Devarim: Eichah - How Can This Possibly Be?

by Rav Hillel Gefen, Yeshivat Beit El, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

This week we will read Eichah three times in different contexts. Coincidence?

The Torah portion this week is Devarim, which begins the book of Deuteronomy and goes until chapter 3, verse 22. The haftarah portion that we will read from the Prophets right afterwards is from the first chapter of Yeshayahu (Isaiah). And a few days later will be the Jewish calendar's saddest day, Tisha B'Av (the ninth day of the month of Av), on which we will read the Book of Lamentations.

All three of them either begin with or include a verse beginning with the word Eichah, which is basically a sorrowful question meaning, "How can it be?"

Our Sages connected the dots among the three of these laments, explaining in the Medrash that three prophets used the word Eichah in their prophecies: Moshe, Yeshayahu, and Yirmiyahu:

Moshe said (Devarim 1,12), "Eichah esa l'vadi, How will I be able to bear [Israel's] burden, responsibility and conflict all by myself?"

Yeshayahu said (Yeshayahu 1,21), "Eichah hay'ta l'zonah, How has the faithful city become a harlot? It used to be full of justice, and now – murderers."

And Yirmiyahu said (Yirmiyahu 1,1), "Eichah yashva vadad, How is it that the city dwells alone?"

The Medrash then quotes R. Levi who says, "This is comparable to an upstanding woman who had three friends: One saw her in her tranquility, one saw her in her debauchery, and one saw her in her disgrace. Similarly, Moshe saw Israel in their glory and tranquility… Yeshayahu saw them in their debauchery … and Yirmiyahu saw them in their disgrace…"

One way of understanding this Medrash is that the Sages are comparing Israel's positive circumstances on their way into the Promised Land to their deterioration before and after the destruction of the Temples and their Exile. As such, Moshe Rabbeinu's "Eichah" actually has a positive meaning: "G-d has increased your numbers and you are now as many as the stars of the sky!" (verse 10); you have grown so much that governing you is a very big job!

This in fact appears to be what the Sages meant when they taught elsewhere (P'tichta, Eicha Rabbati 11): "If you had merited it, you would have [been able to] read Moshe's Eichah [on Tisha B'Av], but now that you have sinned, you read Eichah yashva vadad." This shows that Moshe's Eichah is not a lamentation, but rather words of appreciation.

However, our custom is to read these words of Moshe in the Torah portion in the sad melody generally reserved for Tisha B'Av! This shows that we do not understand them happily.

In truth, the sadness of Moshe's words can also be taken in different ways. It could be that our sadness is a result of comparing the high level that we could have reached to the actual low point at which we find ourselves. But it could also be this:

The Medrash Devarim Rabba (1,10) gives two possibilities as to exactly which period Moshe was referring to when he said here, "And I spoke to you at that time, saying, "How can I lead you by myself." R. Yochanan said it was at the time of Yitro, who told Moshe that "this thing [of judging the nation] is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it alone" (Sh'mot 18,17-23), and then he advised Moshe to appoint various levels of judges and courts. However, R. Chiyya has another idea, saying that Moshe was actually referring to the period of the Complainers (mit'onenim), when he told G-d, "I am not able to bear all this people alone..." (Bamidbar 11,14-12).

How do these two periods compare? During the time of the Complainers, the need arose to appoint elders to share the leadership with Moshe as a direct result of Israel's low level, because of their complaints and surrender to their desires for meat. It is thus understandable that the issue here was the nation's inability to adapt to the high spiritual level of Moshe Rabbeinu.

On the other hand, R. Yochanan said the period in question was when Moshe accepted Yitro's advice to appoint judges – and this was when Israel was on a high spiritual level. They had come to Moshe in their multitudes to seek G-d, and this led to the need to appoint judges who themselves were on a high level and received their inspiration from Moshe. We know this because the plan was that "they would bring the difficult cases to Moshe" (Sh'mot 18,22). What could be sad about this?

The answer is that even the appointment of the judges at Yitro's suggestion, though a positive act, was not clean of negative influences. The Sfat Emet sees in this a root cause that actually later led to crises in our national life. The very fact that Israel distanced themselves from the close, direct supervision of Moshe, and were made to deal with judges on various levels - this caused the thought that it was possible to send people to spy out the land of Canaan, rather than relying solely on Moshe’s prophecy.

This is why we read Moshe's words here in a tune of mourning – because Moshe is blaming himself as well for the sins of the Jewish people, since his actions led, indirectly, to the Sin of the Spies and others.

From here we learn an important principle in national leadership. Sometimes it happens that a simple action, in which no flaw whatsoever is apparent, contains within it components that are liable to bring about future mishaps. And when it comes to issues of national import and leadership, these mishaps can carry immense significance.

May Hashem turn these days of mourning for our Holy Temples into a period of joy and happiness, of consolation and salvation, and may we merit to see the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Holy Land together with the entire Nation of Israel.

Pinchas: "The Covenant of Peace:" Truth Alone Doesn't Cut It

by (abridged) Shalom Vasserteil, CEO Tzipcha International, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Proper leadership must balance various values

We read in this week's Torah portion of Pinchas (Bamidbar 25,10-30,1; outside Israel, Parashat Balak is read) of the "covenant of peace" that G-d gave to Pinchas. This happened after Pinchas zealously killed a public adulterer and thus saved the People of Israel from the punishing plague of death.

