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According to the Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Taanit 4:5) five terrible things happened on this date:
1. The tablets of the law were broken.
2. The daily whole offering was canceled.
3. The city wall was breached.
4. Apostemos burned the Torah.
5. And he set up an idol in the Temple.
The Talmud Yerushalmi discusses how Moses broke the tablets:
Rabbi Yishmael taught: The Holy One, blessed be He, told him to break them and afterward said, "You did the right thing in breaking them."
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: The tablets were six handbreadths long and three broad. Moses was holding on to two handbreadths and the Holy One, blessed be He, was holding on to two of them and there was a space of two handbreadths in the middle. When the Israelites did their deed (worshiped the golden calf), the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to grab them out of the hand of Moses. But Moses¹ hand was stronger and he seized them from Him.
Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Abayye: The tablets wanted to fly, but Moses was holding on to them.
It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nehemiah: The writing itself flew off the tablets. (Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Taanit 4:5)
Tammuz 17 is when the walls of Jerusalem were forced open by the Romans. During this period traditional Jews do not shave or get their hair cut. No marriages are performed. No court cases are held. There is no rejoicing with music or dance. The wearing of new clothes or eating a new fruit, which would require a "shehechiyanu" blessing, can not be done. (There are some exceptions with fruit if it will rot and not last 3 weeks as it is a mitzvah to eat a fruit one has never tasted before, but I will not bore you with halakah minutia.)
This fast is not a 24-hour fast like Yom Kippur. It starts at sunrise and ends at sundown. Tisha B'Av is a Fast like Yom Kippur however.
We are taught traditionally that many tragedies befell the Jewish people on the 17th of Tammuz. Moses returned from Mt. Sinai and witnessed the Golden Calf and smashed the Tablets. During the fall of the first Temple there was starvation. The animal sacrifices stopped as there were no animals left. The Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem (the Babylonians breached the walls on the 9th of Tammuz).
The Talmud in Tractate Ta'anit recounts that just before the story of Hanukkah a Syrian governor, Apostemus, publicly burned a Torah as well as placed a idol in the Second Temple. Historians think it was really a Roman officer, but the rabbis censored themselves to avoid the wrath of the Romans and called him a "Syrian." The Hebrew King Menashe placed an idol in the First Temple on this day.
Let us explore this Holy Day and the Talmud a bit.
Three of the 5 'terrible things' that happened on the 17 of Tammuz happened during the Roman siege.
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Parasha Pinchas: Numbers 25:10-30:01
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"Pinchas Interruptus"
Parasha Pinchas continues with the story that began at the end of the last portion. To review, we learned how the King of Moab, Balak, hired the sorcerer Balaam, a hit man for hire, to curse the Jews. Balaam failed in his mission. In the last few verses of Parasha Balak (Num. 25:1-9) we read how Balaam, not to be outgunned by God, convinces Balak to take one last stab at the Jews. They send their daughters into the Israelite camp. An orgy begins, which includes worshipping the idol Ba'al P'or. The Midrash teaches that this rite involves defecation in front of this idol and cleaning one's self with this idol's nose.
God brings a plague onto the Jews. Pinchas, a grandson of the recently deceased high priest Aaron, follows the Jew Zimri and the Midianitess Cozbi, into Zimri's tent. (These two sinners are not named until Parasha Pinchas.) The name Cozbi means "voluptuous." Pinchas spears them in their stomachs, which the Talmud explains are actually their genitals, while they were belly to belly." The plague stops.
God rewards Pinchas for his zealotry with a promise of high priesthood for himself and his sons. The Jews are commanded to smite the Midianites. A new census is taken of the tribes and of the Levites. Moses rules on an inheritance involving fatherless sisters who have no brothers. Moses officially picks Joshua to be his successor. More priestly sacrifices are enumerated including those for Shabbat and the major holidays.
