Sefer Bemidbar: Fairness vs. Morality

A while back, people were discussing a study which concluded that conservatives and liberals viewed the world in different ways*. Roughly, liberals think in terms of fairness while conservatives think in terms of morality. And, as Scott Adams suggested, that might be one reason one side cannot persuade the other -- they are speaking different languages, and what one side would consider a strong argument, the other would consider irrelevant.

Fairness and equality, as opposed to adherence to God-given rules, seems a recurring theme in Chumash Bemidbar. We have three separate instances in which the rules were set up, ordained by God, but in which some people, through no fault of their own, end up in an unequal situation. And in each instance, they complain to Moshe with למה נגרע, "Why should we be worse off?"

1) For Korban Pesach, people with ritual impurity contracted from a corpse may not eat of it. That is the Divine rule that applies equally to all people, that ritual impurity invalidates people from partaking in a korban in general. And some years, people miss out, and other years, they may partake. But the impure complain that it isn't fair to them, because they get left out. As they said in Bemidbar 9:7, lama nigara:

• פסוק ז: וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים הָהֵמָּה, אֵלָיו, אֲנַחְנוּ טְמֵאִים, לְנֶפֶשׁ אָדָם; לָמָּה נִגָּרַע, לְבִלְתִּי הַקְרִיב אֶת-קָרְבַּן יְהוָה בְּמֹעֲדוֹ, בְּתוֹךְ, בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. 

Rather than dismissing their complaint and saying that they have lost out, Moshe takes their complaint seriously. Since he has a direct connection to God, he revisits the topic and asks what can be done for these folks. And God tells him about Pesach Sheni, a second chance. But adds a protection that people don't use this to be derelict in the first korban Pesach.

2) The inheritance of Israel is based on males. The daughters of Tzelophchad complain that, because their father died in his own sin and only had daughters, they have been left out, and their father has no share in the land. Their situation wasn't the origin intent of the Divine decree, but it has that unfortunate effect. It is not fair.  As they say, in Bemidbar 27:4, lama yigara:

• פסוק ד: לָמָּה יִגָּרַע שֵׁם-אָבִינוּ מִתּוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ, כִּי אֵין לוֹ בֵּן; תְּנָה-לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה, בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אָבִינוּ. 

Rather than dismiss their claim, he tells them to wait while he asks God directly. And he gets a revision, that in such a case, the daughters will inherit.

3) Even revisions can have unintended effects. The tribe of Menasheh complains that when the daughters of Tzelophchad marry, they will take their inheritance with them to another tribe, and so Menasheh's portion will shrink. That is not fair. As they say, in Bemidbar 36:3, venigraah:

במדבר פרק לו

• פסוק ג: וְהָיוּ לְאֶחָד מִבְּנֵי שִׁבְטֵי בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְנָשִׁים, וְנִגְרְעָה נַחֲלָתָן מִנַּחֲלַת אֲבֹתֵינוּ, וְנוֹסַף עַל נַחֲלַת הַמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶינָה לָהֶם; וּמִגֹּרַל נַחֲלָתֵנוּ, יִגָּרֵעַ. 

Moshe consults Hashem and revises the law once again, to require women, in such a situation, to only marry into their own tribe.

Is such a situation sustainable? Any time someone is adversely affected by the law, should they complain and the law will be revised? Maybe that was the intent, if we understand going to the shofet in a given era in that light. But having the law in such a constant state of flux does not seem sustainable to me. Eventually, the law is the law, and some people fall through the cracks, and it isn't fair.


-------------

* I would treat all such studies with skepticism, because I think that the researchers' political views will influence the design of the study or the interpretation of the results.

Where did Aharon die?

Here is a fascinating variant text that the Samaritans have, in Ekev (Devarim 10): The text on the right is our Masoretic text, while the text on the left is the Samaritan text.

The Samaritan text is obviously not the original. It is a harmonizing effort, to bring in the material from Bemidbar 33 and make it harmonious.

