devarim " - " Words and Speaking " Love .
I wish HaShem With Beautiful and Deepest Love , a Sweet and Peaceful Shabbos Kodesh with Endless Love and Endless Closeness and to all my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Sweet and Peaceful Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Mattos - Masei

Our Parsha this Shabbos is a Double Parsha of Mattos - Masei and the Haftorah is in Yirmeyahu Jeremiah 2 : 4 - 28 ; 3 : 4 ; 4 : 1 - 2 , which goes along with the theme of these Three Weeks of Mourning . 
In the last Parsha , we Spoke of the Offerings for the Yomim Tovim and in this Parsha of Mattos , we start to learn about Vows and Oaths . 
But what is the difference between a ' Neder ' - ' Vow , ' and a ' Sh'vuah ' - ' Oath ? ' 
Both deal with making an acknowledgement to do or not do something , but a ' Neder , ' deals more with an obligation one makes over an object , whereas a ' Sh'vuah , ' deals with an obligation one makes over oneself . The ' Vow ' - ' Neder , ' thus brings about a new condition for an object , whereas , a ' Sh'vuah ' - ' Oath ' brings about a condition for oneself . If , for example , one says that from now on , one will no longer partake of a particular drink , then one brings about a new condition and law upon oneself , for that particular drink and so , that particular drink now becomes forbidded and so takes on a new forbidden status and so , this is a ' Neder . ' 
But is for example , one has sworn that one will go and drink a certain drink , then one has placed an obligation upon oneself , and not the drink , and so , this is a ' Sh'vuah ' - ' Oath . 
The very fact that one can obligate oneself to a law upon oneself that never existed before one made it , is thus in actual fact , a way to make a Law that becomes binding upon oneself , that HaShem Never Commanded and in breaking it , one can be punished with lashes . No wonder HaShem Does not Like us to make Vows or Oaths . Only HaShem Is G-D , Who Makes Laws . As HaShem Says , to the one who made this prohibition upon himself , " he shall not desecrate his word ; according to whatever comes from his mouth shall he do . " Thus our word must be straight-forward and honest and we must uphold our word about things we say we will do , and not break it or take it lightly . As our Rabbonim say , better not to Vow , then vow and not do what we vowed . 
When one makes a Vow or Oath , that one was not sure of all the facts at the time of making it , Torah allows it to be annulled , in front of three learned sages or men of learned standing . This is why , HaShem Put the section of Vows and Oaths , in the Sedra called " Mattos , " - " Tribes , " as the heads of a Tribe who were men of high standing , could be approached to try annul the vow . But HaShem Takes the subject of Vows very seriously and Does Not Want us to Vow or make Oaths . Our Sages tell of the story of King Tzidkiyahu who was one of the captives to king Nebuchadnezzar of Bavel , where Tidkiyahu once walked in on Nebuchadnezzar breaking one of the Noachide Laws to Gentiles , where he was eating the limb of a living rabbit . Nebuchadnezzar , had Tzidkiyahu vow that he would not tell anyone , but after vowing , some time later , Tzidkiyahu went to the Sages of the time and had his Vow annulled and this subsequently came out and got to the ears of Nebuchadbezzar , who approached the Sages at the time and asked them to expound their Torah . When they got to the part of Vows and Oaths , he knew they had annulled Tzidkiyahu's Vow and so , he had them with their hair tied to horses tails and pulled from one city , Yerushalaim , to another , Lud , ( Midrash Says - Bamidbar R. M Weissman ) , till they died . Why did HaShem Allow this to take place ? Because HaShem Does Not Like Vows and Oaths Made . Why would this be so hurtful to HaShem ? The answer is very understandable . Only HaShem Can Make Laws and Obligations for us . It is not for us to add to or take away from the Laws HaShem Put on us . When we make Vows or Oaths , we are adding Laws to What HaShem Has Put On us , HaShem Knows All the Laws we need . We should not make out that we know better , by adding more obligations upon ourselves , then HaShem Already Has Done . This Is His Creation , not ours and we have no right to limit ourselves on things That HaShem Has Already Allowed us . 
Torah then explains the Case of if a woman makes a vow , and her Father , in his home hears it and he is silent about it , then her Vow stands upon her . But if her Father restrained her on the day of his hearing it , then it shall not stand , and HaShem Will Forgive her . If she is married , then her husband can revoke it if he heard it , but if he was silent , then her words stand . A Widow or Divorcee , who has no husband , her words stand . Thus , one should rather not make Vows or Oaths .
HaShem Then Commands Moshe that we are to take vengeance against the Midianites and thereafter , Moshe would be gather unto his people . What a Tzaddik was Moshe , who was able to put his own feelings aside , of knowing that after this battle , he would pass away , yet he still honoured HaShem With alacrity and did not delay , where he could have delayed this battle and lived longer , yet he did not , but organized straight away , for the battle , in honour of HaShem . Moshe took a thousand from each Tribe , only men of righteousness , who had not taken part in falling to the idol worship of baal , and he organized the army ready for battle . He put Pinchas in charge of the campaign , a most holy man , and gave him the Tzitz , the Head - Band , against Bilaam . They killed the five kings of Midian , including Cozbi's ( the woman who had come into the camp of Israel and gone into the tent of the head of Simeon , when they both committed an outrage in the Camp ) Father .
Pinchas met Bilaam , who had returned to Midian to fetch his money for helping Midian with his idea to catch our men with the incident of the Midianite women . His greed was his downfall , for he ended up facing Pinchas , and Bilaam flew into the air . Pinchas pointed the Holy Tzitz , at him and he fell down and Pinchas slew him .
The Children of Israel took the Midianite women captive , and their young children , cattle flocks and spoils . They brought it to Moshe and Elazar the Kohein and to the camp of the Children of Israel . Moshe was upset with them that they had let the women of Midyan live , who had led Israel to sin . The Midianite women , according to Rashi ( Midrash Says Bamidbar - Rabbi M Wiessman ) , were marched before the Tzitz , and all those who had known a man , their face took on a greenish glow , and they were slain . 
