July 17, 2026 Positive Mitzvot in a Not So Positive Time
The Three Weeks & Parshat Pinchas
Thursday, July 2, is Shiv’a Asar b’Tamuz – the beginning of the Three Weeks, a.k.a. Bein HaMeitzarim (between the straits). Ashkenazim observe mournful practices during the Three Weeks that intensify during the Nine Days. S’faradim (a.k.a. Eidot Mizrach) generally begin mournful practices after Rosh Chodesh Av and intensify these during the week in which Tish’a b’Av falls.
Blame the Mishna Taanit 4:6, which presents the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av and lists five calamities that are commemorated on each date. But then the Mishna declares, “When Av enters, simcha is diminished.” S’faradim follow the Shulchan Aruch, which – based on the Mishna – does not prescribe mournful practices for the first part of the Three Weeks. The only restriction that the Shulchan Aruch applies to the Three Weeks is not to say She-he-che-yanu (except for at a brit or pidyon haben). Ironically, Ashkenazim have differing opinions as to when that b’racha should be avoided or not avoided at all.
The “Fast of the Fourth” (month, that is – i.e., Shiv’a Asar b’Tamuz) and the “Fast of the Fifth” (i.e., Tish’a b’Av), as the Mishnacalls them, can fall on Tuesday, Thursday (as they do this year), or Sunday (sometimes actually on Sunday, and sometimes postponed from Shabbat).
The Three Weeks come with three Shabbatot with three Torah readings. The sedras of the Three Weeks are usually Pinchas, Matot-Mas’ei, and D’varim. That has the highest frequency – close to 90% all over the world and close to 80% in Israel. It is the configuration of this year. The other 10% of the time (or 20% in Israel) have Parshat Pinchas before the Three Weeks and the three Shabbatot during the Three Weeks are Matot, Mas’ei, and D’varim.
So Matot and Mas’ei and D’varim are always during Bein HaMeitzarim, but Pinchas can be during (mostly, like this year) or before. What follows from this is that there are two haftara possibilities for Parshat Pinchas.
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Pinchas is the 41st of the 54 sedras, the 8th of 10 in Bamidbar. It is written on 280 lines in a Sefer Torah which makes it the second longest sedra (Naso is the longest).
It has 35 parshiyot, 10 of which are p’tuchot and the other 25 s’tumot. The number of parshiyot doesn’t tell you if a sedra is short, long, or average, but it does affect the number of lines a sedra is written on because of the blank spaces that are left between parshiyot.
Now watch this. Pinchas has 168 p’sukim – the second most in the Torah and second most in Bamidbar. But look at the word and letter rankings. Pinchas has 1,887 words, ranked ninth in the Torah (second in Bamidbar). And it has 7,853 letters, ranked fourth in the Torah (second in Bamidbar). To account for the drop in ranking, follow this (it might take a couple of rereads if you want to get the details).
Pinchas’s p’sukim are the second shortest in the Torah, word-wise. And the sedra has the longest words in the Torah – 49th of 54 in length of p’sukim, letter-wise. As we noted above, it’s the second longest sedra, pasuk-wise. These factors combine to explain the different rankings above.
Parshat Pinchas contains six of the 613 mitzvot, all positive; it is one of only six sedras that have only positive mitzvot. Four sedras have only prohibitions; 17 sedras have none of the Taryag; and the rest have some positives and some prohibitions.
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Last week’s sedra, Balak, ended with a cliffhanger. Israelite men had been seduced by women of Moav and Midyan to the immoral and idolatrous worship of Baal P’or. G-d sent a plague to kill the perpetrators when the judges of the people, who were told by G-d to kill the worshipers, froze into inaction. Only Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen took action and killed a tribal leader and a Midyanite princess. The plague stopped; the death toll was 24,000.
Was Pinchas justified in taking the law into his own hands? With this question in mind, Parshat Balak ended with the announcer saying, so to speak: “Stay tuned, next week, same time, same channel...”
Which brings us to the beginning of Parshat Pinchas and G-d’s declaration that Pinchas had zealously restored His honor. Pinchas was rewarded by G-d with His B’rit Shalom (covenant of peace) and B’rit K’hunat Olam, G-d conferring the status of kohen on Pinchas and all his descendants.
Wait. Wasn’t Pinchas the son of Elazar HaKohen and the grandson of Aharon HaKohen? He was. Wasn’t he a kohen? No. Not at that point.
It goes like this: Aharon and his four sons – Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar – were anointed by Moshe at G-d’s command to become kohanim. None of these five individuals were born to a kohen. Aharon’s father was Amram, a levi. The four sons were born to Aharon before he became a kohen, so they too needed to be anointed. All other kohanim the world has ever known, through the generations and centuries, to today and beyond, are kohanim because they were born to kohen fathers.
