Kiddush provided by TriBeCa Synagogue but seeking sponsorship
Shabbat ends 9:15pm
Monday through Friday June 29 - July 3rd Office Closed
All weekday services will be held with the exception of Friday morning July 3
Tuesday/Adult Education
WILL be in session:
Mishlei/Proverbs 6pm
This week, after all the discussion about the Red Heifer, the portion slips in what is called in Hebrew the Chet Mei HaMeriva, or the Sin of the Bitter Waters. In a brief couple of paragraphs we learn how even Moses was denied what logically should have been the grand culmination of entering the Promised Land. And oceans of ink have been spilled trying to understand what was the justification.
Moses is told to take his staff but only speak to the rock in order for water to resume for the Israelites. When his first effort wasn't successful, and under increasing pressure by the people, Moses panicked and hit the rock when his words seemed ineffective. The water came but only at the shocking consequence of Moses not being allowed to complete the mission and to die in the desert.
My sense as to the most satisfying approach is that the staff and the word were symbols of leadership styles. The staff was the symbol of how Moses had to be harsh with that first generation emerging from Egypt and how he had to "whip" them into shape in a short period of time. But what God was telling Moses in instructing him to "speak", while only holding the staff, was that the Israelites were entering a new stage in history and therefore the style of leadership had to transition as well.
Apparently Moses was not able to make the transition and as such would become a problematic leader in the new circumstances of the promised land. It is one of the more painful realities of history that a replacement, even for the great Moses, was in order for the benefit of the people. And this, even Moses recognized was the ultimate priority.
Rabbi Jonathan Glass
In Our Family
Congratulations again to Justine Fisher and Robert Alloway for the brit of their new son, Gavriel Asher, today!