Elazar then was given the Kashering Laws of utensils and the spoils of battle were divided . In the battle against Midian , Reuvein and Gad had accumulated much cattle and they desired to rather take their portion of Land on the East side of the Jordan . Moshe was upset with them that they are doing a similar action to the spies , for they might put off the rest of Israel from wanting to enter the Land , and that they were shunning What Land , HaShem Wanted To Give them in Israel . But they assured Moshe that they would join in the battle at the fore-front of Battle , when Israel went in to conquer the Land , leaving their wives and children on the East of the Jordan . And no doubt , they did exactly that , in Yehoshuah's time , leaving their families for 14 years during the conquest . Though Moshe felt they should take What HaShem Wants to Give them in the Holy Land . How interesting that in later years ,when Israel was conquered , their land , was the first to be attacked . Manasseh had not asked to be there , but afterwards volunteered for half their Tribe to also settle on the East Bank of the Jordan . This is where the Sedra of Mattos ends .
The Sedra of Masei , starts off telling of the " Masei " - "Journeys " of the Children of Israel from Egypt to Israel . The word " Masei " means " Journeys . " Why would HaShem Put the " Journeys " of our people in the Torah ? This was to show a Great Love That HaShem Has For us , for HaShem Had Moshe write down every place we went through , just like if a Father and son had traveled together , to the Father , every place they spent together in closeness . Also , these places were mostly uninhabitable , and so , HaShem Was Showing us That He Was With us all along , Watching Over us And Protecting us , for had it not been for HaShem Helping us and Watching over us , we would never have survived . Each place we traveled through had something Spiritual about it that would test us in different ways . What people do in a place , gives that place a certain essence of that thing that has been done there . So each place brought its own test on us . It shows how careful , we in our own lives have to behave , as we have the power as people , to put into our physical surroundings , a positive or negative holy or unholy , honest or thieving , peaceful or aggressive , surroundings , depending on how we as people behave there , and this essence we leave in a place , can be a Yetzer Horah or Yetzer Tov to those that live in that place . 
Seeing as we were about to enter into the Land of Israel , HaShem Then in His Torah , Defines the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael . HaShem Teaches of the " Ir Miklas , " - the " City of Refuge , " where an inadvertant unintentional Murderer could flee to and he would have to stay there till the death of the Kohein Gadol . No purposeful Murderer could take refuge in this place . There were to be six cities of Refuge . Three on one side and three on the other side of the Jordan . The Cities of Refuge were to be within the 48 cities of the Holy Levites , Whose Cities were among the other Tribe's Territories . How different is HaShem's Laws , from the laws of man , where if a man commits an unintentional murder , he is sent off to prison with other undesirables and cannot grow Spiritually , but in the case of Jewish Law , this man is put in a place among holy people , where he can grow Spiritually and attain higher Spiritual levels to lead him to the right and correct path . Should he have been under a Rabbi , when he committed his act , then that Rabbi and family also goes into the City of Refuge , for it showed something lacking in the teacher , if the student was not holy enough , and ended in such a negative action . If the unintentional murderer would ever leave this City , before he is allowed to , then the " Goel Hadam , " the " Avenger of the blood , " a close relative of the victim has the right to slay him . Our Rabbis teach that if there is no close relative , then the court appoints one in this role as the " Goel Hadam . " 
For an intentional murderer , he is to be killed , for we must remove the evil from our midst . 
The Parsha ends with the Tribal Marriages that each Tribe is to marry within their own Tribe , so that Tribal Lands , remain within the Tribes and refers to the daughters of Tzelafchad of the Tribe of Joseph , who married within their Tribe . The Sedra and the Book of Bamidbar Numbers ends with the words , " These are the Commandments and the Ordinances That HaShem Commanded Through Moshe to the Children of Israel in the Plains of Moav , at the Jordan , by Jericho . " ' Chazak Chazak Venitchazeik , ' - " Be strong Be strong and may we be strengthened . ' So ends the Sedras and so ends the Book of Bamidbar Numbers , the Fourth Book of the Torah .
In the Book of Devarim Deuteronomy 4 : 2 in the Torah it states very clearly , " You shall not add to the word that I Command you , nor shall you subtract from it , to observe the Commandments of HaShem , your G-D , that I Command you . " HaShem's Torah Is Complete . It is Peace . The Hebrew word for ' Complete , ' is ' Shaleim , ' and the Hebrew word for ' Peace , ' is ' Shalom . ' So the Complete Torah , is Complete Peace and the Path to Peace . Torah is totally Perfect in it's entirety . It does not need anything added to it or subtracted from it . It is Perfect Just as It Is . HaShem Made It , and so It Is Perfect as a Path to get us to total Holiness .We are not to add to Torah in any way or subtract from Torah in any way . It is Perfect and Peaceful and Complete . When we make our own Vows and Oaths and laws upon ourselves that HaShem Never Commanded us to do , we are adding to The Torah . This is so wrong . HaShem Has Permitted us to partake of certain things and when we limit ourselves of these things , we are adding more than HaShem Commanded or Forbade . We are saying then to HaShem , that we think we know better and so , we think w can go an make up our own controls on ourselves . HaShem Is Supreme and so are His Laws . Who are we to think better . We are minute in His Universe or Universes and we know so little . HaShem's Laws are the only Guideline we will ever need to get us to Him . Our own laws won't do that at all . The same goes with anyone thinking they can add more books to the Tanach Bible . This is the same Sin , for HaShem Tells us Clearly , that we are not to add to His Torah . Doing so , is Avodah Zorah Idol Worship , and this is HaShem's Own Law . There is one Torah and one Tanach , and no one , is allowed to add to it in any way . It is complete . Any additions made to it , are not from G-D , but from man , for G-D Said " NO ADDING To IT . "Any new concept , that goes against what is written in HaShem's Torah , is a total forbidden Sin and a breaking of HaShem's Commandment of Devarim 4 : 2 . The same goes for anyone who wants to remove any Law . HaShem Said Clearly that we must not subtract from it . To even say that one Law of HaShem should Chas Ve Shalom not be kept anymore in the strictness Commanded By HaShem to Moshe and us , is breaking HaShem's Commandments , as it is subtracting from HaShem's Laws , which HaShem in Devarim 4 : 2 Commanded us not to do . We are to keep the Torah as strictly today as we did in Moshe's time , for to lessen on even a single Law , is to break this Commandment of G-D . G-D's Laws are for us and our children forever and will not be abolished , as it clearly states in Devarim Deuteronomy 12 : 28 ; 29 : 28 and over and over again , HaShem Tells us that His Laws are forever and eternal - Bereishis Genesis 17 : 13 - 13 about circumcision ; Pesach - Shemos Exodus 12 : 14 - 17 ; Shabbos Shemos Exodus 31 : 12 - 17 ; Tzitzis Bamidbar Numbers 15 : 38 ; Yom Kippur Vayikra Leviticus 23 : 27 - 31 ; Succos Vayikra Leviticus 23 : 41 and many other examples of how HaShem's Laws are forever and do not change and are to be kept forever . Dovid Hamelech in Tehillim , wrote Psalm 119 , which is a most beautiful rendition to HaShem's Torah And Laws and how beautiful they are and how they are to be kept forever , never changing .
