Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom Calgary,
B’sha’ah tovah, tomorrow will mark our first time gathering for Shabbat in person since the initial lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Please RSVP if you wish to attend tomorrow.) As you will note, we are taking strong measures to safeguard our Kehila during this Shabbat. These measures include mandatory use of facemasks – perhaps the most important means, besides physical distancing, through which we can protect one another.
For the past four months, we have steadily been observing the mitzvah of “pikuach nefesh” (saving lives) by not assembling on Shabbat. During this time, I have prepared weekly Divrei Torah, which Kehilat Shalom Board Members Stanley Major and David Craimer have circulated to others via email and our website respectively. This week, I will enjoy the privilege of delivering the Dvar Torah in person instead of by email.
Because we are not yet resuming weekly Shabbat services, in coming weeks where we cannot gather I will continue to send the weekly Rabbi’s message by email.
In the interests of encouraging weekly Torah study, especially by those unable to attend, I would like to share with you several websites which I refer to regularly in order to research learnings about the weekly Parsha:

▪http://torah.saadia.info/ : A gentleman named Saadia Greenberg prepares a weekly compilation of divrei Torah from some of Judaism’s most eminent rabbis today. You can contact him via his site to subscribe to this weekly email compilation.
▪https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-homepage/ : “Covenant & Conversation” is a weekly d’var torah written by the former chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
▪https://www.myjewishlearning.com/torah-portions/: MyJewishLearning.com is an informative website about all matters Jewish.
▪https://www.chabad.org/parshah/default_cdo/jewish/Torah-Portion.htm : Chabad.org website provides wonderfully concise summaries of each week’s website (“Parsha in a Nutshell”), breakdowns of the parsha by aliyah, and a variety of divrei Torah by different authors.
▪https://www.aish.com/tp/?s=bc : Divrei Torah divided into Basic & Advanced levels, as well as discussion sheets and activities for families.
▪https://torah.org/parsha/devarim/ : Basic, intermediate and advanced lessons about the weekly Torah portion.May Hashem strengthen you in your continued learning, and may you have a safe and healthy Shabbat.
​
REMINDER – SHABBAT GUIDELINES
Kehilat Shalom is pleased to offer in-person Shabbat services on July 25th, 2020 In the gym of the JCCstarting at 10:00 a.m.
Please come after 9:30 to complete the screening requirements.
We will be following the Alberta Health Services guidelines at the JCC .
▪Please let us know that you are coming as we are setting up individual and family groupings and maintaining physical distancing between groups. Contact us at info@kscalgary.org or phone Sam Fishman at 403 613 1848 ASAP.
▪Everyone needs to wear a mask. If you have one, please wear it. We have masks for the congregation.
▪At check-in at the JCC you will be required to answer some Covid 19 screening questions. Your temperature will be checked. We also will have your name and phone number to check off for contact if needed. No one with Covid symptoms may enter, for the health of all.
▪Please do not attend if you are not well.
▪Welcoming staff at the JCC will be happy to answer any of your questions.
▪Please use hand sanitizer at front entry point and throughout the building.
▪The services will look a bit different in these times. You will be directed to take a prayer book from a designated area and required to return your siddur to another drop area.
▪There will be no kissing of the Torah, the prayer books or each other. Elbow greetings are the new normal.
▪Enhanced cleaning is in place before and after services to add to your comfort and well-being.
▪The washrooms are open.
▪Drinking fountains have been closed. Please bring a water bottle if you need one.
▪We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, July 25. The service will start at 10:00 A.M. and will run for 1 hour and 40 minutes. There will be no Kiddush following._____
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com

Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom,
A substantial contrast is presented this week between the Torah reading and Haftarah. The Torah reading comprises two parshas together, Matot-Mas’ei, which mark the end of the Torah book of Bemidbar (Numbers). This reading marks the near-conclusion of the Jews’ 40-year journey in the desert, with Israel about to enter into the Holy Land:
אֵלֶּה הַמִּצְוֺת וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה' בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעַֽרְבֹת מוֹאָב עַל יַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ׃
“These are the commandments and regulations that the LORD enjoined upon the Israelites, through Moses, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.” Note that the land of Moab corresponds with territory in the modern-day country of Jordan – to the east of the Jordan river, bordering Israel.
Mas’ei means “journeys (of)”, and the Torah section lists the forty-two stations of the Exodus – the places in the desert in which the Israelites encamped. The verses recount each encampment in sequence, e.g.,
“They journeyed from Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert.
“They journeyed from the Sinai Desert and camped in Kivroth Hataavah.
“They journeyed from Kivroth Hataavah and camped in Hazeroth.”
etc.
This detailed travelogue signifies a powerful journey of anticipation. Just as someone concluding a life-changing trip might wish to share every detail of their travels, so too Israel remembers its great voyage of Exodus under G-d’s protection.
