Torah reading: Numbers 30:2-32:42
Haftarah: Jeremiah 1:1-2:3
Greetings and blessings.
This week’s torah portion is Mattot. Additionally, today (Tuesday) marks the beginning of what is called “The Three Weeks”, which is a period of semi-mourning, culminating on the 9th of Av (Tisha B’Av), which, this year falls on August 5th. That date is called the saddest date on the calendar, as a number of calamities have occurred on that date, most notably the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Both today, and Tisha B’Av are fast days on the Jewish calendar. I’ll return to that momentarily.
There are three main narrative parts of Mattot. I'd like to talk about two of them and some of the questions they provoke:
- Various laws involving making a vow
This may seem a bit technical, but bear with me. The question is this: in almost every place where Moshe (Moses) relates laws from G-d, Moshe starts by saying “ko amar HaShem” (which translates to “so (or thus) said G-d”), but here the laws are prefaced with “zeh hadavar”, which is probably best translated here as “This is the matter” ?
- The War with Midian
During the explanation of the war, the Torah explains that Bilaam caused the calamity that was described in the last two week’s portions. But why mention it here, and not back when it occurred?
- The Three Weeks (adding a third question here):
This parsha is always read around the time of the Three Weeks. Is there any connection?
Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz ties all of the above (and most of the ideas of this d’var torah are from him) in an
on-line lecture. He says that all of this relates to the power of speech.
How so? Jump over the orange squiggly with me . . .
The power of speech.
The following are some thoughts that explain all of the questions above, and its relation to speech:
- Vows
It’s a strange thing when you think about it: words alone can make something as prohibited as, for example, a ham sandwich (for a Jew). Of course, it makes sense that insulting someone is a sin; or breaking a promise where someone else relied on you is a sin. But, in Judaism, the mere utterance of the words “this loaf of bread shall be prohibited to me” makes that loaf of bread as prohibited as pork is. And yet all the person did was utter a few words – to himself – with no one listening.
There is deep meaning in the fact that the word “davar” in Hebrew can be translated into English as “word” or as “thing.” The obvious idea, here, is that words are tangible. They have an impact on physical life, and they are as permanent as tangible “things.” The Torah is highlighting this here, by going out of its way to use "zeh hadavar" ("this is the word/thing/matter") rather than the usual "ko amar HaShem" ("thus said G-d")
There is the famous tale of a person who said some evil gossip about another, and then regretted it and went to a rabbi to ask how he could repent or make up for it. The rabbi told him to take a sack full of feathers, go into the woods, rip open the sack and let the feathers fly. He did so, and reported back to the rabbi. The rabbi told him, “great! There’s just one more thing to do, go back into the woods and collect all the feathers.” The man exclaimed, “but that’s impossible, they’ve scattered all over the place, to who knows where!” And that was the point: once our words are “out there,” we have no control over where they will go, and we have no idea where they went. All the more so in our plugged-in society. Words I wrote in a newsgroup in the 1990’s still exist for anyone to read. Words are precious. They are powerful. They are tangible. Use with caution.
- Why is Bilaam mentioned here?
Bilaam was involved in two major sins. The first was in parshat Balak (two weeks ago), when he hired himself out to curse the Jewish people. The second, which was described at the end of that parsha, and the beginning of last week’s parsha (Pinchas) involved Bilaam’s hatching a plan for the king of Midan, to use women to seduce the Jewish men into idolatry. We see the plan enacted, but we don’t learn that the idea was Bilaam’s until this week’s parsha. R Lebowitz points out that for all of Bilaam’s sins – Bilaam, one of the major enemies of the Jewish people – all he did was talk! He is our enemy only because of his words. This, again, demonstrating that words can be incredibly powerful – either destructive, or positive, in a helpful way.
- What is the connection to the Three Weeks and to Tisha B’Av?
The Sages of the Talmud tell us that the destruction of the Temple occurred because of “sinat chinam” – baseless hatred. The fact of the matter is that sinat chinam most often comes from bad speech – from people speaking ill-will of others. Consider, for example, people that have never met a black or Hispanic, and yet hold racist or xenophobic views – how did they come to hold such views? From the words of others.
One of the lessons of this pasha, and of the Three Weeks, is that words have incredible power, even if unaccompanied by action. Words have power for good, and incredible power to cause evil. As Rabbi Lebowitz titled his lecture: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can really hurt me. If we think back to our most terrible moments growing up – were they caused by physical injury, or with words? For most, it's the latter. Hurtful words from a parent, or a teacher, a lover, a friend, can sting for decades. Cyber-bullying is, like the evils of Bilaam, mostly “just words,” and yet we all have read how it has driven some teenagers to suicide.
It is difficult to describe to others just how serious the matter of words is according to traditional Jewish thought. The famous sage of 100 years ago, the Chofetz Chaim, wrote volumes on the subject, noting that gossiping negatively about others can involve up to 31 separate sins -- and yet, it's so easy to do. It is considered so serious that in some parts of the Jewish world, there are non-profit organizations set up solely to combating evil speech. The problem, of course, is that speaking ill of others usually makes us feel good, as it enhances our feeling of superiority over others. Who wouldn't like to hear, or talk about and get off our chest, the latest stupid thing that so-and-so said or did? Or about the idiot at the post-office, or supermarket, or about that co-worker who's clearly overpaid and is putting one over on the boss? Alas, the Chofetz Chaim pointed out, too, that the sin of speaking badly is probably the hardest sin of them all to avoid.
Let us learn to be careful with our words. To treat them as the precious jewels that they are – whether it be the idle chat during a coffee break, or during a discussion with a loved one, or a stranger, or even posting comments on websites.
May we all reduce our negative thoughts and words, and increase our positive thoughts and words, and help bring Peace to Earth. Even just a little bit. We could sure use some right now.