That is, we have in Bemidbar 33:

לא  וַיִּסְעוּ, מִמֹּסֵרוֹת; וַיַּחֲנוּ, בִּבְנֵי יַעֲקָן.

31 And they journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan.

which on a surface level seems the opposite direction than in Ekev. And in Bemidbar, it is clear that Aharon died at a much later encampment, at Mt. Hor, rather than in Mosera.

לז  וַיִּסְעוּ, מִקָּדֵשׁ; וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּהֹר הָהָר, בִּקְצֵה אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם.	37 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.--
לח  וַיַּעַל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֶל-הֹר הָהָר, עַל-פִּי ה--וַיָּמָת שָׁם:  בִּשְׁנַת הָאַרְבָּעִים, לְצֵאת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישִׁי, בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ.	38 And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.
לט  וְאַהֲרֹן, בֶּן-שָׁלֹשׁ וְעֶשְׂרִים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה, בְּמֹתוֹ, בְּהֹר הָהָר.  {ס}	39 And Aaron was a hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor. {S}

(So too in Bemidbar 20, the first recording of Aharon's death.)

The Samaritans seem untroubled by it, and just insert the intervening encampments, and put Aharon's death at Mt. Hor.

The contradiction between these two texts (Devarim and Bemidbar) is indeed a difficult one. Someone raised it in the comment section on my previous post, "Deuteronomy based on a different Biblical tradition? Simple vs. Simplistic", as evidence that Devarim was based on different source material.

But Shadal writes something very important, and instructive, about it:

פסוק זה ושלאחיו קשים מאד. 

It is OK to admit that something presents a great difficulty.

Shadal writes:

ו, ז ] ובני ישראל נסעו וגו ': פסוק זה ושלאחיו קשים מאד. כי לא ידענו מה ענינם במקום הזה. ורשב " ם וראב " ע אמרו שהם להודיע כי אהרן לא מת מיד, וזה לא יועיל ולא יציל, כי יודעים היו ישראל כי אהרן לא מת רק זה זמן מועט, ואם היה משה רוצה להזכירם זאת, למה לו להזכיר המסעות ולא אמר כי חי עד שנת הארבעים? ולדברי האומרים כי נוספו אחר זמן, לא הרווחנו מאומה, כי לא יובן מה ראה המוסיף להוסיפם. ואם בטעות לוקחו ממקום אחר, לא נודע מהיכן נלקחו ואיה מקומם. והשומרונים הוסיפו: ובני ישראל נסעו ממוסרות ויחנו בבני יעקן. משם נסעו ויחנו ביטבתה ארץ נחלי מים. משם נסעו ויחנו בעברונה. משם נסעו ויחנו בעציון גבר, משם נסעו ויחנו במדבר סין היא קדש. משם נסעו ויחנו בהר ההר. וימת שם אהרן ויקב שם ויכהן אלעזר בנו תחתינו . - כל זה להשוות הענין למה שכתוב בפרשת מסעי, אבל מה ענין כל זה לכאן?
"And the Israelites traveled...: this verse, and the one after it, are extremely difficult. For we do not know what their function is in this place. And Rashbam and Ibn Ezra said that they are to inform that Aharon did not die immediately. And this does not help or save, for the Israelites knew that Aharon had only died a short while before; and if Moshe wanted to mention this, why should he mention the traveled and not say that he lived until the fortieth year?
And according to those who say that this [text] was added after a time, we gain nothing, for it is not understood what the added saw to addthem.
And if they were taken from another place, we do not know from whence they were taken and where is their [proper] place.
And the Shomronim add [Josh: as above, see text that they add]. And all this is to make the matter equal to what was written in parashat Masei. But what relevance is this matter here?"

End quote.