The odd man out was Pinchas, since he was neither anointed with his grandfather, father, and uncles, nor born of a kohen, as he was already born when Elazar was anointed.
Therefore, G-d gave Pinchas the kehuna, thus filling out the family tree of kohanim from Aharon and on.
Note: A kohen is a kohen because his father is a kohen (with the exception of the six mentioned above). But it does not follow that every son of a kohen is a kohen – some marriages of a kohen can lose the kehuna for his future sons. For example, if a kohen marries a divorcée (which is prohibited), a son born from that union is called a chalal and he is not a kohen (nor are his sons). The kohen who married the divorcée is still a kohen, but some of the privileges of the kehuna are denied him.
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Following the Baal P’or episode, G-d commands Moshe to fight against Midyan. That battle is put on hold, pending the census of the people – men from 20 years old and up. This will facilitate the organization of a fighting force, but more significant, the census at this point plus the census of those who came out of Egypt will determine the apportionment of land in Eretz Yisrael.
Each tribe is counted and the family units of each tribe are enumerated. True to the name of this column, let’s look at Torah by the numbers here. In the first census, the total was 603,550 adult males. Even though many deaths took place during the Midbar sojourn, the population decreased by only 0.3 percent. The total this time was 601,730.
Five tribes went down in number, and seven tribes increased in population. The most glaring changes were for Shevet Shimon which went down by over 62% (partially explainable by their disproportionate involvement in the Zimri-Kosbi Baal P’or incident). Efrayim’s drop in numbers was also relatively significant.
The greatest increase was that of the tribe of Menashe, whose count went up by almost 64%. This increase for Menashe is noteworthy in light of the fact that they were to receive land on both sides of the Jordan River. Indeed, they did not request to settle on the east side of the river – that was what the tribes of Reuven and Gad did. Menashe was tasked with splitting in two in order to “keep Reuven and Gad honest,” so to speak. Asher and Binyamin also had significant increases, as did Yissachar.
It is interesting to note that included in the census were extra facts that didn’t really belong in the report of a count of the adult males of the twelve tribes. Within the count of Reuven, the Torah mentions Datan and Aviram who were swallowed up by the earth for their participation in Korach’s rebellion. The Torah further makes the observation that Korach’s sons did not die. Datan and Aviram were not part of this census either, because they were no longer alive. Yet they are mentioned here, even though we know from earlier in the Torah what happened to them.
Korach’s sons were leviyim – not part of this census. Yet the Torah is telling us that they resisted Korach’s persuasive arguments and did not join in the rebellion. Sources say that they originally followed their father’s lead, but they repented and their lives were spared. In fact, there are 11 chapters in T’hilim dedicated to (or possibly composed by) B’nei Korach – Korach’s sons or their descendants. The most significant descendant of one of Korach’s sons is Shmuel HaNavi. The four-word pasuk “Uvnei Korach lo meitu,” the sons of Korach did not die, is not just informational – it is very inspiring.
Then we have the mention of the daughters of Tz’lofchad – Machla, No’a, Chogla, Milka, and Tirtza. Right after the census and the brief review of the leviyim families who were not part of the census nor set to receive land in Eretz Yisrael (they did receive a total of 48 cities throughout the Land), we have the request or challenge (or whatever you want to call it) of the daughters of Tz’lofchad concerning their father’s inheritance of land in Eretz Yisrael.
Also of note is the mention of Asher’s daughter, Serach, as well as the mention of Yocheved and Miriam in the p’sukim about the families of leviyim.
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The first of the six mitzvot in Parshat Pinchas is dinei n’chalot, the laws of inheritance. The presentation of these laws is here in Parshat Pinchas, seemingly as a response to the claim of the daughters of Tz’lofchad. And that is intentional. The laws of inheritance were part of the whole body of mitzvot that Moshe was taught by Hashem during the 40 days and 40 nights on Sinai, following the day of Matan Torah. These laws had not been taught by Moshe to the People until the end of the period of the wandering in the Wilderness. Its presentation here is considered to be in honor and recognition of the love of the Promised Land demonstrated by the five daughters.
There is an important message here for all of us today. The laws of inheritance do not always align with people’s intentions. For example, suppose a man has a son and a daughter and the man would like them to share his estate equally. If he writes a regular will bequeathing his estate to both his son and daughter, such a will is halachically invalid and void. Ramifications of that vary depending upon relationships and level of religious observance. But the point is that a (religious) Jew needs to have prepared a kosher will. This is known as halachic estate planning.