The rabbis of the Talmud had trouble trying to be apologists for Pinchas's actions. The law in Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin is clear. Before someone is put to death for a crime he is given a trial. There must be two witnesses. These two witnesses must swear that not only did they see the crime, but also that they both warned the defendant that what he was about to do was illegal and punishable by death. They even had to state which of the four legal means of execution would apply to this particular crime. If these specific legalities were not followed, the judges had to acquit the defendant.
How did they explain Pinchas's actions and resulting reward? The rabbis of the Talmud say in Tractate Sanhedrin 82A that Pinchas remembered learning of a law that Moses heard from God, but had not yet taught the people. This law was, "He who has sexual relations with a heathen may be attacked by zealous people." This is why Pinchas skewered Zimri and Cozbi in their genitals while they were having sex. This is why he left them dead in this position. This would be proof that he had a God-given right to kill both of them. The Talmud teaches that the Hebrew word for spear is "romach." This word is numerically equal to 248, which is the number of positive mitzvoth in the Torah.
The Talmudic rabbis rule that this law is still in effect, but that a zealot must catch the two in the act of sexual intercourse and cannot punish the offenders when the act is over. This is called the law of Pinchas Interruptus. Now you are probably thinking to yourself that you have never heard of this law. You are correct – I made up the name. This is because the Talmudic rabbis decreed that if anyone asks about this law "we should not instruct him" about it or to follow it. This is why they teach that the Torah never mentions this law. It is part of the oral law, or Mishna, which they believe was also given to Moses when he was on Sinai. Unfortunately, either Zimri was not in chedar (Hebrew school) when this oral law was taught or he chose to ignore it.
The rabbis wanted to know why Moses didn't kill Zimri. They posit that maybe he forgot about the law that he taught Pinchas. Other rabbis argue that Moses knew that Zimri did idol worship to Ba'al P'or and that he would come to trial for this and be executed civilly. Regardless, the Midrash rabbis realize that Moses erred in allowing Pinchas to kill Zimri zealously without trial. They wrote, "Because Moshe did not kill Zimri, Moshe's burial place is not known." This is how God punished Moses for letting a zealot commit murder while on his watch.
The rabbis knew that they had to develop some wiggle room on this law. Keeping it hidden would not work. Therefore, they ruled that a zealot had the commandment to kill two fornicators caught in the act but that these lovers could defend themselves and kill the zealot. This would not be considered murder but rather self-defense. The lovers would be pardoned. This is because no judgment of a Beth Din (Jewish court) had been decreed upon them.
But then another rabbi asks, "Who is there that God would pardon, and yet we should kill him?" The rabbis come to an impasse as the Torah does state a punishment for sex with a heathen. It is "Karet." Karet is excision. It is carried out only by God. It means that one day God will cut the sinner's life short. But the rabbis say this punishment is for someone who has completed the sex act and did not get caught while doing it.
The rabbis then posit that forbidden sexual unions must be the gravest of sins. They state that sexual union involves the whole essence of man (women are not mentioned). They say this because a child may be born with great powers. So therefore a Jewish man could transmit his Jewish powers to a child of a non-Jewish woman, and hence create a non-Jewish powerful person. The rabbis go on to say, "Three partners produce a man: his mother, his father, and God who gives him a soul."
So if one has sex for pleasure in an illicit union, one is forcing God to watch. God is a jealous God, the rabbis remind themselves. The Torah says in Numbers 25:11 that Pinchas avenged God's jealousy with his zealotry. If Balaam in the previous parasha is the ultimate in evil, Pinchas is the ultimate party-pooper. There are no times today when kana'ut, zealous religious jealousy, is acceptable in a pluralistic society.
The Hebrew word for desire with an intense longing for physical pleasure regardless of its spiritual value is "tiva." Balaam sent the Moabite women to entice our men. Somehow there was a switch in the Torah, and they are now called Midianite women. Balaam was a Midianite. But so was Tzipporah, Moses' wife. The Midrash states that Zimri publicly defied Moses by having sex with Cozbi, saying to Moses that it was not fair that Moses could have sex with a Midianite when the rest of the Israelite men could not. The Talmud, in Tractate Sanhedrin 82A, says that Zimri was really Shlumiel ben Tzurishadia, the prince of Shimon, who offered his tribe's sacrifices to the Tabernacle (Num.7:36).
