FB post 2024, edited 2025, then posted Friday and edited on Sunday, and re-posted to "Wisdom"

Can a human give over some of his spiritual essence to another?!

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This week's Torah portion ('Pinchas') describes Moses giving over his "hod" to Yehoshua!

God enables Moses to give over some of his 'hod'. How should we interpret this word - what is 'hod', and how could the 'transfer' work?

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Answers: Although the surface-level meaning is the giving over of his honor, stature, position, authority, and which is used for human kingly glory, it is also used to describe an aspect of God

ברכי נפשי את ה' ה' אלקי גדלת מאד הוד והדר לבשת

Psalms 104:1. And elsewhere.

In this usage it is a term referring to a spiritual aspect which is not easily translated or understood.

Indeed there are various Traditional sources which link this 'hod' to the "glow" of Moses' face after descending from Mt Sinai - remember that his face shone to the extend that people feared to face him and he had to wear a veil! Some of this was given to Yehoshua.

Traditional sources also say the 'hod' was related to the 'spiritual crowns' which God gave to the Jewish People at Sinai, but which were removed from them after the golden calf incident but that some sources say were given to Moses, which he used to bestow on Yehoshua.

Here are some sources (you can use Google or AI to translate these pages) https://www.dirshu.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/%D7%A4%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%A1-%D7%A4%D7%91.pdf, and: https://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/40137 ' 

Indeed, there are several indications in the text itself which seem to tell us that something mystical is being referred to:

[See the passages in Numbers/Bamidbar, the latter part of Ch 27]

1. God tells Moses he will die soon, the same death as Ahron, which some call 'death by the kiss of God'. God uses the term 'venesafta el amechah' = 'you will be gathered to your people' (like was said to Aharon).

This seems to imply life after death of a sort. I is perhaps just a colloquialism? I would say it was not, since it is one thing when the Torah records that someone died, and uses this phrase, which we can interpret as a colloquial saying of the times, but here it is very different: we are told that God directly used this phrase, and it was about someone specific, when speaking to them! So it is not just a way of speaking, a colloquial term, haivng idiomatic or cultural meaning to humans - in contrast, it clearly meant something special to God!

2. Moses appeals to God to ensure there is a leader for the people to take over when he dies, and he employs a very unusual term, appealing to "'the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh" 

יִפְקֹד ה', אֱ' הָרוּחֹת לְכָל-בָּשָׂר, אִישׁ עַל-הָעֵדָה.. 

(see eg the mention of God's 'ruach' in the creation account, where it is 'hovering over the waters' ). Perhaps Moses was using this spiritual description of God because he knew how Ahron had died, and how he would die, and this death exemplified both the spiritual aspect of humans, and the source of that spirituality (God).

And after M"R asks Hashem "elokei haruchot" to delegate  leadership to someone else, Hashem chooses Yehoshua, describing him using the same term used by Moses in his request: "ish asher ruach bo"!

Clearly there is a deep meaning of 'ruach' as used in these phrases, and the fact that this very unusual term is used to refer to God, and is part of an obvious parallel usage (of God using that term about the person chosen for the task), and this is another indication that  what is occuring in the tranfer of 'hod' is more than just granting Yehoshua legitimacy, stature. [For what it actually means, I would have to defer to Traditional commentators at a higher level and versed in such matters: BTW: Note that in Genesis, the words used in a key passage about the essence of humanity are not ruach but neshamaha, and nefesh chayah:  " 'וַיִּיצֶר ה אֱ' אֶת-הָאָדָם, עָפָר מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו, נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים; וַיְהִי הָאָדָם, לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה."]

3. God tells Moses to have Yehoshua stand near Elazar the Kohen to obtain something related to the 'Urim', in other words something mystical connected to God's revelation-connection to humans.

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4. "Vayedaber moshe el Hashem laymor' 'Moses spoke to God, saying' instead of the usual reverse form, which is very very unusual!

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All the above are clear indications that something more is meant than just handing over the reins of leadership.

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We will speculate that perhaps Moses was using the unusual spiritual description of God ("elokei haruchot") because he was requesting that God utilize those aspects (of God's spirituality and its reflection in humans) when crafting a leader for the Jewish People. And so indeed therefore we interpret 'hod' in this context, ie not just as honor or the human glory of a king, but rather as a reference to something spiritual.

