LEV1114 When God promises the Jewish people wealth, but also peace, as a reward for keeping the commandments, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (1815-1872) comments that when most societies become wealthy, like most countries in the twenty-first century who have achieved great wealth in comparison to previous generations, nevertheless, there will always be some people who have more wealth than others. This will naturally lead to jealousy and greed to accumulate more, even from people who have "enough" to live a very good and comfortable life. Thus, God's promise to the Jewish people is that if they keep all of the commandments, God will create a wealthy society that will have peace as well, i.e., a life without jealousy and greed [Leviticus 29:3-6 with Ktav Sofer commentary]. King Solomon, who was vastly wealthy, understood that a good name is a far more important achievement in life than "goodwill," or great wealth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). This has been shown to be true for those in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, like Bernie Madoff and others who have been caught swindling other people or the government, and have permanently lost their good names, their most valuable asset.

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NUM4 [Continued from [[EXOD143]] Exodus 12:3 household AMJV 194]. Even after the Jews left Egypt, the family unit was still paramount in building the nation. When God counted the Jewish people in the desert, they had to be counted by Moses as families [this verse]. But why was it so crucial to building the Jewish nation and religion that the family unit had to be so together? Why is this togetherness an essential element of Judaism? It is clear that in order for the Jewish people to survive and thrive, every Jew had to think of every other Jew as a member of his or her family. Just as any family member would do almost anything to help any other family member, every Jew was tied to every other Jew in the same way [Shavuot 39a; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 87:20].

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NUM21 … the word "jealous" occurs four separate times in the discussion of the suspected unfaithful wife, the Sotah [this and following verse; Numbers 5:29]. The husband is jealous of his wife's lover, whom he suspects had sexual relations with his wife. The offering that she must bring is called the "Mincha of jealousy," and the summation of the portion is called the "Torah of jealousies." Rabbi Elazar Hakapar points out that jealousy is one of three negative character traits that can remove a person from this world, either due to his anguish or as a punishment (Mishnah, Avot 4:21). The Rabbis say that jealousy actually tears up the person inside (makes a person's bones rot), while a non-jealous person will never suffer this fate (Shabbat 10a). As much as this trait is undesirable in Judaism, the Rabbis also recognized it is a common emotion, even among Rabbis themselves. The Talmud thus declares that if two Rabbinic scholars live in the same city but do not get along in Torah law, one should die and the other should be exiled (Sotah 49a). Another passage says that this jealousy among Rabbis also causes Divine displeasure (Ta'anit 8a).

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NUM29 See [[NUM21]] Numbers 5:14 jealousy AMJV 166

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NUM31 Another Talmudic passage discusses the topic of gossip and innuendo and how we should react to it. The first part of the passage says, "where there is smoke there must be fire"-i.e., that every accusation has some truth to it, be it only the intent to commit the sin the person is accused of. The next part of the passage shows that Moses himself was accused of adultery, and then explains that Moses had an enemies (Mo'ed Katan 18b). Thus, anytime a person has enemies in the community, accusations (without specific proof) can be disregarded as the attempt of enemies trying to destroy a person. Finally, it says that the usual cycle for rumors, and accusations last a day and a half. If the same rumors persist long after that and the person has no known enemies, they can be taken seriously. One Talmudic commentary states this specifically: when a rumor persists in the community regarding sins of a sexual nature, and when the sins continue for a long period, it is permitted to flog this person as punishment, provided he has no enemies (Yam Shel Shlomo on Yevamot 10:20). Regarding the husband who suspects his wife of adultery in the Torah (the topic of Sotah), one commentary explains why the husband is not considered a sinner, even if it turns out that the wife was not an adulteress. He explains that after the husband warned his wife not to be seen with the other man, she simply disregarded the warning, and her suspicious behavior alone made her worthy of the accusation by the husband (Seforno commentary on this verse). Thus, all the circumstances surrounding an accusation must be taken in account before acting or not acting upon it. Sefer Yerai'im states that while we may not believe Lashon Harah (evil or slanderous speech) as truth, a person may nevertheless treat the person spoken about with suspicion. (Sefer Yerai'im 192). And if other factors substantiate the rumor, then one may indeed act upon the "slanderous speech." This is the law according to one authority (Sefer Mitzvot HaGadol, Lo Ta'ase 10).

