Daily Chumash Summaries By cover art

Daily Chumash Summaries

By: Sarede Rachel Switzer
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  • Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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    Sarede Rachel Switzer
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Episodes
  • Matot/Masai, 3rd Aliya

    Matot/Masai, 3rd Aliya
    Jul 30 2024

    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

    To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.com

    The Children of Reuven and Gad

    The children of Reuven and Gad had a lot of livestock and they recognized that the land of Yaer and Gilad was fit for livestock.

    They approached Moshe and Elazar and said that this land which G-d had them conquer from Sichon and Og (which included Atarot, Dibon, Yazer, Nimrah, Cheshbon, Elaleh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon) is fit for livestock. They asked Moshe and Elazar if that land be given to them as an inheritance rather than have their inheritance be in the land of Israel across the Jordan.

    Moshe exclaimed, "So your brothers will go into battle and you will settle here?! The rest of the nation will think that you are too scared to cross the river and this will discourage them from crossing as well." Moshe brings up the incident with the spies which also took place at Kadesh Barnea* where they were now as well saying that this is the same thing which the spies did when they told the Israelites not to enter the land.

    *Side note, there is another Kadesh Barnea located in the Land of Israel (see Bamidbar 34:4)

    Moshe reminds them how G-d's anger burned at that time and made the nation wander about for 40 years in the desert as a result and promised to kill off anyone aged twenty or older before they reached the land, with the exception of Calev the son of Yefuneh the Kenizzite*

    *Side note: After Calev's father Yefuneh died, his mother married Kenaz and had another son named Othniel (featured in Shoftim 3:9). This is why Calev is called the Kenizzite as he was raised in his stepfather's home.

    Moshe warns them that if they turn away from G-d again, he will once again make them die in the desert and thus they will have destroyed the entire nation.

    The children of Reuven and Gad reply that they will build dwellings for their flock and livestock and property for their children*.

    *Side note: Moshe rebuked them here, saying that they should have mentioned the children before the animals and the fact that they did not showed that their priorities were more focused on their property than their children.

    They went on to say that they will go ahead of the rest of the nation and fight on their behalf, while their children stay behind in the cities. These two tribes were mighty - see Devarim 33:20 where it says about Gad that "He will tear off arm as well as head". They will not return to their cities until all of the other Israelites will have inherited their Land.



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    4 mins
  • Matos/Masaai, 2nd Aliya

    Matos/Masaai, 2nd Aliya
    Jul 29 2024
    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comWar Plunder, Spoils and TributesMoshe, Elazar and all of the leaders saw the young men of Israel going out of the camp to grab the spoils from the war so they went out to meet them.Moshe was angry with the army commanders. Rashi teaches that we learn from here that the leaders are responsible for anything negative with their generation as they have the power to fight against it.Moshe rebuked these commanders for letting the females live, as those female which had caused the Israelites to sin were recognizable amongst them. Moshe tells them that they should kill every man as well as every woman who is fit to have relationship with a man (even if she has not yet had relations with a man). A girl/woman who is fit to have relations with a man is defined as one who is above the age of three. The way they would determine her age is they would have the women pass in front of the Tzitz and if she was fit to have relations with a man, her face would become yellowish.Moshe goes on to say that anyone who had killed someone should not enter the Courtyard of the Mishkan, i.e. the Camp of the Shechina, the innermost camp of the three camps (The three camps were the Camp of the shechina, the Camp of the Levis which was around it and then around that was the Camp of Israel).This would only apply to someone who killed with an object which can receive impurity, such that when that thing touches the corpse at the moment it dies, the impurity from the corpse gets transmitted to the killer through the weapon. Thus for example, a person would not become impure if he kills someone by shooting an arrow at him.There is an opinion that non-jewish corpses don’t transmit impurity to someone if s/he is merely under the same tent as the corpse, however even according to this opinion, the non jewish corpse would transmit impurity to someone through touching or carrying them.Non Jewish people do not become impure, however the captives they took would end up being circumcised and converting to Judaism and thus they could also become impure.Such an impure person must stay outside of the camp for seven days and on the third and seventh days they must purify themselves with the water of sprinkling.Any clothing, vessels of hide as well as anything made of the horns, hooves and bones of goats must be purified.Elazar now instructed the men to take gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and lead and put it through fire to be purified or anything that is not used to cook with fire should pass through water (i.e. things are purged in the manner which they are used. If something is used to cook with hot water, it is purged with hot water. If it is used for roasting or grilling, it is purged with fire). The rust must be removed from a vessel before purifying it.The water purification must be done in a mikva that would be proper for a woman to immerse in to purify from menstruation (ie they must be 40 se’ah of water – the equivalent of 2.25-4 gallons of water).Metal vessels (of the metals listed here) which are only used with cold water just need to be immersed. Earthenware vessels purchased from a non Jew do not need to be immersed. For other metals and glass, a rabbi must be consulted as to what to do.The impure people being discussed had to immerse their garments on the seventh day.After all of this, they were allowed back into the camp of the Shechina.Elazar attributed what he taught to Moshe saying that these were things which G-d taught Moshe.Since Moshe “fell into anger”, he fell into error as well – in the sense that these laws were concealed from him which is why Elazar taught them and not him.Rashi gives two other examples of times when anger caused Moshe to err. One is from the 8th day of the inauguration where Moshe got angry with Elazar and Itamar (see Vayikra 10:16) and this caused him to make a mistake in regards to the laws of mourning as they pertain to the Kohanim. Another time was with regard to the rock when Moshe called the Israelites “rebels” (see Bamidbar 20:10) which ended up leading him to hit the rock.G-d instructs Moshe that he, together with Elazar and the leaders should calculate the total amount of plunder from the war.They are then to divide it in half, with half of it going to those who fought in the army and half to everyone else. Again, the plunder only included animals and men. The spoils on the other hand included any inanimate movable objects and these were not part of the division. For those spoils, everyone just ...
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    9 mins
  • Matot/Masai, 1st Aliya