The Torah reading outlines in specific detail the geographic boundaries of the land which will be Israel’s. These boundaries have not only historic but halachic impact lasting to this day for the Jewish people. This delineation of sacred territory, planning of borders, and preparation of the Jewish people, all serve to identify the centrality of the land of Israel to the hope and lifeblood of Judaism.
The Haftarah reading, by contrast, takes an ominous tone. It is one of the “tlat depuranuta” – the three Haftarot of Calamity – chastising Israel for their misdeeds, on the brink of the people’s being exiled from the Holy Land.
The prophet Yirmiyahu decries Israel’s betrayal of G-d: “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters – to dig for themselves wells, broken wells that do not hold water." One of Israel’s ‘two evils’ was that they failed to appreciate what they had. Israel had taken Divine benevolence and protection for granted, and no longer sought out Hashem; they had forsaken the good. The other evil was that they pursued false hopes and ideals. Their worship of foreign idols signified not only a faithless betrayal of G-d, but also a futile pursuit to become like other peoples. When Jews fail to appreciate the presence of G-d in their life, and elevate other people’s gods and ideals over our own, we suffer. And indeed Yirmiayahu foresaw, and the people soon experienced, the tragedy of being cast out.
Just as in biblical times, Jews today still face “two evils” that threaten our people:
▪Failure to appreciate: We are challenged to recognize the great privilege of having a thriving Jewish State of Israel. Millions of Jews, direct descendants of people exiled from countries around the world, depend upon a safe, strong Israel for their survival. To neglect our responsibility to them, and to our Jewish peoplehood, is to transgress. To reject the connection between the Jewish people, Hashem, and the land of Israel, is to reject the very Torah that stands at the heart of Jewish meaning and survival.
▪Pursuit of foreign gods and ideals: It is easy to get caught up in the ideals of our surrounding society. We may find ourselves seeking material prosperity over spiritual flourishing. We may identify with political and philosophical ideologies more than Jewish ones. When we elevate the values and pursuits of the secular world so much so that we reject our Jewish ones, we end up deceived and fragmented as a people.The Torah & Haftarah readings of Matot-Mas’ei remind us to prioritize what is important to us as Jews. Our peoplehood rests on the foundations of G-d’s gifts of Torah and Israel.
As we say when we come to end of a book of Torah,
חזק חזק ונתחזק
“Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another.”
Shabbat shalom!
_________________
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com

Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom Calgary,
This week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, presents two contrasting models of heroism: that of Pinchas, and that of B’not Tzlofchad (daughters of Zelophehad).
In a recent conversation, a Kehilat Shalom member shared with me their belief that there were few Jewish heroes that they could look up to. They pointed to modern Zionist leaders such as Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin as among the very few who stood up successfully for Jewish strength, nationhood and survival. However, the majority of Jewish leaders throughout Diaspora history, this member suggested, were no heroes, as they accepted and accommodated a political reality in which Jews were repeatedly disempowered, oppressed, expelled, and all too often, massacred.
Proponents of Jewish history will recognize in this argument the familiar tropes of the Socialist and Revisionist branches of the Zionist movement. Revisionist thinkers such as Abba Achimeir, Y. L. Levin, and Vladimir Jabotinsky suggested that there was little for Jews to learn from Diaspora experiences and leaders, as they were all compromised by the absence of Jewish statehood. “The Revisionists contended that beyond the persecutions and the hardships that the Jews had endured over the centuries, the Diaspora had caused a deep psychological schism in the Jewish soul...Only a return to monist [single-minded] nationalism could cure the ruptured Jewish soul.” (1) Writing in 1933, essayist Dov Chomsky claimed in Madrich Beitar, “The term ‘The People of the Book’ is the result of the dangerous and weakening belief that... Jews were scattered all over the world in order to advance humanity and spread the humanistic teachings of the prophets. It is the result of the distortion of nationalism and the nullification of the historical subject, the rights of the nation.”(2)
According to this view, there is little true heroism to be sought among the Talmudic Sages, rabbinic commentators, medieval “olim”, communal leaders such as Ibn Gabriel or other great Diaspora Jews, as they were all compromised by their adherence to religious ideals uncoupled from political or military power. Early socialist Zionist leader Max Nordau explicitly made the link between heroism and Jewish military power, in saying, “For the first time since Bar-Kochba [2nd century CE revolutionary Jewish military leader] does there exist among the Jews an inclination to show themselves, and to show the world how much vitality they still possess.” Heroism, within this construct, depends upon national, political, and military might.
