NUM120 See [[NUM56]] Numbers 7:3 cart AMJV 76-7

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NUM126 See [[NUM105]] Numbers 12:2 only AMJV 75-6

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NUM131 See [[NUM105]] Numbers 12:2 only AMJV 75-6

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NUM134 See [[NUM105]] Numbers 12:2 only AMJV 75-6

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NUM136 … concern[ing] the ten spies sent by Moses to spy the land of Israel [e]ach of these people was the leader of his tribe and was called a "special" and distinguished person in the Torah (Numbers 13:2-3 with Rashi commentary on verse 3). How, then, did these men fall so quickly and bring back a bad report about the land of Israel, which caused the people to believe them and sin? The Torah gives us a clue to the answer. It was due to low self-esteem that they developed, despite their previous high position among the Jewish people. When telling over their exploits to the Jews, these spies describe the inhabitants of the land of Israel as "giants" of men. The verse says, "We were like insects in their eyes, and also in our own eyes" (Numbers 13:33). We can understand how these people imagined how the others pictured them, but how did they know for sure how they appeared and were evaluated? Rashi offers one explanation that the spies actually heard the inhabitants speaking about the spies as "ants" (Rashi commentary on Numbers 13:33). But other commentaries simply say that this was all in their imaginations. And later on, when the next generation actually fought and conquered these people in land of Israel, it does not say anywhere that all of the Canaanites were giants. Since they felt so humbled and imagined themselves to be so low, both physically and psychologically, the Torah ends with the words "and so we were in our own eyes." This experience turned these leaders into ants-In their own minds. They now had such low self-esteem, all imagined, that they could no longer say anything positive about their experience or about the land of Israel as a place that God would help them conquer. So it was low self-esteem that turned these experienced leaders into scared individuals. We can learn from this that only if the person feels himself or herself to be worthy will he or she indeed become that worthy person.

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NUM141 (Continued from [[NUM387]] Numbers 32:22 AMJV 314-5 clear) It is a Torah imperative that Jews take into account how their actions are perceived by others-i.e., Jews must always behave in a way that is not only moral, but that also appears moral to others. King Solomon echoes the same imperative when he writes that Jews need to be right and seek favor both in God's eyes and in men's eyes (Proverbs 3:4). Traditional Jews ask God to help them achieve this goal each day when they recite the Grace After Meals (End of the last blessing of Birkat Hamazon). This concept of taking an action specifically to assure that one does not appear guilty in the eyes of others is such an important one that it saved the Jewish people twice in the desert. If not for this idea, the entire Jewish people, as we know it, would simply not exist today. After the first great sin that the people committed in the desert by worshiping the Golden Calf, God wanted to destroy the entire nation and begin again with Moses. What was Moses' argument that saved to the Jewish people from destruction? Moses tells God that if He were to destroy the Jewish people, the Egyptians would (and completely erroneously) think that God was simply two-weak to fulfill His promise to bring them into the holy land (see Ibn Ezra commentary) and that is the reason the Jewish people were destroyed, rather than because of their sins (Exodus 32:11-12, 14). Though the Egyptians would have been totally mistaken to think this way, and God's punishment of death would have been deserved (an omnipotent God could certainly have brought them to the land of Israel), God relents and does not destroy the people in order to avoid a Chilul Hashem-desecration of His name. Moses uses the same argument less than two years later one more time. The Jews sin, once again, in believing the ten spies' negative report and not having faith that God would make them victorious in their conquest of the land of Israel. Once again God wishes to destroy the people. This time, Moses spells out what people would say if this were to occur: The Egyptians would say that God had some powers, but not enough strength to lead them successfully into the land of Israel and triumph over the seven nations living there, and that is why God had to destroy the Jews in the desert (Numbers 14:11-20). As foolish and incorrect as this argument was, God says to Moses that he forgives the Jewish people "because of your words." Thus, how something appears is as important as doing the right thing. Even God changed His plans and the Jewish people were saved because of how this situation would appear to the nations [of] the world, even though, had He acted as He had wanted to, of course God would have been right and the nations mistaken. Rabbi Moses Sofer (1762-1839), one of the most outstanding and pious rabbis in Europe, writes that one of the most difficult precepts he encountered in trying to fulfill all of Judaism's Commandments is this one. It was far easier for him to remain "clean" and righteous in the eyes of God than to "to remain clean in the eyes of his fellow man (Responsa Chatam Sofer 6:39)." People are always filled with all kinds of suspicions and thoughts, even about Rabbis, so a Jew must be very diligent not only to be guiltless but also to appear guiltless in the eyes of others.