    Matot/Masai, 1st Aliya
    Jul 28 2024
    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comNullification of Vows. Avenging Midian.Nullification of VowsWhen Moshe would teach different parts of Torah, he would teach the Princes of the tribes first (as well as the very learned people who were like leaders) to honor them and only afterwards the rest of the nation.At the start of today’s Chumash, Moshe is instructed to teach them the laws regarding the nullification of vows.A vow is when someone says that they take upon themselves not to eat or do a certain thing. Sometimes the thing they are not eating or doing is called a “konam” which is another word for sacrifice. As if to say that they are abstaining from that thing the way they are abstaining from eating an offering which is indeed forbidden to eat.A person may vow to abstain from something which is allowed however one may not vow to do or eat something which is forbidden (eg. to eat a neviela (an animal which was not ritually slaughtered).Ideally vows must be nullified by someone who is an expert however if no expert is around, it can be done by three common people.When a sage revokes a vow, the language he uses is that the thing which was vowed against is not permitted, however if a husband revokes the vow of his wife, the language used is that the vow is nullified. This language is very particular and if the sage and/or husband reverse what they are supposed to say, the revocation of the vow does not hold.If a man makes a vow he is bound to it.If a woman makes a vow, it depends.If she is a minor, her vows are not binding.If she is at least 11 years old, her vow is examined and if she realized Whom she was vowing to (i.e. to G-d), then her vow is binding, however if she did not, then it is not.If she is 12 years old or older, there is no need to investigate her vows in this manner and her vows are binding.If she is at least 12 years old and has developed certain signs of puberty, she is considered to be under the authority of her father (she doesn’t necessarily need to be living in his house), she is what is called a Na’arah (literally “youth”) and while she is obligated in all the commandments, there are some laws in which she is still considered to be within her father’s domain. Vows are one of these.A girl becomes an adult (i.e a bogert) 1/2 year after being a n’eara and at that point she is no longer considered to be under her father’s authority.If she is as such considered to be under her father’s authority, if her father does not hold her back from making her vow, her vow stands, however if he nullifies her vow for her, it is considered nullified.If a woman is what is called an arusah, meaning that she went through the first stage of marriage (kiddushin or erusin – where the groom gives the bride a ring or some other object of value and she is not allowed to any other man however she does not yet live with the groom but rather in her father’s house) then both her groom and father need to nullify her vows.If the father was not aware of her vow, it is not able to be nullified.If the father nullified the vow before the erusin, the husband cannot then change the status of this vow.If a married woman takes a vow of nezirus, if the husband lets it be then the vow stands however if he nullifies it then it is nullified. If her husband nullifies it but the woman doesn’t realize that he had nullified it and she violates her vow by drinking wine, she requires forgiveness for her intent to break the vow, but G-d forgives her.A widow or divorcee (from erusin) to a man then returns to being under her father’s authority. However if she is a widow or divorcee from a full marriage (nisuin) she is under her own authority.A husband may only nullify vows of personal affliction for his wife and he may only nullify it up until nightfall of the day he hears the vow.If a husband deceives his wife into thinking that he nullifed her vow even though he upheld it, and she violates it, the sin is on him.Revenge on MidianG-d tells Moshe to take revenge on the Midianites for Him. Rashi explains here that the revenge is against G-d since anyone who fights Israel it is as if they fought G-d.There are several possibilities as to why He does not instruct him to take revenge on the Moabites though they were also part of the sin:The Moabites got involved out of fear that the Israelites would steal from them or alternatively because of the two “fine young doves” which came from them, namely Ruth (from Moav) and Na’ama (from Ammon – she married ...
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    10 mins
Judaism Spirituality
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