Special Features Dvar Torah Heard this from Rabbi Aharon Adler, several years ago. Pasuk 8:19 uses the phrase BNEI YISRAEL 5 times. Rashi says that it indicates G-d's love for His people that He mentioned them the number of times corresponding to the Five Books of the Torah. Is the connection just the number 5, or is there something in the pasuk more substantive? Look at the pasuk. Let the 5 Bnei Yisraels break up the pasuk into pieces. The first finds the word to GIVE twice - G-d gave the world to mankind and gave (promised) Eretz Yisrael to the Avot. This is B'reishit. The next phrase have AVODA twice. Sh'mot starts with slave AVODA in Egypt, and ends with the AVODA in OHEL MOED. To atone for Bnei Yisrael. These are the korbanot of Vayikra. That there should not be a NEGEF... this represents Bamidbar with several plagues that befell the People. And the last part of the pasuk speaks of Bnei Yisrael "approaching" the Holy. This can be a reference to arriving at the threshold of the Holy Land. This is the book of D'varim. Each of the five uses of the words BNEI YISRA'EL can be associated with one of the Five Chumashim. Now reread Rashi and the quote from the Midrash takes on a distinctive shape.
Shabbat Israel Chutz LaAretz Jun 10 Naso Shavuot2 Jun 17 B'ha'a'lo. Naso Jun 24 Shlach B'ha'a'lo. Jul 01 Korach Shlach Jul 08 Chukat Korach Jul 15 Balak Chukat-Balak Jul 22 Pinchas Pinchas Someone from Israel traveling to England for one week, leaving July 4th and returning on the 11th, will hear Parshat Korach twice and miss Chukat completely. But there's more... Ari Brodsky of Ottawa, Canada emailed to correct the stats on the reading of Naso after or before Shavuot. Last week, it was written that Naso is most often read on the Shabbat following Shavuot (which is true) and right before Shavuot in 10.5% of the years. This is a true figure (actually 10.6%) for Chutz LaAretz. In Israel, Naso before Shavuot happens more often. Specifically, in 13-month years that begin on Thursday, Matot and Mas'ei will be read separately (all over the world). This puts Naso before Shavuot. And this occurs 10.6% of the time. That's it for Chutz LaAretz. However, in 13-month years when Pesach is Shabbat to Friday, we in Israel resume Parshat HaShavua on the Shabbat that is being observed as the 8th day of Pesach in Chu"l. In such years, we will split Matot-Mas'ei to "allow" Chulnikim to catch up with their combined Matot-Mas'ei. That results in Naso before Shavuot in Israel another 9.9% of the time. Having mentioned two situations of Israel and Chu"l getting out of sync with Parshat HaShavua, let's finish to story. In 12-month years when Pesach is Shabbat to Friday, we also resume Parshat HaShavua a week before our Diaspora brethren. In those years, however, we don't wait until M&M to let Chu"l catch up, but we separate B'har and B'chukotai. So far, this has all been detail. Fun for stat-heads like me and some of you - probably torturous for others. So let's look beyond the stats. Fact, there is Eretz Yisrael and there is Chutz LaAretz. They are not the same. No one should forget that. These once-in-a-while out of sync situations remind us of the difference. Just remember the young lad approaching his Bar Mitzva. He lives in the States, let's say, and he's been studying NASO for a solid eight months now. Hasn't been out with his friends much after school lately. No time. I have to go over my parsha. Hard work. But he's wired. He's excited. He's having his Bar Mitzva in Eretz Yisrael. He and his family will be arriving late Thursday night, but their relatives here have made all the arrangements, including his reading the Torah in the Great Synagogue. And now it's Shabbat morning, Shacharit is over, the Torah is out, and the kohen is called. Our nervous but confident Bar Mitzva boy rolls the Torah open and points out the opening word in Naso for the kohen, his grandfather, his mother's father. No, my dear boy, says kind Saba Aharon. And he rolls the Torah eight columns forward and points to the "correct" sedra. This has been a hypothetical situation. but it has happened. What a way to remind people that Teaneck, Monsey, Boro Park, St. Loius, Chicago, and Los Angeles are not in Eretz Yisrael. I got carried away, but you get the point. And look at when we get back into sync. This year, right before BEIN HA-M'TZARIM, the difficult period of the 3 Weeks. Sometimes just in time for Tish'a b'Av. And sometimes for the Tochacha. Those are not the times be out of sync with each other. That's the time to pull together.
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