So we are never to change HaShem's Laws , add to them or subtract from them in any way . They are totally Perfect and Complete as they are . We are to avoid making Vows and Oaths and any obligation we want to put on ourselves , tbat HaShem Did Not Command . HaShem Traveled With us at every point in our Journey fron Mitzrayim to Eretz Yisroel , and Still Travels With us every step we take now . HaShem Is Always With us , and we must always be with Him too , in keeping every Torah Commandment That HaShem Commanded In His Torah , just as HaShem Commanded Moshe . HaShem Gave us a Complete Torah , so that we might be ' Complete ' for we can be Complete and perfect if we keep HaShem's Torah . HaShem Said to Avraham , " I Am El Shaddai ; walk before Me and be perfect . I Will Set My Covenant ( My Torah ) between Me and you , and I will increase you most exceedingly . " How clear that is , that we are to keep HaShem's Torah as HaShem Gave it , Forever and Eternally and walk with HaShem in Completeness , and Peace and Perfecion , always and eternally close to HaShem Ha Kdosh Baruch Hu , HaShem The Holy One Blessed Be He .
I wish HaShem with Sweetest Love , A Most Special And Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh With Love , and to all my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Most Special and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Pinchas

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Pinchas . This Parsha continues on from the previous Parsha where Pinchas had courageously gone into the Camp of Simeon and pierced both the leader of Simeon Zimri ben Salu and the Midianitess Cozbi daughter of Zur , who was " the head of the peoples of a father's house in Midian , " when the Midianite females were put to entice our men to idol worship and Zimri had brought this Midianitess woman past Moshe's Tent , and taken her into his own tent to be with her . HaShem's Anger had flared up at the actions of those who had fallen for this deceitful guise to catch our men , and HaShem Had Sent a Plague . When Pinchas courageously went into the Camp of Simeon , putting his own life at risk , and pierced both Zimri and Cozbi , in honor of HaShem and Moshe , his teacher , the Plague stopped . Thus Pinchas had saved Israel , from HaShem's Wrath . In fact this Cozbi , the Midianitess , was actually sent to try and entice Moshe , but he would not have anything to do with this woman at all , and so , did Zimri , come and take Cozbi , himself and bring her into his tent . 
Pinchas was the son of Elazar , Aharon's son and thus Pinchas was Aharon's holy grandson .Pinchas had stopped the plague that had already killed 24 000 . How interesting that this is the same amount of people that died , in the time of Rabbi Akiva's followers , that were his students , that we remember during the Omer Period , between Pesach and Rosh Chodesh Sivan . But did the people thank Pinchas , for saving them ? No , They complained and accused him of committing murder , in killing the leader of Simeon . In fact , they even said that Pinchas is , ' the grandson of one who fattened calves sacrificed to idols . ' Where did they so wrongly get such a terrible insult from ? Pinchas' Father , as I said , was Elazar , the son of Aharon , and Elazar , had , like Moshe , married one of Yisro's daughters . Yisro , was , a former priest of Midian , and he had also been known as " Putiel , " where ' Puti-eil ' , means ' one fattened for a god . ' And this is where the people got their horrible insult from , but Pinchas was a very Holy man . How interesting , that it was Pinchas , whose Mother was originally a Midianite , was the one to stand totally against their unholy harlotry and stop the plague . This is true Holiness . 
This is where our Parsha comes in . Because Pinchas had turned back HaShem's Wrath on the Children of Israel , when he had zealously avenged HaShem among the sinners and so , HaShem Did Not Consume the Children of Israel . So HaShem Said to Moshe , That HaShem Gives Pinchas , HaShem's Covenant Of Peace , for Pinchas had made Peace between HaShem and Israel , and so , would Pinchas Be Forever Blessed , as the Harbinger Of Peace , and this meant too , that Pinchas would be Blessed with a very long life , and would return as the very Holy Navi Prophet Eliyahu Elijah , who also brought Peace between HaShem and the people , when he stood on Mount Carmel , and had the people choose to either follow HaShem Faithfully , or take the wrong path , and go down , with the followers of the idol baal , the same baal , that the Midianites in the time of Pinchas , had been enticed to prostate themselves to . Elijah , had stood up for HaShem , when the followers of baal , were taught a lesson . This same soul of Pinchas Elijah will be the Harbinger of Moshiach , and a time of total peace in Moshiach's time , where he will return at the End of Days ( as it says in Malachi 3: 23 ) and announce Moshiach's True Coming , and again make peace in families , by turning " the heart of the Fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their Fathers . " I also find it interesting that in a Chumash , there is a sign above the Yud in Pinchas' name in this Sedra Bamidbar Numbers 25 : 10 and a sign above the Vav in the word " Shalom " in this Parsha in Bamidbar Numbers 25 : 12 , and if you add the Yud and Vav Gematrically , it comes to 10 + 6 = 16 and 1 + 6 = 7 , the number of Moshiach , where Eliyahu Ha Navi , will come before Moshiach as the Harbinger of Moshiach , who will usher in Eternal Peace , where that word " Shalom " in this discussion means " Peace " with Pinchas ' who will be Eliyahu Ha Navi , who is the Prophet who ushers in and so annoints Moshiach , where these two words here , are connected by the same sign above them . Pinchas was one of the two spies , with Kaleiv , whom Yehoshuah Joshuah sent into Yericho Jericho , to spy out , and they were both saved by Rachav . Pinchas was still alive well into the time of the Children of Israel living in Israel , and HaShem Gave Pinchas , His Blessing Of Protection . 
Because of the actions of Midian , who not only tried to attack us physically , but went even further and tried to separate us from HaShem Spiritually , by getting us to sin , so did HaShem Instruct Moshe that we were to " Harrass and Smite " them , which meant a continuing mind set against them and to destroy them in war . It was in this war , that Bilaam , who had started the idea of the Midianite women trying to entice us away from HaShem , was killed , by Pinchas himself . HaShem Then Asks for a census to be taken . This is just before we are coming to the Land , and thus , the main purpose of this census , was for distribution by lot of the Land . The Levites again were counted separately . 
