Archive for month: July, 2026

Torah Portion:  Pinchas

Words Can Change Your Brain
by Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman

In their book Words Can Change Your Brain, Drs. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman describe research they conducted on the harmful impact that negative words have on our brains. They used an fMRI scanner to record the brain activity of research participants while the participants were exposed to negative words like “NO!” They found that stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters were released by the amygdala and interrupted regular brain activities that assist with logical thinking and effective communication.

Even a single negative word or phrase, when focused upon for extended periods of time, can damage key brain structures that regulate memory and emotion. Verbalizing the negativity causes even more stress chemicals to be released, in both the speaker and the listener. Words and speech can change the structures in our brains, changing how we perceive and relate to ourselves and the world.

Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin points out that the three haftarot read during the three weeks preceding Tisha B’Av each begin with related, but different words. The first week begins with “Divrei,” the second with “Shim’u,” and the last with “Chazon.” These three words correspond to Dibbur, Shemiyah, and Re-iya, namely, speech, hearing, and seeing. The message and task for this week is to focus on recognizing the importance of speech and improving how we utilize it in our daily lives.

Famously, when the verse in Genesis states that God blew in man’s nostrils, making him a “nefesh chaya,” Onkelos translates this term as Ruach Memamela, a speaking spirit. According to this approach, speech defines and distinguishes humans from other creatures. Maharal explains further that speech acts as the synthesis of our body and soul. This, Rabbi Akiva Tatz writes, is why our voice originates in the neck, at the junction of the head (representing the soul) and the rest of the body.

The centrality of speech to our spiritual lives is alluded to in the narrative of Parshat Pinchas and its surrounding portions. In Parshat Balak we read about Bilam’s attempt to curse the Jewish people with words. While that particular endeavor failed, we are informed in Parshat Mattot that Bilam is the one responsible for influencing the licentious actions described at the end of Parshat Balak that leads to Pinchas’ act of zealotry, the aftermath of which is presented in this week’s reading. As a punishment for his actions, we are told that Bilam was killed “be-charev” – with a sword. Rashi comments that Bilam originally came to provoke the Children of Israel using the tribes’ own specialty, that of speech.

The Children of Israel worship God through prayer and Bilam had the nerve to try and use the power of negative speech—a curse—to destroy them. As a consequence, Bilam was killed by the Children of Israel not with their usual mode of speech, but with the weapon of choice for the other nations, namely, a sword.

Toward the end of Parshat Pinchas, we are presented with details of various sacrifices that were to be brought in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. One important function of the sacrifices was that they provided atonement for sins. In a fascinating passage, the Talmud presents a dialogue between Avraham and God, where Avraham is concerned with what would happen if the Jewish people sin. God reassures him that they will not be destroyed like the generation of the flood, because they have sacrifices to provide atonement. Avraham retorts, that is well and good when they have a Temple to bring the sacrifices, but what about afterwards? God answers that by learning and reciting the passages related to the sacrifices, that will provide the requisite atonement.

While our words undeniably have the power to change our brains, their significance does not stop there. Our recitation of Torah provides atonement. Our prayers characterize us as the Jewish people. Our speech defines us as human beings.

As we approach the first of the three weeks, let us work on improving our speech and utilize the power of our words for meaningful purposes.

The Function of A Leader
by Rabbi Zev Leff

When Moses entreated God to appoint a leader to succeed him, God answered, “Before you command Me concerning My children, command My children concerning Me.” Moses proceeded to command the Jewish people concerning the laws of the daily and holiday sacrifices.

In order to understand this Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni – Bamidbar 228), we must first understand the function of a Torah leader. When the Jewish people feared that Moses would not return from Mount Sinai, they beseeched Aaron to make them a leader who would walk before them. They viewed a leader as one who goes “before,” accomplishing what his followers cannot. Thus, when Moses delayed, they felt helpless and in need of a new intermediary.

But when Moses requested that God choose a leader to replace him, he described the leader as one “who will go out before them and who will bring them out and bring them in.” The leader was not to walk “before” the people; rather, he was to remain in constant contact with them. He could help bring them in and out by serving as a model to be emulated and as a guide and teacher, but the actual going in and out they would have to do for themselves.