In my prior post, I discussed many of the supposed contradictions between Devarim and the rest of Torah. To offer a taste of this, here is one purported contradiction:

2. The Court System 

According to Deuteronomy (1:9-13), the court system devised in the desert was Moses’ idea. However, according to Exodus (18:17-22), the idea was not Moses’ but that of his father-in-law Jethro.

I noted that whether or not one believes in Mosaic authorship of Devarim, it makes good sense that Devarim was written for an audience already familiar with the Torah, and that the author has a religious or political agenda to advance.

Since it is not meant as a parallel first-telling of the Biblical story, but as a retelling of the existing Biblical story, the author of Deuteronomy does not have to retell every single darned historical point...

In Exodus 18, the agenda is Jethro's role as visitor and influencer of the Israelites. And so, Jethro proposes this, and in the end, 18:24, וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה, לְקוֹל חֹתְנוֹ; וַיַּעַשׂ, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר אָמָר. We are not told there Moshe's words in instructing the Israelites.

In Deuteronomy 1, Moses does not claim exclusive credit for the idea. He does not mention Jethro because Jethro is irrelevant. Jethro would be a distraction to Moses' exhortation. Rather, he is reporting what he said to the Israelites when he implemented this action (or even, a portion thereof). And the purpose of mentioning this is not dry history, but of the transitioning of power from Moshe to others, in this cases, lower judges.

 This approach works well in the general case. But it does not work so smoothly when it comes to this Ekev /  Masei divergence.

I cannot claim to be able to solve every single divergence. Still, my general observation, about the lameness of many of the purported divergences, holds true.

Here is how I might begin to approach this divergence:

#1, the Samaritans are right. Not that they have the original text -- of course they falsified their Torah text in order to harmonize. But that the author of Devarim was looking to Masei and pulling in selections of that text. And that even though when read literally and uncompromisingly, the text in Devarim says Aharon died in Moserah while in Bemidbar (20 and 33) the text says he died on Hor HaHar -- that is not what the author of Devarim intended.

Further, Devarim is pulling from both Bemidbar 20 and Bemidbar 33, because Bnei Yaakan is only mentioned in Bemidbar 33 and Eliezer replacing is only mentioned in Bemidbar 20.

#2, Ibn Ezra and Rashbam are right about the agenda of the author of Devarim. In the previous perek, Devarim 9, Hashem was wroth with both the Israelites and Aharon:

יט  כִּי יָגֹרְתִּי, מִפְּנֵי הָאַף וְהַחֵמָה, אֲשֶׁר קָצַף ה עֲלֵיכֶם, לְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם; וַיִּשְׁמַע ה אֵלַי, גַּם בַּפַּעַם הַהִוא.	19 For I was in dread of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me that time also.
כ  וּבְאַהֲרֹן, הִתְאַנַּף ה מְאֹד--לְהַשְׁמִידוֹ; וָאֶתְפַּלֵּל גַּם-בְּעַד אַהֲרֹן, בָּעֵת הַהִוא.	20 Moreover the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him; and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

Yet Moshe interceded, and both were spared. And Moshe continues in that perek with other times he interceded on behalf of the Israelites. Perek 10 returns us to Har Sinai, "at that time", and the chance of a do-over.

And so, the point in bringing in that Aharon died is that he died later, not just there at Har Sinai.

#3, As to Shadal's objection -- why not just say "and Aharon died in the 40th year"?

Recall that this is not a parallel first-telling, but rather a re-telling. The audience is already familiar with the Biblical text, and by channeling parshat Masei, it is effectively quoting to them parashat Masei. This sounds more Biblical, and is along the lines of "as you well know". Thus also the parallel of שם Aharon died.

#4, If so, one could imagine that there is a "Yada Yada Yada" in play, to introduce that they traveled on to other encampments.


With Aharon's death, and the transition of power to Eleazar being the priority, and the death being specifically in הר ההר not really being relevant. This is then mentioned after the first movement in the chain, and is followed by others in the chain to show the movement continued.

