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שבת שלום - פרשת נשא
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Dear Friends,
Although Shavuot, the day of Matan Torah, is the great culmination of Exodus from Egypt, it also represents the beginning of Kabalat HaTorah - our acceptance of the Torah. The days following Shavuot, then, must be filled with the active demonstration that the pledge of "Naaseh v'Nishma" - "We will do and we will listen" - will be kept.
With that in mind, we are pleased to introduce Oneg Shabbat, the Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah weekly parashah sheet and newsletter, to a wider audience. Inside is our weekly dvar Torah, and a news and notes column to keep you informed about the latest events at the yeshiva. Additionally, we will often offer links to shiurim from the Yesodei HaTorah staff, which can be found on our website www.Yesodei.org.
We look forward to offering you these words of Torah, and hope that you will feel free to give us your feedback.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Scott Kahn and Rabbi Pesach Wolicki,
Roshei Yeshiva
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Yosef Kaminetsky
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News and Notes
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On Sunday evening, the entire yeshiva attended the tekes hashba'ah of our student, Tonny Schwartzmer, at the Kotel. The tekes hashba'ah is the official induction ceremony for the Israeli army, and all of us were thrilled to show our love and gratitude to our beloved talmid as he embarks on this important, exciting, and very meaningful new role as an Israeli soldier.
The Yeshiva celebrated Shavuot together, starting on Tuesday evening. The all-night learning of the first day of yom tov was filled with numerous shiurim; students who did not attend the shiurim learned independently, with chavrutot, or with rabbeim in the Beit Midrash. We thank Rabbi Wolicki, Rabbi Lichtman, Rabbi Greenberg, Rabbi Katz, Rabbi Arram, and Rabbi Kwass for offering such a full lineup of fascinating and informative shiurim.
Rabbi and Mrs. Kahn hosted their annual shabbaton last Shabbat. Every year, all Yesodei HaTorah students are invited to stay and eat at the Kahns' house in Ramat Beit Shemesh on one of the last Shabbatot of the year for a fun and memorable Shabbat. The students attended seudah shlishit at either the Arrams' or the Katzs', and will undoubtedly have fond memories of the wonderful zmirot, delicious food, enjoyable oneg, and the opportunity to spend time with friends and rabbeim before the year comes to a close.
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Parsha Insights
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
Parashat Naso concludes with a listing of the gifts brought by the twelve princes of the twelve tribes upon the completion of the Mishkan in the desert. Each prince, or nasi, brought very specific offerings during the twelve days of the inauguration; Rashi offers an extensive explanation of the symbolic significance of each item.
The Netziv asks an obvious question about this process. Although each nasi brought gifts as the representative of his tribe, the princes were not appointed by G-d until one month later, on the first day of Iyar! (Bamidbar 1:1-16) If Hashem had not yet named the leaders, how were they authorized to represent their constituents?
The Netziv argues that these leaders were initially chosen by their own tribes, and represented them at the dedication ceremony as democratically chosen princes. Only after the people had accepted them did G-d give his divine approval of the choices, and allowed them to continue their role. In other words, these were true representatives of the people who were "elected" because of the universal recognition within each tribe that they were the greatest among them. After each tribe made its choice, G-d commanded that the same individuals continue this role for other required functions.
There is an interesting anomaly, however, in the listing of the twelve princes in our parashah.. While eleven of the twelve princes are called "nasi", the very first prince - Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Yehudah - is lacking the title nasi. Why does the Torah omit Nachshon ben Aminadav's honored title?
The Netziv explains this by reminding us that Nachshon ben Aminadav was married to Aharon's sister, Elisheva. On the very first day of the Mishkan's dedication - the same day that Nachshon was scheduled to give his offering - two of Aharon and Elisheva's sons, Nadav and Avihu, died inside the Mishkan itself. Accordingly, the day of Nachshon's offering was coupled with an intense personal grief over the fate of his nephews. On account of this grief, he did not want to display the regal grandeur associated with his princely status. For this reason, he was, in a sense, devoid of his title on this day, and only reacquired it when his grief eventually ebbed.
From these two ideas of the Netziv's, we can discern two important aspects of authentic Jewish leadership. The princes were only elected by G-d once they had been elected by their people; the acquiescence of the governed is a critical ingredient to proper and fair leadership. On the other hand, regardless of the people's decision, a prince can only assume the mantle of leadership if he is personally and emotionally prepared for the task. Despite Nachshon ben Aminadav's popularity, greatness, and leadership abilities - indeed, Chazal tell us that he led the charge into the Red Sea before it had even split - he nonetheless eschewed the title of nasi until he was fully ready to properly embody everything that lofty title implies.
Am Yisrael is now facing multiple threats in the Land of Israel, with Kassam rockets raining down upon the civilian population in Sderot, authentic anti-Semites in Iran threatening the country with annihilation, and real instability in Lebanon and Syria. These perilous times require leaders in the mold of Nachshon ben Amindav - that is, individuals who know how to lead, who are beloved by the people, and who recognize that they should only assume power when they are absolutely prepared. Do our leaders today fulfill these criteria?
May Hashem help us to deserve leaders like Nachshon ben Aminadav, and may He assist us in finding them so that we will emerge from our challenges stronger and more faithful than ever before.
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