Parshas Pinchas
Keep The Chain Strong!
“Reuvein, [was] Yisroel’s firstborn. The descendants of Reuvein are the Chanochite family from Chanoch, the Paluite family from Palu.” (Bamidbar 26:5)
After Bilaam was unsuccessful in cursing the Jews, he initiated a scheme to trap the Jewish People into immorality. Unfortunately, many Jews were caught in this scheme. Hashem punished those Jews for their immoral behavior, bringing a plague which killed 24,000. Pinchas heroically stopped the plague by killing Zimri, the head of shevet Shimon, who sinned publicly. After the plague, Hashem told Moshe to count the Jewish People who were 20 years old and older, by taking a new census. The Torah lists the names of all the various families of each shevet who were counted. Interestingly, two letters are added to the names of the families of each shevet. Each name is preceded by the letter “ה” and followed by the letter “י”. For example, רְאוּבֵן בְּכוֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן חֲנוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֲנֹכִי לְפַלוּא מִשְׁפַּחַת הַפַּלֻאִי:. Why did Hashem add these letters to every name? Rashi explains that the other nations spoke disparagingly of the Jewish People. They said, “How can the Jews trace their lineage by their tribes? If the Egyptians controlled their bodies, through slavery, then it is quite certain that they also violated their wives!” Hashem attested to the purity of the Jews by adding His name upon them. Hashem added the letter ה on one side of their name and the letter י on the other side (הַחֲנֹכִי), to intimate that Hashem testified that the Jews were the sons of their reputed fathers and not sons of the Egyptians.
What gave the Jewish people the moral fortitude to resist the constant temptations of immorality in Egypt which steeped in immorality? The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 32:5) attributes it to our matriarch Sarah and Yosef HaTzadik. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Chiya bar Abba, “Sarah our matriarch descended to Egypt and protected herself from immorality, and all the women restrained themselves by her merit. Yosef descended to Egypt and restrained himself from immorality, and all of Israel restrained themselves by his merit. Rashi (Bereishis 12:17) says that when Pharoah took Sarah into his palace, Sarah told an angel to hit Pharoah, thus protecting her chastity. The Talmud (Sotah 36B) says that Yosef was able to withstand an entire year of the daily temptations and enticements of Potiphar’s wife who did everything she could entice him to sin with her. She tried enticing him, bribing him, and even threatening him. Etz Yosef (on Vayikra Rabbah 32:5-7) explains that both Sarah’s and Yosef’s acts of strength were “מעשה אבות סימן לבנים”. They “broke the power of temptation”. Their acts of strength were a spiritual inheritance, genetically passed on, to their offspring. It was due to this genetic “gift” that the Jews in Egypt were able to withstand the temptations of even a morally corrupt nation such as Egypt.
We must be so careful in all that we do, making sure that we are doing good things. Our actions not only affect ourselves. They leave an indelible imprint on our future generations! We pass along a spiritual inheritance to our children as well as to the following generations. The mitzvos that we excell in or the good middos that we develop help shape our future descendants!
(based on Shabbos with Rav Pam by Rabbi Sholom Smith)