After writing this, I looked at Ibn Caspi, who says it is a sort of yada yada yada. Perhaps I will present him

#5, בעת ההיא in Devarim 10:7 means at Har Sinai, not Yatva, just as it does in the first pasuk of the perekm Devarim 10:1. See Bemidbar 3.

#6, Many times, making too much of divergences does not lead us to peshat but to derash. I don't know that it applies here, but maybe.

At the end of the day, I am not entirely happy with this, but I do think that it may form the beginning of an answer.

YUTorah on parashat Matot - Masei

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posts so far for parashat Masei

2012

1. What about the yerach ben yomo?

2. YUTorah on Matos and Masei.

3. Masei Sources, 2012 edition

2011

1. Encoding the masaot to prove the miracles -- Ramban brings together many different opinions.
   .
2. Masei as the last sidra in the Torah -- Yes, I know there is a whole sefer in front of us, sefer Devarim, but that is Mishneh Torah. We should still consider the first four sefarim as a unit, such that we should expect some closure to the Torah.
   .
3. Masei sources -- further expanded. For instance, many more meforshei Rashi.
   .
4. How did Hashem judge the Egyptian deities? Idols melting, judges judged, or national guardian angels getting their comeuppance
   .
5. The megillat hamasaot and the parasha of Bilaam -- According to Rav Gifter, both were written separately. The list of  masaot as they made their way through the midbar, and the parasha of Bilaam as something separate. Themasaot were added to the Torah, but the parasha of Bilaam was not, and is not the same as our parashat Balak. I consider this idea.
   .
6. YU Torah on parshas Masei.
   .
7. Why exile, and why until the Kohen Gadol's death? Why should the accidental killer receive a punishment of exile? And why should he go free when the Kohen Gadol dies? It seems a bit strange, and some reason behind these details would be nice. Chazal have a machlokes whether darshinan taamah dikra. Do we try to find the reason behind mitzvos. Even though we decide against, that is only as it impacts halacha, such that we do not say that where the reason fails, the commandment fails. But it still is a mitzvah of Talmud Torah to engage in such inquiry.
   
   Rambam and Ibn Caspi discuss what the motivation behind these details might be, from (what seems to me to be) a rationalist perspective.  Plus, I offer my own suggestion, based on a parallel to Kayin and Hevel, based on Ancient Near Eastern law, and based on the idea of the Kohen Gadol having a ritual role.

2010

1. Masei sources -- revamped.
   a
2. Harmonizing the order of the Bnos Tzelophchad -- Yet another instance of the Samaritan Torah going about its program of harmonizing texts to make them consistent or solve problems.

2009

1. Masei sources -- links by aliyah and perek to an online Mikraos Gedolos, plus a variety of meforshim on the parsha and haftara. Plus a bunch of meforshim commenting upon Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Targum, Midrash, and the Masora.
   .
2. Mizrachi's map -- I make no interesting points here, but show an image of a map from Mizrachi in explaining a Rashi. I note this map in this post, about a chassidic school that forbids using / drawing of maps. And see this post at Menachem Mendel about Rashi's maps and drawings.

2008

1. What did the king of Arad hear? Did he hear that they were coming, or did he hear of the death of Aharon and that the Israelites were vulnerable?
   .
2. "And Moshe Wrote" -- does this indicate extra material tacked on? And how this relates to the dispute between Ibn Ezra and Ramban whether al-pi Hashem is connected to the Israelites' travels or with Moshe's writing.
   .
3. Furthermore, Ibn Ezra's reading is against the trup. But is it possible that Ibn Ezra did not realize this? I think it likely.
   .
4. Did Joshua add the section about Arad? Why would we think that, and how we can resolve this.
   .
5. The Egyptians, occupied with burial. And how that may easily translate to Rava's midrash about why "the land which consumes its inhabitants" was a good thing for the spies.