It was after this census to do with the Land , that the daughters of Tzelafchad , from the family Tribe of Manasseh came before Moshe . Apportioning of Tribal Land , was to go to the sons , and here , Tzelafchad , was no longer , for he had passed away , in his own Aveirah ( The Rabbonim say that this was either as one of the people who had still wanted to go into the land after the incident of the Spies , that were killed , when Moshe warned them not to go , or the Rabbis feel , he could have been the one gathering on the Shabbos ) . Tzelafchad had no sons , but only five daughters Machlah , Noah , Hoglah , Milkah and Tirtzah . They had remained unmarried , for they were very holy , and chose to wait , even till they were in their 40's , rather than to just marry anyone , for they were very holy and put their own needs aside , to rather await holy partners and offspring . They first approached the leader of tens to ask if they could inherit , for their were no sons , but the leader of tens could not answer . They had to bring the same query to the leader of fifties and then the leader of hundreds and then thousands , right up the line , but none could give an answer , and so , the matter finally came before Moshe himself , for they didn't want their Father's inheritance to be lost within their Tribe . Some of our Rabbis feel that Moshe knew the answer to this , but humbly bowed to HaShem's Wisdom . Other Rabbinical opinions say that because Moshe had once said , " all difficult matters bring to me , " he was made to forget the answer to this and so , he approached HaShem . This is the same with Dovid Ha Melech , who also was made to forget something , in fact two points , and had to approach Achitophel , when David incorrectly put the Ark on a humble wagon , from which the incident took place where it was caught by Uzzah . Also , where David incorrectly counted the men . So , here Moshe brought the claim of Tzelafchad's daughters before HaShem . HaShem Merciful , Fair In Judgement and Beautiful , Said that the daughters of Tzelafchad speak properly , and that where there are no sons , then the inheritance will pass over to his daughters . Tzelafchad's daughters married holy men from their own Tribe and so was their inheritance kept within their Tribe .This showed , that HaShem Had Forgiven Tzelafchad , for his family line was still allowed a portion of the Land and so , Moshe thought that maybe , HaShem Might Forgive Moshe too and Allow him entry into the Land , and so did Moshe ask again if he could enter the Land , but HaShem Said No , and so , asked Moshe to go up the Mountain of Abarim and see the Land , That HaShem Would Give To the Children of Israel , and so , Moshe's reason for seeing the Land from afar , was so that he would put his holy Blessings upon it . 
Holy Moshe , again put himself second , and HaShem and our people first , when he straight away asked for a holy successor , that would be a ' Man ' in other words holy and worthy in holiness , one who could be called a Mensch , a Man of honor , totally following HaShem . Moshe Asked for a man who would " go out before them and come in before them , " a leader like him , who would not just sit at home and let his troops go off to war , but one like Moshe , who would also go into battle with his people , like Dovid Ha Melech did . Also , a man that " goes out before them and comes in before them " is one who speaks for them to HaShem , standing before them to gain compassion for them and forgiveness if need be , for them . One who can stand before them going out and coming in before them , is as one who can stand before them as a shining example of Torah Mitzvos , to teach and lead them by Holy Example , one who emulates HaShem , that can stand before HaShem for them , as a most holy man . And so , HaShem Told Moshe to take Yehoshuah ," a man in whom there is Spirit , " which means a man who has earned the keeping of HaShem's Spirit Within him . HaShem Asked Moshe to stand Yehoshuah ( a man who every morning and evening , would arrange the benches for studying and praying , the whole of the forty years in the Wilderness ) before Elazar the Kohein ( Aharon's son ) and before the entire assembly , and command him before their eyes , placing some of his ( Moshe's ) majesty upon him , which was for Moshe , who was like a candle that doesn't lose any of it's light , by lighting other candles , but only increases the light surrounding things , not a decreasing of his light , Given By HaShem , For Moshe's Humble Holy Actions . But it will be Elazar the Kohein , whom he shall stand before , in inquiring when needed and allowed ,of the judgement of the Urim before HaShem , where , at his word shall they come in , he and all the Children of Israel . HaShem Had Only Asked Moshe to place one hand upon Yehoshuah , but Moshe in total selflessness , that he would be giving up his own leadership , still selflessly and in an act of total selfless giving , placed both his hands on Yehoshuah " and commanded him , as HaShem Had Spoken Through Moshe . "
HaShem then Speaks to Moshe about the Tamid Daily Offerings to be made two a day , one in the morning and one in the afternoon , which today , is our Davening times . HaShem Also Discusses the Mussaf Additional Offerings for the Shabbos Mussaf , and the offerings and libations of Rosh Chodesh New Moon , Pesach , Shavuos , Rosh HaShanah , Yom Kippur , Succos and Shemini Atzeres . Torah also Teaches of the Laws within these Festivals . Shemini Atzeres is looked upon as an extra festival , for us Jews alone , to stay as a special guest one more day with HaShem , where HaShem Likes us to stay close and not leave , where , during the previous days of Succos , we made offerings for the 70 nations , where each day of Succos we offered a certain amount of bulls , which , at the end of the Succos Festival ends up totalling 70 , the exact amount of Nations in the World , thus the nations that killed us through the centuries , were actually hurting themselves , where they were stopping us making offerings on their behalf . We also notice that during the time of Succos , the amount of lambs offered daily never dimished , which represented us as lambs to the World's treatment of us , showing that no matter what the nations do to us , we will survive , unlike the amount of bulls offered which diminished every day of the Festival , during the days of the Succos Festival , which represented the other nations , showing that they can diminish but we never will . 
The Parsha ends With HaShem Saying In His Torah , " Moshe said to the Children of Israel according to everything that HaShem Had Commanded Moshe . " Seeing as this year like most years , this Parsha of Pinchas comes after the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz , the Haftorah we read is for Parsha Mattos , which is one of the three Haftorahs read about prophecies relating to the destruction of the Holy Temple , which occurs at the end of these three weeks , on Tisha B'Av , the Ninth Of Av , the three weeks of mourning , starting on the 17th of Tammuz . This Haftorah is in Yirmiyah Jeremiah 1 :1 - 2 : 3 . 
In this Parsha of Pinchas in the Torah , we note that within Pinchas' name , the letter Yud is made smaller than the other letters around it . This can show , that HaShem , Whose Name can also start with a Yud , was so taken by Pinchas' action on His Behalf , that Even HaShem Felt Humbled by this beautiful zealous action of faithfulness and love . And so , HaShem Made the letter of His Name smaller , than the other letters around it , in the name of Pinchas . Also , The Letter Yud of HaShem's Name , HaShem Thus Highlights within Pinchas's name , by making it another size compared to the letters around it , to show , that Pinchas Truly took HaShem and HaShem's Will , within him , so wherever Pinchas would go , he would carry HaShem within and also that whatever action Pinchas would make , would be for the love of HaShem and for the honor of HaShem . The true actions of a very holy Tzaddik . 