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God tells Moses that not God but Moses will bring about the desired result, making a leader for the Jewish People, and it will be by giving of his essence, as mediated via God, like a blood transfusion, like giving a smile which gives life to someone.

Interestingly, though he is told that he will die, but not thinking aobut himself, it ends up that he does not fully die in the sense that some of his spirit lives on after he dies, because now it is part of Yehoshua!

....,

So if indeed Moses was able to give over some of his spiritual glow, why was this at all possible? 

We speculate that:

1) It was possible only since God wanted it to be so, and in fact God made it happen, when God tells Moshe to do this it twasn't advice, something that Moshe could have done but didn't think of - it is not at all obvious that any human can accomplish this on their own, without God instigating it.

2) Moses was able to achieve his goal - for Israel to have a leader of sufficient spiritual stature - because he wanted what God wanted ('aseh retzoncho retzono'), ie what Moses wanted was not always guaranteed to occur, but in this case it could happen since it was in fact what God wanted to happen, and it required God's intervention, to make it possible for the transfer to happen.

3) God wants to give to humanity; however, often it is meant to be given VIA US! That is, God wants us to act in the divine image, eg as emissaries of God, for example by giving to others what God wants for them to have; ie we can make ourselves to be the vessel whereby God gives to others, and then what we want to give - even a 'spiritual gift' [ for example Midrash interprets the gifts Abraham sent with his concubines to the East as spiritual gifts] - can be indeed received by them, because it is actually God transferring it. 

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The role of ego-lowering: Moses acquired his 'glow' after the golden calf incident, when Moses defends the Jewish People, saying to God that which could have instantly caused his own death ('if so, please erase me [my name, my association with] from the Book you wrote"!), and so in my interpretation it was because his ego was lowered by his lack of concern for self only for others - and since it is only our ego which blocks our essence , at that moment his soul's shining was unblocked, and this was the glow, the 'hod'.

And now before his death all he cares about is that the Jewish People should have good leadership. At the moment when a person is told they will die, their reaction says real things about them, and about what they want etc. Moses was told by God that he will die, but he did not cry, did not fear, did not ask for a legacy etc, but instead he worried for others - the Jewish People. In fact, it must have been through effort of will and via a difficult self-control, and excercise of his humility and caring, that he responded as he did, and this lowering of his ego at that moment itself raised his spiritual level. So since Moses was egoless then in wanting only the good of others when he was told of his impending death, there was nothing blocking his essential aspect, ie his neshama/soul shines forth, ie the divine presence, and God then enables some of that to transfer to Yehoshua., again an act of ego-lowering, and this is how he was able to spark the 'ruach' of Yehoshua ('ish asher ruach bo')  with his own glow.

Moses at the beginning of his career was too humble to think of himself as leader, and this humility was exactly what God needed in him to be leader, not speaking ability or youthful energy etc. So it is appropriate to the task inherited by Yehoshua that what Moses was transmitting to him as the future leader of the Jewish People was in some way the spiritual ability he himself had gained by his self-sacrifice in protecting the Jewish People as part of his role of being their leader, knowing that this egolessness was the main requirement for being a good leader.

Moses had already taught Yehoshua this vital lesson: Bamidbar 11:27: Yehoshua tells his master Moshe to lock up the prophesiers Eldad & Medad, however Moshe says "were that all the People were prophets". We see from Moses' reaction to this and to his wish to have Yehoshua be raised in level in order to lead, that his wish to grant it leadership to him for the benefit of the People was itself another act of ego-lowering, and a lesson to Yehoshua that part of being a leader is to make sure that ther eis continuity of leadership by giving it up to another, so at that moment his own essence is uncovered in a way that enabled it to spark the essence (soul) of another (but all only because it was God's Will that this occur).

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Conclusion: May we be inspired to similarly labor egolessly to help others with their basic needs as did Moses in finding food and water and enabling them to escape slavery, and to defend them even 'against God' as Moses did, and thereby even perhaps merit that God will transmit some of the spiritual energy we gained via self-sacrifice to others, so that some of what is our essence lives on after us even in this world.

overall:

Should we whitewash Pinchas' actions? let's admit he was wrong....look how primitive a notion of justice is recorded in the the Torah! Or maybe he was right?