Tractate Bava Kama states that the Moabite daughters were forced by Balak to have sex with the Israelite men, but that the Midianite daughters of Balaam did so willingly. This is why God ordered that only the Midianites be slain and that the Moabite women be spared. Of course we must recall that Ruth - the maternal founder of the David kingship lineage - was a Moabitess. If Moses ordered that all of the Moabites be killed, how would King David and his scion, the Messiah, be born?
The actions of Pinchas lead to him and his children being granted the priesthood. The rabbis are concerned with this Torah statement as well. Why? God is contradicting Himself. God said that Aaron's descendants (who had not yet been born) would carry the Kohan name. Pinchas was already born. Pinchas was a Levite. He was only Aaron's grandson on his mother's side. Pinchas was originally left out of the Kohanim and spent 39 years as a Levite. He did, however, study Torah directly from Moses according to the Midrash. Pinchas was not one of the Levites who rebelled with Korach. The Talmud says he was content being a Levite. His maternal great uncle was Nachshon ben Aminadav. The Midrash says that Nachshon was the first to jump into the
The rabbis of the Zohar remind us about the sons of Aaron, who would be in line for the priesthood. They were killed by God for offering "strange fire." These two sons were named Nadav and Avihu. Their souls jumped into Pinchas body so that he could be a Kohan legally without God having to change His immutable law. This also allows God to break His own law by allowing a man who has killed to become a high priest. Pinchas is no longer Pinchas, but really two other men. So this new law is not a new law but actually a continuation of the old law, the sages say. We will read of a third example of this later on in this parasha.
The rabbi known as the Ba'al ha Turim writes that Pinchas also received another reward. He received Elijah's soul. Traditionally we are taught that Elijah was not born of flesh and blood parents. The idea of God being a parent is not a foreign idea to Judaism. His soul came down from heaven and lived in Pinchas's body. It was Elijah's soul that made Pinchas into a zealot. Eventually Elijah's soul found its way into Elijah's body, but Elijah never died. His soul went back to heaven in a fiery chariot. We invite Elijah, who made Pinchas into a zealot, into our homes on Passover and also when we perform a Brit Milah (circumcision). During these occasions we remember Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) as the loving helper of
There are some striking similarities between the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus and the worship of Ba'al P'or in Numbers. In Ex. 32:06 and Num. 25:02, the Jews brought offerings to the idol, and they ate. Moses both times let each man kill his brother (fellow tribe member) who sinned. Both times Moses tried to appease God by calling for some punishment. Moses was successful in this in Exodus but it was Pinchas who took action in Numbers and appeased God. This theme of Moses no longer being a capable leader, which was addressed in Parasha Chukat when he struck the rock, is continued here. It culminates with Moses naming Joshua as the new leader.
A close reading will reveal that Joshua will be a different kind of leader. He will not be allowed to rely on his own intuition in making decisions. He will have to be dependent on the priests and their divine dice, called the Urim and Thummim, for leadership. This parasha established firmly a specific grandson of Aaron as the high priest and sets up the priesthood for a major role in leadership. It also tells of more offerings to be made, which sets up the priesthood to be wealthy. This is all done under the backdrop of the story of instant death without trial by a priestly zealot in the case of one who misbehaves.
The third new law that Moses teaches has to do with inheritance. The daughters of Tzelofchad have no brothers and their father is dead. The way the Torah law was given originally; their inheritance would go to their male cousins or uncles. Moses reveals a new law, which was part of the oral law that he learned from God. This law now becomes part of the written Torah law. A Midrash states that Moses might have been a bit overconfident when he told the Israelites to bring all questions of law to him.