2007

1. Was any daughter of Tzelaphchad smarter than any other? The dispute between Rashi and Rashbam, in interpreting the relevant gemara.
   .
2. The marriage of the daughters of Tzelaphchad, and marrying in birth order.
   .
3. *If* Yovel comes -- can Yovel cease?
   .
4. Moshe Rabbenu's Beis Medrash. Was Torah not in Shamayim, even in the days of Moshe?

2006

• Shadal on Lectio Difficilior, Rabbi Akiva on Biblical Techum Shabbat
• both on the same difficult source text.

posts so far for parashat Masei

2012

1. What about the yerach ben yomo?

2. YUTorah on Matos and Masei.

3. Masei Sources, 2012 edition



2011

1. Encoding the masaot to prove the miracles -- Ramban brings together many different opinions.
   .
2. Masei as the last sidra in the Torah -- Yes, I know there is a whole sefer in front of us, sefer Devarim, but that is Mishneh Torah. We should still consider the first four sefarim as a unit, such that we should expect some closure to the Torah.
   .
3. Masei sources -- further expanded. For instance, many more meforshei Rashi.
   .
4. How did Hashem judge the Egyptian deities? Idols melting, judges judged, or national guardian angels getting their comeuppance
   .
5. The megillat hamasaot and the parasha of Bilaam -- According to Rav Gifter, both were written separately. The list of  masaot as they made their way through the midbar, and the parasha of Bilaam as something separate. Themasaot were added to the Torah, but the parasha of Bilaam was not, and is not the same as our parashat Balak. I consider this idea.
   .
6. YU Torah on parshas Masei.
   .
7. Why exile, and why until the Kohen Gadol's death? Why should the accidental killer receive a punishment of exile? And why should he go free when the Kohen Gadol dies? It seems a bit strange, and some reason behind these details would be nice. Chazal have a machlokes whether darshinan taamah dikra. Do we try to find the reason behind mitzvos. Even though we decide against, that is only as it impacts halacha, such that we do not say that where the reason fails, the commandment fails. But it still is a mitzvah of Talmud Torah to engage in such inquiry.
   
   Rambam and Ibn Caspi discuss what the motivation behind these details might be, from (what seems to me to be) a rationalist perspective.  Plus, I offer my own suggestion, based on a parallel to Kayin and Hevel, based on Ancient Near Eastern law, and based on the idea of the Kohen Gadol having a ritual role.

2010

1. Masei sources -- revamped.
   a
2. Harmonizing the order of the Bnos Tzelophchad -- Yet another instance of the Samaritan Torah going about its program of harmonizing texts to make them consistent or solve problems.

2009

1. Masei sources -- links by aliyah and perek to an online Mikraos Gedolos, plus a variety of meforshim on the parsha and haftara. Plus a bunch of meforshim commenting upon Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Targum, Midrash, and the Masora.
   .
2. Mizrachi's map -- I make no interesting points here, but show an image of a map from Mizrachi in explaining a Rashi. I note this map in this post, about a chassidic school that forbids using / drawing of maps. And see this post at Menachem Mendel about Rashi's maps and drawings.

2008

1. What did the king of Arad hear? Did he hear that they were coming, or did he hear of the death of Aharon and that the Israelites were vulnerable?
   .
2. "And Moshe Wrote" -- does this indicate extra material tacked on? And how this relates to the dispute between Ibn Ezra and Ramban whether al-pi Hashem is connected to the Israelites' travels or with Moshe's writing.
   .
3. Furthermore, Ibn Ezra's reading is against the trup. But is it possible that Ibn Ezra did not realize this? I think it likely.
   .
4. Did Joshua add the section about Arad? Why would we think that, and how we can resolve this.
   .
5. The Egyptians, occupied with burial. And how that may easily translate to Rava's midrash about why "the land which consumes its inhabitants" was a good thing for the spies.

