Parashat Pinchas 5769--Being Punctual

While in Rabbinical School, I trained in broad based community organizing. One of the most significant lessons I learned in the training was to be intentional about how I use my resources. I was taught to define resources as where we put our time, our energy, and our money. I often ask myself in both my professional and personal life: Am I using my resources wisely? This week's Torah portion, Parashat Pinchas, calls upon the Israelites to ask a similar question of themselves.

In this week's Torah portion, in the middle of the Israelites' desert wandering, it becomes clear that Moses is nearing the end of his leadership tenure. He will not be going with the people into the Promised Land. The Israelites need a new person in charge. This week, God tells Moses that this new person will be Joshua son of Nun, "an inspired man."

What becomes clear at the outset is a very simple fact. Joshua is not Moses. And, the people will need guidance as to how to respond to this new leader. The Torah explains:

Moses did as Adonai commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community. He laid his hands upon him and commissioned him-as Adonai had spoken through Moses. Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: Command the Israelite people and say to them: Be punctilious in presenting to Me at stated times the offerings of food due Me, as offerings by fire of pleasing odor to Me (Number 27:22-28:2)

I can imagine the confusion Joshua, Moses, and the people felt at this moment. Here, in a time of great transition, God responds not with sage advice or words of blessing, but with a reminder to be punctual. To be punctual?!? On the surface, this advice may seem to be inconsequential (or at least non-sequential). I believe, though, that there is a deeper message inherent in the statement. God is telling the people to use their resources wisely. God is saying to the people: In moments of change, you have an opportunity to reflect not only on how your community is changing, but also on what your community chooses to invest. God seems to be reminding the people to apply their resources to that which is sacred in their lives.

This is a time of change in the Religious School. It is a time for us to ask ourselves the very questions to which the Torah hints this week:

• What are our central needs and how can we seek to fill them?
• How can we invest in that which will bring real meaning to our lives?
• How can we create relationships that are rooted in our community?
• As a school community, how do we best define and use our resources?

Today is my seventh day at TIOH, and I am delighted that we have already begun asking and answering these and other important questions together. I deeply value your thoughts and invite you to reply to this email with any reflections you might have on this D'var Torah (or with anything else on your mind!). I so hope you will come in and meet with me over the summer, or at any other time this year. I look forward to getting to know you and your family. This is the real sweetness ahead.