The Talmud written by rabbis who were Pharisees had a different agenda than the obvious pro-priest authors of this portion. They do not want to see zealots abound especially for political reasons. The Jews were an occupied people and saw the destruction the Romans heaped upon them after Bar Kochba's failed rebellion. Tractate Kiddushin 70B states, "If you see a Kohan who is arrogant, be assured that his lineage is genuine." Hoshea 4:04 writes, "Your nation is argumentative like a Kohan." Tractate Bava Batra 160B teaches, "Kohanim are bad-tempered." The Maharal says that they think that the "fire of holiness" is in them and their blood boils. The Talmud records how Kohanim would kill each other in the
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan wrote in his Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life: "A religion is as much a progressive unlearning of false ideas concerning God as it is the learning of the true ideas concerning God." Hadith of Tiridhi said, "one true scholar of religion is more annoying to Satan than a thousand of the faithful who perform only their ceremonial duties."
Zealotry did not stop with Pinchas. Until recently Jewish communities could perform the act of excommunication on those with whom they disagreed. Rabbis in
Recently Rabbi Yosef of Shas protested the Israeli Supreme Court's decision finding Shas political leader Deri guilty of taking bribes. He called the justices goyem who were "led astray by Satan." Unfortunately, it appears that both Aryeh Dari and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef forgot about the Torah law forbidding the taking and giving of bribes. Perhaps they missed this lesson at their chedar.
Our rabbis wrote in Pirkei Avot (3:21) that if there is no Torah there is no proper behavior. But they also said that if there is no proper behavior there is no Torah. Our synagogues and our Jewish communities do not need zealots acting like Pinchas spearing us with their tongues, calling us names, and criticizing our actions. This type of behavior only serves to push one away from Judaism.
Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman in the Summer 2000 edition of Reform Judaism writes: "the needs of the Jewish community have fundamentally changed" in the past 100 years. At the turn of the last century our synagogues were like a "general store in a tiny farming community." By the 1950s our synagogues were organized as enterprises. "Dues were exchanged for programs and services." Jews joined but it occupied only a small corner of the congregants' lives.
Our synagogues in the twenty-first century need to be transformed into spiritual centers. The last 20 years have shown how society is fragmented and fragile. People feel alienated from each other. Our synagogues need to be places where all are welcome and are welcomed. Our synagogues really need to be a place of sanctuary where inner peace and tranquility can be found.
This God-centered place needs to teach people actively how to connect spiritually to God and to each other. Rabbi Hoffman continued: "A transformed synagogue reveals the profound mystery of the universe of which we are in integral part, connected to each other, to the cosmos, to eternity and to God."
Jewish Spiritual Renewal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org opens doors to all who seek to enter in peace and in search of God. We do not rebuke those who have married out of the faith. Nor do we call their children anything but Jews. We accept people on whatever spoke of the Judaic dharma wheel they wish to place themselves – as every spoke is equidistant to God's love. We will not allow zealots or chastisers into our midst who speak of knowing what God wants but act as if they have no clue.
I was positively struck by Newsweek magazine's July 17, 2000, edition. After 60 years, writer Tom Ross decided to legally take back his last name of
Shabbat Shalom:
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 Click to Order | THE HANDBOOK TO JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice into a step-by-step process to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality in a concise easy-to-read and easy-to-follow manner. If you find yourself wishing for the strength to sustain you through the ups and downs of life; if you want to learn how to live life to its fullest without angst, worry, low self-esteem or fear; or if you wish that your relationships with family, friends and co-workers were based on love and service and free of ego, arguments, resentments and feelings of being unloved...this book is for you. Price: $19.99 254 Pages Published by: Amazon's BookSurge |
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(001) The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal
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In The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal distills millennia of sage advice to reclaim your Judaism and your spirituality.
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(002) A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud
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A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud dissects each of the Torah's weekly sections (parashot) using the Talmud and other rabbinic texts to show the true Jewish take on what the Torah is trying to teach us.
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(003) Tzadakkah Bundle
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The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal and A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud. Purchase both books as a set, and I will donate a portion of the sales price in your name to the tzadakkah of your choice. -- Rabbi Segal
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