Parsha – Matot

It has been an interesting week. Once again it is Shabbat and I am looking forward to a wonderful Shabboton with my favorite Rabbi the Head Rabbi at Touro university and a wonderful teacher whom I admire.

Parsha Matot, the book of Numbers 30:2-32:42, starts off with the laws of vows. Since the human power of speech is considered Holy by Judaism it is important to Do what you Say and Say what you Do. Sometimes someone takes a vow to do something with good intentions but the task is too much. In these cases there is a way to annul a vow. As it is written:

2. Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the thing the Lord has commanded. 3. If a man makes a vow to the Lord or makes an oath to prohibit himself, he shall not violate his word; according to whatever came out of his mouth, he shall do. 4. If a woman makes a vow to the Lord, or imposes a prohibition [upon herself] while in her father’s house, in her youth, 5. if her father heard her vow or her prohibition which she has prohibited upon herself, yet her father remains silent, all her vows shall stand, and any prohibition that she has imposed upon herself shall stand. 6. But if her father hinders her on the day he hears it, all her vows and her prohibitions that she has imposed upon herself shall not stand. The Lord will forgive her because her father hindered her. 7. But if she is [betrothed] to a man, with her vows upon her or by an utterance of her lips which she has imposed upon herself, 8. and her husband hears it but remains silent on the day he hears it, her vows shall stand, and her prohibition which she has imposed upon herself shall stand. 9. But if her husband hinders her on the day he heard it, he has revoked the vow she had taken upon herself and the utterance which she had imposed upon herself, and the Lord will forgive her. 10. As for the vow of a widow or a divorced woman, whatever she prohibited upon herself will remain upon her. 11. But if she vowed in her husband’s house, or imposed a prohibition upon herself with an oath. 12. and her husband heard and remained silent, and did not hinder her, all her vows shall stand, and every prohibition she imposed upon herself shall stand. 13. If her husband revokes them on the day he hears them, anything issuing from her lips regarding her vows or self imposed prohibitions shall not stand; her husband has revoked them and the Lord shall forgive her. 14. Any vow or any binding oath of self affliction, her husband can either uphold it or revoke it. 15. However, if her husband remained silent from day to day, he has upheld all the vows and prohibitions she has assumed; he has upheld them since he remained silent on the day he heard it. 16. If he revokes them after having heard [them], he shall bear her iniquity. 17. These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife, a father and his daughter, in her youth, while in her father’s house.

Rashi comments on the words “He shall bear her iniquity” on line 16 that this is the basis for the understanding that a person causes his fellow to stumble into sin bears his punishment in his place. It seems that a young girls vows are influenced by her father and he is able to uphold them or annul them.

Tehillim – Chapter 9

I love reading Tehillim {Psalms}. Today I was thinking about Tehillim Chapter 9. It expresses how I feel about my relationship with Hashem. Please read this moving psalm:

1. For the Conductor, upon the death of Labben, a psalm by David. 2. I will thank the Lord with all my heart; I will recount all Your wonders. 3. I will rejoice and exult in You; I will sing to Your Name, O Most High. 4. When my enemies retreat, they will stumble and perish from before You. 5. You have rendered my judgement and [defended] my cause; You sat on the throne, O righteous Judge. 6. You destroyed nations, doomed the wicked, erased their name for all eternity. 7. O enemy, your ruins are gone forever, and the cities you have uprooted—their very remembrance is lost. 8. But the Lord is enthroned forever, He established His throne for judgement. 9. And He will judge the world with justice, He will render judgement to the nations with righteousness. 10. The Lord will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 11. Those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You. 12. Sing to the Lord Who dwells in Zion, recount His deeds among the nations. 13. For the Avenger of bloodshed is mindful of them; He does not forget the cry of the downtrodden. 14. Be gracious to me, O Lord; behold my affliction at the hands of my enemies, You Who raises me from the gates of death, 15. so that I may relate all Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion, that I may exult in Your deliverance. 16. The nations sank into the pit that they made; in the net they concealed their foot was caught. 17. The Lord became known through the judgement He executed; the wicked one is snared in the work of his own hands; reflect on this always. 18. The wicked will return to the grave, all the nations that forget God. 19. For not for eternity will the needy be forgotten, nor will the hope of the poor perish forever. 20. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence. 21. Set Your mastery over them, O Lord; let the nations know that they are but frail men, Selah.

My prayers go out to everyone who is Hashems champion.
muman613