Rabbi Weissman: Chukas – The Covered-Up Sin with the Rashi

 I did not expect to wake up this morning to the tragic news of Dr. Zelenko's passing.  He deserved to live to see the redemption as much as anyone. 

However, it is heartwarming to see the outpouring of tributes to this great man, who was Hashem's messenger to save so many lives (my own father among them), and, even more importantly, brought so many people closer to Hashem with his strong faith and inspiring messages.  Chazal tell us that the righteous are even greater in death than in life, because their work continues to live on and bear fruit after their passing.  There is no doubt that Dr. Zelenko will merit this.

I was privileged to interview Dr. Zelenko on my Medical War Crimes program a year ago (the recording is here).  He was my very first guest.  He was already doing a million interviews, on very prominent outlets, and did not need to be a guest on my brand new podcast with a small audience.   Clearly he wasn't doing it for the attention and the kavod.  It was another opportunity for him to reach some people, and that was what mattered.

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Episode 45 of my Medical War Crimes series is available here. I gave a short class presenting more Torah on the true Jewish view of unborn children.  Don't be fooled by missionaries and apologists.  The Torah is clear and unequivocal.

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More short bits follow the Dvar Torah, which comes from my archives and I am sharing for the first time.

חקת

החטא הכסוי

[כא:ד] וַיִּסְעוּ מֵהֹר הָהָר דֶּרֶךְ יַם סוּף לִסְבֹּב אֶת אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם וַתִּקְצַר נֶפֶשׁ הָעָם בַּדָּרֶךְ:

רש"י (כו:יג)

. . . ומצאתי בתלמוד ירושלמי (יומא פרק א הלכה ב) שכשמת אהרן נסתלקו ענני כבוד ובאו הכנענים להלחם בישראל, ונתנו לב לחזור למצרים, וחזרו לאחוריהם שמונה מסעות מהר ההר למוסרה, שנאמר (דברים י:ו) "ובני ישראל נסעו מבארות בני יעקן מוסרה שם מת אהרן", והלא בהר ההר מת? וממוסרה עד הר ההר שמונה מסעות יש למפרע! אלא, שחזרו לאחוריהם, ורדפו בני לוי אחריהם להחזירם, והרגו מהם שבע משפחות, ומבני לוי נפלו ארבע משפחות . . .:

רש"י (כא:ד ד"ה דרך ים סוף)

. . . שם חזרו והתאבלו עליו [על אהרן] והספידוהו כאלו הוא מת בפניהם . . .:

Rashi 26:13

And I found in the Jerusalem Talmud that when Aharon died the clouds of glory departed, and the Canaanites came to fight against Israel, and [some of] the Jews decided to return to Egypt, and they went backwards eight journeys from Hor Hahar to Moseira,as it says (Devarim 10:6) “And the Children of Israel traveled Be'eiros Bnei Yaakan to Moseira. There Aharon died.” But didn't he die in Hor Hahar? And from Moseira to Hor Hahar were eight journeys in the opposite direction! We see from here that they returned back, and the sons of Levi chased after them to bring them back, and killed from them seven families, and from the sons of Levi four families fell.

Rashi 21:4

There they returned and mourned over Aharon and eulogized him as if he had died there before them.

Q: Why does the Torah only allude to this unfortunate incident, when so many other sins of the dor hamidbar are spelled out?  In fact, the very next few pesukim detail the sin of the Bnei Yisrael maligning the man, which brought about the plague of the fiery serpents!     

A: Although this sin – attempting to return to Egypt and engaging in a devastating civil war –  rivals any sin of the dor hamidbar, this one had one key difference.  Unlike all the other sins, the impetus for this one was not rebellion or lack of faith in Hashem, but emotional turmoil.  The Bnei Yisrael were demoralized after the death of Aharon and the resulting attack by Amalek. 

Therefore, despite the incredible ramifications of this incident, Hashem did not publicize it, in line with the principle "אין אדם נתפס על צערו" (God doesn't play "gotcha" with how a person reacts under pain).  Indeed, when shortly thereafter the Bnei Yisrael maligned the man, the impetus was annoyance with the difficulties of travel.  Inappropriate actions committed through pain can be easily excused (though they still require teshuva), but tircha (general difficulty) is not a similarly valid excuse.  

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Must see! How Halacha Approaches the COVID-19 Vaccine

This sure didn't age well.  Proudly sponsored by the usual mole organizations working on behalf of Amalek. When are the Jews of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway going to run these Erev Rav out of town?

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Israeli billionaire’s daughter under fire for paying celebrities to speak about family purity

But paying people to push masks and shots is totally fine, nothing to report there.

I said before, I'll say it again.  As long as the Jerusalem Post has a print edition there will never be a shortage of toilet paper.

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Imagine if Jews who are so outraged by a mediocre ice cream company channeled that outrage toward the Erev Rav in their midst who are harming the Jewish people infinitely more.

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You gotta love America.  The price of gas has been going through the roof, but they still make sure to squeeze that extra 9/10 of a penny per gallon.