Special Features
for Parshat Bamidbar

From the virtual desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE

The Orthodox Union – via its website – fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, zt"l to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious community in Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and the Israel Center. The following is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah...

Q I understand the reason for two days of chag in Chutz La’aretz for all chagim but Shavuot. Since we count 49 days of sefira, and the 50th day is Shavuot, how could there be uncertainty?

A You make an excellent point. Let’s start at the beginning and pick up your question on the way.

When Beit Din would declare the new month based on sighting of the moon (until around 1600 years ago), the Jewish world did not know in advance when this would occur. Originally, a quick system of informing most Jewish communities (even in Bavel) by means of torches on mountain tops was used (Rosh Hashana 22b). At that time, few communities kept two days of Yom Tov. When the Kutim disrupted the reliability of the system, a slower system of couriers was adopted. Word did not arrive in many communities in time for the mid-month Yamim Tovim of Pesach and Sukkot, forcing them to keep two days (Rambam, Kiddush Hachodesh 5:3-12). We continue the minhag of keeping two days in those places even though the calendar is now predetermined (Beitza 4b).

By Shavuot time, everyone must have known when Nisan had begun and could count 50 days from Pesach. Indeed, Shavuot does not depend on the date of the month and can fall on the 5th, 6th, or 7th

day of Sivan (Rosh Hashana 6b), although our set calendar always puts it on the 6th. Therefore, Shavuot did not depend on the decision on the Rosh Chodesh of Sivan, and the extra day seems superfluous, as you ask.

The gemara addresses a similar question in the following scenario. The emissaries of Beit Din could not violate Shabbat or Yom Tov in carrying out their charge. Thus, in Tishrei, because of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, they were not able to get as far by Sukkot as they could in Nisan by Pesach. Therefore, there should be some places where they kept two days of Yom Tov for Sukkot out of uncertainty but only one day for Pesach, after hearing from Beit Din. Yet, the gemara (Rosh Hashana 21a) says that any place where the emissaries of Tishrei did not reach in time would keep two days of Yom Tov on Pesach even if the emissaries reached them. This was because of a g’zeira (rabbinic injunction) lest there be confusion between the two sets of holidays. The Rambam (ibid. 3:12), in discussing this concept of not distin- guishing between holidays, states explicitly that the same idea applies to Shavuot, thus answering your question.

[Ed. note. This idea of avoiding confusion by not distinguishing from one case to another appears in many halachic contexts and is known as LO PLUG (that’s U as in Ruth).]

Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at www.ou.org or www.eretzhemdah.org. And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email weekly, by sending an email to lists@eretzhemdah.org with the message: Join Hemdatya - Please leave the subject blank.

Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Hasidic Wisdom from the book by Simcha Raz (Elkins/Elkins)

Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, is called “The Time of the Giving of our Torah”. Why is it not called, “The Time of the Receiving of the Torah”?

Because the Torah was given to everyone in equal measure, but every- one chooses to receive it according to their wisdom and their capacity to understand.
— Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

One does not need idle disputes to straighten out matters in the Torah. They were not bent in the first place. The truth is not a wooden board whose knots need straightening. After all, one who straightens a ladder, only bends it. And one who bends a bow, only straightens it.
— Rabbi Yehoshua of Ostrovtsa

If you desire to be loved — then love others.
— The Baal Shem Tov

One can scream with a still, small voice.
— Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav

Rite & Reason by Shmuel Pinchas Gelbard

It is customary on Shavuot to remain awake all night studying Torah.

Reason: The Midrash relates that the night before receiving the Torah, “the Children of Israel slept all that night, since the sleep of Atzeret is particularly enjoyable on this short night... And Moshe had to rouse Israel [to receive the Torah]... Regarding that night, the prophet Yeshayahu spoke critically saying: ‘Why [when] I came was there no man [waiting], I called but there was no answer’ (Yeshayahu 50:2)” To correct this error, we stay awake this night demonstrating our eagerness to receive the Torah. (Magen Avraham)

It is customary to decorate the shul and home with greenery... Customary to eat dairy dishes...(one common reason of the many each custom has)

Reason: Moshe Rabeinu was born on the 7th of Adar and successfully hidden for three months. Then his parents were no longer able to hide him, so Yocheved prepared a waterproof basket and floated it with baby Moshe on the Nile, under the watchful eye of his sister Miriam. That day was to become Shavuot. Greenery reminds us of the reeds at the river’s edge where Moshe was placed. Dairy is to remember the milk of his own mother that nourished Moshe, having refused to drink from the milk of Egyptian wetnurses.

ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd.

WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein

R’ Aharon of Chernobyl once addressed Hashem on Shavuot, the day on which the Torah was given. “Hashem”, he said, “it is not surprising that the Jews in the desert accepted the Torah. After all, they were all wealthy, having received their wealth from the Egyptians. And they were in perfect health: As the Midrash tells us, all the illnesses and physical infirmity were removed by You at Sinai. They were also free men. Thus, the conditions were ideal for them to accept the Torah.

“Today, the reverse is true. We are destitute. Our bodies are racked with pain. And we are subject to all the cruelty of a regime bent on destroying us as a people.

“Yet, I swear to You, that if You come to us today and offer us the Torah, we would all accept it with the same enthusiasm as did the Jews in the desert and we would observe it fully.”

Excerpted with the permission of the copyright holder

Did you ever say “Thank You” to G-d? I don’t mean “Great is the grandeur of Your glory”, or “Your kingship is a kingship for all time and worlds”. But simply “Thank You”, with no added story. If you haven’t, then re-appraise your attitude, for though you’ve paid Him praise, you owe Him gratitude.

From A Candle by Day by Shraga Silverstein

From the Desk of the Director

Parshat B'midbar opens with yet another census of Israel, this time of men over twenty. Unlike in Sefer Shmot, here Moshe additionally calculated the "sum of all the congregation," as well as collecting detailed data about the specific tribes, including "every male by their head count."

Rashbam, noting that this renumbering of the tribes excluded Levi, concludes that this census was designed to assist Moshe in the organization of his forces prior to the imminent battle for Eretz Yisrael. Ramban concurs, alluding to the fighting age of the men. He also reflects on the importance of military preparedness, "since we should not rely on miracles."

From a deeper perspective, Ramban suggests that knowledge of the final tally is a demonstration of Hashem's love for His people. As we recount our precious jewels when they fall to the floor, so after each plague and pestilence Hashem numbered the Children of Israel, "in order to make known that though He wounds, His hands make whole again."

Moreover, the Midrash teaches us that numbering by "head count" necessi- tated each and every male member of the family to pass before Hashem in awe. Each family member was thus an individual in his own right. In this impersonal world, it is sobering to recall that each one of us is unique, yet equal in the eyes of G-d.

Shabbat Shalom, • Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center