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NUM188 Judaism clearly separates between the desire to sin and the sin itself. In every realm of life, Judaism recognizes that Jews, as normal human beings, have desires to commit sins. The premise of the concept of the inner battle between a good inclination and the bad inclination is based on man's normal desire to sin, as alluded to in the Torah (Genesis 9: (sic 8:) 21). It is only because of the great natural desire that the Torah prohibits every Jewish man from being alone with a woman (the commandment of Yichud, as cited above). Similarly, because the Torah recognizes the normal desire among men to have homosexual activity, in certain societies Jewish law prohibits two men from being alone together (as discussed above). But although it is natural to have certain sexual feelings, the Torah says clearly that it is forbidden to act upon those desires [this verse]. Thus, while many sexual desires may be normal and not prohibited, acting upon those desires violates Jewish principles and Jewish law, whether they are between man and man or man and a (forbidden) woman. For example, while it may be normal for a heterosexual married man to desire a beautiful married woman who is not his wife, acting upon this desire violates the seventh of the Ten Commandments. Similarly, while the Torah may understand homosexual desires, acting upon it is forbidden. Therefore, the Midrash specifically says concerning all prohibitions in the Torah that a Jew's attitude should not be, "I have no desire for that which is forbidden (pork or even another man)," but a Jew should rather say, "What can I do, since God has commanded me not to act upon these desires (Midrash, Yalkut Shimoni, Vayikra 20). Every society, even secular society, demands that some sexual desires be held in check, and regulates man's acting upon his sexual desires. Judaism regulates illicit sexual activity as well and this prohibits man to act on his illicit homosexual desire.

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NUM230 In the Torah we see that Moses used an unusual cure to heal the people suffering from the plague. When Jews began dying in some kind of epidemic as result of their sins, Moses and Aaron took incense and placed it on the Altar, which immediately stopped the plague in which 14,700 Jews died [this verse and following]. Therefore, we already see in the Torah that sometimes unexplainable but sanctioned cures, which we might today call "alternative medicine," alleviates a desperate medical condition. The Mishna discusses the use of certain "alternative medicines" popular in Mishnaic times, and there is a fundamental argument between Rabbi Meir and the rest of the Sages about their use (Mishna Shabbat 6:10). In order to prevent disease, many thought that carrying or wearing the egg of a certain type of locust, a fox's tooth, or a nail from the coffin of a convict would keep a person healthy. All of these do not fall under the forbidden laws of the occult mentioned above in the Torah, but are merely practices that were popular in the time of the Mishna. Rabbi Meir permitted people to have these for medical reasons, while the Sages forbade these practices as "the ways of Amorites," i.e. forbidden practices or customs of non-Jews. The Talmud then makes a statement that is the basic guide to how Judaism views alternative medicines and their use. It says that if these practices are effective in keeping people healthy or healing sickness, then they are not considered "ways of Amorites" and are permitted. However, if these strange practices are not effective, then they are considered "Amorite practices" that are forbidden (Shabbat 67a). Therefore, we see that any alternative medical practices that yield verifiable results to improve health or minimize sickness are permitted, in Judaism, as long as they do not violate any Jewish laws. The Talmud goes on to list actions that were permitted at that time and that were forbidden as "Amorite practices" (Shabbat 67a). To the twenty-first-century eye, all of these look strange and ineffective. Yet, apparently, some of these treatment did work to minimize pain and sickness, and were therefore permitted by the Rabbis, and they are permitted in Judaism today as well. The strange practices (which we might consider "nonsense" by today's standards) also bothered Maimonides, the world-renowned scientist who lived about a thousand years after the Mishna was written. He explains that although these "medications" seem strange to us, they Indeed proved effective at that time (Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 3:37). Perhaps this also explains why Shulchan Aruch, cited above, permitted a certain incantation that healed the person bitten by the snake in a life-threatening situation. If it worked, then it was permitted. Based on the above, today's alternative medicines would be permitted in Judaism if all three of these conditions are present: (a) they heal pain or sickness or prevent sickness in verifiable, consistent manner, (b) they do not cause any additional pain or damage to the body, and (c) they do not violate other Jewish laws.