Disturbing Torah stories

When encountering these stories in the Torah, we must remember to take the totality-context into account

The Torah opens with the creation account, describing the design/creation of our universe, and it contains information which  clearly could not be known  unless communicated by the creator of the universe presented there. The very next story is about the origin of humanity's recognition of the existence of good and evil.  These opening-stories sets the stage for the rest of the book - it is to be interpreted as being the word of the creator of all, of the entire universe including the stars and planets and humanity and animals and vegetation, and even the creator of good and evil, and the source of humanity's free will enabling true choice (by creating humans "in the divine image").

The story of Pinchas within  the overall Biblical context

According to the story we see that God the creator of the universe and of humanity and of good and evil clearly indicates satisfaction with Pinchas's actions, and so when interpreting the Pinchas story within the complete Biblical context and within the traditional viewpoint of seeing the Bible as the word of God, we start off with the understanding that he did the right thing. 

Our questions are therefore not:

 "why should we whitewash his actions, let's admit Pinchas was wrong" 

or 

"look how primitive a notion of justice is recorded in the this book" 

but rather 

"How can we reconcile our understanding that what Pinchas did was the right things to do with our Biblically-inspired intuition that killing is wrong",

 or 

"How do reconcile the correctness of Pinchas's actions with our experience that zealotry can be dangerous", 

or:

 "Why was God pleased with Pinchas's actions even though it involved extra-judicial killing?"

or some other question along these lines.

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May we be blessed to understand what our true mission is, to go deeply inside ourselves to ensure that we act without ego, and when our zealotry needs to be directed internally, and also to know when it is appropriate to judge others favorably.

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Pinchas was actually carrying out God's unexpressed wish

We will speculate that Pinchas' action was even more appropriate than in the above explanations:

• We will interpret God's statement about Pinchas not as standardly "he was zealous on behalf of my honour" but rather "he carried out the zealotry that I needed to act on". Even possibly that we should think of it as God killed Zimri, via Pinchas. For example, we can interpret this as telling us that God preferred that Zimri die rather than thousands of his followers, but it was necessary for there to be some human being who would take that action, and it was Pinchas who did it for God!

• Commentators usually assume that God's statement that Pinchas acted in God's name is meant as justification for Pinchas' killing Zimri, but  perhaps this was already a certainty, and what needed justification was only for Pinchas to act without being commanded to do so by the leader of the people and the greatest sage, Moses. This type of usurpation of authority is itself punishabe by death! SO God it telling Moses it is ok that Pinchas acted alone, he was carrying out God's Will.

Midyan: Yitro was a kohen in Midyan, and M"R married his daughter. Yitro even was the one who caused the entire judicial system of B"Y to be set up. 

• The act of Zimri was done in public as a message of revolt against both M"R and Elazar – a statement that if M"R could do be with a Midianite woman, so could he;

• also, by consorting with a princess of Midian, Zimri was implying a higher status for himself than for M"R, whose wife was only a priest's daughter. 

Also, since M"R lived in Yitro's house who was a Kohen to his religion, then Zimri could be the leader of the ba'al pe'or cult among the B"Y. ...

The inner motivations of the brothers in the sale of Joseph: did they think they were kana'im?

The shvatim were sure they were acting lishmah, chazal present reasons for a sanhedrin to judge Yosef and apply the death penalty. But hashem tells us in the chumash something that no-one else could know, that the shvatim themselves were not consciously aware of (and that maybe was first revealed to humanity at the time the chumash was given) - that they were motivated by hatred and jealousy! They would have laughed at anyone accusing them of such a childish and base motivation. And they would have felt themselves sincere in that. But Hashem knows our inner heart and motivation. And Hashem tells us the Pinchas's motive was purely leshem shamayim. 

Moral: When someone judges their fellow, especially if it involves enacting judgement with physical consequence on someone, I believe that we are allowed to 'judge' them by assuming that the motivation is negative; even if at the conscious level the "kana'i" is sure they are a tzadik doing it all leshem shamayim, my assumption is that we should not be supportive of it unless they are considered by all of klal Yisrael (not just by themselves) to be even greater than the Shvatim.

Also, just as there is a havtacha to bney Yisrael that they won’t become achzarim when they carry out God's command regarding the shiv'aht ha'amim, so too Pinchas was given the bracha that he would be a man of shalom despite carrying out acts of kana'ut.