What exactly was this "covenant of peace" that G-d gave Pinchas after such an un-peaceful act of public execution? One explanation is that true peace is based not on flattery and false pretenses, but on Torah and ethics. "There is no peace to the wicked ones, said G-d" (Yeshayahu 48,22); by killing Zimri, Pinchas shattered the false peace and alliance between the evil ones – as well as the divisions between Israel and G-d.

But still, why specifically a covenant of "peace" of all things? We know that the attribute truth was very strong in the Israelite tradition up to then – "Give peace to Yaakov," we read; Yaakov was a man of truth, as was Moshe Rabbeinu, who strongly symbolized this attribute. Why peace, therefore, and not truth? These two traits are actually quite different: While Aharon pursued peace and brotherhood, Moshe would say, "Let the law pierce the mountain!"

In fact, the Talmud discusses whether "compromise" is a correct approach – for, after all, it is, by definition, not the truth of the matter. Some sages that it is actually forbidden, while others say that it is the preferred approach. In the Mishnah of Pirkei Avot (1,12), we read support for this latter methodology: "Be of the students of Aharon [grandfather of Pinchas] – lover of peace and pursuer of peace, love people, and bring them close to Torah." The Rambam says that Aharon would speak with sinners, approach them with love, to the point that they would then wish to be like him, correct their ways, and become his students.

When our Sages seek to explain what was the nature of the "covenant of peace" that G-d forged with Pinchas, they generally focus on three aspects. One is the Priesthood itself, as the verse here states: "Pinchas has turned My wrath away from Israel, in that he was zealous for My sake… Behold, I give him My covenant of peace… the covenant of an everlasting priesthood…" Thus, priesthood is peace.

A second approach is that peace here means "protection," in various ways. One aspect is that the covenant will protect from "zealousness." Pinchas, after all, performed a very violent act of spearing two people to death. Yes, it was justified and necessary to stop the plague, but it was liable to imbue within the perpetrator traits of cruelty, anger and violence. The 19^th-century R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, author of the Haamek Davar commentary on the Torah, explains that G-d gave Pinchas with this covenant a guarantee that the violent act would not stain his soul; he would rather become a Priest – a man of peace, love and kindness – and this would balance him, cleanse his soul of the remnants of violence, and ensure that what he did would remain a one-time act and not a fixed attribute of his character. Rather, the priesthood would restore him to the way of peace of his grandfather, Aharon HaCohen.

It would even stand him in good stead in next week's Torah portion, where we read that Moshe appointed Pinchas to head the military as it "avenged G-d's vengeance" against the Midianites who coaxed Israel to sin.

At the end of our Shmoneh Esrei prayer, we say Oseh shalom bimromav, "He Who makes Peace above, may He bring peace upon us and upon all Israel." We request that we will know how to balance between the various contradictory forces and elements in our lives, just as G-d did with the four basic elements [earth, wind, fire, water] when He created the world, and thus turn every argument and dispute into a building block of positivity.

This balance brings us to an additional level of this gift of the "covenant of peace" given to Pinchas – a way of life for both the individual and the collective. Regarding the fast of the 17th of Tammuz which occurred this week, as well as the other fasts, the prophet Zechariah says that they will become days of joy and gladness, in which truth and peace will not only coexist, but will do so in love and harmony: "The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be for the house of Yehuda joy and gladness… therefore love the truth and peace" (8,19). Just as G-d makes peace in His heavens, finding balance between opposites, so the preferred way is to make peace upon us and upon all of Israel.

Truth alone does not suffice; we must walk in the path of peace of Aharon HaCohen, without harming the value of truth – even if it does not remain totally pure. We must go beyond the letter of the law, and even take the path of compromise - the path with which G-d blessed Pinchas.

Both on the individual and communal levels, we cannot run our lives, or a country, based on strict rulings that do not take into account all of the considerations. Israel's Legal Counsel [today, a woman by the name of Gali Bahrav-Miara] is just that: one who does not make decisions, but gives counsel to the government, which then takes this opinion into account as it makes its final decisions. The Legal Counsel is to present a version of the "truth," and the government must see if it can be implemented precisely as is, or whether various elements of "peace" must be sifted in so that the best decision will result. G-d is the "King who loves justice and law," we say in our prayers, and not law alone.

This approach must be adopted, for a prime example, in the controversial matter of the IDF's recruitment of Torah students and the possible overturning of decades of custom in Israel. This would seem to be an additional, profound layer of the gift of the "covenant of peace" given to Pinchas – allowing him to hold the priesthood on one hand, and to lead the army to war against the Midianites on the other. Peace is not merely the absence of war, but primarily harmony and synthesis – a balance between zealotry and the attribute of loving-kindness.

Not for naught does the Shulchan Arukh (O.C. 123,1) rule that when we recite the above-words "He Who makes peace in the Heavens," we should take three steps backwards, and turn to both sides and ask for peace amongst us as well. For in order to reach peace - such as in our family life, in the synagogue, and in the public arena - we must know that despite the truth, it is G-d's will that each side soften up and step a bit backwards. This will enable the necessary peace to "come upon us and all of Israel, and let us say Amen."