Michael Mantell

“And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7) That’s quite a lot of teaching and speaking, isn’t it? (Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D)

“Do not fear them, for it is the Eternal your God who is fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). What a buoyant, assuring, and optimistic message of hope. That’s what this week’s parasha offers to us. The surety that, after we’ve done all we can, we can confidently let go and move forward with faith and trust in Hashem. As Rabbi Tarfon taught in Pirke Avot (2:16), “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Are the doors of our synagogues honestly and completely wide open, inclusively and warmly, genuinely accepting all on equal footing, even modern day “Reubens and Gads”? After all, who is perfect? Are we missing parts of our community today, indeed are we turning away members of our community, explicitly or implicitly, from our synagogues? [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

There’s a Jewish maxim, “Every generation receives the leader it deserves.” Parasha Pinchas seems to provide a foundation for this old adage. The parasha distinguishes between the leadership of Moses, who in today’s language would be described as a wise, dauntless, self-aware, “we” not “me,” conscious leader, and Joshua, of whom the Talmud, in Baba Batra 75A, says, “The Elders of that generation said: The countenance of Moses was like that of the sun; the countenance of Joshua like that of the moon. Alas, for such shame!” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

We learn in this week’s Torah readings that judging others favorably is essential. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov composed a short prayer for assistance in finding the good in others (Likkutei Tefillot 117): “God Above, help me give each person the benefit of the doubt, even those who disagree with me… And may this lead to true peace and unity among all of Israel!” [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Like many slanderers do according to our sages, they [ten spies] begin with flattery, from “the land flows with milk and honey,” it’s bounteous and fertile, and end with evil, to the people in it are nefillim, giants, and compared to these terrifying people who could cause our hearts to collapse “We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” From their lack of trust in Hashem they spread lies, calamities, fear, dibah (defamation) leading to the people wanting to overthrow Moses and Aaron. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

Oy! There’s a lot of whining in this week’s Torah portion, B’halot’cha. Come to think of it, it appears to be the basis of one of my mother’s oft-repeated sayings, “Keep complaining and I’ll really give you something to complain about.” Seems the Israelites grew tired of their repetitious diet of manna, pining for fish and other foods they ate “for free” as slaves in Egypt. Were they pining for the good old days of slavery? Our sages question whether the Egyptian taskmasters really gave the Israelites fish “for free” and suggest that the “freedom” that they are recalling in Egypt was actually a freedom from morality and responsibility (Midrash Sifrei 11:6). [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]