The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. I have attempted to reproduce this vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
Parshas Nasso begins with Hashem telling Moshe to count the sons of Gershon. These are the descendants of Levi who were counted separately from the rest of the Jews. The children of Kihas (also one of Levi's sons) were counted in Bamidbar and now Moshe is commanded to count the sons of Gershon. Later in the parsha, Moshe was commanded to count the children of Mirarri (Levi's third son).
The Abarbanel asks - why did the Torah split up the Levi'im into two parshios? Either put all the counting of the Levi'im in Bamidbar, or start Nasso with counting Kihas and then continue with the rest of the sons?
The Da'as Zikenim points out an anomaly. By Kihas, the pasuk says "al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe. "Similarly, by Mirrari, the pasuk states "al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe." However, by Gershon it just says "al pi Hashem." Why? Because the bnei Gershon counted themselves and just told Moshe the number without Moshe getting involved. But why was Moshe not involved?
Says the Abarbanel - Levi had three sons. In most circumstances, the bechor (in this case Gershon) would have gotten the most, including the most kavod - honor. However, by the bnei Levi, the second son Kihas got the most kavod positions. The Abarbanel writes that whenever the bechor is not given the honored position, one still must show some deference to him. Thus Nasso starts with the counting of Gershon "gam hem" to show that they are important as well and make them feel good. The Abir Yosef explains that this is why the counting was done by the bnei Gershon by themselves. This makes them feel important - they can do it by themselves.
This theme is also seen by the brachos which Ya'akov gave to Ephraim and Menasheh. Although Menasheh was the bechor, Ephraim got the better bracha. However, when the boys came for the bracha, they were not in the order which Ya'akov needed as Menasheh was on the left. Ya'akov did not make the boys switch places, although he could have asked them to do so. Instead Ya'akov showed some deference to Ephraim's role as bechor and crossed his hands so that his right hand was placed on Menasheh.
Rabbi Frand indicated that this has practical applications as well. Occasionally, boys will come to him who are dating and have been out 3,4,5 or more times with a girl and then need to say that they don't think its practical. Rabbi Frand tells the boys that you don't break up with a girl on the phone. No's are painful, so you do it in person so that you at least show the person that they are important, even if they are not for you. Even if this means that the boys have to pay for the gas and tolls to drive a distance to see the girl, you show respect by doing it in person.
Rabbi Frand said one other vort as well. He said in the name of his lifelong friend Rabbi David Twerski whose son saw a vort in the sefer Shiftei Ka, by Rabbi Vollei, a talmud muvhak of the Ramchal (author of the Messilas Yeshorim - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato). The vort relates to the pasuk - "Ko Sivarchu es Bnei Yisroel, Emor Lahem."
The brocha of Bircas Kohanim has the actual details and mechanics of the activity being performed. This is in stark contrast to most Brachos which don't have any details of what is being done. The lashon of the Bracha includes the fact that the Kohanim have kiddusha from Aharon and were commanded to bless the Jews "b'ahava." Why "B'ahava"? Because the Kohain has to love the kahal and bless with a full heart and if not, he should not duchan.
The Shiftei Ka says that there is even a proof from this in the language of the pasuk because it says "emor lahem" and "emor" means love in Italian and French. The Shiftei Ka then says, don't be distressed that this is a language other than Hebrew, because we see this in other places in the Torah (like Totafos which the Gemara in Sanhedrin says is common language as well). The reason is that lashon Hakodesh is the mother of all languages and there is no word that cannot be found with a root in Hebrew.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
Parshas Nasso begins with Hashem telling Moshe to count the sons of Gershon. These are the descendants of Levi who were counted separately from the rest of the Jews. The children of Kihas (also one of Levi's sons) were counted in Bamidbar and now Moshe is commanded to count the sons of Gershon. Later in the parsha, Moshe was commanded to count the children of Mirarri (Levi's third son).
The Abarbanel asks - why did the Torah split up the Levi'im into two parshios? Either put all the counting of the Levi'im in Bamidbar, or start Nasso with counting Kihas and then continue with the rest of the sons?
The Da'as Zikenim points out an anomaly. By Kihas, the pasuk says "al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe. "Similarly, by Mirrari, the pasuk states "al pi Hashem b'yad Moshe." However, by Gershon it just says "al pi Hashem." Why? Because the bnei Gershon counted themselves and just told Moshe the number without Moshe getting involved. But why was Moshe not involved?
Says the Abarbanel - Levi had three sons. In most circumstances, the bechor (in this case Gershon) would have gotten the most, including the most kavod - honor. However, by the bnei Levi, the second son Kihas got the most kavod positions. The Abarbanel writes that whenever the bechor is not given the honored position, one still must show some deference to him. Thus Nasso starts with the counting of Gershon "gam hem" to show that they are important as well and make them feel good. The Abir Yosef explains that this is why the counting was done by the bnei Gershon by themselves. This makes them feel important - they can do it by themselves.
This theme is also seen by the brachos which Ya'akov gave to Ephraim and Menasheh. Although Menasheh was the bechor, Ephraim got the better bracha. However, when the boys came for the bracha, they were not in the order which Ya'akov needed as Menasheh was on the left. Ya'akov did not make the boys switch places, although he could have asked them to do so. Instead Ya'akov showed some deference to Ephraim's role as bechor and crossed his hands so that his right hand was placed on Menasheh.
Rabbi Frand indicated that this has practical applications as well. Occasionally, boys will come to him who are dating and have been out 3,4,5 or more times with a girl and then need to say that they don't think its practical. Rabbi Frand tells the boys that you don't break up with a girl on the phone. No's are painful, so you do it in person so that you at least show the person that they are important, even if they are not for you. Even if this means that the boys have to pay for the gas and tolls to drive a distance to see the girl, you show respect by doing it in person.
Rabbi Frand said one other vort as well. He said in the name of his lifelong friend Rabbi David Twerski whose son saw a vort in the sefer Shiftei Ka, by Rabbi Vollei, a talmud muvhak of the Ramchal (author of the Messilas Yeshorim - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato). The vort relates to the pasuk - "Ko Sivarchu es Bnei Yisroel, Emor Lahem."
The brocha of Bircas Kohanim has the actual details and mechanics of the activity being performed. This is in stark contrast to most Brachos which don't have any details of what is being done. The lashon of the Bracha includes the fact that the Kohanim have kiddusha from Aharon and were commanded to bless the Jews "b'ahava." Why "B'ahava"? Because the Kohain has to love the kahal and bless with a full heart and if not, he should not duchan.
The Shiftei Ka says that there is even a proof from this in the language of the pasuk because it says "emor lahem" and "emor" means love in Italian and French. The Shiftei Ka then says, don't be distressed that this is a language other than Hebrew, because we see this in other places in the Torah (like Totafos which the Gemara in Sanhedrin says is common language as well). The reason is that lashon Hakodesh is the mother of all languages and there is no word that cannot be found with a root in Hebrew.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
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