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NUM56 Perhaps the greatest display of the negation of competition in the Torah is not obvious from the text itself and is only brought to light by piecing together the remarks of the commentaries. The competition to donate the materials needed for building the Tabernacle (especially after the sin of the Golden Calf) had been very spirited. The people all rushed to donate. Rashi explains that the Nesi'im, the leaders of each tribe, intentionally waited until the people would finish bringing their donations, thinking that they would "top" the people by donating whatever that was missing (Rashi commentary on Numbers 12:3). However, the masses brought so much and so quickly that Moses had to actually tell them to stop, and the Nesi'im were left with nothing to bring (Exodus 36:5-7). Thus, Moses told them that each tribal leader would bring his own set of sacrifices during the twelve days of the dedication of the Tabernacle. The competition between the tribal leaders was on! The first Nasi, prince, to bring a sacrifice on the first day, the eminent Nachson, was a proven leader within the leadership tribe of Judah, and he brought a silver dish and silver bowl, both filled with fine flour and oil, a spoon made of gold full of incense, a bull, ram, and lamb as burnt offerings, a kid goat as a sin offering, and two oxen, five goats and five lambs as peace offerings (Numbers 7:12-17). This was quite a display and quite an offering. Now everyone was waiting for the next day's offering to see what the next leader would bring in his natural effort to try to top what Nachson had contributed. Who was to be second in line after Nachson? The Midrash, after citing the initial story about how the Nesi'im missed out in the original donations (the basis of Rashi's commentary), explains that there was great competition between the Nesi'im to be second, and Netanel was chosen by God to bring his sacrifice on the second day because he was a great Torah scholar, as the entire tribe of Yissachar was known as Torah scholars (Midrash, Tanchuma, Naso 14). Another Midrash affirms that Netanel was not only smart in Torah learning, but altogether very intelligent (Midrash, Beraishit Rabbah 72:5). This is very important to know because of Netanel's decision of what to bring. In fact, one commentary states that Netanel gave advice to all the other tribes about what was the proper sacrifice to bring (Ba'al HaTurim commentary on Numbers 7:18). What precisely did Netanel do and what did he bring as his sacrifice? Instead of joining the competition of what today has become known as the "Bar Mitzvah syndrome" mentality, where Jews often try to outdo each other in how special, unique, and expensive their Simcha (celebration) will be, Netanel, with his Torah and innate wisdom, decided to bring the identical sacrifices brought by Nachson, down to the last detail (Numbers 7:18-19). This way, he set the tone for the Nesi'im that followed during the next ten days. After two identical sacrifices one day after the next, each Nasi then fell in line and also brought the exact same sacrifice as the leaders from the first two days. Thus, Netanel created a situation in which the potential competition between these leaders was eliminated. Netanel's special "sacrifice" and advice are alluded to in Rashi. Rashi says that the verse says "he sacrificed" twice-only by his offering-in order to teach us that not only was he more deserving than the others because of his vast Torah scholarship, but also because he gave special advice to all the princes of each tribe to bring the sacrifices specifically in this manner (the same has he did, imitating the first offering of Nachson) (Rashi commentary on Numbers 7:19). These twelve sacrifices, brought in a non-competitive spirit, taught the entire Jewish people that there need not be the normal competition between tribes, and that everyone could work together without the need to be the "best" and outdo the other tribes. In fact, when these leaders brought all the sacrifices to the Tabernacle, the Torah records that the sacrifices were brought altogether, not in twelve separate wagons, but together in six wagons with two sacrifices in each wagon [this verse].

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NUM57 See [[NUM56]] Numbers 7:3 cart AMJV 76-7

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NUM58 See [[NUM56]] Numbers 7:3 cart AMJV 76-7

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NUM59 See [[NUM56]] Numbers 7:3 cart AMJV 76-7

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NUM105 Miriam was held in such high regard that the entire nation did not travel and waited for her until her seven-day punishment was completed (Deuteronomy 24:9, Midrash, Sifri, Ki Tetze 65). That particular blemish on Miriam involved the one time that a sense of competition emerged between these three siblings- Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. When Moses was forced to separate from his wife, Tzipporah, because he was always with God, Miriam remarked to Aaron that they (Aaron and Miriam) were also prophets, and they did not have to separate from their spouses. For this one "competitive" and disparaging remarks, Miriam, who was held to a higher standard than most, was punished with the plague of Tzaraat, leprosy-like symptoms, for seven days, and she remained outside the camp (Numbers 1-3, 9-13, 15). Despite the negative remark about him by his sister, it was Moses that prayed for Miriam's recuperation, this prayer apparently helped to limit Miriam's punishment to seven days.

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