Pinchas, the vigilante
In this week’s Torah reading, Pinchas – the grandson of Aharon the High Priest (and Moses’ brother) – is rewarded by Hashem for his act of vigilante justice. Following the failure of Balaam to curse the Jewish nation successfully, the Israelites were subverted in a different way: through lust. (The Midrash explains that this action had been organized by Balaam as an alternative way to undermine the Jews). Moabite and Midianite women were brought into the Israelite camp as prostitutes, and Jewish men lusted after and slept with them – and followed them into performing rituals and sacrifices to worship the pagan deity Ba’al Pe’or. A Jewish chieftain, Zimri ben Salu, brought Kozbi bat Tzur, the daughter of an enemy Midianite, in front of the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) and flaunted her sexually. In a moment of immediate vengeance, Pinchas grabbed a spear and impaled the couple, killing them instantly.
Hashem not only exonerates Pinchas for the act of killing, but praises him. G-d delivers a message via Moses: “Phinehas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Kohen, has turned my wrath away from the people of Israel by avenging vengeance for me…therefore let it be known that I grant him a covenant of peace” (Bamidbar 25:11-12). Pinchas’s decisive action led to the ceasing of a plague that had killed twenty-four thousand Israelites. Given such divine reward, it seems that it must be righteous fo Jews to take fierce, heroic action.
Not so fast. According to the Sages, Pinchas’s actions were considered a dangerous and unacceptable model to follow. According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhedrin 9:7), “Pinchas acted against the will of the wise men. Rabbi Yuda…said: They desired to excommunicate him. If not for the divine spirit that sprung upon him and said: ‘And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of priesthood everlasting’…” Pinchas’s act was an extrajudicial killing, i.e., done outside of any justice system. Moses had in fact commanded the Judges of Israel to enact (capital) justice against those who had strayed after the foreign women and foreign god. Pinchas took justice into his own hands. Such revolutionary action, when widespread, threatens stability and social order, with societal justice left up to the arbitrary choices of individuals. It is therefore understood that Pinchas’s act would have merited severe condemnation, even excommunication, had he not exceptionally been granted G-d’s absolution.
The patience of the 5 daughters
Later in the parsha, we view an entirely different type of heroism: that of B’not Tzlofchad. Tzlofchad, a descendant of Menashe, had died, leaving behind his five daughers Machlah, Noah, Khoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah, and no sons. According to Torah law up till that time, when a man died, his inheritance could only be passed on to male heirs. The daughters of Tzlofchad claimed that this law was unfair – as it prevented them from being able to carry on their family name and heritage.
They petitioned their case all the way to Moshe Rabeinu, who in turn presented their case to Hashem. G-d answered the matter plainly: “Ken B’not Tzlofchad dovrot” – the daughters of Tzlofchad are correct. The Halacha was refined so that the estate of a man who died without sons could be inherited by his daughters, as long as they married within their tribe (so that land could remain within their tribal territory). As a result of the five sisters’ action, not only was the law itself improved, but the justice system itself was reinforced: the Israelites saw that they had collective power to bring about a more just society, in an ordered, sacred manner.
The heroism of B’not Tzofchad was characterized by their determination and clarity of purpose. Their courage was similar to that of people involved in landmark court cases in modern society. Such petitioners require persistence to convince others, beyond doubt, that their position is valid, in order to ensure that justice is enacted fairly for them and all others in similar circumstances. This is not the heroism of a momentary act. It requires many years of dedicated action along with concerted efforts by many others.
So which heroes are better?
In Pirkei Avot – the Mishnah tractate of ethical teachings – we learn the maxim from Ben Zoma:איזהו גבור? הכובש את יצרו" “ – “Who is a hero? The one who can subdue their (evil) inclination.” A person’s yetzer (inclination) embodies their animal nature – gratification of one’s needs, and pursuit of power for its own end.
Pinchas’s militant heroism can be appropriate for a time of immediate danger or threat. Powerful action, when harnessed for good, can bring about rapid change – in Pinchas’s case, it subdued destructive chaos among the Jewish people. Decisive action is warranted in other instances as well: countries that enacted rapid protective measures against COVID-19 have fared far better in this pandemic than others which have proceeded less assertively.
Yet impulsive, violent, dramatic action cannot serve as a general example for societal behaviour: such is the stuff of the yetzer. Chaotically implemented justice leads to a world where "might is right". It does not form the basis for an enduring civil society.
The heroism of B’not Tzlofchad, by contrast, is less dramatic but more enduring. Rather than military might, they employed the forcefulness of their convictions. Their heroism was a longer, more gradual one with a lasting impact: centuries later, the territory in Israel where their descendants lived continued to be named for these very women.