2007

1. Was any daughter of Tzelaphchad smarter than any other? The dispute between Rashi and Rashbam, in interpreting the relevant gemara.
   .
2. The marriage of the daughters of Tzelaphchad, and marrying in birth order.
   .
3. *If* Yovel comes -- can Yovel cease?
   .
4. Moshe Rabbenu's Beis Medrash. Was Torah not in Shamayim, even in the days of Moshe?

2006

• Shadal on Lectio Difficilior, Rabbi Akiva on Biblical Techum Shabbat
• both on the same difficult source text.

Masei sources -- 2012 edition

by aliyah

rishon (Bemidbar 33:1)

sheni (33:11)

shelishi (33:50)

revii (34:16)

chamishi (35:1)

shishi (35:9)

shevii (36:1)

maftir (36:11)

haftara (Yirmeyahu 2:4), with Mahari Kara and Malbim

by perek

perek 33 ; perek 34 ; perek 35 ; perek 36

meforshim
Geonim (589-1038)

R' Saadia Gaon(882-942) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Arabic translation of Torah,  here at Temanim.org. This is a beautiful PDF, with the Chumash text, Rashi, Onkelos, and Rav Saadia's Tafsir. All of these have nikkud, which is a very nice feature. It also designates the Temani and standard aliyah breaks, and two commentaries, Shemen HaMor and Chelek HaDikduk, on the kriyah, trup, nikkud, and dikduk, on the basis of Yemenite manuscripts, which would be worthwhile even absent the other features. Quite excellent, overall.
2. The same Arabic translation, the Tafsir,    here at Google books. No nikkud, Chumash text, Rashi, or Onkelos. But there is a brief supercommentary by Yosef Direnburg at the bottom of each page. 
3. Collected commentary of Saadia Gaon on Torah , selected from the writings of various Rishonim and from his commentaries on other works.

Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach (Spain, 990-1050) -- see Wikipedia 

Rishonim (11th - 15th centuries)

Not really Abarbabel

Judaica Press   Rashi in English and Hebrew (France, 1040 - 1105) -- ואני לא באתי אלא לפשוטו של מקרא ולאגדה המיישבת דברי המקרא, דבר דבור על אופניו

Chizkuni (France, 13th century) -- see Wikipedia  

Daat -- with Rashi, Ramban, Seforno, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Rabbenu Bachya, Midrash Rabba, Tanchuma+, Gilyonot 

Rashbam (and here) (France, 1085-1158) -- see Wikipedia 

Abarbanel  (Portugal, Italy, 1437-1508) -- see Wikipedia -- there is a section on his exegesis 

YUTorah on parashat Matot-Masei

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What about the yerach ben yomo?

Such was the question someone emailed me. I don't have anything clever to say about it. But let us see it, in Masei (35:5):

I underlined it in red. In printed texts it is an upside-down etnachta. But it took other forms. Here is what Wickes had to say about it. He lists it as one of the mesharsim, that is, conjunctive accents, rather than among the melachim, disjunctive accents. In this he follows the rabbinic writers on trup. Yet he does not think it should be counted as a meshares. He thinks it melody was similar to that of telisha ketana. He also explains the name(s) of this trup symbol. Thus:

According to Wickes-pedia, it occurs once in Torah and a total of 16 times in all of Tanach. According to Wikipedia, it occurs a total of 13 times in Tanach. (Wikipedia also has an interesting homiletic piece there.)

Note that immediately following the yerach ben yomo is another incredibly rare accent, the karnei para. That is, two facing telishas. See Wikipedia on this accent here. And here is what Wickes-pedia has to say about it:

Note that this is a different sort of pazer than the one we are used to.

As to what prompts these rare occurrences, it is so rare that it is not impossible that a midrashic concern prompts it. But I also see, for this one pasuk in Masei, that it is a lengthy pasuk with a particular recurring substructure. I'd have to analyze it and the other fifteen instances, but it could just be the result of taking the system of trup to its logical conclusion, even though it means inventing a new trup symbol and melody (similar to the shalshelet in this respect).