When a prophet's ego is too high vs when it is lowered:

 how this affects 

I) the events which befall them & 

II) what they are capable of perceiving. (And of course: What WE can learn from all this.)

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According to Tradition, Moses and Bil'am had equal levels of prophecy, but Moses overcame his ego and desire for honor etc, whereas Bil'am succumbed.

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I) Two levels of operation, higher, and earthly: The effect that ego - and its lowering - has on what one perceives

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Our recent and upcoming Torah portions: Contrasting corresponding events at the earthly level vs higher level. The Torah and Tradition are teaching us about these via telling the stories, and by then providing the behind-the-scenes aspect of the stories.

• Like with Moses up on the mountain in the war with amalek, down below the Jewish People didn't see Moses raising or lowering his hand, it seemed like natural ebbing of this and that side winning a battle then losing.

• Also re the spies which we read about recently, they saw themselves as being miniscule in the eyes of the others and considered that htis was the way they were percevied, when this was not actually true.

• And then the portion re tzitzit following that, regarding protecting what our eyes see and what we are led to as a result.

• Similarly: Bil'am's donkey (aton) sees the angel, but Bilam the great prophet does NOT. (see below).

• The Jews didnt see Bil'am, he was high up on a mountain, unbeknownst to the Jewish people below, but his curses caused the whoring after the women of Moav incident, and then the idolatry which followed as a result; he wasn't able to curse, only bless, he taught the Moabites the secret, how to get God angry at the Jews and God would kill them, doing the work for them. ie Bil'am knew how to cause actions on this level (causing the action ofZimri etc) which would cause the higher-level to cause plague at the Earthly level, but most people would be oblivious to all these level-interactions.

• Pinchas takes action, but the earthly view didn't notice the plague nor would they understand that it was related to their actions, and they would not see pinchas's action as related to all this. Pinchas knew the Jewish People could kill him for his act, because they didn't see what he was able to perceive, but he was ready to die for this and so God saved him. And the REASON he could see this, was that that he was not thinking of himself, only of saving others, ie he was egoless and seeing wtih 'soul-eyes' so he saw the level-interactions that Bil'am had brought about.

• God commands a war against Midian - as we'll see in the next parsha, the war seemed like a natural event, however part of it was killing bilam -, but one cannot kill a great prophet like Bil'am naturally. so that may have been the reason for taking along the 'klei hakodesh' & 'chatzozerot' etc. Also: Bil'am's sentence for his going against God's wishes was to be killed by the angel with the sword, but the sentence was suspended as long as Bil'am engaged in good behavior, but when he was part of the war against the Jewish People the sentence was carried out, by Pinchas. Just as the earthly view didn't see the angel with sword against bilam etc, it would not be aware of all this higher-level interaction. Pinchas was the correct adversary to Bil'am because he was able to see the level that Bil'am activated, and Pinchas himself was also operating at that higher level, but God tells us clearly that Pinchas acted to protect God's honor, NOT for reasons of his own ego or anger etc, and so he was able to defeat Bil'am in battle.

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Moral of the above : when we are full of ego like Bilam we connect to an event at the wrong level, so may we be vlessed to act as much as possible with lowered ego, and as a result see deeper levels,  true reality.

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ALSO:

. Even regarding 'mundane' events such as when someone asks you "what's the meaning of life" or "why is there suffering", and we answer philosophically showing off our understanding, instead of realizing there is a hidden level of events, something happened in that person's life - or didn't happen - and there is a suffering human being in front of us, who needs our active help or compassion.

May Bil'am's blessing to the Jewish People - 'ma tovu ohalekha yaakov' - which as Tradition interprets as being re mutual respect/consideration/privacy - be activated. And allegorically connecting this to Bil'am: that our eyes be opened when there is a person standing in front of us with a need, to see their need, so that we always react at the appropriate egoless level of considerate interaction with each other. So I bless myself - and if anyone else wants this blessing - to overcome ego and to see the higher level, so as to be able to flow with the heavenly-level of events.

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II) How the response of a prophet to God's words or to events shapes the next step: The effect on events of ego and its lowering

At first Bil'am is full of ego, deciding to go despite knowing it is against God's will, and God shows him his arrogance: his aton (she-donkey) sees spiritual phenomena (an angel) that he, the great prophet, cannot!