The Talmud (Bava Basra 116a) instructs us that when a family member is sick one should go to a sage and ask for mercy. Meiri explains that from the sage one learns the ways of prayer so that he himself can ask for mercy for his sick relative. The ideal is not that the sage pray in one’s place but that one learn from the sage how to pray.

Because Joshua was Moses’ most devoted follower, he was chosen to succeed him. Joshua made himself completely subservient to Moses, never departing from his tent. The Talmud tells us: “The face of Moses was like the sun; that of Joshua like the moon. Woe for such a shame and such a disgrace.” Joshua faithfully reflected the light of Moses, as the moon reflects the sun, and thereby disgraced all who did not. Joshua showed that he understood that a Jewish leader does not act instead of the people, but rather provides a model to follow. Because he understood this more clearly than any of his contemporaries, he was chosen to succeed Moses.

COMMON CAUSE

The Jewish leader has another crucial function: uniting the people in a common cause. Korach contended that if the entire congregation is holy, then there is no need for a leader to rule over them. He presented his challenge with the homily of a tallit that is wholly techelet (blue), which, he argued, should not require tzitzit. He contended that if a person is totally developed ethically, to the point where his clothing, his character and honor are represented by the techelet of God’s throne, then the tzitzit, the reminders of the mitzvot, are superfluous. Similarly a leader, whose purpose is to coax and direct the people toward the proper goals, would also be unnecessary to one who is fully developed ethically.

Korach failed to appreciated the communal nature of the Jewish people, whose perfection is only reached through a united effort, one in which each Jew fulfills his unique role. The leader serves the function of an orchestra conductor, guiding each player so that the entire orchestra plays together. Even one whose character is perfect still needs a leader to show him how he can function and fulfill his part in harmony with the community.

Thus tzitzit are a reminder of all 613 mitzvot that the community as a whole is capable of performing, not the limited number of mitzvot any individual can perform.

COLLECTIVE STRIVING

God told Moses, “Before I appoint a leader to succeed you, first you must command the people concerning the sacrifices.” An appreciation of the necessity of communal striving necessarily preceded the appointment of a leader. Just as the offerings of individuals only have meaning in the context of the person’s striving to draw closer to God, so too, the communal sacrifices require the collective striving of the Jewish people for unity and harmony in service of God.

The Kohen is necessary for achieving this unity, but he cannot substitute for the striving of the people themselves. For this reason, representatives of the Levites and the tribes also had to be present at the bringing of each of the communal sacrifices.

The greatness of our leaders is commensurate with the caliber of their followers.

May we be on a level to appreciate authority and to emulate our leaders in order that they be as the leaders of old, culminating with our ultimate leader, Moshiach.

 

Be Consistent
by Nesanel Yoel Safran

From This Week’s Portion

It pays to be consistent. When we are trying to reach a goal, it is natural to have times along the way when we feel super-inspired and want to do it all at once, and other times when we may feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. However, the most effective way to succeed is through steady, balanced, and consistent effort, no matter how we may feel at the moment.

This week’s portion teaches about the daily tamid offering in the Holy Temple. This service was performed with perfect consistency every day, rain or shine, always. We can learn to infuse our lives with this same quality and tap into the power of consistency.

In our story, we learn about the power of consistency.

It was a Monday when Mrs. Allen, the chemistry teacher, dropped the bomb. She announced that the big mid-term exam was coming, and only three weeks away! The class broke into a panic, as the kids realized that this important test would likely determine their grade for the whole course.

The teacher tried to calm the class, assuring them that they had plenty of time to study and do well, as long as they planned it out.

“Remember, when it comes to success, consistency’s the key,” she said.

Laura Landers tried to take the teacher’s words to heart. “I guess I’ll need about ten hours to really study for the test. That comes out to only about a half an hour each day. I can handle that.”

She decided then and there that she would go straight to the local library each day after school and put in her time.

When she got to the library the first day, she found it packed with kids from her class. Laura found a place to sit down, put in her half hour, and packed up to leave.

“Hey, where are you going? Didn’t you just get here?” asked Judy, who was sitting at the next table.

Laura tried to explain her plan, but Judy wouldn’t hear of it.

“A half-hour? That’s it? You’ve got to be kidding!” Judy scoffed. “I’m really psyched about this test, and plan to camp out here as long as it takes, and really ace it,” she said, pointing to her big knapsack filled with all kinds of snacks, drinks, and even a pillow.