With the Yud smaller , it almost makes it look like the word ' Panchas , ' where that can be made into two words ' Paneh ' and ' Chasah , ' where ' Paneh ' - means ' Face ' and can refer to the Face Of HaShem , and the word ' Chasah ' ( Zilberman dictionary ) means ' Trust or Shelter , ' thus showing that Pinchas' action , showed total Trust in HaShem and taking total Shelter in HaShem , and thus standing in holiness and earning the right to stand before HaShem's Face . Such an action for HaShem's Honor , is truly one of love and holiness .
When we put our own feelings aside and do as HaShem Wills us to , we fulfill Torah and HaShem's Wish For Creation . Such an Action , of Trust in HaShem , brings us closer to HaShem . This Closeness , to HaShem , Brings us into the ' Shelter ' of His Wings and Ever Loving Care , and HaShem Shows us His Love and Turns His ' Face ' To us in Love . This is exactly what happened with Pinchas , who was Blessed By HaShem and Pinchas was made a Kohein . The Kohanim are constantly doing HaShem's Service and bringing Peace , via the Offerings , between HaShem and us . The Kohanim were brought into the Priesthood , from Aharon and his sons , but here , Pinchas earned the right of being a Priest , by his very action , that made peace , between HaShem and us . Pinchas , on his own , stood up , amid the congregation , and took it upon himself , to do the right thing . Such an action is certainly one of the Utmost Holiness . This is how we should all be , even if we are the only ones who , among others doing wrong , stand up and do the right thing . This is similar to the action of Noach , who alone , stood against an entire World of wrong , and faithfully followed HaShem . There is still so much wrong that people do , in the World . We must , even if we stand alone , as Hillel said in Pirkei Avos , ' where there are no leaders , strive to be a leader , ' be like Pinchas , and work for HaShem , in correcting the World , leading It to Holiness . As Hillel said , we must work to bring people closer to The Torah . That is what a Kohein does , for they were our teachers of Torah . This is what Pinchas did , and so , in standing up and correcting what is wrong that is around us ,even if we are standing alone , this is what we must do . We are all Agents and Malachim Messengers of HaShem . We all have this obligation to correct the World . If we see something we don't like , then we must stand up and correct it . If we see others not following HaShem's Holy Torah , then we must stand up and correct it . If we don't feel we know enough to do that , then we are obligated to learn all we can in Torah , so we can be leaders among others who are drifting aimlessly in the wind with no direction , helping them find the Way to HaShem . 
It does not matter what some others might think of you . What matters most , is What HaShem Thinks Of you . That is what is most important . That is what counts . So go out there , under the Shelter of HaShem , in Trust of HaShem , and make this World a Better Holier Place , where Only HaShem Is Followed , and where Only HaShem's Laws Are Followed . That is your task . That is your path . That is your way for others . That is who you were Made To be . That is who is Pinchas . That is true Peace and Commitment tp HaShem . That is True Faith And Love in HaShem Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu HaShem The Holy One Blessed Be He . 
I wish HaShem With Deepest Love , A Most Special Shabbos Kodesh With All my Love , and to all my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Most Special Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Chukas and Balak

This Shabbos is a double Parsha of Chukas and Balak . The Haftorah of this Shabbos is Micha 5 : 6 - 6 : 8 and refers to Bilaam , in the passage , for Bilaam features in the Sedra of Balak . 
In the previous Parsha , it ended discussing the Kohanim and Levites and their Gifts and Offerings and this Parsha of Chukas continues with discussing one of the offerings done for purification . This offering is the Parah Aduma The Red Heifer . 
This Law is referred to as a " Chok " a Law that is beyond our understanding of why we do it . In fact , every Law of the Torah That HaShem Asks us to do , has a deeper meaning that is totally beyond our understanding , so every Law Of HaShem , has a deeper " Chok " to it . 
There are four places where , in Torah , HaShem Refers to a Law as a " Chok , " and these are for one , the Law of Yibum , where a man cannot marry his brother's wife , yet if his brother dies childless , he is to perform Levirate marriage with her , and our Rabbis tell us this is to bring up offspring for his brother . The next place that the word " Chok " appears , is to do with Shaatnez , where wool and linen are not to be mixed , but in the holy garment of Tzitzis , there can be a woolen string thread to a linen garment . Our Rabbis tell us that this possibly goes back to Kayin and Hevel , where one brother , Hevel ( Abel ) , brought as an offering , from the firstlings of his flocks ( in reference to the wool in Shaatnez ) , and the other brother Kayin ( Cain ) brought of the " fruit of the ground " ( in reference to the linen in Shaatnez ) and so , we don't mix the two , like we don't mix the negative actions of Kayin with the holy positive actions of Hevel , unless , they come together in Holiness , like in a holy garment of Tzitzis . Another time that the word " Chok " appears , is to do with the Law of the goat that is sent to Azazel , where it brings atonement to all of Israel , but makes the one who took it away , unclean . And the next time that the word " Chok " appears in Torah , is here , in this Parsha of " Chukas , " where the Red Heifer is discussed . This Law of the Parah Adumah , purifies , yet contaminates all those involved in it's a preparation .
The Rabbis have tried to explain this " Chok , " but it's true meaning remains hidden - why it purifies , yet contaminates those involved in preparing it . Shlomo Hamelech , whom HaShem Gave wisdom beyond other men , who knew the intricacies of Astronomy , The Sciences beyond his time , who was on a level to communicate with Angels and mazikin ( demons ) , who could understand the talk of animals and birds to each other , who , could explain any Torah Law with 3000 parables and give 1005 reasons as explanation for any Law ( Gemorrah Eiruvin ) ( Midrash Says Bamidbar - Rabbi M Weissman ) , and understood the deep meaning of every Chok , for there were others in Torah , had to admit , that the Law Chok of the Parah Adumah eludes him , when he said in Koheles 7 : 23 , " All this I tested with wisdom ; I said ' I would become wise. , ' but it ( the Law of the Parah Aduma ) is far from me . "
The Law Chok of the Parah Adumah was that a completely red heifer was to be taken , that had to be completely red , where even two hairs that were not red would disqualify it , and that was without blemish , upon which no yoke had ever been put on it ,( which could be tested that this was the case , by checking the hairs on the back of its neck and also if its eyes would squint sideways ) , and this heifer was to be given to Elazar the Kohen , son of Aharon , who was to take it outside the camp , and someone was to Shecht it , in his presence and then he was to take some of the blood with his forefinger and sprinkle it toward the Tent of Meeting seven times . The heifer was then to be burnt before his eyes . The Kohein was to then take cedarwood , hyssop and crimson thread and to throw it into the burning heifer . The Kohen and the one who burns it and the one who collects the ashes were then to immerse their clothing and themselves in water and then the Kohein could enter the camp and the Kohein and the one who burns it and the one who collects the ashes , would remain contaminated till evening . A pure man was to take the ashes of it and place it outside the camp in a pure place . The ashes and water became the Water of Sprinkling . This was used to purify from those contaminated by a human corpse .
Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory , surmise that the Parah Aduma , is connected in some way to the Sin of the Chait Ha ' Eigel the Golden Calf , for here a heifer is used , as a representative of the Mother that atones for her son's sin , that was the calf in the sin of the Golden Calf . The fact that it had to be totally red , was like the blood that was shed when the people made the Golden Calf . It had to be pure , like the Levites who were pure , judged the people and the blood also refers to the shedding of the sinners by the Levites , who killed the perpetrators at the time of the Golden Calf . The cedarwood , hyssop and crimson thread are signs of humility that we are to humble ourselves before G-D and the fact that the heifer had to be burnt and turned into ashes , like the Golden Calf that was burnt and ground into fine powder and sprinkled over water , like the Heifer's Water of Sprinkling . The fact that Elazar and not Aharon had to take part in it , could be a hint to the fact that Aharon had a part in the Chait Ha Eigel and so , his son had to do it . But again , we really don't know the true deep reason for it . Only HaShem Does . I put forward that possibly one of the reasons for " Chukkim , " Laws that we need to follow , without being given a reason , could also possibly have something to do with the fact that HaShem Wants us also to keep Laws , Just Because HaShem Says So And Commands us . That is a Good Enough Reason , for the Lpve Of HaShem . To Love HaShem , Means doing whatever HaShem Tells us . That is a good enough reason . The test then , is in our love for HaShem , that must be above our wants and needs for ourselves . Just a thought . I also , as my opinion ,put forward , that the idea of the Red Heifer Purifying and making impire the one who handles it , like the animal sent to azazel , can also be like the reason we are in this World , that contains impurity , so that we can rise above that impurity , and be holy and pure , by passing HaShem's Tests , that we are Given , in this World . Again , just my thought . Only At the End Of Days , will Moshiach reveal the reasons for the Parah Adumah , Commanded By HaShem .
The Children of Israel , arrived at the Wilderness of Zin and settled in Kadesh and it was here sadly that Miriam , the sister of Aharon and Moshe , passed away . In honor of Miriam , The Rock Well of Miriam , traveled throughout our travels in the Wilderness , thoughout the journeys of the Children of Israel . The Manna fell in honor of Moshe and the Clouds of Glory was in honor of Aharon . So when Miriam , who had saved Moshe by watching over him as a baby in the Nile for 15 minutes , before Basya came and drew him from the water , and also Miriam and her Mother Yocheved , helping to ensure that Pharaoh didn't get to hear of the birth of Jewish baby boys , for they were the two Midwives , that defied Pharoah's order , so was Miriam honored with the Well of Miriam that , with HaShem's Creation , gave all our Tribes water throughout our travels then in Bamidbar , where the leaders of each Tribe would come with their staffs and draw a line in the sand from the Well of Miriam ( a Rock ) , to their Tribe and so would a little river of water form from HaShem to bring water to their Tribes . So once Miriam passed away , The Well of Miriam , ceased to flow and the people got agitated . The Eirev Rav said that Moshe must bring water from a rock that they choose and the people complained for lack of water , and HaShem Understood their agitation and did not want Moshe to get angry . Moshe and Aharon went from the people's presence and fell on their faces in front of the Tent of Meeting and HaShem's Glory Appeared to them and HaShem Instructed Moshe to take his staff and gather the assembly together. , both Moshe and Aharon and speak to the rock before their eyes and so would water flow . Moshe and Aharon gathered the people together before the rock , and said , " Listen now , O rebels , shall we bring forth water from this rock , " in reference to the other rock that the Eirev Rav wanted to choose , to test Moshe , but Moshe said he would only bring water from the Rock HaShem Chose , and so , in anger , Moshe raised his arm and struck the rock with his staff not just once , but twice and HaShem Still Brought water From the rock .
HaShem Had Asked Moshe to speak to and not hit the rock in anger , but Moshe had disobeyed and Aharon , had kept silent , even after the first blow and thus , Moshe had not Sanctified HaShem before Israel , but acted in anger . And so , both Moshe and Aharon were told that they would pass away and not bring the Children of Israel into Canaan . With Moshe and Aharon's holiness , the holier one is , the greater the punishment . HaShem refers to their Aveirah , as not believing in Him . We know that they did believe in HaShem , so why , Would HaShem Say This . Again , my own thought on this , but when Moshe said to the people , " shall we bring forth water from this rock , " one of HaShem's Names is the word " Rock , " so in essence , it was like saying , ' shall we bring forth water from HaShem , ' as if to say that he never at that moment had faith in HaShem , that even if it was the wrong rock , HaShem Still Would do it . Rabbi Chananel makes a good point , that in what Moshe said and Aharon never challenged , Moshe should not have said , " Shall we bring forth water , " for it was from HaShem , that the Miracle Comes and not from them . Moshe also never obeyed HaShem's Command to speak o and not hit the rock , as if HaShem lacks power Chas Ve Shalom , to bring about a Miracle peacefully , but as if He Needs Force . Thus Moshe and Aharon never sanctified HaShem to the congregation , and so were punished . We also know that they may have committed another Aveirah earlier , with Aharon and the Golden Calf and with Moshe , the bringing along of the Eirev Rav , the mixed multitiude of others that were not of the Children of Israel , even though HaShem Had Advised Moshe not to bring them , and these people were a constant source of trouble , starting the Golden Calf and this complaint about the water , and so , this last disobeyance was their final judgement , that HaShem had held out on , for Moshe and Aharon , at the waters of Massah U 'Merivah - the waters of strife . In truth , this Judgement of HaShem , even as our Sages say , is also like a Chok , something we don't fully understand and something that we need to accept , as we must always do , with HaShem's Judgement . Interesting how it ended up in this Parsha of " Chukas . "
The holiness and faithfulness of Moshe knows no bounds , for even after this Judgement on him , Moshe still worries for HaShem and his people , in obeying HaShem with regards going through Edomite and Amorite land as HaShem Commands Moshe to deal with these two nations . Moshe requests that we be permitted passage through our old enemy Edom's land , but Edom refuses us entry . Edom goes out with his army and because this Nation's time is not yet up to be defeated , we go around them . 