At first Bil'am is angry at the aton and when it speaks to him, Bil'am responds in anger and from ego, But then the aton asks: "did I ever not serve you faithfully"? At this point Bil'am suddenly shows remarkable ego-lowering, to admit that the aton has never disobeyed him.

Bil'am is also judging favorably ('dan lekaf zechut') and willing to see the aton's actions in this greater context, which provides him with great merit, and it is at that point that he finally sees the angel with the sword!

And also: when someone is full of ego they can't 'see' the other and so they judge unfavorably; also: ego is the screen covering our essence, our soul, and so when ego is lowered one's soul = image/breath of God - is closer to the surface, and we can "see with the soul's eyes" that which we did not see with our bodily eyes.

So it is Bil'am's ego-lowering and judging-favorably which makes him deserve to be spared the angel's sword (the angel makes it clear that if the aton had continued at Bil'am was insisting that it do, the aton would have been spared), ie which enables him to see the angel with the sword. In other words, the interpretation I offer is that it is not that God made a decision beforehand to not kill Bil'am - it was instead up to Bil'am to choose how to act, and this would determine whether or not he deserved to be spared, or alternatively whether he lowered his ego enough to see the danger in front of him.

Another example of the effect of prophet's reaction on the events following: At first God places words in Bil'ams mouth - as Bil'am himself said, Numbers/Bamidbar 23:4 first word, 23:5 first phrase 23:7 first phrase , also 16 & 18 first phrase - but later when Bil'am realizes, ie internalizes and accepts, that it is good in God's eyes that he bless the Jews (and at that point the Torah tells us somewhat enigmatically 24:1 "he didnt go towards 'nechashim'[snakes/oracular pronouncements?])", it is only then that God's spirit rests on him, see 24:2, and what he says is now coming more directly from God, not words placed by God in his mouth, see the passages to feel the difference.

[This type of cause-effect is evident in many accounts of interactions between God and prophet (see my commentaries on other such accounts).]

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May we be blessed to act with humility, and thus to activate our 'soul eyes', and also to merit that events unfold in the optimal way.

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Comment as Avi Rabinowitz

Peter Michelson

Regardless! Their is only ONE HaShem! Who created Human Beings on the 6th Day of Creation? HaShem! The creation is never ever smarter then the Creator!

Moshe was not perfect, and was punished by HaShem!

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Nicola Martino

Thank you Servant of God, for sharing your post, Amen Praise the Lord God King of the Universe Adnoi: How I love to read and His Word , and the Talmud , As for this humble man , If I would of seen a burning Bush as The Lord Servant and heard Hi… See more

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 "בקנאו את קנאתי" (במדבר כה, יא)

קנאותו של פנחס והשלום כשכרו

רבים בעולם הורגים "בשם האלקים", ורואים את עצמם כקנאים. אם כן, מדוע שבח זה נתייחד לפינחס? מפני שפנחס לא פעל מתוך קנאתו שלו אלא מתוך קנאת ה', "בקנאו את קנאתי" ולא "את קנאתו", כפי שהפסוק ממשיך: "תחת אשר קינא לאלוקיו".

ייתכן שבעצם פנחס היה איש של פעולה שקטה ומתונה, אלא שכמו שמשה רבינו נאלץ להתגבר על ענוותנותו כדי למלא את מצוות ה' שינהיג את בני ישראל, כך גם פינחס נאלץ לגבור על אופיו הטבעי כדי לעשות את מה שעשה.

זה מה שמיוחד במעשה שלו, וזו הסיבה שה' נתן לו את "בריתי שלום".

וכשם שישראל מובטחים שלא ייעשו לאכזרים כשמקיימים את מצוות ה' לגבי שבעת העממים ולגבי עיר הנידחת (אור החיים, דברים יג, יח), כך נתברך גם פינחס בברכה שהוא יהיה איש שלום למרות מעשה הקנאות שהוא עשה.

בהתחשב בעובדה שהיו אז מתים במגיפה, ושהמגיפה נעצרה רק בזכות פעולתו של פנחס, משמעותו של "ברית שלום אינו "שלום" במובן של "יתן למכהו לחי" אלא במובן של "ה' עוז לעמו יתן, ה' יברך את עמו בשלום".

יש ששלום מצריך לשקר, כפי שאהרן הכהן "רדף שלום" על ידי ששיקר לשני אנשים מסוכסכים כדי להשלים ביניהם (אבות דרבי נתן יב, ג); וכך יש ששלום מצריך הריגה, לדאבוננו.