Jewish history demonstrates that forceful political and military power, in and of itself, is no assurance of Jewish strength. The same Bar Kochba cited as a hero by Max Nordau brought about tremendous suffering for the Jewish people. The revolution which Bar Kochba led against the Romans (and supported by leaders such as Rabbi Akiva) was soundly defeated, no less than were the Jewish zealots of Masada in the previous century. In the wake of Bar-Kochba’s rebellion, half a million Jews were slain, hundreds of cities and villages were razed to the ground, and Romans imposed oppressive rule thereafter upon the survivors. The heroism of Judah Maccabee eventually led to rulership by a tyrannical, amoral kingdom by his descendants; this is why Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of Lights ratherr than that of military victory. It is no wonder that Judaism traditionally regards military and political power with suspicion.
To be sure, the Zionist cause did exemplify extraordinary leadership and heroism. Such heroism was not due to exceptional heroism unseen in any time in the Diaspora. In fact, the Zionist cause itself was fuelled by the incredible success Jewish leaders sustained in cultivating a meaningful existence for Jews throughout the centuries. Had we not had leaders who inculcated not only the history of a homeland, but also the purpose of Jewish peoplehood (inspired by Torah and Hashem), there would have been no meaningful survival of the Jewish nation, let alone unity behind a shared vision of statehood.
May we seek out heroes in our lives who inspire us not only with their power and determination, but also with the goodness of their hearts.
Shabbat shalom!
(1) Kaplan, Eran. (2005). The Jewish Radical Right : Revisionist Zionism and Its Ideological Legacy. University of Wisconsin Press, 2005, p. 35.
(2) Ibid., p. 34.
_________________
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com

Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom Calgary,
This is indeed a very, very, VERY special Shabbat - so much so that we have a double Torah portion this week, Chukat & Balak. Our fireworks for this 4th of July Shabbat may not be literal ones (at least not till nightfall) but intellectual and heartfelt fireworks sparked by love of Torah.
The parsha of Chukat contains laws concerning פרה אדומה (parah adumah – the red heifer), one of the most enigmatic of Jewish commandments. In this mitzvah, an entirely red cow without blemish is sacrificed and its ashes preserved. These ashes were sprinkled upon those who had been rendered Tameh (impure) by coming in contact with a dead human body, and made them Tahor (pure) once again. Oddly, the person who sacrificed the parah adumah, as well as the one who gathered its ashes, were themselves rendered temporarily impure/Tameh by their acts.
The mitzvah involves the sacrifice of Parah adumah falls in the category of mitzvot known asחוק (chok) - Torah laws for which we cannot discern a logical reason. Other חוקיםinclude the prohibition against wearing mixed linen and wool garments, and the precise characteristics which make one species kosher and another not. While some scholars have proposed a rationality for these particular laws, the Sages traditionally, by consensus, agreed that these laws lacked a clear rational basis, and were therefore adhered to out of sheer faith in Hashem.
Three years ago, my child Lilah became of age as they read from the Torah on the Shabbat of Chukat. That event was one of the most recent times my wife’s whole family gathered from across North America for a simcha, a joyful celebration of our lifecycle events. In January 2019, we had another blessed event, my mother-in-law Blanche’s 90th birthday party, at which time she regaled us with stories of her lifetime.
Several months later, almost exactly one year ago from today, Sharon’s sisters traveled to Calgary for a much harder purpose: to be with their mother Blanche z”l during her final days, her passing and funeral.
This week, we held a private family unveiling for Blanche’s matzevah on the date of her Yahrzeit (10 Tammuz, this year falling on July 2). Under ordinary circumstances, a limited number of family members would have travelled to join for this occasion. As it turned out, there were just four of us (Sharon, myself and our two kids Hannah & Lilah) at the cemetery - a deliberate choice to restrict it to our family. Yet the practices we have adapted during this time of pandemic made it possible for us to engage the whole Gulko extended family via teleconference. All of Sharon’s sisters were there, Blanche’s grandchildren attended, and we saw cousins we haven’t seen in years. This would not have been the case in ordinary times.
All of this made me reconsider this week’s Torah reading, and the laws of the parah adumah. Perhaps this mitzvah and others like it weren’t meant to “make sense”, in order to help us withstand other things that don’t “make sense”. Deaths of loved ones, societal upheaval, suffering and injury, all may happen without notice, without rhyme or reason.
When Jews perform such mitzvot as the חוקים, we enact our acceptance of matters beyond rationality. We put our trust in Hashem that there is a purpose greater than one we can logically discern. And when hard times arrive, and our world is turned upside down, we can hold fast to a faith and hope which may transcend mere logic.
The joint Torah portion this week, Balak, contains the story of Balaam – the prophet who was sent to curse Israel. Logically, we might question whether any such curse could have power to cause harm. Yet in the end, Balaam ended up blessing the people of Israel instead – and against all likelihood his very words, the verses of “Mah tovu” (How goodly are your tents, O Jacob!), have become words of inspiring prayer for the Jewish people.
This Shabbat, and in the time ahead, may we see all our curses turned to blessings. Shabbat Shalom!
_________________
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com