We arrive near Mount Hor , and it is here that HaShem Gives Moshe the sad news that Aharon is to pass away . And so , the next morning , Moshe takes Aharon up the Mountain with Aharon's son Elazar , who is then , dressed in the vestments of Aharon , and so Moshe and Elazar , take Aharon into a prepared cave where Aharon is to lie down and pass away with a Divine Kiss of HaShem , in Heavenly Priestly Garments . When Moshe and Elazar come down to the people , they suspect that Moshe has caused Judgement on Aharon and they complain and disbelieve him , and so , HaShem Brings upon them , Amalek , who dresses in Canaanite garb , so that if Moshe prays against Amalek , they thought their spiritual real selves would be hidden , but HaShem Sees To their being beaten anyway , by His People Israel . Of course , since Aharon had passed away , so did HaShem's Clouds of Glory , that had come in Aharon's honor , also leave . Again the people complained about the Manna , and HaShem sent fiery serpents to bite the people . Moshe , on Command by HaShem , made a Copper Serpent on a pole , ( copper , because it's Hebrew word ' Nechoshes ' is the same as the Hebrew word for ' Snake ' Nachash , ' and all that looked at it were healed . It wasn't the serpent that healed them , but the fact that the people , looked upward toward HaShem . This copper snake lasted generations and was eventually destroyed much later in Jewish history by King Chizkiyahu , where by then it had been called ' nechushtan , ' for people had started to worship it as an idol . 
The people journeyed on and HaShem Performed For them a Miracle , where they were not even aware of how the Emorim had planned to hide in caves on either side of a canal on high mountain peaks and crags and had planned to destroy us by dropping on us large boulders as we went through . HaShem Caused the two sides to bang together , thus killing those above that were waiting for us . And so , by Arnon brook , the people , after seeing the blood in the water and the enemy articles suddenly come dropping down , realized the great Miracle of Protection , HaShem Had Performed for us there , and so , they sang a song of thanks to HaShem . So often does HaShem Protect us without us even knowing it , and we think we had a clear passage , for HaShem Always Watches Over us . 
Our people came to the border of Sichon's land and Sichon did not permit us entry and so , HaShem Commanded that Sichon king of the Amorite and his people be destroyed and so Moshe killed the Giant Sichon and the Children of Israel defeated the people . The people turned and ascended by way of the Bashan and our old enemy Og , who was the one who warned Avraham about Lot's Capture , so Og could pull Avraham into the battle and hopefully get him killed , so that Og could take Sarah , went out against us to battle with his entire people at Edrei . Og was the direct son of the fallen angel Shemchazael , who was a fallen angel in Noach's time who had procreated with human women . Og had also sought Bilaam out , grandson of Lavan ( brother of Rivka , who married Yitzchak , and Father of Rachel and Leah and Bilhah and Zilpah , who married Yaakov ) , so as to get Bilaam to curse Og's enemies before the Children of Israel had even gotten there and so had Og been so successful , or so he believed , but it was Actually HaShem Who Had Caused events to go as they do , for Israel's sake . HaShem Assured Moshe that Og would fall just as Sichon had , and so did he , and his sons and all his people . The Children of Israel journeyed and encamped in the plains of Moav on the banks of Jordan opposite Jericho . So ends this Parsha .
The next Sedra of Balak continues from here , just after the protectors of Moav , Og and Sichon were destroyed and so , the people feared Israel and thus called upon Balak , who wasn't even a Moabite to lead them to victory . Balak had once had a prophecy from Bilaam , that he would come to power , ansd so , when the time came , Balak called upon Bilaam so as to come and curse the Jewish people . Balak knew we couldn't be beaten physically as we had HaShem's Assistance and knew that our power , as Bilaam told him , was in our words to pray to HaShem , and so Balak decided that words of curse was the attack he needed and so he , Balak , who was also a sorcerer who knew the place to curse from , needed Bilaam , who was well known for knowing the time of HaShem's Wrath , so that Billaam could curse people , so both came together to try and destroy us . Balak was the son of Tzippor , which has a deeper meaning , for the Hebrew word ' Tzippor , ' means ' Bird ' as Balak used to use dead birds to fortune tell . One day , his dead bird that he had worked with by certain rituals that was able to fly , came flying back with fire chasing its tail , and instead of speaking future events , died . Balak then knew , an enemy that would beat him ,was on the way and so he and Bilaam , who had an old hatred for Israel , from Bilaam's grandfather Lavan , got together . 
Balak , sent emmissaries a few times to Bilaam , to come and curse the Jewish people , but each time , G-D Told Bilaam , not to go . In fact , the emmissaries would remain each time , and Bilaam used them for debauched purposes . Eventually , Bilaam was persuaded to go , but said he would only , say what HaShem Says . Bilaam , as the prophet to the nations , for the nations were also given their opportunity to have a prophet , so they couldn't say that we had Moshe and they never had anyone , hoped to go to Balak , hoping that HaShem May Change His Mind and let Bilaam curse us , but HaShem Changed the time of Day 0f His Anger , so that when Bilaam kept trying to curse. Us , HaShem would change the hour of the day that HaShem Would Sit In Judgement , and so , even though Bilaam knew the time of HaShem's Judgement of the World , HaShem Changed the time , for the sake of Israel . 
On the way , HaShem Tried to remind Bilaam of the agreement between his family from Lavan and Yaakov's family and descendants , that we both had a standing agreement not to come near each other past a certain pillar , made in Yaakov and Lavan's time , but Bilaam ignored this agreement , even when his talking donkey , whom Bilaam cruelly kept as a partner , kept stopping and going other ways , so Bilaam banged his leg into this very pillar as a reminder to Bilaam of the agreement of his famiily and ours , but Bilaam was intent on wanting us hurt so he ignored it . Bilaam , who was one of the three advisors to Pharaoh , who always tried to get Pharaoh to hurt us , and was the one responsible for asking Pharaoh to kill our first born , when the other two advisors , Yisro , who wanted to save us and Iyov Joab , who chose to say nothing , this was the Bilaam who always hated us . Even when these three men had sat and advised Pharaoh against little Moshe when he ( Moshe ) had taken Pharaoah's crown and put it on his head , and Moshe ended up putting the coal in his mouth , this was the Bilaam who wanted Moshe killed and had put a curse around the Egyptian border to prevent any Hebrew from leaving . This was the Bilaam , whose donkey had spoken up , the donkey that had been around since Creation , the donkey that Bilaam kept beating , when it tried to stop Bilaam from proceeding . This She - Donkey died by Satan , to save us and Obey HaShem , when the Angel Satan stood in the way to impede Bilaam . It is here in this Sedra , that the word ' satan ' first appears . Not as an evil angel , but the term means , ' as an opposition or hurdle . ' For once things are going smoothly in our lives , the angel Soton , comes to impede us , not to hurt us , but to get us to wake up and realize how much HaShem Gives us and that we must appreciate HaShem , which happens , when we get tested , that if we don't have all the wonderful things , will we still follow HaShem . 
