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Shabbat Parashat Pinchas 5773

Pinchas | 21 Tamuz 5773 | 29/06/2013

Parashat Hashavua: Pinchas – Scholar or Warrior or Both?

Pinchas, the son of Elazar and the grandson of Aharon, was blessed with an eternal covenant of priesthood (Bamidbar 25:13). As a result, the preferred candidate for the post of Kohen Gadol would always be a descendant of Pinchas. The reward was due to Pinchas because, at the time of crisis, he was ready and willing to stand up and take bold action. In next week’s parasha, as well, Pinchas had a prominent job amongst the fighters. He led the 12,000 representative-soldiers (1,000 for each tribe) of the nation in battle against the Midianites (see Bamidbar 31:2-6).

Ask the Rabbi: Statute of Limitation on Hagomel After Birth

My wife gave birth this winter and has not yet recited Birkat Hagomel. Can she still do so?

Ein Ayah: Purposes and Stages of Kingdom

[Rav Sheshet, who was blind, went out to greet the entourage of the king. A heretic teased him about the futility of a blind man coming “to see” the king’s arrival. Rav Sheshet told him that he would be able to tell him when the king was coming.] The first group of the procession passed with great noise. The heretic asked if the king had come, and Rav Sheshet answered that he had not. The same happened with a second group. Next came a third group, which was quieter. Rav Sheshet said that the king had arrived. Answering the question of how he knew, Rav Sheshet said: “The kingdom of the land is like the Kingdom of the Heavens, as it says, “After the noise there was fire; Hashem was not in the fire. After the fire, the sound of a subtle whisper” (Melachim I: 19:11-12).

P'ninat Mishpat: An Apartment that Was Barely Livable–part II

The plaintiff (=pl) rents out an apartment. The defendant (=def), pl’s upstairs neighbor, did major renovations, causing much noise and other inconveniences to pl’s tenants, especially because one spouse works from the house, while the other often sleeps during the day due to shifts at work. Pl responded to their complaints by reducing their rent by a quarter during the time of the renovations, for which pl is suing def 7,350 shekels as damages. Def responds that his workers kept to the accepted work hours and standards of cleanliness. He gave advanced notice to all the residents, and no one protested. Def claims that pl is not authorized to give rental reductions and expect def to pay for them, certainly not at a rate that is disproportional to the nuisance that the average person would suffer. The sides agreed to have a compromise but could not arrive at one themselves.

Refuah Sheleimah

for

Rabanit Itah bat Chana

Ehrenreich

amongst the sick

of Klal Yisrael

This edition of
Hemdat Yamim

is dedicated
to the memory of
R' Meir
ben

Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld

o.b.m

Hemdat Yamim

is endowed by

Les & Ethel Sutker

of Chicago, Illinois
in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker
and

Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l

Hemdat Yamim
is dedicated
in memory of
Shmuel Rozenhak
o.b.m
who passed away
Iyar 6, 5773

Dedicated in memory of

Mina Presser

bat Harav David and Bina

on the occasion of her yahrzeit,

24 Tammuz

and members of her family

who perished in the shoah

Al Kiddush Hashem

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).