Laura felt swayed by the girl’s words. Maybe Judy was right and she should just forget about her plan and ‘camp out’ too. She started to put her stuff back out on the table when she reconsidered. “No – I made a good plan, and consistency’s the key. If I stick to it, I’ll be fine.”

And stick to it, she did. Each day Laura would arrive like clockwork, and put in her allotted time. She noticed, however, that less and less kids were showing up. In fact, she hadn’t seen Judy there for almost a week.

The next day she approached her friend in school. “Judy, where have you been?”

Judy shifted uncomfortably. “Umm, you know, I just haven’t felt so into studying lately. There’s plenty of time left before the test … and besides, there’s this huge sale at Clothing City today. I’m heading there with a couple of other kids right after school. Why don’t you join us, and make up your studying tomorrow?”

It sounded tempting, and she really could make up the studying…. But Laura decided to stick with her plan. The sale would have to wait. “For me, consistency’s the key,” Laurie told Judy. “Go ahead without me.”

The days passed and the test was around the corner. Laura noticed the library population begin to increase, but now the atmosphere seemed gripped by a kind of last-minute hysteria. She felt pretty calm, as her plan was paying off and she knew the material well.

Judy, who had reclaimed her place at the table, looked very stressed. When Laura greeted her, she hardly looked up to answer. “Can’t talk now, I’ve got to really cram. I don’t know how I’ll ever make it!” She sighed, and plunged back into the thick chemistry book like a deep-sea diver.

The day of the test arrived. Laura was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it had gone for her. The test wasn’t easy, but she was ready. Her plan had really worked.

As she headed out of the classroom, she couldn’t help but notice her friend Judy’s down expression. “Wow, what a killer test!” she sighed. ” I’ll be lucky if I passed, but I’ll bet you aced it, huh?”

Laura shrugged, smiled sympathetically and tried to think of something upbeat to say, but Judy continued to speak. “Mrs. Allen – and you – were really right. Consistency is the key to success. And it’s one key that I plan to use from now on to get through life’s doors.”

Discussion Questions

Ages 3-5

Q. How did Judy feel when she first heard about Laura’s plan to consistently study a little bit every day?
A. She felt that she would do better just studying when she felt like it, sometimes a lot, sometimes not at all.

Q. How did she feel after the test?
A. She felt sorry that she hadn’t made a more consistent plan, so she would have done better on the test.

Ages 6-9

Q. Why do you think Laura’s approach worked better than Judy’s?
A. Laura tapped into the power of consistency. She made a reasonable plan, and didn’t let her moods interfere with what she needed to do. Judy jumped in too fast, burned out, and in the end, frantically tried to catch up. Her ups and downs made it hard to reach her goal.

Q. What can a person do to help himself put in a consistent effort and reach his goal, even when he doesn’t feel like it?
A. An important tool is to learn to be decisive. This means that once we make a well thought out decision, we have to commit ourselves to stick it out and see it through. We should be aware that we may reach a point where we will feel like changing plans or quitting, but if we can hang on and stick to our goal, often these doubts will disappear, and we will accomplish much in our lives.

Ages 10 and Up

Q. What is the power of consistency?
A. Consistency is the key that gives us the power to accomplish super-human goals without super-human effort. To illustrate, there is a famous story of Rabbi Akiba, one of Jewish history’s greatest sages and mystics, who was walking through the woods one day and saw a large rock, with a hole in its middle. When he went to investigate, he discovered that the hole had been made by a tiny drip of water that had after many years bored its way through the solid rock! He realized that a drip of water had no power to penetrate a rock, yet with consistent effort, that was what eventually happened. All we have to do is tap in, and we will be amazed at what we can do.

Q. It is obvious why doing less than what we planned to consistently do will inhibit us from reaching our goals, but is there something wrong with jumping ahead and doing more?
A. It may seem like a good idea, but it can often backfire and leave us with a net loss. Often when we feel motivated to try to jump too far, too quickly toward a given goal, our initial enthusiasm eventually wanes, and leaves us unanchored without a firm commitment to get us through. But if we consistently follow a pre-determined moderate plan that we stick to no matter how motivated or unmotivated we may feel at the moment, in the long run we will get much farther than if we jumped after our whims.

 

Quote of the Week

“One who judges another favorably is himself judged favorably” — Talmud Shabbat 127b

 

Joke of the Week