Bilaam comes and meets Balak and so , as Balak keeps trying to choose a place where he can find some bad in Israel , so that Bilaam can curse us , all they find is our holiness and no holes to use to exploit to curse us , and Bilaam says the famous words , that even appear in our Davening , " How goodly are your Tents O Jacob , " for the Tent openings pf the Children of Israel , were placed in such a way , that the tent opening of one family never faced the tent opening of another , so that neither could see into the neighbor's tent and so , keep family purity and modesty and Tznius . Our Tznius and Family Purity Laws Kept evil at bay and HaShem Was Not Angry .Bilaam even prophesied into the future , because HaShem Let him see the glorious future of our Jewish people , even till Moshiach's time .
No matter how many times , Bilaam tried , HaShem Protected us from his curse and every curse he made , HaShem Turned into a Blessing . Balak got more and more angry with him until he wanted to chase him away . And so , Bilaam saw that the only way to get HaShem To be Angry with us , would be to get us to do something immoral and so , he organized the setting up of a market and stalls , to where he had females dressed up and to entice the Jewish men to commit acts that were akin to the following of their idol , by getting them to do an act that was a way of following their idol baal and so HaShem Got Angry with us . In fact , the leader of the Tribe of Simeon , was Zimri son of Salu , who , disrespected Moshe , who at the time , was teaching Aharon's grandson Pinchas , Torah , by Zimri blatantly bringing the Midianitess woman Cozbi daughter of Zur , who was actually the daughter of Balak , who was himself a Midianite by birth , as was Bilaam . The Midianitess women had caused the Jewish men to sin . Simeon's leader Zimri , didn't care at all , to take this foregn idol worshiping woman directly past Moshe's tent and bring her into his own tent . Pinchas , the son of Elazar , the son of Aharon , couldn't take the disrespect and act of immoral impurity , that Zimri was commiting to his teacher Moshe , and directly in front of his eyes , and so , amid HaShem's punishing the perpatrators and HaShem's Command to slay the perpetrators who had attached themselves to baal peor , Pinchas stood up amid the assembly , taking his life at risk , into his own hands , and performed a Kiddush HaShem , to honor Beloved HaShem's Name and the name of his beloved teacher Moshe , and he stood up , in front of the nation , and bravely , on his own , followed the Israelite man Zimri into Zimri's tent , picking up Moshe 's weapon and pierced them both , Zimri and Cozbi , directly in front of the Simeonites ( Zimri's Tribe ) , who could have killed him , and so did HaShem Stop the Plague from the Children of Israel . Those who died in the Plague , were four thousand . So ends the Parsha . 
Only HaShem Knows All things . We know so little . We so often think we have answers to all the things that happen around us , but we really don't know anything at all . We are so small and not even a speck on the horizon , that we should never ever be anything but humble . HaShem Gives us many Laws , but only HaShem Knows the Deep Reasons within them . The Entire Creation , is likle a " Chok , " for no matter how many theories we think we can come up with for HaShem's Reason for Creation , Only HaShem Truly Knows Why . We can only feel , that as our Sages say , HaShem Created all things , So As To Give Of His Goodness , and no doubt , this is totally true , Creation still remains the sweetest mystery , that Only HaShem Holds The Key To Knowing And Answering . Only HaShem Knows The Mysteries He Created In Creation . Only HaShem Knows The Wonders He Created In The Universe and in fact Universes ( as we are just beginning to discover ) . 
What we do know , is That HaShem's Mitzvos , HaShem's Chukkim , HaShem's Laws of Torah , do help protect us , for they keep us within the guidelines of the Laws of Creation . They have carried us through the centuries , through many that have wanted our hurt and harm , they have ensured our protection , for following them , have protected us from Bilaam and those like him , through the centuries . HaShem's Laws , whether we understands the Why's or not , be they Chukkim of not , are our Path to The Safest Haven of all HaShem , and our Journey through this physical World , our Path to HaShem and His Created Heaven , the Seat , of His Love , for us to abide within , By The Path , Of HaShem's Torah Light . 
We might never have most of the answers . But you know what , that is Okay , for as long as we have HaShem's Laws of Torah , we are safe , whether we know the reasons for some Laws or even if we don't , we still know , that our love must be great enough for HaShem , to know , That HaShem Protects us , whether we know the meanings to all things or we don't . Knowing the Why's is secondary . Doing What HaShem Wants , must always come first , for His Knowledge Is Beyond Vast , and we can surely trust , that the All-Knowing G-D , Knows All Things , for us to be safe and trust in whatever HaShem Tells us to do . In that , is our Love Of HaShem , Our Trust and Faith in HaShem , and our Obedience , to His Word . HaShem Is His Word and HaShem Is Our Only G-D And Creator , and Only HaShem Made All Things . Only HaShem Made Creation , and That Is All There Is To Have To Know , as a reason for all the Why's . Whatever HaShem Asks of us , let us always do . HaShem Is our Creator and The Creator of all things past , present and into the future , and so , May we always follow HaShem to His Oneness , and Always do , As HaShem Asks us to do . Such is the real act of Love , as HaShem Loves us and does all things , For our good . Creation , is a Mystery . HaShem Only , Knows The Answers to that Mystery . Our Task is to trust Him and do whatever HaShem Says . So from now on , let us all do that , as we assured HaShem we would , when we said before we knew what was in the Torah , that first we will do and then we will listen , " Na'aseh Ve Nishmah , " for first must we obey and trust The All Knowing HaShem . Thank You HaShem For All of Creation , and thank You HaShem For You .
I wish HaShem With Love , A Very Special And Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh With Deepest Love , and to all of my fellow Jews and all of Creation , a Very Special and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love .