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NUM293 Any person who knows Yiddish, or even just a few Yiddish expressions, is familiar with the expression "K'neiyna Hara" (or a similar pronunciation of that expression), which is used whenever speaking about something good or that one is proud of. These words actually are "K'neged Ayin Hara" -- which are intended to be used against or to prevent the evil eye. Even people who do not believe in the occult or amulets use this expression regularly. While it is not strictly speaking of "alternative medicine," fighting off the evil eye seems to be something very mainstream to Judaism and is regarded as keeping Jews healthy and joyous. This concept is much more prevalent in Judaism than one might think. ... When Bilaam tried to curse the Jewish people and he gazed at them, Rashi says he tried to cast the evil eye upon them (this verse with Rashi commentary). The mystical book, the Zohar, explains that Bilaam had this special power of being able to cast the evil eye upon people and cause them harm (Zohar 1:68b). ... When the Mishna in Ethics of the Fathers explains that a person should have the quality of an Ayin Tova -- a good eye, and not an Ayin Hara -- an evil eye, this usually signifies that a person should be generous and not stingy in how he treats and gives to others (Mishna Avot 2:11). Rabbeinu Yonah explains that this element of stinginess is derived when someone is jealous of the good that others have (Rabbeinu Yonah commentary on Mishna Avot 2:11). When the jealous person has this Ayin Hara, or evil eye feeling against another person's success, this causes Heaven to take away the good from the person who feels jealous, but it also sometimes results in the removal of the bountiful gifts that the other person enjoys. But how and why does it work that jealousy can cause harm to a person who did nothing wrong? Apparently when people are judged on Rosh Hashana, when their worldly goods and other benefits for that year are determined, they are judged with mercy. When someone "casts an evil eye" on someone else through jealousy, it causes Heaven to "take a second look" at this person and judge him or her again, but this time more objectively. If the person is not deserving of the gifts he or she enjoys, it is possible that Heaven will decide at that point to remove some or all of these intended gifts.... Today, Jews use the expression "K'neiyna Hara" whenever they express pride in something or a special gift from God. That, in effect, signifies that Jews are asking God not to look again at their situation and change them more harshly. That is, Jews should not do anything that would draw attention to themselves and cause God to "take a second look" at them. So, for example, when people ask how many grandchildren or great-grandchildren one has, some people refuse to answer with specific number, in order not to invite the Ayin Hara so that God will not reject them and consider taking away one of those children or great-grandchildren. The same is true when speaking about a person's wealth or anything else that is good in a person's life. A Jew should simply not call attention to any benefits in his or her life.

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NUM317 In verse after verse, God tells us that revenge is to be left only to God. Even though normally Jews are supposed to imitate the ways of God (Deuteronomy 28:9, Nachmanides commentary on Deuteronomy 11:1), the realm of revenge is God's alone. Thus, it states in Psalms that vengeance and revenge belong only to God (Psalms 94:1). ... There is one place in the Torah where God does command the Jews to take revenge, and perhaps this exception proves the rule. When that Midianites confronted the Jewish people in the desert, it is the only time in the Torah when the Jews were attacked spiritually and not physically. God's name was publicly shamed. Therefore, it is possible that this is why only here God asked the Jews to avenge these actions and take revenge upon the Midianites (Numbers 31:1-2). In a related incident, Pinchas took revenge against the Midianite woman and Jewish man who were publicly fornicating as a religious act before the Ba'al Pe'or idol. Pinchas' action caused the plague that killed "only" 24,000 Jews to cease. God immediately praises this act of revenge by Pinchas, and rewards him with the covenant of peace (Numbers 25:7-12). But why is Pinchas praised for taking revenge, if revenge is the exclusive domain of God? The Talmud explains that, indeed, Pinchas was viewed by the Rabbis as wrong and sinful for taking revenge and for doing this act without receiving legal Rabbinic permission (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 48b). It is for this reason that God had to "step in" and publicly declare Pinchas as a hero in this specific situation, before the Rabbis put him to death for his actions. But why did God praise Pinchas' action if revenge is not generally considered "Jewish" or in the domain of human beings? Once again, this exception proves the rule. Because in this instance God's name was being desecrated by the idol worship and people were dying as a result, Pinchas was correct to "take the law into his own hands" and avenge this sin against God. But in general, revenge is forbidden by Jews or by human beings.

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