……. 

Complete File “Pinchas.doc”  7/5/2010

זכות אבות: אברהם והקורבנות

פרשת פנחס כ"ט א' ו'. פסוקים אלו הינם המפטיר של החגים ושל שני ימי ראש השנה. בראש השנה קוראים מפטיר זה לאחר קריאה העוסקת באברהם אבינו. ביום הראשון לפני מפטיר קוראים על גירוש הגר אבימלך ובאר שבע וכו' וביום השני קוראים את סיפור העקדה. מה הקשר בין הקריאה והמפטיר ולמה דוקא קורבנות אלו?

בראש השנה אנו מזכירים זכות אבות ובמיוחד את אברהם אבינו ותוקעים בשופר של איל כזכר לאיל שהעלה אברהם לעולה במקום בנו. מענין שבחייו של אברהם היו מספר ארועים מרכזיים שבהם מופיעים אותם בעלי החיים שמופיעים כאן כקורבנות:

הקורבנות בקשר לאברהם

פר בן בקר: אל הבקר רץ אברהם ויקח בן בקר

עולה... איל אחד: איל... ויעלהו לעולה תחת בנו

כבשים... שבעה תמימים: ויצב אברהם את שבע כבשות הצאן... באר שבע

סולת: ויאמר (אברהם)... קמח סולת לושי ועשי עוגות

ושעיר עיזים: ועז משולשת ואיל משולש (ברית בין הבתרים)

אולי זו הסיבה לקורבנות אלו והסיבה שקוראים אותם בראש השנה בהקשר לסיפורי אברהם אבינו. ובגלל שכל הקורבנות הם לכפרה גם בשאר החגים כשמביאים קורבנות מביאים קורבנות אלו.

..

Needs to be completed

Pinchas 27:12-23: Passing on the leadership to Yehoshua

God tells M"R that he'll die like Ahron just did (first he'll see the land…) M"R ask that God appoint someone to lead: 

·        

He says "asher yetsei lifneihem va asher yavo lifneihem, asher yotsiem va asher yeviy em"

Maybe:

·         asher yetsei lifneihem: where is lashon "yatza" used?

·         va asher yavo lifneihem: several times written word ''bo": ubo el bnei Yisrael or something like that, and of course bo el par'oh etc.

·         asher yotsiem: parallel to hotsi B"Y mi mitrayim

·         va asher yeviy em: parallel to "ve ovie es BY le eretz Yisrael" or some word like that

M"R uses the word "yifkod Hashem": like pakod pakaditi, and later usage that BY believed that pakad, after MR and Ahron did the signs. So Ahron was part of this, and now he is dead and MR is told that he too would die.

Presumably was initially under the impression that he'd complete the mssion. And the BY were certainly under that impression. And we know what happened whn the BY assumed MR had disappeared (egel hazahav) "zeh ha'ish moshe enenu yod'im….."

MR wants to be sure that a person would be appointed who would finish the job. And now that MR and Ahron are to die, MR realizes that of course only God can know whether a leader would remain, would die or be overthrown or etc, and so maybe "elokei haruchot" is needed.. 

 ……

But it is not only the ruach which is special, Yehoshua is also an Ish....

............……

Bamidbar 27

יב וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֶל-הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה; וּרְאֵה, אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.  יג וְרָאִיתָה אֹתָהּ, וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ אֶל-עַמֶּיךָ גַּם-אָתָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר נֶאֱסַף, אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ.  יד כַּאֲשֶׁר מְרִיתֶם פִּי בְּמִדְבַּר-צִן, בִּמְרִיבַת הָעֵדָה, לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי בַמַּיִם, לְעֵינֵיהֶם:  הֵם מֵי-מְרִיבַת קָדֵשׁ, מִדְבַּר-צִן.  {ס}

