Back in 1996, Rabbi Finman was asked to speak to the niece of one of his students. After spending many hours answering her questions, the woman gave Rabbi Finman her e-mail address. Rabbi Finman wrote the woman a note and included in it a short insight into that week's Parsha and a short Chasidic story.
Realizing that this was something no one was yet doing,, Rabbi Finman sent the missive to his mailing list of about 30 people. Requests from recipients friends came pouring in. The next week Rabbi Finman sent the e-Parsha to 100 people. Within a year more than 2000 people were receiving it. Today, more than 14,000 receive the e-Parsha weekly and the requests keep coming in.
kPinchas 5784
Balak 5784
Korach 5784
Chukas 5784
Shlach 5784
kPinchas 5784
Please click on the link below to receive the e-Parsha in the way cool HTML version right to your inbox. http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103523647591&p=oi
======================================
YouParsha Pinchas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaT4odTWthU What is Going on in the Parsha?
==========================
This week is Parshas Pinchas Numbers 25:8 - 30:1. A great part of the Parsha deals with the apportioning of the land of Israel. The Jews were again counted to determine into exactly how many pieces the land was to be divided. Inheritance was to be passed from father to son. Tzelophchad (read it slowly, it's not too bad) died, leaving only daughters as heirs. They, the daughters, demanded their father's share of the land. Moshe, being the quintessential diplomat, took their claim to the Almighty. The Almighty was impressed and quite satisfied that there were people that were ready to stand up for the land of Israel that they believed rightfully theirs.
The land of Israel was given to the Jewish people more than 3000 years ago. It is not just a piece of real estate centrally located on the cross roads between Europe, Africa and Asia. It is the HOLY land. The Talmud relates that the very air of Israel is holy and makes a person smarter. A Jew is forbidden to commit suicide because their bodies are on loan from G-d. The land of Israel is not ours to randomly decide to give away.
The current situation is anathema to Judaism. What person in their right mind would jeopardize their own security and indeed their very lives based on the word of an enemy nation that has vowed to annihilate it? What are we to do? Take an example of the daughters of Tzelophchad, demand of the Almighty our inheritance!
==================================================
The following is an e-mail I received from one of the e-Parsha recipients. It is the response of a son to a father's reminder of a grandfather's yahr tzeit.
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: Kaddish, et. al.
Thank you for the reminder about Leon's Yortzite (sp?). I was a little worried about finding an area shul around 1 p.m. during the walk back to the office from a source meeting. However, I heard sort of a gloomy version of ice-cream-truck music coming from the Lubavitcher's "Mitzvah Tank," a gray Winnebago with images of The Rebbe, that was parked on 42nd Street and Madison Ave.
I rapped on the driver's window to ask directions to the nearest synagogue, but a couple of pleasant black suits ushered me inside, and later told me they needed a 10th for a minion (Tuesday's are slow on Madison, they said). Saying Kaddish for Leon inside a large recreation vehicle parked at a busy intersection in Manhattan seemed somewhat disrespectful, especially with an occasional cell phone belonging to one of the Rabbis going off. But, I was able to drown out the noises and faces beyond the windshield as the service moved into a Kaddish. I was instructed not to say the prayer myself because my parents are still in good health, which also helped because I couldn't remember Leon's Hebrew name.
Several other secular business types boarded the bus during the service and joined in. Some were greeted with hugs and handshakes. I stayed to put on Tefillin and left a donation in the Tzedakah box The Rabbi who invited me to participate in the rolling service gave me a small black yarmulke with the words "Thank you for being a part of Chabad Lubavitch Mitzvah Tank", where the wedding or bar-mitzvah information would ordinarily have been, and a card with the locations of the Mitzvah Tank on given days of the week. It's closer to the office on Wednesdays.
Mission accomplished. Only in New York. - Love, Eric
=====================
In honor of the yahr tzeit of Shimon ben Meir Youngworth - Tamuz 17. Sponsored by his son Yisroel Youngworth.
========================
Listen Weekly to the Jewish Hour Podcast. www.rabbifinman.com. Now available on iTunes, spotify, audacy, and wherever you park your podcasts.
The Torah e-Parsha is a project of Jewish Ferndale. For information on sponsoring the Torah e-Parsha in memory or for the recovery of a loved one, in honor of a simcha or you just feel like being nice, contact via reply. All contributions are tax deductible. Please forward this message to as many friends and associates as you like. © 2024 by Herschel Finman.
Contact Rabbi Finman for information on sponsoring the e-Parsha