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Next comes a sad note. Hashem tells Moshe that he is soon to die. Moshe’s response is introduced by a unique, but familiar-sounding, pasuk: “Vaydabeir Moshe el Hashem leimor…” Moshe spoke to G-d, saying... The pasuk’s more familiar fraternal twin, “Vaydabeir Hashem el Moshe leimor…” occurs 69 times in the Torah – in the Books of Sh’mot, Vayikra, and Bamidbar. As do a whole range of variations of the pasuk. But here, Moshe is about to speak to G-d. If we were to pause after the pasuk and think about what Moshe is going to say, we’d probably guess wrong. He does not plead for himself. He would be entitled to do that because of all the times he spoke up for the People. But he doesn’t. What he says to G-d is, “Let Hashem, the G-d of spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go forth before them and come before them, who will lead them out and bring them in, so that G-d’s congregation will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
That is what a great leader does!
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The sedra concludes with a focus on Korbanot, the sacrificial offerings in the Mikdash, with special focus on the Musaf offerings.
But first we have the mitzvah of the twice-daily T’midim – two lamb burnt offerings – one lamb (male, unblemished, more than seven days old and less than one year old) brought in the morning, and one in late afternoon.
This is followed by the mitzvah of the two lambs to be offered as the Musaf of Shabbat. Every Shabbat. And that is followed by the mitzvah and details of the Musaf of Rosh Chodesh. These three portions combine to be the Torah reading of Rosh Chodesh on a weekday. When Rosh Chodesh is Shabbat, just the portions of Shabbat Musaf and Rosh Chodesh Musaf constitute the Maftir in a second Sefer Torah.
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Here is a riddle to ask your family and Shabbat guests (since you will be armed with the answer).
When are the portions of the Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh Musafim read – but not as Maftir?
One answer is on Shabbat Parshat Pinchas. As obvious as that is, they might miss that one. The other answers are when Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh are also during Chanukah or Parshat Sh’kalim or Parshat HaChodesh. On those Shabbatot, three Torahs are read from: Parshat HaShavua is read from the first Torah, with Shishi and Sh’vii combined for Shishi; the Rosh Chodesh reading from the second Torah is Sh’vii (not Maftir); and the Chanukah, Sh’kalim, HaChodesh Maftir is read from the third Torah.
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So far, we have positive mitzvot – laws of inheritance, T’midim, Shabbat Musaf, and Rosh Chodesh Musaf. That’s four of the six in the sedra. Two more to go. You might think there should be more. Here’s why there are not.
Next the Torah mentions the Korban Pesach brought on what we call Erev Pesach. It’s mentioned here, but was counted back in Parshat Bo.
Then comes the Musaf of each of the seven days of Pesach. Detailed here, but counted (without details) back in Parshat Emor.
Shavuot’s Musaf is, however, counted among the Taryag from Parshat Pinchas because in Parshat Emor, the Torah presented the korbanot that accompanied the Two Loaves offering and did not reference Musaf.
The Rosh Hashanah Musaf is counted from Emor, as is the Yom Kippur Musaf (and the other Yom Kippur korbanot are counted in Parshat Acharei). Sukkot Musaf for each of the seven days (different from one another because of the number of parim, bulls) and the Musaf of Sh’mini Atzeret are all detailed in Pinchas but counted from Emor.
So, what’s the sixth mitzvah from Pinchas? Shofar on Rosh Hashanah. In Emor, there is mention of Rosh Hashanah being “Zichron T’ru’a.” In Pinchas, the mitzvah is “Yom T’ru’a yihyeh lachem” – You shall have a T’ru’a day. This is explained in the Oral Law as the mitzvah of hearing the sound of the shofar.
Parshat Pinchas finally concludes with “Moshe spoke to the children of Israel in accordance with all that Hashem had commanded Moshe.”
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Let me conclude with an irony between this week’s sedra and the calendar. Parshat Pinchas is read right after or before Shiv’a Asar b’Tamuz. The Mishna in Taanit, mentioned at the beginning of this column, notes that one of the calamities associated with Shiv’a Asar b’Tamuz is the cessation of the Korban Tamid. Apparently, during the long siege of Yerushalayim that preceded the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the kohanim were able to smuggle lambs in for the daily sacrifices. The long stretch of many years of daily T’midim stopped on the 17th of Tamuz. In Parshat Pinchas, we find the mitzvah of bringing the T’midim on the Mizbei’ach every day.
We each have to ask the question, as individuals and as part of B’nei Yisrael: Which way are we heading? Toward the yearly mournful commemoration of the loss of the T’midim – or toward the building of the Beit HaMikdash and the restoration of the T’midim which symbolize our forever and always commitment to G-d, His Torah and mitzvot?
Choose wisely and work toward the goal. It’s not up to each of us to do the whole job, but neither are we supposed to stop working toward it.
Shabbat Shalom.