טו וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-יְהוָה לֵאמֹר.  טז יִפְקֹד יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל-בָּשָׂר, אִישׁ, עַל-הָעֵדָה.  יז אֲשֶׁר-יֵצֵא לִפְנֵיהֶם, וַאֲשֶׁר יָבֹא לִפְנֵיהֶם, וַאֲשֶׁר יוֹצִיאֵם, וַאֲשֶׁר יְבִיאֵם; וְלֹא תִהְיֶה, עֲדַת יְהוָה, כַּצֹּאן, אֲשֶׁר אֵין-לָהֶם רֹעֶה.  יח וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח-לְךָ אֶת-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן--אִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר-רוּחַ בּוֹ; וְסָמַכְתָּ אֶת-יָדְךָ, עָלָיו.  יט וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ אֹתוֹ, לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן, וְלִפְנֵי, כָּל-הָעֵדָה; וְצִוִּיתָה אֹתוֹ, לְעֵינֵיהֶם.  כ וְנָתַתָּה מֵהוֹדְךָ, עָלָיו--לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ, כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.  כא וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן יַעֲמֹד, וְשָׁאַל לוֹ בְּמִשְׁפַּט הָאוּרִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה:  עַל-פִּיו יֵצְאוּ וְעַל-פִּיו יָבֹאוּ, הוּא וְכָל-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל אִתּוֹ--וְכָל-הָעֵדָה.  כב וַיַּעַשׂ מֹשֶׁה, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֹתוֹ; וַיִּקַּח אֶת-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וַיַּעֲמִדֵהוּ לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן, וְלִפְנֵי, כָּל-הָעֵדָה.  כג וַיִּסְמֹךְ אֶת-יָדָיו עָלָיו, וַיְצַוֵּהוּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה, בְּיַד-מֹשֶׁה.  {פ

---------

ses.' {P}

יב  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֶל-הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה; וּרְאֵה, אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

12 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

יג  וְרָאִיתָה אֹתָהּ, וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ אֶל-עַמֶּיךָ גַּם-אָתָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר נֶאֱסַף, אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ.

13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered;

יד  כַּאֲשֶׁר מְרִיתֶם פִּי בְּמִדְבַּר-צִן, בִּמְרִיבַת הָעֵדָה, לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי בַמַּיִם, לְעֵינֵיהֶם:  הֵם מֵי-מְרִיבַת קָדֵשׁ, מִדְבַּר-צִן.  {ס}

14 because ye rebelled against My commandment in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify Me at the waters before their eyes.'--These are the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.-- {S}

טו  וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-יְהוָה לֵאמֹר.

15 And Moses spoke unto the LORD, saying:

טז  יִפְקֹד יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל-בָּשָׂר, אִישׁ, עַל-הָעֵדָה.

16 'Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

יז  אֲשֶׁר-יֵצֵא לִפְנֵיהֶם, וַאֲשֶׁר יָבֹא לִפְנֵיהֶם, וַאֲשֶׁר יוֹצִיאֵם, וַאֲשֶׁר יְבִיאֵם; וְלֹא תִהְיֶה, עֲדַת יְהוָה, כַּצֹּאן, אֲשֶׁר אֵין-לָהֶם רֹעֶה.

17 who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.'

יח  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח-לְךָ אֶת-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן--אִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר-רוּחַ בּוֹ; וְסָמַכְתָּ אֶת-יָדְךָ, עָלָיו.

18 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is spirit, and lay thy hand upon him;

יט  וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ אֹתוֹ, לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן, וְלִפְנֵי, כָּל-הָעֵדָה; וְצִוִּיתָה אֹתוֹ, לְעֵינֵיהֶם.

19 and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

כ  וְנָתַתָּה מֵהוֹדְךָ, עָלָיו--לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ, כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

20 And thou shalt put of thy honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may hearken.

כא  וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן יַעֲמֹד, וְשָׁאַל לוֹ בְּמִשְׁפַּט הָאוּרִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה:  עַל-פִּיו יֵצְאוּ וְעַל-פִּיו יָבֹאוּ, הוּא וְכָל-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל אִתּוֹ--וְכָל-הָעֵדָה.

21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.'

כב  וַיַּעַשׂ מֹשֶׁה, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֹתוֹ; וַיִּקַּח אֶת-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, וַיַּעֲמִדֵהוּ לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן, וְלִפְנֵי, כָּל-הָעֵדָה.

22 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation.

כג  וַיִּסְמֹךְ אֶת-יָדָיו עָלָיו, וַיְצַוֵּהוּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה, בְּיַד-מֹשֶׁה.  {פ}

23 And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD spoke by the hand of Moses. {P}